The Debugger lets you set breakpoints in your ActionScript that stop the Flash Player, and then lets you step through the code as it runs.. Viewing Variables View Variables Click the Deb
Trang 1Flash provides several tools for testing Flash files (ActionScript 2.0) The Debugger panel lets you find and locate errors hidden in an swf file, while it's running in the Flash Player You must view your SWF file in a special version of Flash Player called the Flash Debug Player (installed automatically when you install the Flash application) The Debugger panel shows a hierarchical display list of movie clips currently loaded in the Flash Player You can then use the Debugger to display and modify variables and property values as the swf file plays You can insert breakpoints to stop the swf file and step through the ActionScript code line-by-line You can even use the Debugger panel to test files on a Web server in a remote location The Debugger lets you set breakpoints in your ActionScript that stop the Flash Player, and then lets you step through the code as it runs You can then go back to your scripts and edit them so that they produce the correct results The Debugger will show you where the problems are, but it doesn't fix them
Debugging for
ActionScript 2.0
Use the Debugger for
ActionScript 2.0
Create or open a Flash document
(ActionScript 2.0)
Click the Debug menu, point to
Debug Movie, and then click
Debug.
The Code View panel displays a
message indicating the movie is
paused
Click the Continue button to start
the movie
Click the Stop Debugging button to
turn off the Debugger panel
Click inside the code, and then
click the Toggle Breakpoint button
to add or remove a breakpoint at
the insertion point of the cursor
Breakpoints stop the movie from
playing and allow you to step
through the code line-by-line
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Testing Your Movie
When you use the Test command to test movies that implement
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Trang 2When you work in the debugger, you have the option of viewing any variables used in the Flash movie The Variables tab (ActionScript 2.0)
or Variables panel (ActionScript 3.0) displays the names and values of any global and variables in the swf file If you change the value of a variable, you can see the change reflected in the swf file while it runs
This gives you the ability to test new data variables and their impact on the Flash player document
Viewing Variables
View Variables
Click the Debug menu, point to
Debug Movie, and then click
Debug.
Select the movie clip containing
the variable from the display list
Select an item in the display frame
to view the variables’ names and
values
Click the Continue button to
observe the variables as the Flash
movie runs
Click the Variables tab
(ActionScript 2.0) or open the
Variables panel (ActionScript 3.0)
IMPORTANT The display list
updates automatically as the swf
file plays When a movie clip is
removed from the swf file at a
specific frame, the movie clip,
variable and variable name are
removed from the display list in the
Debugger panel This lets you
focus on the current variables
When you're viewing a complex
Flash movie that contains a lot of
variables, only having to view the
current variables cuts down on the
visual clutter and helps you to
focus on the immediate problem
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Variables panel (ActionScript 3.0)
Trang 3Adding Variables to
the Watch List
Add Variables
In a Flash document (ActionScript
2.0), click the Debug menu, point to
Debug Movie, and then click
Debug.
Click the Variables or Locals tab,
and then select a variable
Click the Debugger Options button,
and then click Watch.
Click the Watch tab.
Click the Debugger Options button,
and then click Add Watch.
Enter the target path to the
variable name and the value in the
fields
IMPORTANT To remove
variables from the Watch list,
select a variable on the Watch tab,
click the Debugger Options button,
and then click Remove Watch
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In any complex Flash movie, there will probably be a set of critical ables that you want to keep an eye on You can monitor critical vari-ables in a controllable way by marking them to appear in the Debugger panel Watch list (ActionScript 2.0) The Watch list displays the absolute path to the variable and its current value, and just like the Variables tab, you can enter a new variable value at any time during the debug-ging process If you add a local variable to the Watch list, its value appears only when Flash Player is stopped at a line of ActionScript where that variable is in scope All other variables appear while the .swf file is playing If the Debugger can't find the value of the variable, it will list the value as undefined
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Trang 4The Properties tab in the Debugger panel displays all property values of any movie clip on the Stage Properties are modifiable script elements such as _alpha (controls transparency) or _rotation (controls the rota-tion of an object) The Properties tab lists all the properties including their current values You can then view and adjust the values as the Flash movie is running to judge their impact This gives you a tremen-dous amount of control over the debugging process
Viewing Properties
View Properties
In a Flash document (ActionScript
2.0), click the Debug menu, point to
Debug Movie, and then click
Debug.
Select an available movie clip from
the Display list
Click the Properties tab to view all
the properties, and their
associated values
Double-click on a value, and then
enter a new value in any available
property
Click the Continue button to view
how the Properties change as the
Flash movie executes
IMPORTANT The Property
value is picky about what you
enter For example, you can enter
a value of 100 or text within quotes
such as: "newvalue", but you
cannot enter expressions such as:
y + 12, or an array of values such
as: 1, 2, 3
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Trang 5Breakpoints are instructions to the Debugger to halt the running of a Flash movie For example, you're watching how the swf file plays using the debugger, however, it's moving so fast it's difficult to watch every-thing By inserting a breakpoint, you instruct the Debugger to halt the movie, and any variables and properties will display the values associ-ated with that point in time You can then change the values, and instruct the Debugger to continue playing the movie, using the modified values
Setting Breakpoints
Set Breakpoints
Click the Debug menu, point to
Debug Movie, and then click
Debug.
Click in the left margin next to the
line of code where you want the
breakpoint (red dot) to appear
◆ You can also click the Toggle
Breakpoint button (ActionScript
2.0) to add/remove a
breakpoint
To remove a breakpoint, click the
existing breakpoint (red dot) in the
left margin
Click the Continue button to begin
playing the Flash swf file
The Debugger will stop the movie
at each breakpoint
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Breakpoint
Did You Know?
You can set or remove breakpoints in
the Actions panel In the Actions panel
(ActionScript 2.0), click in the line you
want, click the Debug Option button,
and then select a command to set or
remove breakpoints
You cannot set a breakpoint on a
com-Toggle Breakpoint
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ActionScript 3.0
Trang 6When you open the Debugger, the Flash Player is automatically paused
This gives you the opportunity to set breakpoints in the script (see pre-vious lesson: Setting Breakpoints) Once the breakpoints are set, you can click the Continue or Play button, and the Debugger will play the .swf file until it encounters a breakpoint When a breakpoint is reached, the Debugger again pauses the movie You now have the option to step
in, out, or through the breakpoint script
Stepping Through
Code
Step Through Code
Click the Debug menu, point to
Debug Movie, and then click
Debug.
Add breakpoints by clicking in the
left margin next to the line of code
where you want the breakpoint To
remove a breakpoint, click it
Click the Continue button.
Flash will stop at the first
breakpoint
Select from the step options:
◆ Continue Click to leave the line
at which the player is stopped
and continue playing
◆ Stop Debugging Click to
deactivate the Debugger, but
continue to play the SWF file
◆ Step In Click to step into and
execute a function (works only
for user-defined functions)
◆ Step Out Click to move out of a
function (works only if you are
currently stopped in a
user-defined function)
◆ Step Over Click to skip over a
line of code
IMPORTANT If you want to
know where the Debugger
stopped, keep an eye on the
yellow arrow A yellow arrow
along the left side of the
Debugger's code view indicates
the line at which the Debugger
stopped
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The Yellow Arrow indicates where the Debugger stopped.
Stop Debugging 4
Continue Current breakpoints
Trang 7Debugging a Flash movie manually means exactly what it implies You can open the movie and take it for a test drive Debugging a movie manually gives you a chance to be the visitor, and experience your movie exactly as they would When you manually test a Flash movie, you want to experience the wait time for downloading, you want to for-get that you created this masterpiece, and you want to come at it just
as if you were a first-time viewer A Flash movie is composed of text, video, audio, images, animation, and ActionScript Your visitors will never see the ActionScript code, and most do not care how it was writ-ten; but they will care if it doesn't work properly For example, your visi-tor clicks a button to load a video file, and the video never loads, or it takes so long to load that they get bored and leave Problems like these are what manual debugging can solve
Debugging Manually
Debug Manually
Click the Control menu, point to
Test Movie, and then click Test to
test the entire Flash movie, or click
Test Scene to test the active
scene
IMPORTANT Flash uses the
settings described in the Publish
Settings dialog box to test the
movie Use different settings such
as Flash plug-in, to test the movie
against earlier versions of the
Flash plug-in
Test the movie for any structural
failures Click all the buttons, and
then do all the things you think a
visitor would do
Note any problems on paper
(remember this is manual) in a list,
called a debug, or edit list The list
can then be used to edit the
document, using Flash's standard
editing tools
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Click and test all the buttons and input fields
See Also
Debugging Flash Player
When Adobe Flash is installed, the debug version of the Adobe Flash Player is installed for the application as well as any browser speci-fied While this debug version of the player can be very useful when authoring, there may be situations where the standard player is desired If you would like to uninstall the debug player, point your browser to: http://www.adobe.com/support/flash/ts/documents /remove_player.htm, and then follow the on-screen instructions You can then point your browser to: http://www.adobe.com/shockwave
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