bunnyhero dev

I use a combination of timeline animation and scripting-based movement. All too often, I will create a timeline animation and only later realize that I need to give a MovieClip (or MovieClips) a name so I can refer to it from a script. Of course, this only happens after I’ve already created a zillion keyframes, and going through the entire animation to make sure that each MovieClip has its proper name in each keyframe is a real pain.

I finally got around to creating a simple JSFL script to automate this. It’s nothing special and it doesn’t do much error-checking or anything, but I thought I’d share it regardless in case it helps someone else :)

Copy and paste the following code into a file with the extension “.jsfl” (for example, “Multiframe renamer.jsfl”). Save the file in the appropriate folder, based on your platform:

• Windows Vista™:
  boot drive\Users\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Flash CS3\language\Configuration\Commands\
• Windows® XP:
  boot drive\Documents and Settings\username\Local Settings\Application Data\Adobe\Flash CS3\language\Configuration\Commands\
• Mac OS® X:
  Macintosh HD/Users/username/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash CS3/language/Configuration/Commands/

and restart Flash.

Then, in your document, select the element you want to be renamed across all frames. The go to the “Commands” menu and choose “Multiframe renamer”. You will be prompted to enter a name for the element (press “Cancel” to abort), and it will go and rename that element across all keyframes in that layer.

No warranty, use at your own risk, etc., but feel free to share and improve on it :)

/* multiframe renamer */
 
go();
 
 
function go()
{
    if ( ! fl.getDocumentDOM() || fl.getDocumentDOM().selection.length == 0) {
        alert("Please select an element");
        return false;
    }
    var element = fl.getDocumentDOM().selection[0];
    //  use the element's current name as the default
    var name = prompt("New name for elements on this layer?", element.name);
    if (name == null) {
        alert("Cancelled by user");
        return false;
    }
 
    var timeline = fl.getDocumentDOM().getTimeline();
 
    //  find the layer from the selection
    var layer = element.layer;
 
    //  all frames in this layer... rename first element to the name
    for (var i = 0; i < layer.frames.length; i++) {
        if (layer.frames[i].startFrame == i) {
            if (layer.frames[i].elements && layer.frames[i].elements.length > 0) {
                layer.frames[i].elements[0].name = name;
            }
        }
    }
 
    alert("Done!")
    return true;
}

Automating Flash with JSFL is very useful, but I sure wish there was a way to specify “save as Flash 8″ in fl.documentSave(). I guess I could run the script in Flash 8 instead… kind of a hassle though.