# What is TRACE!

**URL:** <https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-trace/13392>\
**Category:** flash\
**Created:** [February 12, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-trace/13392 "2003-02-12T14:17:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![darkfx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@darkfx](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/darkfx)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 2:17pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-trace/13392/1 "2003-02-12T14:17:59Z")

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It may be a newbie question, but what is trace and how do i get it working?

I think it is similar to JS alert(); no?

If so how does it work?

Thanks in advance,

dfx

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 2:30pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-trace/13392/2 "2003-02-12T14:30:04Z")

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The trace() command displays an expression’s value in the Output window. This feature should only be used in the authoring environment (Flash IDE) as a debugging tool.

Example:  
h88 = “something”;  
trace(h88)//returns something  
trace(“h88”)//returns h88

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 2:41pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-trace/13392/3 "2003-02-12T14:41:10Z")

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What do you mean by “authoring environment (Flash IDE)”?

And how can I operate in it?

Thanks++

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**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 2:44pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-trace/13392/4 "2003-02-12T14:44:38Z")

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> \*Originally posted by darkfx \*  
> **What do you mean by “authoring environment (Flash IDE)”?**

I mean by “authoring environment” is you can only use this command in Flash Workspace, not online. (There is no output window online)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-trace/13392/5 "2003-02-12T14:45:15Z")

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Ahhhhhh found it!

It is in the Flash player under “Window” \> “output”.

Thanks for the help 🙂

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-trace/13392/6 "2003-02-12T14:45:49Z")

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“authoring environment (Flash IDE)” means it only works when you have Flash open and youre editing your movie. Trace will not work on a website or in the standalone flashplayer/projector. So its like an ‘alert’ but everything is put in a single window (the “output” window) and only from within Flash itself. Try it out in Flash and you can see how it works.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![system](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex011/uploads/kirupa/original/3X/6/2/621e5c11736f46532526e61be85940af4230f3e5.png) [@system](https://forum.kirupa.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [February 12, 2003, 8:16pm UTC](https://forum.kirupa.com/t/what-is-trace/13392/7 "2003-02-12T20:16:12Z")

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All it is…

A message thing that can only come up in the flash window…

It teels you if he code is wokring…  
Only if you put Trace under the code you want to see is working…