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1. Re: really dumb newbie question
Ned Murphy Jun 9, 2011 2:53 PM (in response to bbxrider11)What type of form field is it? If it is a component that has a label, then you would normally assign the label in the parameters panel for that component... Window -> Properties -> Parameters
If you are looking at a textfield, which the image you shows indicates, then you can manually type the text into the textfield, or, since it is a dynamic textfield you could assign it to the textfield using actionscript after you assign an instance name to the textfield, as in... tFieldName.text = "whetever text";, where tFieldName is whatever name you assign to the textfield.
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2. Re: really dumb newbie question
bbxrider11 Jun 10, 2011 10:06 AM (in response to Ned Murphy)thanks for the reply, the field is a drop down box, when I highlight it for edit, its properties are a movie clip and there is a variable name, on the time display, its got actions, field labels, fields, buttons and background.
however when I select either the drop down box itself or its label, for editing, neither has any place in the properties to specify the text for the label itself, which seems odd to me anyway not to have a simple place to put the text.
I have searched all the 1000 lines of code actionscript for the text in the label but it does not come up.
so still baffled here
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3. Re: really dumb newbie question
Ned Murphy Jun 10, 2011 11:34 AM (in response to bbxrider11)Maybe you should show a picture of what you just described. As I mentioned already, if you are dealing with a component, and if it has a label, usually the option for filling out the label will be via the Parameters panel. A drop down doesn't as far as I know. Each data element has a label, but not the box itself. Maybe it has one in newer versions?
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4. Re: really dumb newbie question
bbxrider11 Jun 10, 2011 12:16 PM (in response to bbxrider11)just to be clear the field I'm trying to change is a label not an input field. In this case it is the label for a drop down box. I'm used to html/css where the text to describe an input field is very much a separate entity/control/etc from the input field itself, it is not a property of the input field. It seems in flash that you just don't have text that is just displayed on the screen whether its used in a say a paragraph or as 'label' giving the description of an input field. it looks like text is entered in something akin to 'text boxes' some thing like word or page maker.
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5. Re: really dumb newbie question
Ned Murphy Jun 10, 2011 1:29 PM (in response to bbxrider11)That explanation didn't clear anything up. Everything I've offered so far stands... drop downs don't have labels as far as I know, so add a textfield next to it and enter your text into it.
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6. Re: really dumb newbie question
bbxrider11 Jun 10, 2011 4:12 PM (in response to Ned Murphy)ok sorry for the confusion. I inherited the application. there are 9 layers with 3 layers that each have a web form. nothing real fancy, no animation etc, just text boxes and drop down boxes. each one has a description field, that I would normally describ as a label or just some descriptive text. and almost always it is static. I have to change a couple of those label descriptions. I access the layer with form. I access edit for the form. the description is in a box. I highlight the box and invoke edit. now the screen has 1 layer with just the box with its text. in the properties drop down down box it is 'dynamic text', the other 2 choices in the dropdown are input text and static text. under the dropdown is a text box with <instance name>.which looks like a default
I have looked at what seems everything for the dropdown box that this label applies to and don't see the text anywhere for the label. I have searched the 900 lines of action script for the form looking again for the label text but no hits there.
so the is in there some place but I sure can't find it
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7. Re: really dumb newbie question
Ned Murphy Jun 10, 2011 5:36 PM (in response to bbxrider11)If you select the textfield and in the Properties panel you see <Instance Name>, then any text the textfield has in it is text that is typed into it because without an instance name assigned there is no way you can use code to assign the instance name. So just edit the text directly in the textfield by typing in it.
I'll take that back if it happens to be an AS1/AS2 file... in those versions it is possible to assign a variable to the textfield instead of an instance name (bad practice, but it can be done). So if you see something entered in the Properties panel field labeled "Var:", then you might find some code assigning a value to the textfield that way.
But if the first image you showed is one of the textfields in question, just edit the text you see directly in the textfield because it has no instance name nor Var assigned to it. And while you're at it, change it to a static textfield... static textfields are easier to manage display-wise and avoid font issues that might come up with dynamic textfields.
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8. Re: really dumb newbie question
bbxrider Jun 10, 2011 11:19 PM (in response to Ned Murphy)many thanks for all your follow ups, turns out it is a variable and I can't change that. I don't enuf about flash to guess why it was
done that way, but my gut feeling is that since it really has no reason to be dynamic for this application, its making it overly complex.
I found it under components, luckily the naming convention made it possible to find it. but accessing it as a component, brings up the
same property screen for it that I have accessed before, see below this one is more readable. the fact that its a variable means it has to
be assigned a value somewhere, somehow. now that I have variable name, I checked for it in all the action scripts I found for the all the layers
and it was not there. so I guess my question now is where else can variables be assigned values
besides actionscripts? there was an actionscript for each layer that has a form, and I found another just call initclip3, non of these
reference the variable name. so there must be an action script some where I missed that has the assignment of the actual text to the
variable?; is there some place that just has a list of all the actionscripts?
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9. Re: really dumb newbie question
Ned Murphy Jun 11, 2011 5:03 AM (in response to bbxrider)The image you are showing is again just showing a textfield, which does not support what you say regarding any component. It does not show a variable nor an instance name assigned for that textfield which doesn't support what you say regarding it being involved with a variable. You should be able to simply type in that textfield to change the text within it. If it is a component, then it should have a parameters panel that could include a parameter for a label, but again, the image you show does not support what you say about it being a component because there would be a breadcrumb trail that would point back to a component... "Scene 1 -> generalTab -> cpRecipDOB" does not... it says the textfield is inside a movieclip which is inside another movieclip
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10. Re: really dumb newbie question
bbxrider Jun 11, 2011 9:11 AM (in response to Ned Murphy)ok, but the problem here is that box with the text just does not seem to be available to type into. I have left clicked, right clicked, double left double right, just type on the key board, etc etc but nothing give a cursor in the box itself to change the text????????
it is the usuual thing to have the property listed as 'dynamic text' and yet the text is really static?
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11. Re: really dumb newbie question
bbxrider11 Jun 12, 2011 4:32 PM (in response to bbxrider)just one more thing, when I click the variable name for this label text, in the (components list), it brings up the exact same panel for editing as in my previous post. I got there by drilling down through the layer and then the fields selecting edit. wouldn't that mean that there is a variable associated with the text? if it does turn out to be the case, is there any other way to init a variable other than actionscript?
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12. Re: really dumb newbie question
bbxrider11 Jun 13, 2011 10:49 PM (in response to bbxrider11)ok finally, found it, you have to select the text box tool to edit it. phew, too bad so simple and took so long
still don't understand the concept of designating a fixed piece of text, as 'dynamic text' in the property, and
since it has a variable name which starts with 'cp' is that name assigned by flash? where flash knows everything
in every layer by a variable name? the 'cp' is some sort of polish notation for flash akin to say naming all string
variables in visual basic starting with 'str'? if its a flash created variable it uses the 'cp' notation?




