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DisplayObjectContainer  - AS3

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Migrating to ActionScript 3
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List of deprecated elements
Accessibility Implementation Constants
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(Beta)
Packageflash.display
Classpublic class DisplayObjectContainer
InheritanceDisplayObjectContainer Inheritance InteractiveObject Inheritance DisplayObject Inheritance EventDispatcher Inheritance Object
Subclasses Loader, Sprite, Stage, TextLine

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 1.0, Flash Player 9, Flash Lite 4

The DisplayObjectContainer class is the base class for all objects that can serve as display object containers on the display list. The display list manages all objects displayed in the Flash runtimes. Use the DisplayObjectContainer class to arrange the display objects in the display list. Each DisplayObjectContainer object has its own child list for organizing the z-order of the objects. The z-order is the front-to-back order that determines which object is drawn in front, which is behind, and so on.

DisplayObject is an abstract base class; therefore, you cannot call DisplayObject directly. Invoking new DisplayObject() throws an ArgumentError exception.

The DisplayObjectContainer class is an abstract base class for all objects that can contain child objects. It cannot be instantiated directly; calling the new DisplayObjectContainer() constructor throws an ArgumentError exception.

For more information, see the "Display Programming" chapter of the ActionScript 3.0 Developer's Guide.

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Related API Elements



Public Properties
 PropertyDefined By
 InheritedaccessibilityImplementation : AccessibilityImplementation
The current accessibility implementation (AccessibilityImplementation) for this InteractiveObject instance.
InteractiveObject
 InheritedmetaData : Object
Obtains the meta data object of the DisplayObject instance if meta data was stored alongside the the instance of this DisplayObject in the SWF file through a PlaceObject4 tag.
DisplayObject
  mouseChildren : Boolean
Determines whether or not the children of the object are mouse, or user input device, enabled.
DisplayObjectContainer
  numChildren : int
[read-only] Returns the number of children of this object.
DisplayObjectContainer
  tabChildren : Boolean
Determines whether the children of the object are tab enabled.
DisplayObjectContainer
  textSnapshot : flash.text:TextSnapshot
[read-only] Returns a TextSnapshot object for this DisplayObjectContainer instance.
DisplayObjectContainer
Public Methods
 MethodDefined By
  
Calling the new DisplayObjectContainer() constructor throws an ArgumentError exception.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Adds a child DisplayObject instance to this DisplayObjectContainer instance.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Adds a child DisplayObject instance to this DisplayObjectContainer instance.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Indicates whether the security restrictions would cause any display objects to be omitted from the list returned by calling the DisplayObjectContainer.getObjectsUnderPoint() method with the specified point point.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Determines whether the specified display object is a child of the DisplayObjectContainer instance or the instance itself.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Returns the child display object instance that exists at the specified index.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Returns the child display object that exists with the specified name.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Returns the index position of a child DisplayObject instance.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Returns an array of objects that lie under the specified point and are children (or grandchildren, and so on) of this DisplayObjectContainer instance.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Removes the specified child DisplayObject instance from the child list of the DisplayObjectContainer instance.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Removes a child DisplayObject from the specified index position in the child list of the DisplayObjectContainer.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
removeChildren(beginIndex:int = 0, endIndex:int = 0x7fffffff):void
Removes all child DisplayObject instances from the child list of the DisplayObjectContainer instance.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Changes the position of an existing child in the display object container.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Recursively stops the timeline execution of all MovieClips rooted at this object.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Swaps the z-order (front-to-back order) of the two specified child objects.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
swapChildrenAt(index1:int, index2:int):void
Swaps the z-order (front-to-back order) of the child objects at the two specified index positions in the child list.
DisplayObjectContainer
Events
 Event Summary Defined By
Property Detail
Constructor Detail
Method Detail
DisplayObjectContainerExample.as

The following example uses the class DisplayObjectContainerExample to create five orange squares in succession. This task is accomplished by performing the following steps:
  1. The constructor calls the configureAssets() method.
  2. The configureAssets() method creates child and lastChild Sprite objects.
  3. A for loop creates the five orange squares and positions them one after another.
  4. Each time a CustomSprite object is created, its constructor calls the draw() method of the CustomSprite object, which creates a 50-by-50-pixel square by calling the beginFill(), drawRect(), and endFill() methods of the Graphics class. The addChild() method adds each square to the display list.
package {
    import flash.display.DisplayObject;
    import flash.display.Sprite;

    public class DisplayObjectContainerExample extends Sprite {
        private var gutter:uint     = 5;
        private var childCount:uint = 5;

        public function DisplayObjectContainerExample() {
            configureAssets();
        }

        private function configureAssets():void {
            var child:Sprite = new CustomSprite();
            var lastChild:Sprite = child;
            for (var i:uint = 1; i <= childCount; i++) {
                child = new CustomSprite();
                child.x = lastChild.x + lastChild.width + gutter;
                addChild(child);
                lastChild = child;
            }
        }
    }
}

import flash.display.Sprite;

class CustomSprite extends Sprite {
    private var size:uint = 50;
    private var bgColor:uint = 0xFFCC00;

    public function CustomSprite() {
        draw(size, size);
    }

    private function draw(w:uint, h:uint):void {
        graphics.beginFill(bgColor);
        graphics.drawRect(0, 0, w, h);
        graphics.endFill();
    }
}