mx.effects.Effect (Flex™ 2 Language Reference

	Property	Defined by
		className : String [read-only] The name of the effect class, such as `"Fade"`.	Effect
		constructor : Object A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.	Object
		customFilter : EffectTargetFilter Specifies a custom filter object, of type EffectTargetFilter, used by the effect to determine the targets on which to play the effect.	Effect
		duration : Number Duration of the effect in milliseconds.	Effect
		filter : String Specifies an algorithm for filtering targets for an effect.	Effect
		instanceClass : Class An object of type Class that specifies the effect instance class class for this effect class.	Effect
		isPlaying : Boolean [read-only] A read-only flag which is true if any instances of the effect are currently playing, and false if none are.	Effect
		prototype : Object [static] A reference to the prototype object of a class or function object.	Object
		relevantProperties : Array An Array of property names to use when performing filtering.	Effect
		relevantStyles : Array An Array of style names to use when performing filtering.	Effect
		repeatCount : int = 1 Number of times to repeat the effect.	Effect
		repeatDelay : int = 0 Amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait before repeating the effect.	Effect
		startDelay : int = 0 Amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait before starting the effect.	Effect
		suspendBackgroundProcessing : Boolean = false If `true`, blocks all background processing while the effect is playing.	Effect
		target : Object The UIComponent object to which this effect is applied.	Effect
		targets : Array An Array of UIComponent objects that are targets for the effect.	Effect

	Method	Defined by
		Effect(target:Object = null) Constructor.	Effect
		addEventListener(type:String, listener:Function, useCapture:Boolean = false, priority:int = 0, useWeakReference:Boolean = false):void Registers an event listener object with an EventDispatcher object so that the listener receives notification of an event.	EventDispatcher
		captureStartValues():void Captures the current values of the relevant properties on the effect's targets.	Effect
		createInstance(target:Object = null):IEffectInstance Creates a single effect instance and initializes it.	Effect
		createInstances(targets:Array = null):Array Takes an Array of target objects and invokes the `createInstance()` method on each target.	Effect
		dispatchEvent(event:Event):Boolean Dispatches an event into the event flow.	EventDispatcher
		end(effectInstance:IEffectInstance = null):void Interrupts an effect that is currently playing, and jumps immediately to the end of the effect.	Effect
		getAffectedProperties():Array Returns an Array of Strings, where each String is the name of a property that is changed by this effect.	Effect
		hasEventListener(type:String):Boolean Checks whether the EventDispatcher object has any listeners registered for a specific type of event.	EventDispatcher
		pause():void Pauses the effect until you call the `resume()` method.	Effect
		play(targets:Array = null, playReversedFromEnd:Boolean = false):Array Begins playing the effect.	Effect
		removeEventListener(type:String, listener:Function, useCapture:Boolean = false):void Removes a listener from the EventDispatcher object.	EventDispatcher
		resume():void Resumes the effect after it has been paused by a call to the `pause()` method.	Effect
		reverse():void Plays the effect in reverse, if the effect is currently playing, starting from the current position of the effect.	Effect
		setPropertyIsEnumerable(name:String, isEnum:Boolean = true):void Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.	Object
		toString():String Returns the string representation of the specified object.	Object
		valueOf():Object Returns the primitive value of the specified object.	Object
		willTrigger(type:String):Boolean Checks whether an event listener is registered with this EventDispatcher object or any of its ancestors for the specified event type.	EventDispatcher

	Method	Defined by
		applyValueToTarget(target:Object, property:String, value:*, props:Object):void Used internally by the Effect infrastructure.	Effect
		effectEndHandler(event:EffectEvent):void Called when an effect instance has finished playing.	Effect
		effectStartHandler(event:EffectEvent):void This method is called when the effect instance starts playing.	Effect
		filterInstance(propChanges:Array, targ:Object):Boolean Determines the logic for filtering out an effect instance.	Effect
		getValueFromTarget(target:Object, property:String):* Called by the `captureStartValues()` method to get the value of a property from the target.	Effect
		initInstance(instance:IEffectInstance):void Copies properties of the effect to the effect instance.	Effect

Summary	Defined by
activate	Dispatched when Flash Player gains operating system focus and becomes active.	EventDispatcher
deactivate	Dispatched when Flash Player loses operating system focus and is becoming inactive.	EventDispatcher
effectEnd	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
effectStart	Dispatched when the effect starts playing.	Effect

className:String [read-only]

The name of the effect class, such as "Fade".

This is a short, or unqualified, class name that does not include the package name. If you need the qualified name, use the getQualifiedClassName() method in the flash.utils package.

Implementation
public function get className():String

customFilter:EffectTargetFilter [read-write]

Specifies a custom filter object, of type EffectTargetFilter, used by the effect to determine the targets on which to play the effect.

Target filtering is only performed if you call the captureStartValues() method before playing the effect. Flex automatically calls the captureStartValues() method when the effect is part of a transition.

Use the filter property for simple filtering. If the customFilter property is non-null, the filter property is ignored.

The default value is null.

Implementation
public function get customFilter():EffectTargetFilter
public function set customFilter(value:EffectTargetFilter):void

See also

mx.effects.EffectTargetFilter

duration:Number [read-write]

Duration of the effect in milliseconds.

In a Parallel or Sequence effect, the duration property sets the duration of each effect. For example, if a Sequence effect has its duration property set to 3000, each effect in the Sequence takes 3000 ms to play.

For a repeated effect, the duration property specifies the duration of a single instance of the effect. Therefore, if an effect has a duration property set to 2000, and a repeatCount property set to 3, the effect takes a total of 6000 ms (6 seconds) to play.

The default value is 500.

Implementation
public function get duration():Number
public function set duration(value:Number):void

filter:String [read-write]

Specifies an algorithm for filtering targets for an effect. A value of null specifies no filtering.

Target filtering is only performed if you call the captureStartValues() method before playing the effect. Flex automatically calls the captureStartValues() method when the effect is part of a transition.

Use this property for simple filtering. Use the customFilter property for more complex filtering. If the customFilter property has a non-null value, this property is ignored.

You can use the following values for the filter property:

A value of "add" plays the effect on any targets that are added as a child to a container.
A value of "hide" plays the effect on any targets whose visible property changed from true to false.
A value of "move" plays the effect on any targets that changed their x or y properties.
A value of "remove" plays the effect on any targets that are removed as a child of a container.
A value of "resize" plays the effect on any targets that changed their width or height properties.
A value of "show" plays the effect on any targets whose visible property changed from false to true.
A value of "" specifies no filtering.

The default value is null.

Implementation
public function get filter():String
public function set filter(value:String):void

public var instanceClass:Class

An object of type Class that specifies the effect instance class class for this effect class.

All subclasses of the Effect class must set this property in their constructor.

isPlaying:Boolean [read-only]

A read-only flag which is true if any instances of the effect are currently playing, and false if none are.

Implementation
public function get isPlaying():Boolean

relevantProperties:Array [read-write]

An Array of property names to use when performing filtering. This property is used internally and should not be set by effect users.

The default value is equal to the Array returned by the getAffectedProperties() method.

Implementation
public function get relevantProperties():Array
public function set relevantProperties(value:Array):void

relevantStyles:Array [read-write]

An Array of style names to use when performing filtering. This property is used internally and should not be set by effect users.

The default value is equal to the Array returned by the getAffectedProperties() method.

Implementation
public function get relevantStyles():Array
public function set relevantStyles(value:Array):void

public var repeatCount:int = 1

Number of times to repeat the effect. Possible values are any integer greater than or equal to 0. A value of 1 means to play the effect once. A value of 0 means to play the effect indefinitely until stopped by a call to the end() method.

The default value is 1.

public var repeatDelay:int = 0

Amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait before repeating the effect. Possible values are any integer greater than or equal to 0.

The default value is 0.

public var startDelay:int = 0

Amount of time, in milliseconds, to wait before starting the effect. Possible values are any int greater than or equal to 0. If the effect is repeated by using the repeatCount property, the startDelay is only applied to the first time the effect is played.

The default value is 0.

public var suspendBackgroundProcessing:Boolean = false

If true, blocks all background processing while the effect is playing. Background processing includes measurement, layout, and processing responses that have arrived from the server. The default value is false.

You are encouraged to set this property to true in most cases, because it improves the performance of the application. However, the property should be set to false if either of the following is true:

User input may arrive while the effect is playing, and the application must respond to the user input before the effect finishes playing.
A response may arrive from the server while the effect is playing, and the application must process the response while the effect is still playing.

The default value is false.

target:Object [read-write]

The UIComponent object to which this effect is applied. When an effect is triggered by an effect trigger, the target property is automatically set to be the object that triggers the effect.

Implementation
public function get target():Object
public function set target(value:Object):void

targets:Array [read-write]

An Array of UIComponent objects that are targets for the effect. When the effect is playing, it performs the effect on each target in parallel. Setting the target property replaces all objects in this Array. When the targets property is set, the target property returns the first item in this Array.

Implementation
public function get targets():Array
public function set targets(value:Array):void

public function Effect(target:Object = null)

Constructor.

Starting an effect is usually a three-step process:

Create an instance of the effect object with the new operator.
Set properties on the effect object, such as duration.
Call the play() method or assign the effect to a trigger.

Parameters

target:Object (default = null) — The Object to animate with this effect.

protected function applyValueToTarget(target:Object, property:String, value:*, props:Object):void

Used internally by the Effect infrastructure. If captureStartValues() has been called, then when Flex calls the play() method, it uses this function to set the targets back to the starting state. The default behavior is to take the value captured using the getValueFromTarget() method and set it directly on the target's property. For example:

      
      target[property] = value;

Only override this method if you need to apply the captured values in a different way. Note that style properties of a target are set using a different mechanism. Use the relevantStyles property to specify which style properties to capture and apply.

Parameters

	`target:Object` — The effect target.

	`property:String` — The target property.

	`value:*` — The value of the property.

	`props:Object` — Array of Objects, where each Array element contains a `start` and `end` Object for the properties that the effect is monitoring.

public function captureStartValues():void

Captures the current values of the relevant properties on the effect's targets. Flex automatically calls the captureStartValues() method when the effect is part of a transition.

Use this function when you want the effect to figure out the start and end values of the effect. The proper usage of this function is to use it in the following steps:

Call the captureStartValues() method. The effect captures the starting effect values.
Make changes to your effect targets, like adding/removing children, altering properties, changing location, or changing dimensions.
Call the play() method. The effect captures the end values. This function populates the EffectInstance.propertyChanges property for each effect instance created by this effect. Effect developers can use the propertyChanges property to retrieve the start and end values for their effect.

public function createInstance(target:Object = null):IEffectInstance

Creates a single effect instance and initializes it. Use this method instead of the play() method to manipulate the effect instance properties before the effect instance plays.

The effect instance is created with the type specified in the instanceClass property. It is then initialized using the initInstance() method. If the instance was created by the EffectManager (when the effect is triggered by an effect trigger), the effect is further initialized by a call to the EffectInstance.initEffect() method.

Calling the createInstance() method does not play the effect. You must call the startEffect() method on the returned effect instance.

This function is automatically called by the Effect.play() method.

Parameters

target:Object (default = null) — Object to animate with this effect.

Returns

IEffectInstance — The effect instance object for the effect.

public function createInstances(targets:Array = null):Array

Takes an Array of target objects and invokes the createInstance() method on each target.

Parameters

targets:Array (default = null) — Array of objects to animate with this effect.

Returns

Array — Array of effect instance objects, one per target, for the effect.

protected function effectEndHandler(event:EffectEvent):void

Called when an effect instance has finished playing. If you override this method, ensure that you call the super method.

Parameters

event:EffectEvent — An event object of type EffectEvent.

protected function effectStartHandler(event:EffectEvent):void

This method is called when the effect instance starts playing. If you override this method, ensure that you call the super method.

Parameters

event:EffectEvent — An event object of type EffectEvent.

public function end(effectInstance:IEffectInstance = null):void

Interrupts an effect that is currently playing, and jumps immediately to the end of the effect. Calling this method invokes the EffectInstance.end() method.

The effect instance dispatches an effectEnd event when you call this method as part of ending the effect.

If you pass an effect instance as an argument, just that instance is interrupted. If no argument is passed in, all effect instances currently spawned from the effect are interrupted.

Parameters

effectInstance:IEffectInstance (default = null) — EffectInstance to terminate.

See also

mx.effects.EffectInstance.end()

protected function filterInstance(propChanges:Array, targ:Object):Boolean

Determines the logic for filtering out an effect instance. The CompositeEffect class overrides this method.

Parameters

	`propChanges:Array` — The properties modified by the effect.

	`targ:Object` — The effect target.

Returns

Boolean — Returns true if the effect instance should play.

public function getAffectedProperties():Array

Returns an Array of Strings, where each String is the name of a property that is changed by this effect. For example, the Move effect returns an Array that contains "x" and "y".

Every subclass of Effect must implement this method. The method is used by the EffectManager to ensure that no two effects are trying to animate the same property of the same object at the same time.

Returns

Array — An Array of Strings specifying the names of the properties modified by this effect.

protected function getValueFromTarget(target:Object, property:String):*

Called by the captureStartValues() method to get the value of a property from the target. This function should only be called internally by the effects framework. The default behavior is to simply return target[property]. Effect developers can override this function if you need a different behavior.

Parameters

	`target:Object` — The effect target.

	`property:String` — The target property.

Returns

* — The value of the target property.

protected function initInstance(instance:IEffectInstance):void

Copies properties of the effect to the effect instance.

Flex calls this method from the Effect.createInstance() method; you do not have to call it yourself.

When you create a custom effect, override this method to copy properties from the Effect class to the effect instance class. In your override, you must call super.initInstance().

Parameters

instance:IEffectInstance — The effect instance to initialize.

public function pause():void

Pauses the effect until you call the resume() method.

public function play(targets:Array = null, playReversedFromEnd:Boolean = false):Array

Begins playing the effect. You typically call the end() method before you call the play() method to ensure that any previous instance of the effect has ended before you start a new one.

All subclasses must implement this method.

Parameters

	`targets:Array` (default = `null`) — Array of target objects on which to play this effect. If this parameter is specified, then the effect's `targets` property is not used.

	`playReversedFromEnd:Boolean` (default = `false`) — If `true`, play the effect backwards.

Returns

Array — Array of EffectInstance objects, one per target, for the effect.

public function resume():void

Resumes the effect after it has been paused by a call to the pause() method.

public function reverse():void

Plays the effect in reverse, if the effect is currently playing, starting from the current position of the effect.

Event object type: mx.events.EffectEvent
EffectEvent.type property = mx.events.EffectEvent.EFFECT_END

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.

The EffectEvent.EFFECT_END constant defines the value of the type property of the event object for an effectEnd event.

The properties of the event object have the following values:

Property	Value
`bubbles`	false
`cancelable`	false
`currentTarget`	The Object that defines the event listener that handles the event. For example, if you use `myButton.addEventListener()` to register an event listener, myButton is the value of the `currentTarget`.
`effectInstance`	The effect instance object for the event.
`target`	The Object that dispatched the event; it is not always the Object listening for the event. Use the `currentTarget` property to always access the Object listening for the event.

Event object type: mx.events.EffectEvent
EffectEvent.type property = mx.events.EffectEvent.EFFECT_START

Dispatched when the effect starts playing.

The EffectEvent.EFFECT_START constant defines the value of the type property of the event object for an effectStart event.

The properties of the event object have the following values:

Property	Value
`bubbles`	false
`cancelable`	false
`currentTarget`	The Object that defines the event listener that handles the event. For example, if you use `myButton.addEventListener()` to register an event listener, myButton is the value of the `currentTarget`.
`effectInstance`	The effect instance object for the event.
`target`	The Object that dispatched the event; it is not always the Object listening for the event. Use the `currentTarget` property to always access the Object listening for the event.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<!-- Simple example to demonstrate the Effect class. -->
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml">

    <mx:Script>
        <![CDATA[

            import mx.controls.Alert;

            // Event handler for the effectEnd event.            
            private function endEffectHandler():void {
                Alert.show("Effect Ended!");
            }

            // Event handler for the reset button.            
            private function resetHandler():void {
                expand.end(); 
                img.width=30; 
                img.height=60; 
                button1.enabled=true;
            }
        ]]>
    </mx:Script>


    <mx:Resize id="expand" target="{img}" widthTo="100" heightTo="200" 
        duration="10000" effectEnd="endEffectHandler();"/>

    <mx:Panel title="Resize Effect Example" width="100%" height="100%" 
        paddingTop="10" paddingLeft="10" paddingRight="10" paddingBottom="10">

        <mx:Text width="100%" color="blue" 
            text="Use the Button controls to control the Resize effect."/>

        <mx:Image id="img" width="30" height="60"
            source="@Embed(source='assets/Nokia_6630.png')"/>
     
        <mx:ControlBar>
            <mx:Button id="button1" label="Start" click="expand.play(); button1.enabled=false;"/>
            <mx:Button label="Pause" click="expand.pause();"/>
            <mx:Button label="Resume" click="expand.resume();"/>
            <mx:Button label="Reverse" click="expand.reverse();"/>
            <mx:Button label="End" click="expand.end();"/>
            <mx:Button label="Reset" click="resetHandler();"/>
        </mx:ControlBar>
        
    </mx:Panel>
</mx:Application>

Adobe^® Flex™ 2 Language Reference	All Packages \| All Classes \| Language Elements \| Index \| Appendixes \| Frames No Frames
Class Effect	Properties \| Methods \| Events \| Examples

Package	mx.effects
Class	public class Effect
Inheritance	Effect EventDispatcher Object
Subclasses	AddChildAction, CompositeEffect, MaskEffect, RemoveChildAction, SetPropertyAction, SetStyleAction, SoundEffect, TweenEffect