Buttons in swf not working when inserted into course

If they are using '_root' references in there code that will cause problems?  That will be a difficult one to diagnose if you don't have access to the FLA files.

You can always insrt as a web object, you really need the fla

Phil

I got access to the .FLA file... 

There are references to _root all over the place. Mainly on the buttons

"btn_durext.onRelease = 

function ()

{

    _root.gotoAndPlay(3);

}"

is there a way to modify this to not have _root references?  

Have to put my head back into ActionScript 2 mode (sound of gears changing).

on the main timeline of your FLA file enter something like this...

_global.topLevel = this;

then anywhere you see a reference to '_root' change it to '_global.topLevel'

I spend most of my time using AS3 (which of course means it is for content other than Articulate, but if i remember correctly that should do the trick for you.

Issue is that when this custom SWF file is in the Articulate player _root is now referring to the top level of the Articulate player, not the top layer of the custom SWF.  So with the code above we are just creating a global variable that remembers the location of the top of the custom SWF so that when the buttons reference it they are addressing the right level in the flash sandwich.  

Hope that helps.

Thank you Steve, I will try this out and post back my results. 

One quick question: (I am a total flash n00b) 

for the "this;" what does "this" need to be? 

Hi Steve, or anyone else who is a hero with Actionscript. 

So I replaced all references to "_root" with "_global.toplevel"

Here is what my code looks like. 

stop();

_global.toplevel=this;

btn_durext.onRelease = 

function ()

{

    _global.toplevel.gotoAndPlay(3);

}

btn_durint.onRelease = 

function ()

{

    _global.toplevel.gotoAndPlay(4);

}

btn_quiet.onRelease = 

function ()

{

    _global.toplevel.gotoAndPlay(5);

}

btn_betterair.onRelease = 

function ()

{

    _global.toplevel.gotoAndPlay(6);

}

btn_custex.onRelease = 

function ()

{

    _global.toplevel.gotoAndPlay(7);

}

btn_efficient.onRelease = 

function ()

{

    _global.toplevel.gotoAndPlay(8);

}

Now my problem is that the buttons seem to be flashing (I'm thinking they are reloading?) How can I stop this? 

hard to say to much more without knowing more about the structure of the file. I double checked what I told you and that code is sound.  Though with the gotoAndPlay commands as soon as say 'btn_durext' is pressed then it will jump and start playing from frame 3 and then of course immediately go to frame 4 and 5 and on until the end of the timeline or a stop command is given.  Now this could be entirely what is intended but without knowing a bit more it's hard to say.

Are the buttons just on a keyframe on frame 1? or do they exist along the entire timeline?

I'll do the best I can to help you out, just a bit challenging without seeing the file.

Thanks! It so happened the buttons that were in there were movie clips, so they were looping their load sequence. I went through and changed them all to buttons and they stopped flashing. 

I really appreciate the help! The _global.toplevel fix seemed to work, as i'm able to click through to all the buttons now. 

Much appreciated, 

Madison Wellington

Great!  Glad I could help.

Help me! I have a similar problem. 

I have created a drag and drop interaction, where the colour of the "reactive strip area" changes when the user drops the syringe on it.

When I import and preview the swf in Articulate, the colour change no longer happens... I have changed all "_root" references to "_global.topLevel", as suggested above and still no joy!

Can anybody help a noob?