Shape object

Inheritance Element object > Shape object

Availability

Flash MX 2004.

Description

The Shape object is a subclass of the Element object. The Shape object provides more precise control than the Drawing APIs when manipulating or creating geometry on the Stage. This control is necessary so that scripts can create useful effects and other drawing commands. (See Element object.)

All Shape methods and properties that change a shape or any of its subordinate parts must be placed between shape.beginEdit() and shape.endEdit() calls to function correctly.

Method summary for the Shape object

In addition to the Element object methods, you can use the following methods with the Shape object:

Method	Description
shape.beginEdit()	Defines the start of an edit session.
shape.deleteEdge()	Deletes the specified edge.
shape.endEdit()	Defines the end of an edit session for the shape.

Property summary for the Shape object

In addition to the Element object properties, the following properties are available for the Shape object:

Property	Description
shape.contours	Read-only; an array of Contour objects for the shape (see Contour object).
shape.edges	Read-only; an array of Edge objects (see Edge object).
shape.isDrawingObject	Read-only; if TRue, the shape is a drawing object.
shape.isGroup	Read-only; if true, the shape is a group.
shape.vertices	Read-only; an array of Vertex objects (see Vertex object).

shape.beginEdit()

Availability

Flash MX 2004.

Usage

shape.beginEdit()

Parameters

None.

Returns

Nothing.

Description

Method; defines the start of an edit session. You must use this method before issuing any commands that change the Shape object or any of its subordinate parts.

Example

The following example takes the currently selected shape and removes the first edge in the edge array from it:

var shape = fl.getDocumentDOM().selection[0]; shape.beginEdit(); shape.deleteEdge(0); shape.endEdit();

shape.contours

Availability

Flash MX 2004.

Usage

shape.contours

Description

Read-only property; an array of Contour objects for the shape (see Contour object).

Example

The following example stores the first contour in the contours array in the c variable and then stores the HalfEdge object of that contour in the he variable:

var c = fl.getDocumentDOM().selection[0].contours[0]; var he = c.getHalfEdge();

shape.deleteEdge()

Availability

Flash MX 2004.

Usage

shape.deleteEdge( index )

Parameters

index A zero-based index that specifies the edge to delete from the shape.edges array. This method changes the length of the shape.edges array.

Returns

Nothing.

Description

Method; deletes the specified edge. You must call shape.beginEdit() before using this method.

Example

The following example takes the currently selected shape and removes the first edge in the edge array:

var shape = fl.getDocumentDOM().selection[0]; shape.beginEdit(); shape.deleteEdge(0); shape.endEdit();

shape.edges

Availability

Flash MX 2004.

Usage

shape.edges

Description

Read-only property; an array of Edge objects (see Edge object).

shape.endEdit()

Availability

Flash MX 2004.

Usage

shape.endEdit()

Parameters

None.

Returns

Nothing.

Description

Method; defines the end of an edit session for the shape. All changes made to the Shape object or any of its subordinate parts will be applied to the shape. You must use this method after issuing any commands that change the Shape object or any of its subordinate parts.

Example

The following example takes the currently selected shape and removes the first edge in the edge array from it:

var shape = fl.getDocumentDOM().selection[0]; shape.beginEdit(); shape.deleteEdge(0); shape.endEdit();

shape.isDrawingObject

Availability

Flash 8.

Usage

shape.isDrawingObject

Description

Read-only property; if true, the shape is a drawing object.

Example

The following example stores the first selected item object in the sel variable and then uses the element.elementType and shape.isDrawingObject properties to determine if the selected item is a drawing object.

var sel = fl.getDocumentDOM().selection[0]; var shapeDrawingObject = (sel.elementType == "shape") &&   sel.isDrawingObject; fl.trace(shapeDrawingObject);

See also

document.crop(), document.deleteEnvelope(), document.intersect(), document.punch(), document.union(), shape.isGroup

shape.isGroup

Availability

Flash MX 2004.

Usage

shape.isGroup

Description

Read-only property; if TRue, the shape is a group.

Example

The following example stores the first selected item object in the sel variable and then uses the element.elementType and shape.isGroup properties to determine if the selected item is a group:

var sel = fl.getDocumentDOM().selection[0]; var shapeGroup = (sel.elementType == "shape") && sel.isGroup; fl.trace(shapeGroup);

See also

shape.isDrawingObject

shape.vertices

Availability

Flash MX 2004.

Usage

shape.vertices

Description

Read-only property; an array of Vertex objects (see Vertex object).

Example

The following example stores the first selected item object in the someShape variable and then shows the number of vertices for that object in the Output panel:

var someShape = fl.getDocumentDOM().selection[0]; fl.trace("The shape has " + someShape.vertices.length + " vertices.");