Adobe® Flex® 4 Language Reference
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flashx.textLayout.elements 
SpanElement 
Packageflashx.textLayout.elements
Classpublic class SpanElement
InheritanceSpanElement Inheritance FlowLeafElement Inheritance FlowElement Inheritance Object
Subclasses SpecialCharacterElement

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

The SpanElement class represents a run of text that has a single set of formatting attributes applied. SpanElement objects contain the text in a paragraph. A simple paragraph (ParagraphElement) includes one or more SpanElement objects.

A ParagraphElement will have a single SpanElement object if all the text in the paragraph shares the same set of attributes. It has multiple SpanElement objects if the text in the paragraph has multiple formats.

Default MXML PropertymxmlChildren

View the examples

See also



Public Properties
 PropertyDefined By
 InheritedalignmentBaseline : *
TextLayoutFormat: Specifies the baseline to which the dominant baseline aligns.
FlowElement
 InheritedbackgroundAlpha : *
TextLayoutFormat: Alpha (transparency) value for the background (adopts default value if undefined during cascade).
FlowElement
 InheritedbackgroundColor : *
TextLayoutFormat: Background color of the text (adopts default value if undefined during cascade).
FlowElement
 InheritedbaselineShift : *
TextLayoutFormat: Amount to shift the baseline from the dominantBaseline value.
FlowElement
 InheritedblockProgression : *
TextLayoutFormat: Specifies a vertical or horizontal progression of line placement.
FlowElement
 InheritedbreakOpportunity : *
TextLayoutFormat: Controls where lines are allowed to break when breaking wrapping text into multiple lines.
FlowElement
 InheritedcffHinting : *
TextLayoutFormat: The type of CFF hinting used for this text.
FlowElement
 Inheritedcolor : *
TextLayoutFormat: Color of the text.
FlowElement
 InheritedcolumnCount : *
TextLayoutFormat: Number of text columns (adopts default value if undefined during cascade).
FlowElement
 InheritedcolumnGap : *
TextLayoutFormat: Specifies the amount of gutter space, in pixels, to leave between the columns (adopts default value if undefined during cascade).
FlowElement
 InheritedcolumnWidth : *
TextLayoutFormat: Column width in pixels (adopts default value if undefined during cascade).
FlowElement
 InheritedcomputedFormat : flashx.textLayout.formats:ITextLayoutFormat
[override] [read-only] The computed text format attributes that are in effect for this element.
FlowLeafElement
 Inheritedconstructor : Object
A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.
Object
 InheritedcoreStyles : Object
[read-only] Returns the core styles on a FlowElement instance.
FlowElement
 InheriteddigitCase : *
TextLayoutFormat: The type of digit case used for this text.
FlowElement
 InheriteddigitWidth : *
TextLayoutFormat: Type of digit width used for this text.
FlowElement
 Inheriteddirection : *
TextLayoutFormat: Specifies the default bidirectional embedding level of the text in the text block.
FlowElement
 InheriteddominantBaseline : *
TextLayoutFormat: Specifies which element baseline snaps to the alignmentBaseline to determine the vertical position of the element on the line.
FlowElement
 InheritedfirstBaselineOffset : *
TextLayoutFormat: Specifies the baseline position of the first line in the container.
FlowElement
 InheritedfontFamily : *
TextLayoutFormat: The name of the font to use, or a comma-separated list of font names.
FlowElement
 InheritedfontLookup : *
TextLayoutFormat: Font lookup to use.
FlowElement
 InheritedfontSize : *
TextLayoutFormat: The size of the text in pixels.
FlowElement
 InheritedfontStyle : *
TextLayoutFormat: Style of text.
FlowElement
 InheritedfontWeight : *
TextLayoutFormat: Weight of text.
FlowElement
 Inheritedformat : flashx.textLayout.formats:ITextLayoutFormat
TextLayoutFormat properties applied directly to this element.
FlowElement
 Inheritedid : String
Assigns an identifying name to the element, making it possible to set a style for the element by referencing the id.
FlowElement
 InheritedjustificationRule : *
TextLayoutFormat: Rule used to justify text in a paragraph.
FlowElement
 InheritedjustificationStyle : *
TextLayoutFormat: The style used for justification of the paragraph.
FlowElement
 Inheritedkerning : *
TextLayoutFormat: Kerning adjusts the pixels between certain character pairs to improve readability.
FlowElement
 InheritedleadingModel : *
TextLayoutFormat: Specifies the leading model, which is a combination of leading basis and leading direction.
FlowElement
 InheritedligatureLevel : *
TextLayoutFormat: Controls which of the ligatures that are defined in the font may be used in the text.
FlowElement
 InheritedlineBreak : *
TextLayoutFormat: Controls word wrapping within the container (adopts default value if undefined during cascade).
FlowElement
 InheritedlineHeight : *
TextLayoutFormat: Leading controls for the text.
FlowElement
 InheritedlineThrough : *
TextLayoutFormat: If true, applies strikethrough, a line drawn through the middle of the text.
FlowElement
 InheritedlinkActiveFormat : *
Defines the formatting attributes used for links in active state, when the mouse is down on a link.
FlowElement
 InheritedlinkHoverFormat : *
Defines the formatting attributes used for links in hover state, when the mouse is within the bounds (rolling over) a link.
FlowElement
 InheritedlinkNormalFormat : *
Defines the formatting attributes used for links in normal state.
FlowElement
 Inheritedlocale : *
TextLayoutFormat: The locale of the text.
FlowElement
  mxmlChildren : Array
Sets text based on content within span tags; always deletes existing children.
SpanElement
 InheritedpaddingBottom : *
TextLayoutFormat: Botttom inset in pixels (adopts default value if undefined during cascade).
FlowElement
 InheritedpaddingLeft : *
TextLayoutFormat: Left inset in pixels (adopts default value if undefined during cascade).
FlowElement
 InheritedpaddingRight : *
TextLayoutFormat: Right inset in pixels (adopts default value if undefined during cascade).
FlowElement
 InheritedpaddingTop : *
TextLayoutFormat: Top inset in pixels (adopts default value if undefined during cascade).
FlowElement
 InheritedparagraphEndIndent : *
TextLayoutFormat: A Number that specifies, in pixels, the amount to indent the paragraph's end edge.
FlowElement
 InheritedparagraphSpaceAfter : *
TextLayoutFormat: A Number that specifies the amount of space, in pixels, to leave after the paragraph.
FlowElement
 InheritedparagraphSpaceBefore : *
TextLayoutFormat: A Number that specifies the amount of space, in pixels, to leave before the paragraph.
FlowElement
 InheritedparagraphStartIndent : *
TextLayoutFormat: A Number that specifies, in pixels, the amount to indent the paragraph's start edge.
FlowElement
 Inheritedparent : FlowGroupElement
[read-only] Returns the parent of this FlowElement object.
FlowElement
 InheritedparentRelativeEnd : int
[read-only] Returns the relative end of this FlowElement object in the parent.
FlowElement
 InheritedparentRelativeStart : int
[read-only] Returns the relative start of this FlowElement object in the parent.
FlowElement
 Inheritedprototype : Object
[static] A reference to the prototype object of a class or function object.
Object
 InheritedrenderingMode : *
TextLayoutFormat: The rendering mode used for this text.
FlowElement
 InheritedstyleName : String
Assigns an identifying class to the element, making it possible to set a style for the element by referencing the styleName.
FlowElement
 InheritedtabStops : *
TextLayoutFormat: Specifies the tab stops associated with the paragraph.
FlowElement
  text : String
Receives the String of text that this SpanElement object holds.
SpanElement
 InheritedtextAlign : *
TextLayoutFormat: Alignment of lines in the paragraph relative to the container.
FlowElement
 InheritedtextAlignLast : *
TextLayoutFormat: Alignment of the last (or only) line in the paragraph relative to the container in justified text.
FlowElement
 InheritedtextAlpha : *
TextLayoutFormat: Alpha (transparency) value for the text.
FlowElement
 InheritedtextDecoration : *
TextLayoutFormat: Decoration on text.
FlowElement
 InheritedtextIndent : *
TextLayoutFormat: A Number that specifies, in pixels, the amount to indent the first line of the paragraph.
FlowElement
 InheritedtextJustify : *
TextLayoutFormat: Specifies options for justifying text.
FlowElement
 InheritedtextLength : int
[read-only] Returns the total length of text owned by this FlowElement object and its children.
FlowElement
 InheritedtextRotation : *
TextLayoutFormat: Determines the number of degrees to rotate this text.
FlowElement
 Inheritedtracking : Object
[write-only] Sets the tracking and is synonymous with the trackingRight property.
FlowElement
 InheritedtrackingLeft : *
TextLayoutFormat: Number in pixels (or percent of fontSize, like 120%) indicating the amount of tracking (manual kerning) to be applied to the left of each character.
FlowElement
 InheritedtrackingRight : *
TextLayoutFormat: Number in pixels (or percent of fontSize, like 120%) indicating the amount of tracking (manual kerning) to be applied to the right of each character.
FlowElement
 InheritedtypographicCase : *
TextLayoutFormat: The type of typographic case used for this text.
FlowElement
 InheriteduserStyles : Object
Allows you to read and write user styles on a FlowElement object.
FlowElement
 InheritedverticalAlign : *
TextLayoutFormat: Vertical alignment or justification (adopts default value if undefined during cascade).
FlowElement
 InheritedwhiteSpaceCollapse : *
TextLayoutFormat: Collapses or preserves whitespace when importing text into a TextFlow.
FlowElement
Public Methods
 MethodDefined By
  
Constructor - creates a SpanElement object to hold a run of text in a paragraph.
SpanElement
 Inherited
Clears the style specified by the styleProp parameter from this FlowElement object.
FlowElement
 Inherited
deepCopy(relativeStart:int = 0, relativeEnd:int = -1):FlowElement
Makes a deep copy of this FlowElement object, including any children, copying the content between the two specified character positions and returning the copy as a FlowElement object.
FlowElement
 Inherited
Compare the userStyles of this with otherElement's userStyles.
FlowElement
 Inherited
Returns the start location of the element in the text flow as an absolute index.
FlowElement
 Inherited
getCharAtPosition(relativePosition:int):String
Returns the character at the specified position, relative to this FlowElement object.
FlowElement
 Inherited
getCharCodeAtPosition(relativePosition:int):int
Returns the character code at the specified position, relative to this FlowElement.
FlowElement
 Inherited
Returns the FontMetrics object for the span.
FlowLeafElement
 Inherited
Returns the start of this element relative to an ancestor element.
FlowElement
 Inherited
Returns the next FlowLeafElement object.
FlowLeafElement
 Inherited
Returns the next FlowElement sibling in the text flow hierarchy.
FlowElement
 Inherited
Returns the ParagraphElement object associated with this element.
FlowElement
 Inherited
Returns the previous FlowLeafElement object.
FlowLeafElement
 Inherited
Returns the previous FlowElement sibling in the text flow hierarchy.
FlowElement
 Inherited
getStyle(styleProp:String):*
Returns the value of the style specified by the styleProp parameter, which specifies the style name and can include any user style name.
FlowElement
 Inherited
getText(relativeStart:int = 0, relativeEnd:int = -1, paragraphSeparator:String = " "):String
Gets the specified range of text from a flow element.
FlowElement
 Inherited
Climbs the text flow hierarchy to return the root TextFlow object for the element.
FlowElement
 Inherited
Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined.
Object
 Inherited
Called for MXML objects after the implementing object has been created and all component properties specified on the MXML tag have been initialized.
FlowElement
 Inherited
Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter.
Object
 Inherited
Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable.
Object
  
replaceText(relativeStartPosition:int, relativeEndPosition:int, textValue:String):void
Updates the text in text span based on the specified start and end positions.
SpanElement
 Inherited
Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.
Object
 Inherited
setStyle(styleProp:String, newValue:*):void
Sets the style specified by the styleProp parameter to the value specified by the newValue parameter.
FlowElement
 Inherited
shallowCopy(relativeStart:int = 0, relativeEnd:int = -1):FlowElement
Makes a copy of this FlowElement object, copying the content between two specified character positions.
FlowElement
 Inherited
splitAtPosition(relativePosition:int):FlowElement
Splits this FlowElement object at the position specified by the relativePosition parameter, which is a relative position in the text for this element.
FlowElement
 Inherited
Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions.
Object
 Inherited
Returns the string representation of the specified object.
Object
 Inherited
Returns the primitive value of the specified object.
Object
Property Detail

mxmlChildren

property
mxmlChildren:Array

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Sets text based on content within span tags; always deletes existing children. This property is intended for use during mxml compiled import. When TLF markup elements have other TLF markup elements as children, the children are assigned to this property.



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

Throws
TypeError — if array element is not a SpecialCharacterElement or a String

text

property 
text:String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Receives the String of text that this SpanElement object holds.

The text of a span does not include the carriage return (CR) at the end of the paragraph but it is included in the value of textLength.



Implementation
    public function get text():String
    public function set text(value:String):void
Constructor Detail

SpanElement

()Constructor
public function SpanElement()

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Constructor - creates a SpanElement object to hold a run of text in a paragraph.

Method Detail

normalizeRange

()method
override tlf_internal function normalizeRange(normalizeStart:uint, normalizeEnd:uint):void

private

Parameters

normalizeStart:uint
 
normalizeEnd:uint

replaceText

()method 
public function replaceText(relativeStartPosition:int, relativeEndPosition:int, textValue:String):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Updates the text in text span based on the specified start and end positions. To insert text, set the end position equal to the start position. To append text to the existing text in the span, set the start position and the end position equal to the length of the existing text.

The replaced text includes the start character and up to but not including the end character.

Parameters

relativeStartPosition:int — The index position of the beginning of the text to be replaced, relative to the start of the span. The first character in the span is at position 0.
 
relativeEndPosition:int — The index one position after the last character of the text to be replaced, relative to the start of the span. Set this value equal to relativeStartPos for an insert.
 
textValue:String — The replacement text or the text to add, as the case may be.


Throws
RangeError — The relativeStartPosition or relativeEndPosition specified is out of range or a surrogate pair is being split as a result of the replace.

Example  ( How to use this example )

This example calls replaceText() several times to do the following: insert a string at the beginning of text; append a string to the end of text; insert a string in the middle of text; replace text entirely with a new string.

The example uses a second span (span2) to display the results.

package flashx.textLayout.elements.examples
{
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flashx.textLayout.container.ContainerController;
    import flashx.textLayout.elements.ParagraphElement;
    import flashx.textLayout.elements.SpanElement;
    import flashx.textLayout.elements.TextFlow;
    
    public class SpanElement_replaceTextExample  extends Sprite
    {
        public function SpanElement_replaceTextExample()
        {
            // create container and add it to the stage
            var container:Sprite = new Sprite();
            this.stage.addChild(container);
            // create TextFlow, ParagraphElement, and SpanElement objects
            var textFlow:TextFlow = new TextFlow();
            var paragraph:ParagraphElement = new ParagraphElement();
            var span:SpanElement = new SpanElement;
            var span2:SpanElement = new SpanElement;
            // add composer and container controller
            var controller:ContainerController = new ContainerController(container, 200, 700 );
            textFlow.flowComposer.addController(controller);
            textFlow.fontSize = 24;    // set font size
            // create text string and add it to the span
            var str:String = "0123456";
            span.text = str;
            // insert at the beginning 
            span.replaceText(0, 0, "abc");  
            span2.text = span.text + '\n'; 
            // append to the end of the text         
            span.replaceText(10, 10, "abc"); 
            span2.text += span.text + '\n';
            // insert string in the middle of the text
            span.replaceText(5, 8, "abc");
            span2.text += span.text + '\n';
            // replace text with string
            span.replaceText(0, 13, "abc");
            span2.text += span.text + '\n';
            // replace text with string
            span.replaceText(0, 3, "That's all she wrote!\n");
            span2.text += span.text + '\n';
            // display the results
            paragraph.addChild(span2);
            textFlow.addChild(paragraph);
            textFlow.flowComposer.updateAllControllers(); 
        }
    }
}

SpanElementExample.as

This example displays Hello World using two SpanElement objects that have different styles.
package flashx.textLayout.elements.examples
{
    import flash.display.Sprite;
    import flash.text.engine.FontPosture;
    import flashx.textLayout.container.ContainerController;
    import flashx.textLayout.elements.ParagraphElement;
    import flashx.textLayout.elements.SpanElement;
    import flashx.textLayout.elements.TextFlow;
    
    public class SpanElementExample  extends Sprite
    {
        public function SpanElementExample()
        {
            // create a container and add it to the stage
            var container:Sprite = new Sprite();
            this.stage.addChild(container);
            // create TextFlow, ParagraphElement, and SpanElement objects
            var textFlow:TextFlow = new TextFlow();
            var p:ParagraphElement = new ParagraphElement();
            var spanHello:SpanElement = new SpanElement();
            var spanWorld:SpanElement = new SpanElement();
            // add text and styles to the spans
            spanHello.text = "Hello, ";
            spanHello.fontSize = 48;
            spanWorld.text = "World!";
            spanWorld.fontSize = 56;
            spanWorld.fontStyle = FontPosture.ITALIC;
            spanWorld.color = 0xFFCC00;
            // add spans to paragraph, paragraph to text flow
            p.addChild(spanHello);
            p.addChild(spanWorld);
            textFlow.addChild(p);
            // update controller to display text
            var controller:ContainerController = new ContainerController(container, 400, 200 );
            textFlow.flowComposer.addController(controller);
            textFlow.flowComposer.updateAllControllers();
        }
    }
}