Critique first attempt at building a class

programming flash
1

I’m working on my first class – a class with extends the MovieClip class – and I would like to get some critiquing on the structure.

The class will be assigned to a library movieclip and attached/initialized on demand. This class is one of 2-3 that I’m building for different types of quiz questions.

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// IMPORT CLASSES
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
import mx.utils.Delegate;
import mx.xpath.XPathAPI;

class MultipleChoice extends MovieClip
{
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    // VARIABLE DECLARATIONS
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    
    // private vars
    private var itemsURL:String = "http://somewebsite.com/quiz/load_items_for_question.php";
    private var queID:Number; // question ID #
    private var queType:String; // question type string
    private var quePhoto:Boolean; // question photo active
    private var answID:Number; // answer ID #
    private var itemsXML:XML; // XML for question items
    private var itemsData:Array; // array of objects to store question items
    private var itemsDataLen:Number; // number of questions
    private var itemLoader:MovieClipLoader; // not in use at this time
    
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    // CONSTRUCTOR
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    
    function MultipleChoice()
    {
        trace(this);
    }

    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    // FUNCTIONS
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    
    function init(id:Number, type:String, photo:Boolean, answer_id:Number)
    {
        queID = id;
        queType = type;
        quePhoto = photo;
        answID = answer_id;
        itemsLoad();
    }
    
    private function itemsLoad():Void
    {
        itemsXML = new XML();
        itemsXML.ignoreWhite = true;
        itemsXML.onLoad = Delegate.create(this, itemsProcess);
        itemsXML.load(itemsURL + "?quiz_que_id=" + queID);
    }
    
    private function itemsProcess(success:Boolean):Void
    {
        var xPathTemp:String = "/items/item";
        var xPathData:Object = XPathAPI.selectNodeList(itemsXML.firstChild, xPathTemp);
        
        itemsData = new Array();
        itemsDataLen = xPathData.length;
            
        for (var i:Number = 0; i < itemsDataLen; i++)
        {
            itemsData.push({
                id:xPathData*.attributes.id,
                text:xPathData*.childNodes[0].firstChild.nodeValue,
                photo_url:xPathData*.childNodes[1].firstChild.nodeValue
            });
            trace(itemsData*.id);
            trace(itemsData*.text);
            trace(itemsData*.photo_url);
        }
    }
    
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    // EVENT HANDLERS
    ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    
    
}

As I cycle through the questions in the quiz, I will attach a “choices” movieclip which is determined by the question type. A given question type will have 2-3 variants, and the class above will control how the movieclip renders those variants. Here’s the very basic syntax involved:

this.attachMovie("MultipleChoice.mc", "choices", this.getNextHighestDepth()).init(1, "photos", true);

Where 1 = the question ID, “photos” = the multiple choice variant, and true = whether there’s an overarching question photo (independent of the choices).

BACKGROUND: I’ve been in both the Flash Advanced Design and Advanced Application Development training classes, and I’m pretty familiar with classes. What I’m not good at is building them in practice. I know the basics, but I haven’t had need until now to put one together.

Any suggestions for the class I’ve starting working on above are very much appreciated.

IronChefMorimoto