Are you happy with the new help file in flash CS3?

[joshchernoff]

I find it really hard now to under stand the new AS3 code because of how different the help file is now.

Example:

in flash 8 and AS2 books you have a question about “gotoAndPlay function”
well then you would hit F1 or got to the help file in the help menu.
Then type “gotoAndPlay” in the search field and look it up likely in the
**ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference **where you would see something like this.

@ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference

gotoAndPlay function

gotoAndPlay([scene:String], frame:Object) : Void
Sends the playhead to the specified frame in a scene and plays from that frame. If no scene is specified, the playhead goes to the specified frame in the current scene. You can use the scene parameter only on the root Timeline, not within Timelines for movie clips or other objects in the document.
**Availability: **ActionScript 1.0; Flash Player 2
Parameters

scene:String [optional] - A string specifying the name of the scene to which the playhead is sent.
frame:Object - A number representing the frame number, or a string representing the label of the frame, to which the playhead is sent.
Example

In the following example, a document has two scenes: sceneOne and sceneTwo. Scene one contains a frame label on Frame 10 called newFrame and two buttons, myBtn_btn and myOtherBtn_btn. This ActionScript is placed on Frame 1, Scene 1 of the main Timeline.
stop();
myBtn_btn.onRelease = function(){
gotoAndPlay(“newFrame”);
};

myOtherBtn_btn.onRelease = function(){
gotoAndPlay(“sceneTwo”, 1);
};

When the user clicks the buttons, the playhead moves to the specified location and continues playing.
See also

[gotoAndPlay[URL=“kirupaForum”] (MovieClip.gotoAndPlay method), [URL=“kirupaForum”]nextFrame function, [URL=“kirupaForum”]play function, [URL=“kirupaForum”]prevFrame function](file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/All%20Users/Application%20Data/Adobe/Flash%20CS3/en/Configuration/HelpPanel/Help/ActionScriptLangRefV2/00001925.html#381033)

In the case of AS3 you would get

@ActionScript 3.0 Language Reference

Package flash.display
Class public final class Scene
Inheritance Scene Object

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Player version: Flash Player 9

The Scene class includes properties for identifying the name, labels, and number of frames in a scene. The MovieClip class includes a currentScene property, which is a Scene object that identifies the scene in which the playhead is located in the timeline of the MovieClip instance. The scenes property of the MovieClip class is an array of Scene objects. Also, the gotoAndPlay() and gotoAndStop() methods of the MovieClip class use Scene objects as parameters.

See also

MovieClip.currentScene
MovieClip.scenes
MovieClip.gotoAndPlay()
MovieClip.gotoAndStop()

---

Public Properties
Hide Inherited Public Properties
Show Inherited Public Properties
Property Defined by
constructor : Object
A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance. Object
labels : Array
[read-only] An array of FrameLabel objects for the scene. Scene
name : String
[read-only] The name of the scene. Scene
numFrames : int
[read-only] The number of frames in the scene. Scene
prototype : Object
[static] A reference to the prototype object of a class or function object. Object

Public Methods
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Method Defined by
hasOwnProperty(name:String):Boolean
Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined. Object
isPrototypeOf(theClass:Object):Boolean
Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter. Object
propertyIsEnumerable(name:String):Boolean
Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable. Object
setPropertyIsEnumerable(name:String, isEnum:Boolean = true):void
Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations. Object
toString():String
Returns the string representation of the specified object. Object
valueOf():Object
Returns the primitive value of the specified object. Object

Property Detail
labels property

labels:Array [read-only]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Player version: Flash Player 9

An array of FrameLabel objects for the scene. Each FrameLabel object contains a frame property, which specifies the frame number corresponding to the label, and a name property.

Implementation
public function get labels():Array

See also

FrameLabel
name property

name:String [read-only]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Player version: Flash Player 9

The name of the scene.

Implementation
public function get name():String

numFrames property

numFrames:int [read-only]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Player version: Flash Player 9

The number of frames in the scene.

Implementation
public function get numFrames():int

I used gotoandplay as an example because it was simple to under stand but, in the AS3 books no where does it show an example of it’s use, or the parameters of its use. There is almost no info on it’s proper uses at all. So what kinda help it that gonna give me if I don’t know any action script at all?

I find the new format of help almost worth less, unless I all ready knew all about that function and even then it’s still a question about proper use.