TypeError: #1009 Issues

programming flash
1

Okay. I’m trying to make a popup alert modal window thing with an external class. I have a simple swf set up with just some random sample text, a rectangle, and a button (just so I can tell if it’s working or not). What I want to happen is for the “alert” class to initialize upon startup of the swf and then when I click the button (instance: btn), the alert will show up. If I get rid of all AS in the swf and set alert as the document class, it shows up just fine, so I think it should be working, but for some reason I get this instead when I try the button function:

TypeError: Error #1009: Cannot access a property or method of a null object reference.
at alert$cinit()
at global$init()
at alertTester_fla::MainTimeline/frame1()

Here’s the cote in my alertTester swf:


import alert;

alert.msgAlert = "This is me testing stuff out.";

btn.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, displayAlert);

function displayAlert(e:MouseEvent):void
{
	alert.showAlert();
}

And here’s the code in alert.as:


package  {
	
	import flash.display.MovieClip;
	import flash.display.*;
	import flash.events.*;
	import flashx.textLayout.formats.Float;
	import flash.text.TextField;
	import flash.geom.Matrix;
	import flash.text.*;
	
	public class alert extends MovieClip {
		
		private static var stage:Stage = null;
		
		private static var bkgd:Sprite;
		private static var msgBox:Sprite;
		private static var msg:TextField;
		public static var msgAlert:String = "Test.";
		
		//for alert box itself
		public static var rectW:int = 200;
		public static var rectH:int = 150;
		private static var rectX:Number = (stage.stageWidth/2) - (rectW/2);
		private static var rectY:Number = (stage.stageHeight/2) - (rectH/2);
		
		public function alert() {
            addEventListener(Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, added);
        }
		
        private function added(event:Event):void {
            init(stage);
        }
		
		private function init(stageRef:Stage):void
		{
			stage = stageRef;
			trace("Initialized!");
		}
		
		public static function showAlert():void {
			if (stage == null) {
				trace("Alert class has not been initialized!");
				return;
			}
			
			//initialize
			bkgd = new Sprite();
			msgBox = new MovieClip();
			msg = new TextField();
			
			//assign content
			bkgd = createBkgd();
			msgBox = createBox();
			msgText(msgAlert);
			
			//add children
			msgBox.addChild(msg);
			bkgd.addChild(msgBox);
			stage.addChild(bkgd);
		}
				
		private static function createBkgd() : Sprite
		{
			//setup/initialize
			var overlay:Sprite = new Sprite();
			
			//make rectangle/cover stage
			overlay.graphics.beginFill(0x929292);
			overlay.graphics.drawRect(0,0,stage.stageWidth,stage.stageHeight);
			overlay.graphics.endFill();
			overlay.alpha = .85;
			
			//return
			return overlay;
		}
		
		private static function createBox() : Sprite
		{
			//setup/initialize necessary variables
			var box:Sprite = new Sprite();
			var colors:Array = new Array(0xFFFFFF, 0xE1E1E1);
			var alphas:Array = new Array(1, 1);
			var ratios:Array = new Array(0,125);
			var mat:Matrix = new Matrix();
			
			//make rectangle/alert box
			mat.createGradientBox(rectW,rectH,(Math.PI/2),rectX,rectY);
			box.graphics.beginGradientFill(GradientType.LINEAR, colors, alphas, ratios, mat);
			box.graphics.drawRoundRect(rectX,rectY,rectW,rectH,25,25);
			box.graphics.endFill();
			
			//return
			return box;
		}
		
		private static function msgText(alertMsg:String):void
		{
			//create formatter and font
			var myFormat:TextFormat = new TextFormat();
			var myFont = new Font();
			
			//format formatter
			myFormat.size = 14;
			myFormat.align = TextFormatAlign.CENTER;
			myFormat.font = "Arial";
			
			//declare and assign message variable
			var msgWords:String = alertMsg;
			
			//set text field properties
			msg.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.CENTER;
			msg.defaultTextFormat = myFormat;
			msg.background = false;
			msg.border = false;
			msg.selectable = false;
			msg.type = TextFieldType.DYNAMIC;
			msg.textColor = 0x000000;
			msg.antiAliasType = AntiAliasType.ADVANCED;
			msg.embedFonts = true;
			msg.text = msgWords;
			
			//set position
			msg.x = rectX + rectW/2 - msg.width/2;
			msg.y = rectY + rectH/5;
		}
	}
	
}

I originally had the “init” function as a public static function so I could do “alert.init(stage);” from the swf, but it gave me this same error.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer. =\