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Static text is created only within Flash Professional. You cannot
programmatically instantiate static text using ActionScript. Static
text is useful if the text is short and is not intended to change
(as dynamic text can). Think of static text as similar to a graphic
element like a circle or square drawn on the Stage in Flash Professional.
While static text is more limited than dynamic text, ActionScript
3.0 does allow you to read the property values of static text using
the StaticText class. You can also use the TextSnapshot class to
read values out of the static text.
Accessing static text fields with the StaticText class
Typically, you use the flash.text.StaticText class in the Actions
panel of Flash Professional to interact with a static text instance
placed on the Stage. You may also work in ActionScript files that
interact with a SWF file containing static text. In either case,
you can’t instantiate a static text instance programmatically. Static text
is created in Flash Professional.
To create a reference to an existing static text field, iterate
over the items in the display list and assign a variable. For example:
for (var i = 0; i < this.numChildren; i++) {
var displayitem:DisplayObject = this.getChildAt(i);
if (displayitem instanceof StaticText) {
trace("a static text field is item " + i + " on the display list");
var myFieldLabel:StaticText = StaticText(displayitem);
trace("and contains the text: " + myFieldLabel.text);
}
}
Once you have a reference to a static
text field, you can use the properties of that field in ActionScript
3.0. The following code is attached to a frame in the Timeline, and
assumes that a variable named
myFieldLabel
is assigned
to a static text reference. A dynamic text field named
myField
is
positioned relative to the
x
and
y
values
of
myFieldLabel
and displays the value of
myFieldLabel
again.
var myField:TextField = new TextField();
addChild(myField);
myField.x = myFieldLabel.x;
myField.y = myFieldLabel.y + 20;
myField.autoSize = TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT;
myField.text = "and " + myFieldLabel.text
Using the TextSnapshot class
If you want
to programmatically work with an existing static text instance,
you can use the flash.text.TextSnapshot class to work with the
textSnapshot
property
of a flash.display.DisplayObjectContainer. In other words, you create
a TextSnapshot instance from the
DisplayObjectContainer.textSnapshot
property.
You can then apply methods to that instance to retrieve values or
select parts of the static text.
For example, place a static text field that contains the text
"TextSnapshot Example" on the Stage. Add the following ActionScript
to Frame 1 of the Timeline:
var mySnap:TextSnapshot = this.textSnapshot;
var count:Number = mySnap.charCount;
mySnap.setSelected(0, 4, true);
mySnap.setSelected(1, 2, false);
var myText:String = mySnap.getSelectedText(false);
trace(myText);
The TextSnapshot class is useful for getting the text out of
static text fields in a loaded SWF file, if you want to use the
text as a value in another part of an application.
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