MACROMEDIA DIRECTOR MX 2004, Reference

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Finding information about scripting in Director 7
Although the way you access the scripting APIs in this release may vary from previous releases,
you still have access to the same APIs that you did before, in addition to some brand new ones.
The only difference is that you access them by using the new objects.
For more information on the objects and their corresponding scripting APIs, see “Introducing the
Director objects” on page 51 .
What’s new in this documentation
If you learned how to script in previous versions of Director, you should know about some
changes in the scripting documentation for this release. The
Director Scripting Reference takes the
place of the Lingo Dictionary that was shipped with previous versions of Director. This reference is
organized differently than the Lingo Dictionary .
In the Lingo Dictionary , information about the scripting model was organized by feature.
For example, if you wanted to learn how to work with sprites in script, you looked up that
information in one of the sections under the Sprites heading, such as Dragging Sprites, Sprite
Dimensions, and so on. In addition, all of the scripting APIs were listed in a single alphabetical
list, which meant that all functions, properties, events, and so on were mixed together
alphabetically.
In the Director Scripting Reference , information about the scripting model is organized by object.
This organization closely reflects the organization of the actual scripting objects that you use in
your scripts. For example, if you want to find out how to work with sprites in script, you should
look for the Sprite section in the chapter, Director Core Objects.
The scripting APIs are still listed in alphabetical order, but they are categorized by API type. For
example, all methods are listed alphabetically under the Methods heading, all properties are listed
alphabetically under the Properties heading, and so on.
Finding information about scripting in Director
With its new organization, the Director Scripting Reference contains the following topics:
Director Scripting Essentials Provides information about the basic scripting concepts and
components you will use when scripting in Director.
Writing Scripts in Director Provides information about the Director scripting environment in
addition to advanced scripting concepts and techniques.
Debugging Scripts in Director Provides information about how to find problems in your
scripts when they are not performing as expected.
Director Core Objects Provides a list of the objects and APIs that you use to access the core
functionality and features in Director, such as the Director player engine, movie windows, sprites,
sounds, and so on.
Media Types Provides a list of the media types and APIs that you use to access the functionality
of the various media types in Director, such as RealMedia, DVD, Animated GIF, and so on, that
are added to movies as cast members.
Scripting Objects Provides a list of the scripting objects, also known as Xtra extensions, and
APIs that you use to extend core Director functionality. Xtra extensions provide capabilities such
as importing filters and connecting to the Internet.
3D Objects Provides a list of the objects you use to add 3D functionality to a movie.