# Root trouble

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/root-trouble/258432>\
**Category:** Uncategorized\
**Created:** [April 23, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/root-trouble/258432 "2008-04-23T21:30:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![tpann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c67d28/32.png) [@tpann](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/tpann)\
**Post date:** [April 23, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/root-trouble/258432/1 "2008-04-23T21:30:02Z")

</div>

I know there are many posts about root and I have looked at them but I have not been able to fix my problem with them.

On my top timeline (Scene 1), I declare…

```php

var callRate:Number = 0.5;

```

I add a movie clip, S1, to the stage using addChild(S1). In S1 I declare…

```php

var s1CallRate:Number;

```

How do I set the value of s1CallRate to 0.5 by referencing callRate?

NOTE: I have tried referencing callRate from within S1 in a trace function. Several posts on this forum suggest the following:

```php

trace(MovieClip(this.parent).callRate);

```

…but this results in the following error:

```php

TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
       at S1/frame1()

```

Assistance much appreciated.