MACROMEDIA FLASH MX 2004 - ACTIONSCRIPT - Page 152

152 Chapter 8: Working with Text
Embedding images, SWF files, and movie clips in text fields
In Flash Player 7 and later, you can use the
<img> tag to embed JPEG files, SWF files, and movie
clips inside dynamic and input text fields. (For a full list of attributes for the
<img> tag, see
“Image tag (<img>)” on page 149.)
By default, Flash displays media embedded in a text field at full size. To specify dimensions for
embedded media, use the
<img> tags’s height and width attributes. (See “Specifying height and
width values” on page 152.)
In general, an image embedded in a text field appears on the line following the
<img> tag.
However, when the
<img> tag is the first character in the text field, the image appears on the first
line of the text field.
Embedding SWF and JPEG files
To embed a JPEG or SWF file in a text field, specify the absolute or relative path to the JPEG or
SWF file in the
<img> tag’s src attribute. For example, the following code inserts a JPEG file
that’s located in the same directory as the SWF file.
textField_txt.htmlText = "<p>Here’s a picture from my last vacation:<img
src='beach.jpg'>";
Embedding movie clip symbols
To embed a movie clip symbol in a text field, you specify the symbol’s linkage identifier for the
<img> tag’s src attribute. (For information on defining a linkage identifier, see “Attaching a
movie clip symbol to the Stage” on page 127.)
For example, the following code inserts a movie clip symbol with the linkage identifier
symbol_ID.
textField_txt.htmlText = "<p>Here’s a movie clip symbol:<img
src='symbol_ID'>";
In order for an embedded movie clip to display properly and completely, the registration point for
its symbol should be at point (0,0).
Specifying height and width values
If you specify
width and height attributes for an <img> tag, space is reserved in the text field for
the JPEG file, SWF file, or movie clip. After a JPEG or SWF file has downloaded completely it is
displayed in the reserved space. Flash scales the media up or down according to the
height and
width values.
If you don’t specify
height and width values, no space is reserved for the embedded media. After
a JPEG or SWF file has downloaded completely, Flash inserts it into the text field at full size and
rebreaks text around it.
Controlling embedded media with ActionScript
Flash Player creates a new movie clip for each
<img> tag and embeds that movie clip within the
TextField object. The
<img> tag’s id attribute lets you assign an instance name to the movie clip
that is created. This lets you control that movie clip with ActionScript.
The movie clip created by Flash Player is added as a child movie clip to the text field that contains
the image.