Packagemx.effects
Classpublic class CompositeEffect
InheritanceCompositeEffect Inheritance Effect Inheritance flash.events.EventDispatcher
SubclassesParallel, Sequence

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:

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

MXML Syntaxexpanded Hide MXML Syntax

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
 PropertyDefined by
  children : Array
An Array containing the child effects of this CompositeEffect.
CompositeEffect
 InheritedclassName : String
The name of the effect class, such as "Fade".
Effect
 InheritedcustomFilter : EffectTargetFilter
Specifies a custom filter object, of type EffectTargetFilter, used by the effect to determine the targets on which to play the effect.
Effect
 Inheritedduration : Number
Duration of the effect in milliseconds.
Effect
 InheritedeffectTargetHost : IEffectTargetHost
A property that lets you access the target list-based control of a data effect.
Effect
 Inheritedfilter : String
Specifies an algorithm for filtering targets for an effect.
Effect
 InheritedhideFocusRing : Boolean
Determines whether the effect should hide the focus ring when starting the effect.
Effect
 InheritedinstanceClass : Class
An object of type Class that specifies the effect instance class class for this effect class.
Effect
 InheritedisPlaying : Boolean
A read-only flag which is true if any instances of the effect are currently playing, and false if none are.
Effect
 InheritedperElementOffset : Number
Additional delay, in milliseconds, for effect targets after the first target of the effect.
Effect
 InheritedrelevantProperties : Array
An Array of property names to use when performing filtering.
Effect
 InheritedrelevantStyles : Array
An Array of style names to use when performing filtering.
Effect
 InheritedrepeatCount : int = 1
Number of times to repeat the effect.
Effect
 InheritedrepeatDelay : int = 0
Amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait before repeating the effect.
Effect
 InheritedstartDelay : int = 0
Amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait before starting the effect.
Effect
 InheritedsuspendBackgroundProcessing : Boolean = false
If true, blocks all background processing while the effect is playing.
Effect
 Inheritedtarget : Object
The UIComponent object to which this effect is applied.
Effect
 Inheritedtargets : Array
An Array of UIComponent objects that are targets for the effect.
Effect
 InheritedtriggerEvent : 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
 PropertyDefined by
 InheritedendValuesCaptured : 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
 MethodDefined by
  
CompositeEffect(target:Object = null)
Constructor.
CompositeEffect
  
addChild(childEffect:IEffect):void
Adds a new child effect to this composite effect.
CompositeEffect
 Inherited
Captures the current values of the relevant properties on the effect's targets and saves them as end values.
Effect
 Inherited
captureMoreStartValues(targets:Array):void
Captures the current values of the relevant properties of an additional set of targets

This function is used by Flex when a data change effect is run.

Effect
 Inherited
Captures the current values of the relevant properties on the effect's targets.
Effect
 Inherited
createInstance(target:Object = null):IEffectInstance
Creates a single effect instance and initializes it.
Effect
 Inherited
createInstances(targets:Array = null):Array
Takes an Array of target objects and invokes the createInstance() method on each target.
Effect
 Inherited
Removes event listeners from an instance and removes it from the list of instances.
Effect
 Inherited
end(effectInstance:IEffectInstance = null):void
Interrupts an effect that is currently playing, and jumps immediately to the end of the effect.
Effect
 Inherited
Returns an Array of Strings, where each String is the name of a property that is changed by this effect.
Effect
 Inherited
pause():void
Pauses the effect until you call the resume() method.
Effect
 Inherited
play(targets:Array = null, playReversedFromEnd:Boolean = false):Array
Begins playing the effect.
Effect
 Inherited
resume():void
Resumes the effect after it has been paused by a call to the pause() method.
Effect
 Inherited
reverse():void
Plays the effect in reverse, if the effect is currently playing, starting from the current position of the effect.
Effect
 Inherited
stop():void
Stops the effect, leaving the effect targets in their current state.
Effect
Protected Methods
 MethodDefined by
 Inherited
applyValueToTarget(target:Object, property:String, value:Object, props:*):void
Used internally by the Effect infrastructure.
Effect
 Inherited
Called when an effect instance has finished playing.
Effect
 Inherited
This method is called when the effect instance starts playing.
Effect
 Inherited
filterInstance(propChanges:Array, target:Object):Boolean
Determines the logic for filtering out an effect instance.
Effect
 Inherited
getValueFromTarget(target:Object, property:String):*
Called by the captureStartValues() method to get the value of a property from the target.
Effect
 Inherited
Copies properties of the effect to the effect instance.
Effect
Events
 EventSummaryDefined by
 Inherited Dispatched when the effect finishes playing, either when the effect finishes playing or when the effect has been interrupted by a call to the end() method.Effect
 Inherited Dispatched when the effect starts playing.Effect
Property detail
childrenproperty
public var children:Array

An Array containing the child effects of this CompositeEffect.

Constructor detail
CompositeEffect()constructor
public function CompositeEffect(target:Object = null)

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

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.