# Help with script for button
**URL:** https://forum.kirupa.com/t/help-with-script-for-button/262748
**Category:** Uncategorized
**Created:** [June 9, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/help-with-script-for-button/262748 "2008-06-09T17:03:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@ParanoidAndroid](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/ParanoidAndroid)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2008, 5:03pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/help-with-script-for-button/262748/1 "2008-06-09T17:03:42Z")
hello everybody.
i was following a tutorial about some buttons, where the actual button remains pressed until another one is pressed. there’s a
var activeButton:String;
in the main timeline, that keeps the name of the actual button pressed. the button is a clip inside another clip, so i write this in the first frame of the nested clip:
this.onPress=function() {
//first i change the actual button pressed to the normal state
\*\* \_parent[\_parent.activeButton].gotoAndStop(“up”);\*\*
//then change the var to the name of the actual button pressed, this:
\_parent.\_parent.menuactivo = this.\_name;
//then leave the actual button pressed:
this.\_parent.gotoAndStop(“down”);
};
but it doesn’t work, the variable doesn’t change and the actual button doesn’t return to the normal state.why??
besides, the brackets **[]** confuse me, i looked in the flash help and it says that they evaluate an expression and return a value, or access the properties of a movieclip, however i really didn’t understand.
could anybody help me and tell me why this script doesn’t work, and what those brackets are for?? i’m really confused, i hope somebody can help me, i’d really appreciate it, thanks.
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### Author:  [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)
#### Post date: [June 9, 2008, 6:31pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/help-with-script-for-button/262748/2 "2008-06-09T18:31:22Z")
Post .fla.
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### Author:  [@ParanoidAndroid](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/ParanoidAndroid)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2008, 2:14pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/help-with-script-for-button/262748/3 "2008-06-10T14:14:47Z")
sorry here’s the .fla
as i said, the line with the brackets confuses me []
can someone explain, please? the buttons don’t work as they should
thanks
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### Author:  [@ParanoidAndroid](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/ParanoidAndroid)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/help-with-script-for-button/262748/4 "2008-06-10T21:26:10Z")
errr…nobody?
i was so desperate i started making (irrational,intuitive)tests and guess what: i made it work.
i changed this line:
\*\* \_parent[\_parent.activeButton].gotoAndStop(“up”);
\*\*for this one
\*\* \_parent.\_parent[\_parent.\_parent.activeButton].gotoAndStop(“up”);
\*\*the problem is I DON’T UNDERSTAND why it does work now. what do these brackets [] do?
can some mercy soul explain me this???
please
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### Author:  [@ParanoidAndroid](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/ParanoidAndroid)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/help-with-script-for-button/262748/5 "2008-06-13T15:16:11Z")
…anyone out there? :crying:
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### Author:  [@randomagain](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/randomagain)
#### Post date: [June 13, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/help-with-script-for-button/262748/6 "2008-06-13T15:33:54Z")
_tumbleweed_
I don’t see how hard it would be to make a button remain on a pressed position until another button is pressed
I MAY look into this…
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### Author:  [@sparkdemon](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/sparkdemon)
#### Post date: [June 14, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/help-with-script-for-button/262748/7 "2008-06-14T18:43:02Z")
ParanoidAndroid…
You just reached the true scope of the object. [] are used to reference to a clip instance.
it is a alternative to the eval command.