33 Replies Latest reply: Aug 13, 2008 4:04 PM by DanD99 RSS

    Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files

    AJ Ford Community Member
      For some reason, my Flash CS3 Pro install is not allowing me to debug any files with AS3 code. When choosing Debug-->Debug Movie, Flash displays a "You cannot debug this SWF because it does not contain ActionScript".

      If I switch over to AS2, everything works well.

      Here's what I've tried:
      - uninstall & reinstall Flash (also tried a repair and deleting the directory before the reinstall)
      - using the Flash player uninstall utility & reinstalling the debugger version of Flash downloaded from Adobe's website
      - logging on as a different user to make sure it wasn't anything in my operating system's profile

      Google searches and forum searches turn up very little on this error message. I'm hoping that someone here can lend a hand.

      My system is a Lenovo T61 running Windows XP SP2. It generally runs pretty well and I've been developing in AS2 with no issues on this same machine for about 6 months.

      Any help is greatly appreciated.

      Cheers,

      AJ
        • 1. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
          kglad CommunityMVP
          do all your browsers (if you have more than 1) have a flash player debugger version?

          you should double check that you have debug players at:

          http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=tn_15507
          • 2. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
            AJ Ford Community Member
            Yes... both browsers (IE & Firefox) most definitely have a flash debugger version. (the latest that was available from Adobe as of Friday...it's 9.something)

            Debugging AS2 scripts works just fine... it's only AS3 that's giving me the problem.

            Thanks for the response... I have another machine at home that works just fine... I'm thinking I may try a co-worker's machine with the same OS build to see if it's something weird with our build or just a quirk w/ my machine. (a Lenovo T61)

            AJ
            • 3. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
              kglad CommunityMVP
              you're welcome.

              you can still use the test environment, correct?
              • 4. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                AJ Ford Community Member
                When you say "test environment"... what exactly do you mean? I am able to use any file that has ActionScript 2 without any problem.... but whenever I try to debug an AS3 file (doing Debug-->Debug Movie), I get that message.

                If you could give me more information on "using the test environment", it would be greatly appreciated.

                AJ
                • 5. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                  kglad CommunityMVP
                  click control/test movie. that will still let you debug your as3 scripts.
                  • 6. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                    AJ Ford Community Member
                    When using Ctrl+Enter (Control-->"Test Movie"), the movie will run, but nothing shows up in the Output window.

                    If I change the ActionScript setting to AS2 for the same file, the output does show up in the Output window.

                    Weird....

                    Thanks again for your help. At this time, I'm leaning towards it being an issue with the build on my machine - a co-worker has the same exact problem with the same model laptop.
                    • 7. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                      kglad CommunityMVP
                      you're welcome.
                      • 8. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                        MJ_Shaw Community Member
                        AJ did you get to the bottom of this?? I am having exactly the same problem. I have uninstalled CS3, run the winCS3clean script, deleted my preferences and reinstalled it. And still if I create a movie with only trace('hello world'); on the first frame and export as AS2 works fine but export as AS3 it's broken.

                        Mike.
                        • 9. Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                          Bill Alexy Community Member
                          I'm having the exact same issue. In fact if I download an AS3 FLA from Lee Brimlow' s gotoandlearn.com I can run his precompiled swf with no problems. If I compile the swf on my end then I get a new swf, smaller in file size and with the same problems mentioned above.

                          This lead me to believe that my Flash CS3 install (even after I reinstalled it) wasn't importing the as3 classpath correctly, but If I remove the classpath, flash throws a compile time error indicating that I may be missing the $(AppConfig) path. If I add the class path back in I get no errors, my timeline elements appear onstage, with a strange flicker, and the actionscript is not executed. This only happens when I'm creating an AS3 file. For some reason, the issue may be that Flash is not compiling the actionscript on the timeline. Any help would be appreciated.
                          • 10. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                            kglad CommunityMVP
                            you guys should start posting operating systems and the programs installed on your computers, especially antivirus and other security programs, to see if there's a program that's breaking your flash install.
                            • 11. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                              Bill Alexy Community Member
                              Windows XP Professional, Service Pack 2
                              No Antivirus
                              Windows Firewall is disabled

                              Adobe CS3
                              Flash CS3 Professional v9.0

                              Thanks,
                              Bill
                              • 12. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                kglad CommunityMVP
                                you should get an antivirus (there are good free ones) and upgrade to sp3. that won't help you with your problem, unless your problem is you're computer is infected.
                                • 13. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                  Bill Alexy Community Member
                                  Thanks. I have it disabled for now. I just upgraded to sp3. Of course, none of this fixes my flash issues.
                                  • 14. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                    MJ_Shaw Community Member
                                    I'm running
                                    vista ultimate on a dell XPS M1710
                                    ESET NOD32 Antivirus
                                    windows firewall
                                    I don't believe this has anything to do with it as It was running fine on a friday came in on the monday and nothing.
                                    • 15. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                      kglad CommunityMVP
                                      run an antivirus scan.

                                      did you install any software including windows updates?
                                      • 16. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                        Khalid Fakhro Community Member
                                        Good day to you all,

                                        I'm facing exact same problem. I can't run any flash file that has AS3 while AS2 working fine.

                                        Adobe Creative Suite 3 -- including Flash CS3 Professional.
                                        Windows XP Professional
                                        Dell Optiplex 755
                                        McAfee Anti Virus

                                        Thanks,
                                        Khalid
                                        • 17. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                          Community Member
                                          hi guys,

                                          did anyone install any extension or plugin? does even a simple stop(); action fail in actionscript 3.0?

                                          maybe you can try to make a simple motion tween and put a stop action somewhere in the middle to see if the tween would stop.

                                          • 18. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                            AJ Ford Community Member
                                            I'm still experiencing the problem. The next step for me is a clean install of Windows XP followed by an immediate installation of Flash CS3.

                                            Since this is my work laptop (& I work for a very large company), it will be a couple weeks before I'm giving a clean XP image to use.

                                            It's good to hear of others with a similar problem, but it's also a bit disheartening that noone has been able to find a workaround.

                                            Tom- My ActionScript code I use to test is a simple trace("test"); What's really weird is that if I go into the properties of the document and change the ActionScript version from 3.0 to 2.0... all works OK.

                                            I'll post another update once I have the new install of Windows XP.

                                            AJ
                                            • 19. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                              Community Member
                                              AJ,

                                              Just to rule out any possible problem with the output panel, can you try to use the sprite code below to create a rectangle dynamically.

                                              var tom:Sprite= new Sprite();
                                              tom.graphics.beginFill(.5,1);
                                              tom.graphics.drawRect(10,10,100,200);
                                              addChild(tom);


                                              maybe its a problem with your classpath? try to go to actionscript preferences and delete the default $(AppConfig)/ActionScript 3.0/Classes
                                              use the browse button and point it to the classes folder in program files:

                                              C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS3\en\Configuration\ActionScript 3.0\Classes
                                              • 20. Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                Bill Alexy Community Member
                                                Hey Tom,
                                                I tried this earlier to no avail. It seems that the AS3 code is getting compiled, but it simply isn't executing. If you run a syntax check on the AS3 code, Flash throws an error, "The script contains errors. The errors encountered are listed in the Compiler Errors Panel." However there is no output in the Compiler Error Panel. This error will get thrown for even the simplest AS3 methods, like trace().
                                                • 21. Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                  schelling Community Member
                                                  Hi all,
                                                  Just to let you know, I have been experiencing the same problem, and posted to the forum on June 5th when I noticed it ( http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/webforums/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=665&threadid=1368402).

                                                  After no responses through the forums, I went through the Support Portal and have been working with Tom for a couple of days now, trying to address the issue.
                                                  • 22. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                    Community Member
                                                    Hi,

                                                    I think it's somehow connected to the updater and Adobe Air. After we uninstalled then reinstalled Flash cs3, we tried to install the manual update (Flash CS3 9.0.2) but was prompted that Flash was already updated. How could it have been when we just installed it?

                                                    Try this: uninstall Adobe air and adobe Flash player from add/remove programs and then try to update Flash again by downloading the manual updater:

                                                    http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/downloads.html

                                                    install the Adobe Flash Player Update for Flash CS3 Professional (9.0.2) update and then see if it works.

                                                    Maybe we can try this too:

                                                    I uploaded my configuration folder from my flash cs3 program files directory. Can someone try to replace their configuration folder with this:

                                                    http://tinyurl.com/4r5nt4

                                                    1) go to C:\Program Files\Adobe\Adobe Flash CS3\en and rename the configuration folder to "configuration old"
                                                    2) download the zip file and uncompress it to the same location as the previous configuration folder

                                                    • 23. Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                      Bill Alexy Community Member
                                                      After replacing the congfig folder (C:\Documents and Settings\wtalexy\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Flash CS3\en\Configuration) I now get this error:
                                                      "There is more than one definition of the Adobe AIR 1.0 player. Only the first definition will be used.There is more than one definition of the Flash Lite 1.0 player. Only the first definition will be used.There is more than one definition of the Flash Lite 1.1 player. Only the first definition will be used.There is more than one definition of the Flash Lite 2.0 player. Only the first definition will be used.There is more than one definition of the Flash Lite 2.1 player. Only the first definition will be used.There is more than one definition of the Flash Lite 3.0 player. Only the first definition will be used."[oops]
                                                      let me try that again with the right directory
                                                      • 24. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                        Bill Alexy Community Member
                                                        No dice Tom with the config file. I'm going to try the uninstall method you described.
                                                        • 25. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                          Bill Alexy Community Member
                                                          No dice with the reinstalls either
                                                          • 26. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                            Community Member
                                                            did anyone get to solve this? Have you guys tried installing using the trial version of Flash just to see if using a different installer would make a difference?
                                                            • 27. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                              andredecav Community Member
                                                              This is a serious issue. Someone at Adobe needs to address this immediately. A compiler should never break, and if I can't get this solved in the next day or two, I'm going to have to suggest silverlight to my client.

                                                              Can someone at Adobe get me some support?

                                                              These constant issues with the Flash/Flex compiler have made Flex development one of the worst development experiences I've had in a long time.
                                                              • 28. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                                andredecav Community Member
                                                                SOLUTION

                                                                So after a good amount of time, I've found at least one solution to the problem.

                                                                Turns out that Flash looks in the same folder as whatever FLA its compiling and does *something* with the SWC files in that folder. I don't know what it does seeing that I haven't referenced anything from them, but for whatever reason it looks at them.

                                                                It appears I had a SWC file in there that Flash wasn't happy about during compilation (in my case, flexlib.swc). Oddly enough, the Flex compiler has no problem using this file (flexlib.swc is referenced in my flex project).

                                                                My solution was to move the flash file out to a separate folder and reference the library folder that I expect output to go to with a relative path.
                                                                • 29. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                                  Bill Alexy Community Member
                                                                  This doesn't work for me. I'm using the Flash CS3 IDE. Even when creating a brand new project or file I can't compile AS3 files
                                                                  • 30. Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                                    JoBill_COSE Community Member
                                                                    I have exactly the same problem. AS3 just seems not to be compiled/interpreted at all. With a very simple 'trace' line as mentioned in previous posts, you just need to click on the 'check code' button and you will got the error saying that your code contains error (of course the same experience works just fine on a working CS3 installation on another computer).
                                                                    So far I have been through several install/uninstall processes without any change. It looks like Flash does not found needed components/libs for compiling/interpreting AS3 code... Error messages that all of us have seen are just kind of side effects of the real problem.

                                                                    Is there a way to initiate and access flash log files/system error events/dll load tracer where we would be able to see what flash is looking for and obviously it does not find (files/libs/whatever)?!

                                                                    In my case, I'm running CS3 on windows XP Pro SP2 installed on e: (not c: ... which may be also something to consider)
                                                                    ... very very annoying to waste time that way... and I guess it will be worst once we will have confirmation that this is just a misunderstood or broken path to a lib file... usually the stranger is the effect, the stupidest is the reason...
                                                                    sorry no solution here, just another name in the stack.
                                                                    • 31. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                                      MJ_Shaw Community Member
                                                                      Quite by chance I came across a solution that worked for me.

                                                                      As can be seen by my previous posts I tried the uninstall/re-install path a couple of times and like others it didn't fix it.

                                                                      Then I was trying to create a mobile app and I got a "Licensing for this product has stopped working" error for device central. So I found this article

                                                                      http://kb.adobe.com/selfservice/viewContent.do?externalId=kb401528&sliceId=1

                                                                      and followed all the steps but still both problems existed. I hadn't re-entered my serial (took me a time to find) and decided to do a uninstall/re-install again. This time however unlike the last times I had to re-enter my serial number and low and behold it all worked again.

                                                                      Hope this helps.

                                                                      Mike.
                                                                      • 32. Re: Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                                        Community Member
                                                                        hi guys,

                                                                        does anyone have EMC documentum? or Flash develop? or any code editing software? if you do, try to uninstall it and see if this will solve the issue
                                                                        • 33. Unable to Debug Any AS3 Files
                                                                          DanD99 Community Member
                                                                          I am also having the non-debugger issue, and in fact still have it to some degree. It seems to come and go. Sometimes it works for a while and then just stops working. It's stopped at times for days, then all of a sudden, it works again. I have no idea what's going on.

                                                                          Dan