A phrase carousel / rotator

[chromis]

Hi,

I've been trying to create a carousel class which takes an array of phrases and then creates a textfield for each one positioning it vertically based on the order it was added. The next stage would be for it to make the phrases move down the _y axis until they reach the limit of the container. The phrases need to then swap onto a container behind or drop depths so they are behind the other phrases and then make their way back up. The general idea being like an upright carousel.

I first tried to create it in one class (PhraseCarousel), but then i thought maybe it would be better to separate it into two classes so there's one for the phrase objects aswell (PhraseObject), i did this because i was thinking that i should give the moving behaviour to the phrase objects instead of dealing with that in the carousel.

Anyway where I'm struggling at the moment is how to best add the PhraseObject instances, do I attach them to the main timeline or do i add them to an array on the main timeline and then pass them to the carousel class?

I'm a bit new to OOP so my code is not really making all that much sense at the moment:

class PhraseObject extends MovieClip {
 
    private var phrase:String;
    private var textObject:TextField;
    private var startPositionY:Number;
    private static var count:Number = 0;
    private static var mTimeLine;
    private var depth:Number;
    private var container:MovieClip;
 
    function PhraseObject(pTimeLine:MovieClip,phrase:String,startPositionY:Number) {
 
        // Initialise variables
        trace("PhraseObject, initialising...");
        this.phrase = phrase;
        this.startPositionY = startPositionY;
 
        // Set the timeline to attach the phrase object to
        mTimeLine = pTimeLine;
 
        // Set the depth for the object
        depth = mTimeLine.getNextHighestDepth();
 
        // Create a movieclip for the object
        container = mTimeLine.createEmptyMovieClip("container"+depth,depth);
 
        // Add the text to the phrase object
        createPhraseObject();
 
        // Update 
        updatePhraseNumber();
    }
    function createPhraseObject() {
 
        // Create textfield
        textObject = container.createTextField("phrase_"+count+"_txt",count, 100, 100, 300, 100);
        textObject.color = 0xFF0000;
        textObject.text = this.phrase;
        textObject._x = 0;
        textObject._y = startPositionY;
 
        // Return a reference 
        return container;
    }
    public function setY(newY:Number) {
 
        this._y = newY;
 
    }
    private static function updatePhraseNumber() {
 
        trace("Updating count: "+count);
        count++;
        return count;
 
    }
 
}
 

class PhraseCarousel extends MovieClip {
 
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
    /* //////        Define Variables       /////// */
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
 
    private var phrases:Array = new Array();
    private var phraseStack:Array = new Array();    
    private var phraseCount:Number;
    private var phraseTotal:Number;
    private var phraseInterval:Number;
    private var phraseIntervalCount:Number;
    private var count:Number;
    public var mcPhraseCarousel:MovieClip;
    public var thisObj:PhraseCarousel;
 
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
    /* //////    Define Public Functions    /////// */
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
 
    public function PhraseCarousel (phrases:Array) {
 
        trace("PhraseCarousel loaded.");
 
        // Set the phrase count 
        phraseCount = 0;        
 
        // Set the number of phrases
        phraseTotal = phrases.length;                
 
        // Set how often we want a phrase to appear
        phraseInterval = 10;
 
        // Set the count for the phrase interval
        phraseIntervalCount = 10;
 
        // Set the base count for the carousel
        count = 0;
 
    }
    public function PushPhrase() {
 
        trace(" Adding a phrase: "+phraseCount);    
 
        // Check if all phrases have been pushed onto the stack
        if(phraseCount < phraseTotal) {
 
            // Push a new phrase onto the stack
            phraseStack[phraseCount] = phrases[phraseCount];        
 
            // Increment phrase interval count
            phraseCount++;
 
        }
        else {
 
            trace(" Resetting phrase interval count");
 
            // Reset phrase interval count
            phraseCount = 0;
 
        }
 
    }
 
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
    /* //////    Define Private Functions   /////// */
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
 
    private function display() {
 
        trace(" Displaying phrase stack");
 
        var i = 0;     
 
        // Display phrase stack
        for(i=0;i<phraseStack.length;i++) {
 
            trace("  Phrase Stack Pos: "+i+" Phrase "+phraseCount+" = "+phraseStack[i]);
 
        }
 
    }
    private function onEnterFrame() {
 
        // Check if phraseInterval has reached and then push a phrase
        // otherwise display phrase interval count
        if(phraseIntervalCount == phraseInterval) {
 
            trace(" Phrase Interval reached, resetting to 0");
 
            // Reset phrase inteval count
            phraseIntervalCount = 0;
 
            // Push a phrase onto the stack
            PushPhrase();
 
            // Display phrase stack
            display();
        }
        else {
            //trace(" Count: "+count);
            trace(" Phrase Interval Count: "+phraseIntervalCount);
            // Increment phrase interval count
            phraseIntervalCount++;
 
        }
 
    }
    private function startCarousel() {
 
 
    }
}
 

Hope someone can point me in the right direction, thanks.

chromis

[chromis]

Ok so perhaps my question was a bit complicated, i've simplified my goal and gone for one class with two functions one for adding phrases and one for organising them on the stage.
I've having trouble organising them now, what i'm trying to do is loop throuh the array of phrases and position them vertically below each other each time a new phrase is added, i can't seem to get the code quite right though could somone point out where i'm going wrong please?

PhraseCarousel.as:

class PhraseCarousel extends MovieClip {
 
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
    /* //////        Define Variables       /////// */
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
 
    public var phrases:Array;
    private var phraseCount:Number;
    private var phraseTotal:Number;    
    private var speed:Number;
    private var spacing:Number;    
    private var lastPhrase:Number;
 
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
    /* //////    Define Public Functions    /////// */
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
 
    public function PhraseCarousel() {
 
        trace("PhraseCarousel loaded.");
 
        // Initialise phrases array
        phrases = new Array();
 
        // Set the phrase count 
        phraseCount = 0;        
 
    }
    public function addPhrase(phrase:String) {
 
        trace(" Adding a phrase: "+phraseCount);    
        var newPhrase:TextField;
 
        // Create textfield format object
        var textField_fmt:TextFormat = new TextFormat();
        textField_fmt.font = "Arial";
        textField_fmt.color = 0xFF0000;
        textField_fmt.size = 15;
        textField_fmt.bold = true;        
        textField_fmt.align = "left"
        textField_fmt.underline = true;
 
        // Create textfield
        newPhrase = this.createTextField("phrase_"+phraseCount,phraseCount, 0, 0, 200, 20);
        newPhrase.text = phrase;
        newPhrase.setTextFormat(textField_fmt);
 
        trace("Phrases: "+phrases+" newPhrase "+newPhrase);
 
        // Set speed
        speed = 2;
 
        // Set spacing
        spacing = 10;
 
        // Set last phrase
        lastPhrase = phraseCount;
 
        // Add new textfield to phrases array
        phrases.push(newPhrase);
 
        // Organise phrases
        organise(phraseCount);
 
        // Increment phrase count
        phraseCount++;
    }
 
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
    /* //////    Define Private Functions   /////// */
    /* //////////////////////////////////////////// */
 
    private function organise(latestPhrase:Number) {
 
        trace(" Organising phrase stack");
 
        var i = 0;     
        var latestPhrase:Number;
        var newYPos:Number;
        var newYLimit:Number;
        var currentPhrase:Number;
 
        if(phrases.length > 1) {
 
            trace("  Phrases count = "+phrases.length+" continuing..");
 
            this.onEnterFrame = function() {    
 
 
                // Loop through phrases, moving all phrases apart from the first one down 
                for(i=1;i<phrases.length;i++) {
 
                    if(phrases[i]._y < (phrases[lastPhrase]._y + phrases[lastPhrase]._height)) {
 
                        phrases[i]._y = phrases[i]._y + 20;
 
                    }
                    else {
                        delete this.onEnterFrame;
                    }
 
                }
 
            }
 
        }
        else {
 
            trace(" Currently no phrases on the stack.");
 
        }
 
    }
 
}
 

Thanks.

Chromis