AS3 can't find the correct way to gotoAndStop a movieclip instance in as3

Question

I have a movieclip "achtergrond" from my library which I put on stage with a function like this:

function set_game ()
        {
            oefNr = 4;
            var bg:achtergrond = new achtergrond();
            bg.x = 0;
            bg.y = 0;
            bg.name = "bg";
            bg.gotoAndStop ("uit");
            addChild (bg);
            set_next ();
        }

The movieclip contains 2 frames "aan" and "uit" and it starts on the frame "uit". Further in my game I want to set the frame to "aan" while a sound is playing, like this:

    function playSnd ():void
    {
        getChildByName("bg").gotoAndStop("aan");
        snd = new Sound(new URLRequest("phonetic_" + curArr[curSnd] + ".mp3"));
        cnl = snd.play();
        cnl.addEventListener (Event.SOUND_COMPLETE, completeSnd);
    }

But for the life of me I can't find the correct way to do this. Flash keeps going on about displayObjects and other things, and I have no clue why I can't address my movieclip. Actually, I have a clue, but no more than that. I don't understand this part of Flash very well yet.

Answer 1

The answer is that if I try to access my clip like this: this["bg"] or getChildByName("bg") I am referring to the DisplayObject. This does not have all the methods of a MovieClip, like the gotoAndStop I need in this case.

I declared a new variable:

var movie:MovieClip;

Then I cast my DisplayObject as a MovieClip and put it into the var movie:

function set_game ()
        {
            oefNr = 4;
            var bg:achtergrond = new achtergrond();
            bg.x = 0;
            bg.y = 0;
            bg.name = "bg";
            bg.gotoAndStop ("uit");
            addChild (bg);
            movie = this.getChildByName("bg") as MovieClip;
            set_next ();
        }

Now I can use MovieClip-specific methods like gotoAndStop:

function playSnd ():void
    {
        movie.gotoAndStop("aan");
        snd = new Sound(new URLRequest("phonetic_" + curArr[curSnd] + ".mp3"));
        cnl = snd.play();
        cnl.addEventListener (Event.SOUND_COMPLETE, completeSnd);
    }

Answer inspired by this answer

Answer 2

bg.name = "bg";

actually many times this code doesn't work properly. So, instead of setting name, you should get real instance name of your "achtergrond" object and than you have to use this instance name.

Another Solution:

I think achtergrond is single object so why do you use it with "getChildByName"? Use it like bg.gotoAndStop();.