How screens interact with ActionScript (Flash Professional only)

Screens are similar to nested movie clips in the way that they interact with ActionScript. (See Nested movie clips.) However, there are some differences.

Keep these guidelines in mind when you use ActionScript with screens:

• When you select a screen in the Screen Outline pane and add ActionScript, the script is added directly to the screen as an object action (much as ActionScript is added directly to a movie clip). It's usually best to use object actions for simple code (such as creating navigation between screens) and external AS files for more complex code.
• For best results, organize the document structure and finalize screen names before adding ActionScript. If you rename a screen, the instance name is automatically changed, and you must update the instance names in any ActionScript code you have already written.
• If you want to add a frame action to the Timeline for a screen, you must select the screen, expand the Timeline (collapsed by default), then select the first frame in the Timeline. However, it's usually best to use an external AS file, rather than a frame action, for complex code on a screen.
• You cannot view or manipulate the main Timeline for a screen-based document. However, you can target the main Timeline using _root in a target path.
• Each screen is automatically associated with ActionScript, based on its class. (See Slide screens and form screens (Flash Professional only).) You can change the class that a screen is assigned to, and you can set some parameters for a screen in the Property inspector. See Setting properties and parameters for a screen (Flash Professional only).
• Use the Screen class, Slide class, and Form class to control screens with ActionScript.
• Use components whenever possible to create interactivity. Put no more than 125 total component instances in a single FLA file.
• To create navigation between slides, use rootSlide. For example, to get the current slide, use rootSlide.currentSlide.
• Do not try to do slide navigation inside of on(reveal) or on(hide) handlers.
• Do not add an on(keydown) or on(keyup) event to ActionScript code controlling a screen.

For more information on controlling screens with ActionScript, see Screen class, Form class, and Slide class.