mx.effects.CompositeEffect - Adobe® Flex® 4 Language Reference (Flex 4)

Package	mx.effects
Class	public class CompositeEffect
Inheritance	CompositeEffect Effect EventDispatcher Object
Subclasses	Parallel, Sequence

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The CompositeEffect class is the parent class for the Parallel and Sequence classes, which define the <mx:Parallel> and <mx:Sequence> MXML tags. Flex supports two methods to combine, or composite, effects: parallel and sequence. When you combine multiple effects in parallel, the effects play at the same time. When you combine multiple effects in sequence, one effect must complete before the next effect starts.

You can create a composite effect in MXML, as the following example shows:

  <mx:Parallel id="WipeRightUp">
    <mx:children>
      <mx:WipeRight duration="1000"/>
      <mx:WipeUp duration="1000"/>
    </mx:children>
  </mx:Parallel>
   
  <mx:VBox id="myBox" hideEffect="WipeRightUp">
    <mx:TextArea id="aTextArea" text="hello"/>
  </mx:VBox>

The <mx:children> tag is optional.

Starting a composite effect in ActionScript is usually a five-step process:

Create instances of the effect objects to be composited together; for example:
```
myFadeEffect = new mx.effects.Fade(target);
```
Set properties, such as duration, on the individual effect objects.
Create an instance of the Parallel or Sequence effect object; for example:
```
mySequenceEffect = new mx.effects.Sequence();
```
Call the addChild() method for each of the effect objects; for example:
```
mySequenceEffect.addChild(myFadeEffect);
```
Invoke the composite effect's play() method; for example:
```
mySequenceEffect.play();
```

MXML Syntax expanded

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The CompositeEffect class adds the following tag attributes, and all the subclasses of the CompositeEffect class inherit these tag attributes:

  <mx:tagname>
    <mx:children>
      <!-- Specify child effect tags --> 
    </mx:children>
  </mx:tagname>

Default MXML Propertychildren

Public Properties

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	Property		Defined By
		children : Array	CompositeEffect
		className : String [read-only] The name of the effect class, such as "Fade".	Effect
		compositeDuration : Number [read-only] Returns the duration of this effect as defined by the duration of all child effects.	CompositeEffect
		constructor : Object A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.	Object
		customFilter : mx.effects:EffectTargetFilter Specifies a custom filter object, of type EffectTargetFilter, used by the effect to determine the targets on which to play the effect.	Effect
		duration : Number Duration of the effect in milliseconds.	Effect
		effectTargetHost : mx.effects:IEffectTargetHost A property that lets you access the target list-based control of a data effect.	Effect
		filter : String Specifies an algorithm for filtering targets for an effect.	Effect
		hideFocusRing : Boolean Determines whether the effect should hide the focus ring when starting the effect.	Effect
		instanceClass : Class An object of type Class that specifies the effect instance class class for this effect class.	Effect
		isPlaying : Boolean [read-only] A read-only flag which is true if any instances of the effect are currently playing, and false if none are.	Effect
		perElementOffset : Number Additional delay, in milliseconds, for effect targets after the first target of the effect.	Effect
		playheadTime : Number Current time position of the effect.	Effect
		prototype : Object [static] A reference to the prototype object of a class or function object.	Object
		relevantProperties : Array An Array of property names to use when performing filtering.	Effect
		relevantStyles : Array An Array of style names to use when performing filtering.	Effect
		repeatCount : int = 1 Number of times to repeat the effect.	Effect
		repeatDelay : int = 0 Amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait before repeating the effect.	Effect
		startDelay : int = 0 Amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait before starting the effect.	Effect
		suspendBackgroundProcessing : Boolean = false If true, blocks all background processing while the effect is playing.	Effect
		target : Object The object to which this effect is applied.	Effect
		targets : Array An Array of objects that are targets for the effect.	Effect
		triggerEvent : Event The Event object passed to this Effect by the EffectManager when an effect is triggered, or null if the effect is not being played by the EffectManager.	Effect

Protected Properties

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	Property		Defined By
		applyTransitionEndProperties : Boolean This flag controls whether the effect, when run in a transition, automatically applies the property values according to the end state, as opposed to leaving values as set by the effect itself.	Effect
		endValuesCaptured : Boolean = false A flag containing true if the end values of an effect have already been determined, or false if they should be acquired from the current properties of the effect targets when the effect runs.	Effect

Public Methods

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	Method		Defined By
		CompositeEffect(target:Object = null) Constructor.	CompositeEffect
		addChild(childEffect:IEffect):void Adds a new child effect to this composite effect.	CompositeEffect
		addEventListener(type:String, listener:Function, useCapture:Boolean = false, priority:int = 0, useWeakReference:Boolean = false):void Registers an event listener object with an EventDispatcher object so that the listener receives notification of an event.	EventDispatcher
		captureEndValues():void Captures the current values of the relevant properties on the effect's targets and saves them as end values.	Effect
		captureMoreStartValues(targets:Array):void Captures the current values of the relevant properties of an additional set of targets Flex uses this function when a data change effect is run.	Effect
		captureStartValues():void Captures the current values of the relevant properties on the effect's targets.	Effect
		createInstance(target:Object = null):IEffectInstance Creates a single effect instance and initializes it.	Effect
		createInstances(targets:Array = null):Array Takes an Array of target objects and invokes the createInstance() method on each target.	Effect
		deleteInstance(instance:IEffectInstance):void Removes event listeners from an instance and removes it from the list of instances.	Effect
		dispatchEvent(event:Event):Boolean Dispatches an event into the event flow.	EventDispatcher
		end(effectInstance:IEffectInstance = null):void Interrupts an effect that is currently playing, and jumps immediately to the end of the effect.	Effect
		getAffectedProperties():Array Returns an Array of Strings, where each String is the name of a property changed by this effect.	Effect
		hasEventListener(type:String):Boolean Checks whether the EventDispatcher object has any listeners registered for a specific type of event.	EventDispatcher
		hasOwnProperty(name:String):Boolean Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined.	Object
		isPrototypeOf(theClass:Object):Boolean Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter.	Object
		pause():void Pauses the effect until you call the resume() method.	Effect
		play(targets:Array = null, playReversedFromEnd:Boolean = false):Array Begins playing the effect.	Effect
		propertyIsEnumerable(name:String):Boolean Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable.	Object
		removeEventListener(type:String, listener:Function, useCapture:Boolean = false):void Removes a listener from the EventDispatcher object.	EventDispatcher
		resume():void Resumes the effect after it has been paused by a call to the pause() method.	Effect
		reverse():void Plays the effect in reverse, if the effect is currently playing, starting from the current position of the effect.	Effect
		setPropertyIsEnumerable(name:String, isEnum:Boolean = true):void Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.	Object
		stop():void Stops the effect, leaving the effect targets in their current state.	Effect
		toLocaleString():String Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions.	Object
		toString():String Returns the string representation of the specified object.	Object
		valueOf():Object Returns the primitive value of the specified object.	Object
		willTrigger(type:String):Boolean Checks whether an event listener is registered with this EventDispatcher object or any of its ancestors for the specified event type.	EventDispatcher

Protected Methods

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	Method		Defined By
		applyValueToTarget(target:Object, property:String, value:*, props:Object):void Used internally by the Effect infrastructure.	Effect
		effectEndHandler(event:EffectEvent):void Called when an effect instance has finished playing.	Effect
		effectStartHandler(event:EffectEvent):void This method is called when the effect instance starts playing.	Effect
		effectStopHandler(event:EffectEvent):void Called when an effect instance has stopped by a call to the stop() method.	Effect
		filterInstance(propChanges:Array, target:Object):Boolean Determines the logic for filtering out an effect instance.	Effect
		getValueFromTarget(target:Object, property:String):* Called by the captureStartValues() method to get the value of a property from the target.	Effect
		initInstance(instance:IEffectInstance):void Copies properties of the effect to the effect instance.	Effect

Events

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	Summary	Defined By
activate	[broadcast event] Dispatched when the Flash Player or AIR application gains operating system focus and becomes active.	EventDispatcher
deactivate	[broadcast event] Dispatched when the Flash Player or AIR application operating loses system focus and is becoming inactive.	EventDispatcher
effectEnd	Dispatched when one of the effect's instances finishes playing, either when the instance finishes playing or when the effect is interrupted by a call to the end() method.	Effect
effectStart	Dispatched when the effect starts playing.	Effect
effectStop	Dispatched when the effect has been stopped, which only occurs when the effect is interrupted by a call to the stop() method.	Effect

Property Detail

children

property

children:Array

Implementation
public function get children():Array
public function set children(value:Array):void

compositeDuration

property

compositeDuration:Number [read-only]

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Returns the duration of this effect as defined by the duration of all child effects. This takes into account the startDelay and repetition info for all child effects, along with their durations, and returns the appropriate result.

Implementation
public function get compositeDuration():Number

Constructor Detail

CompositeEffect

()

Constructor

public function CompositeEffect(target:Object = null)

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Constructor.

Parameters

target:Object (default = null) — This argument is ignored for composite effects. It is included only for consistency with other types of effects.

Method Detail

addChild

()

method

public function addChild(childEffect:IEffect):void

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Adds a new child effect to this composite effect. A Sequence effect plays each child effect one at a time, in the order that they were added. A Parallel effect plays all child effects simultaneously; the order in which they are added does not matter.

Parameters

childEffect:IEffect — Child effect to be added to the composite effect.