Adobe® Flex® 4 Language Reference
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mx.core 
Container 
Packagemx.core
Classpublic class Container
InheritanceContainer Inheritance UIComponent Inheritance FlexSprite Inheritance Sprite Inheritance DisplayObjectContainer Inheritance InteractiveObject Inheritance DisplayObject Inheritance EventDispatcher Inheritance Object
Implements IContainer, IDataRenderer, IFocusManagerContainer, IListItemRenderer, IRawChildrenContainer, IChildList, IVisualElementContainer, INavigatorContent
Subclasses Accordion, Box, Canvas, Form, FormItem, LayoutContainer, Panel, Tile, ViewStack

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The Container class is an abstract base class for components that controls the layout characteristics of child components. You do not create an instance of Container in an application. Instead, you create an instance of one of Container's subclasses, such as Canvas or HBox.

The Container class contains the logic for scrolling, clipping, and dynamic instantiation. It contains methods for adding and removing children. It also contains the getChildAt() method, and the logic for drawing the background and borders of containers.

MXML SyntaxexpandedHide MXML Syntax
Flex Framework containers inherit the following attributes from the Container class:

  <mx:tagname
    Properties
    autoLayout="true|false"
    clipContent="true|false"
    creationIndex="undefined"
    creationPolicy="auto|all|queued|none"
    defaultButton="No default"
    horizontalLineScrollSize="5"
    horizontalPageScrollSize="0"
    horizontalScrollBar="null"
    horizontalScrollPolicy="auto|on|off"
    horizontalScrollPosition="0"
    icon="undefined"
    label=""
    verticalLineScrollSize="5"
    verticalPageScrollSize="0"
    verticalScrollBar="null"
    verticalScrollPolicy="auto|on|off"
    verticalScrollPosition="0"
 
    Styles
    backgroundAlpha="1.0"
    backgroundAttachment="scroll"
    backgroundColor="undefined"
    backgroundDisabledColor="undefined"
    backgroundImage="undefined"
    backgroundSize="auto" 
        For the Application container only, backgroundSize="100%"
    barColor="undefined"
    borderColor="0xAAB3B3"
    borderSides="left top right bottom"
    borderSkin="mx.skins.halo.HaloBorder"
    borderStyle="inset"
    borderThickness="1"
    color="0x0B333C"
    cornerRadius="0"
    disabledColor="0xAAB3B3"
    disbledOverlayAlpha="undefined"
    dropShadowColor="0x000000"
    dropShadowEnabled="false"
    fontAntiAliasType="advanced"
    fontfamily="Verdana"
    fontGridFitType="pixel"
    fontSharpness="0""
    fontSize="10"
    fontStyle="normal"
    fontThickness="0"
    fontWeight="normal"
    horizontalScrollBarStyleName="undefined"
    paddingBottom="0"
    paddingLeft="0"
    paddingRight="0"
    paddingTop="0"
    shadowDirection="center"
    shadowDistance="2"
    textAlign="left"
    textDecoration="none|underline"
    textIndent="0"
    verticalScrollBarStyleName="undefined"
 
    Events
    childAdd="No default"
    childIndexChange="No default"
    childRemove="No default"
    dataChange="No default"
    scroll="No default"
    >
      ...
      child tags
      ...
  </mx:tagname>
  

See also



Public Properties
 PropertyDefined By
 InheritedaccessibilityDescription : String
A convenience accessor for the description property in this UIComponent's accessibilityProperties object.
UIComponent
 InheritedaccessibilityEnabled : Boolean
A convenience accessor for the silent property in this UIComponent's accessibilityProperties object.
UIComponent
 InheritedaccessibilityImplementation : AccessibilityImplementation
The current accessibility implementation (AccessibilityImplementation) for this InteractiveObject instance.
InteractiveObject
 InheritedaccessibilityName : String
A convenience accessor for the name property in this UIComponent's accessibilityProperties object.
UIComponent
 InheritedaccessibilityProperties : AccessibilityProperties
The current accessibility options for this display object.
DisplayObject
 InheritedaccessibilityShortcut : String
A convenience accessor for the shortcut property in this UIComponent's accessibilityProperties object.
UIComponent
 InheritedactiveEffects : Array
[read-only] The list of effects that are currently playing on the component, as an Array of EffectInstance instances.
UIComponent
 Inheritedalpha : Number
Indicates the alpha transparency value of the object specified.
DisplayObject
  autoLayout : Boolean
If true, measurement and layout are done when the position or size of a child is changed.
Container
 InheritedautomationDelegate : Object
The delegate object that handles the automation-related functionality.
UIComponent
 InheritedautomationEnabled : Boolean
[read-only] True if this component is enabled for automation, false otherwise.
UIComponent
 InheritedautomationName : String
Name that can be used as an identifier for this object.
UIComponent
 InheritedautomationOwner : DisplayObjectContainer
[read-only] The owner of this component for automation purposes.
UIComponent
 InheritedautomationParent : DisplayObjectContainer
[read-only] The parent of this component for automation purposes.
UIComponent
 InheritedautomationTabularData : Object
[read-only] An implementation of the IAutomationTabularData interface, which can be used to retrieve the data.
UIComponent
 InheritedautomationValue : Array
[read-only] This value generally corresponds to the rendered appearance of the object and should be usable for correlating the identifier with the object as it appears visually within the application.
UIComponent
 InheritedautomationVisible : Boolean
[read-only] True if this component is visible for automation, false otherwise.
UIComponent
 Inheritedbaseline : Object
The vertical distance in pixels from the anchor target to the control's baseline position.
UIComponent
 InheritedbaselinePosition : Number
[read-only] The y-coordinate of the baseline of the first line of text of the component.
UIComponent
 InheritedblendMode : String
A value from the BlendMode class that specifies which blend mode to use.
DisplayObject
 InheritedblendShader : Shader
[write-only] Sets a shader that is used for blending the foreground and background.
DisplayObject
  borderMetrics : EdgeMetrics
[read-only] Returns an EdgeMetrics object that has four properties: left, top, right, and bottom.
Container
 Inheritedbottom : Object
The vertical distance in pixels from the bottom edge of the component to the anchor target's bottom edge.
UIComponent
 InheritedbuttonMode : Boolean
Specifies the button mode of this sprite.
Sprite
 InheritedcacheAsBitmap : Boolean
If set to true, Flash Player or Adobe AIR caches an internal bitmap representation of the display object.
DisplayObject
 InheritedcacheHeuristic : Boolean
[write-only] Used by Flex to suggest bitmap caching for the object.
UIComponent
 InheritedcachePolicy : String
Specifies the bitmap caching policy for this object.
UIComponent
  childDescriptors : Array
[read-only] Array of UIComponentDescriptor objects produced by the MXML compiler.
Container
 InheritedclassName : String
[read-only] The name of this instance's class, such as "Button".
UIComponent
  clipContent : Boolean
Whether to apply a clip mask if the positions and/or sizes of this container's children extend outside the borders of this container.
Container
 Inheritedconstructor : Object
A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.
Object
  contentMouseX : Number
[override] [read-only] Returns the x position of the mouse, in the content coordinate system.
Container
  contentMouseY : Number
[override] [read-only] Returns the y position of the mouse, in the content coordinate system.
Container
 InheritedcontextMenu : NativeMenu
Specifies the context menu associated with this object.
InteractiveObject
  creatingContentPane : Boolean
Containers use an internal content pane to control scrolling.
Container
  creationIndex : int
Deprecated: Deprecated
Specifies the order to instantiate and draw the children of the container.
Container
  creationPolicy : String
The child creation policy for this MX Container.
Container
 InheritedcurrentState : String
The current view state of the component.
UIComponent
 InheritedcursorManager : ICursorManager
[read-only] Gets the CursorManager that controls the cursor for this component and its peers.
UIComponent
  data : Object
The data property lets you pass a value to the component when you use it in an item renderer or item editor.
Container
  defaultButton : IFlexDisplayObject
The Button control designated as the default button for the container.
Container
  deferredContentCreated : Boolean
[read-only] IDeferredContentOwner equivalent of processedDescriptors
Container
 Inheriteddepth : Number
Determines the order in which items inside of containers are rendered.
UIComponent
 Inheriteddescriptor : UIComponentDescriptor
Reference to the UIComponentDescriptor, if any, that was used by the createComponentFromDescriptor() method to create this UIComponent instance.
UIComponent
 InheriteddesignLayer : DesignLayer
Specifies the optional DesignLayer instance associated with this visual element.
UIComponent
 Inheriteddocument : Object
A reference to the document object associated with this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 InheriteddoubleClickEnabled : Boolean
[override] Specifies whether the UIComponent object receives doubleClick events.
UIComponent
 InheriteddropTarget : DisplayObject
[read-only] Specifies the display object over which the sprite is being dragged, or on which the sprite was dropped.
Sprite
 Inheritedenabled : Boolean
Whether the component can accept user interaction.
UIComponent
 InheritederrorString : String
The text that displayed by a component's error tip when a component is monitored by a Validator and validation fails.
UIComponent
 InheritedexplicitHeight : Number
Number that specifies the explicit height of the component, in pixels, in the component's coordinates.
UIComponent
 InheritedexplicitMaxHeight : Number
The maximum recommended height of the component to be considered by the parent during layout.
UIComponent
 InheritedexplicitMaxWidth : Number
The maximum recommended width of the component to be considered by the parent during layout.
UIComponent
 InheritedexplicitMinHeight : Number
The minimum recommended height of the component to be considered by the parent during layout.
UIComponent
 InheritedexplicitMinWidth : Number
The minimum recommended width of the component to be considered by the parent during layout.
UIComponent
 InheritedexplicitWidth : Number
Number that specifies the explicit width of the component, in pixels, in the component's coordinates.
UIComponent
 Inheritedfilters : Array
An indexed array that contains each filter object currently associated with the display object.
DisplayObject
 InheritedflexContextMenu : IFlexContextMenu
The context menu for this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 InheritedfocusEnabled : Boolean
Indicates whether the component can receive focus when tabbed to.
UIComponent
 InheritedfocusManager : IFocusManager
Gets the FocusManager that controls focus for this component and its peers.
UIComponent
 InheritedfocusPane : Sprite
The focus pane associated with this object.
UIComponent
 InheritedfocusRect : Object
Specifies whether this object displays a focus rectangle.
InteractiveObject
 Inheritedgraphics : Graphics
[read-only] Specifies the Graphics object that belongs to this sprite where vector drawing commands can occur.
Sprite
 InheritedhasFocusableChildren : Boolean
A flag that indicates whether child objects can receive focus.
UIComponent
 InheritedhasLayoutMatrix3D : Boolean
[read-only] Contians true if the element has 3D Matrix.
UIComponent
 Inheritedheight : Number
[override] Number that specifies the height of the component, in pixels, in the parent's coordinates.
UIComponent
 InheritedhitArea : Sprite
Designates another sprite to serve as the hit area for a sprite.
Sprite
 InheritedhorizontalCenter : Object
The horizontal distance in pixels from the center of the component to the center of the anchor target's content area.
UIComponent
  horizontalLineScrollSize : Number
Number of pixels to move when the left- or right-arrow button in the horizontal scroll bar is pressed.
Container
  horizontalPageScrollSize : Number
Number of pixels to move when the track in the horizontal scroll bar is pressed.
Container
  horizontalScrollBar : ScrollBar
The horizontal scrollbar used in this container.
Container
  horizontalScrollPolicy : String
Specifies whether the horizontal scroll bar is always present, always absent, or automatically added when needed.
Container
  horizontalScrollPosition : Number
The current position of the horizontal scroll bar.
Container
  icon : Class
The Class of the icon displayed by some navigator containers to represent this Container.
Container
 Inheritedid : String
ID of the component.
UIComponent
 InheritedincludeInLayout : Boolean
Specifies whether this component is included in the layout of the parent container.
UIComponent
 InheritedinheritingStyles : Object
The beginning of this component's chain of inheriting styles.
UIComponent
 Inheritedinitialized : Boolean
A flag that determines if an object has been through all three phases of layout: commitment, measurement, and layout (provided that any were required).
UIComponent
 InheritedinstanceIndex : int
[read-only] The index of a repeated component.
UIComponent
 InheritedinstanceIndices : Array
An Array containing the indices required to reference this UIComponent object from its parent document.
UIComponent
 Inheritedis3D : Boolean
[read-only] Contains true when the element is in 3D.
UIComponent
 InheritedisDocument : Boolean
[read-only] Contains true if this UIComponent instance is a document object.
UIComponent
 InheritedisPopUp : Boolean
Set to true by the PopUpManager to indicate that component has been popped up.
UIComponent
  label : String
The text displayed by some navigator containers to represent this Container.
Container
 InheritedlayoutMatrix3D : Matrix3D
[write-only] The transform matrix that is used to calculate a component's layout relative to its siblings.
UIComponent
 Inheritedleft : Object
The horizontal distance in pixels from the left edge of the component to the anchor target's left edge.
UIComponent
 InheritedloaderInfo : LoaderInfo
[read-only] Returns a LoaderInfo object containing information about loading the file to which this display object belongs.
DisplayObject
 InheritedmaintainProjectionCenter : Boolean
When true, the component keeps its projection matrix centered on the middle of its bounding box.
UIComponent
 Inheritedmask : DisplayObject
The calling display object is masked by the specified mask object.
DisplayObject
 InheritedmaxHeight : Number
The maximum recommended height of the component to be considered by the parent during layout.
UIComponent
  maxHorizontalScrollPosition : Number
[read-only] The largest possible value for the horizontalScrollPosition property.
Container
  maxVerticalScrollPosition : Number
[read-only] The largest possible value for the verticalScrollPosition property.
Container
 InheritedmaxWidth : Number
The maximum recommended width of the component to be considered by the parent during layout.
UIComponent
 InheritedmeasuredHeight : Number
The default height of the component, in pixels.
UIComponent
 InheritedmeasuredMinHeight : Number
The default minimum height of the component, in pixels.
UIComponent
 InheritedmeasuredMinWidth : Number
The default minimum width of the component, in pixels.
UIComponent
 InheritedmeasuredWidth : Number
The default width of the component, in pixels.
UIComponent
 InheritedminHeight : Number
The minimum recommended height of the component to be considered by the parent during layout.
UIComponent
 InheritedminWidth : Number
The minimum recommended width of the component to be considered by the parent during layout.
UIComponent
 InheritedmoduleFactory : IFlexModuleFactory
A module factory is used as context for using embedded fonts and for finding the style manager that controls the styles for this component.
UIComponent
 InheritedmouseChildren : Boolean
Determines whether or not the children of the object are mouse enabled.
DisplayObjectContainer
 InheritedmouseEnabled : Boolean
Specifies whether this object receives mouse messages.
InteractiveObject
 InheritedmouseFocusEnabled : Boolean
Whether you can receive focus when clicked on.
UIComponent
 InheritedmouseX : Number
[read-only] Indicates the x coordinate of the mouse position, in pixels.
DisplayObject
 InheritedmouseY : Number
[read-only] Indicates the y coordinate of the mouse position, in pixels.
DisplayObject
 Inheritedname : String
Indicates the instance name of the DisplayObject.
DisplayObject
 InheritednestLevel : int
Depth of this object in the containment hierarchy.
UIComponent
 InheritednonInheritingStyles : Object
The beginning of this component's chain of non-inheriting styles.
UIComponent
 InheritednumAutomationChildren : int
[read-only] The number of automation children this container has.
UIComponent
  numChildren : int
[override] [read-only] Number of child components in this container.
Container
  numElements : int
[read-only] The number of visual elements in this container.
Container
 InheritedopaqueBackground : Object
Specifies whether the display object is opaque with a certain background color.
DisplayObject
 Inheritedowner : DisplayObjectContainer
The owner of this IVisualElement object.
UIComponent
 Inheritedparent : DisplayObjectContainer
[override] [read-only] The parent container or component for this component.
UIComponent
 InheritedparentApplication : Object
[read-only] A reference to the Application object that contains this UIComponent instance.
UIComponent
 InheritedparentDocument : Object
[read-only] A reference to the parent document object for this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 InheritedpercentHeight : Number
Number that specifies the height of a component as a percentage of its parent's size.
UIComponent
 InheritedpercentWidth : Number
Number that specifies the width of a component as a percentage of its parent's size.
UIComponent
 InheritedpostLayoutTransformOffsets : mx.geom:TransformOffsets
Defines a set of adjustments that can be applied to the object's transform in a way that is invisible to its parent's layout.
UIComponent
 InheritedprocessedDescriptors : Boolean
Set to true after immediate or deferred child creation, depending on which one happens.
UIComponent
 Inheritedprototype : Object
[static] A reference to the prototype object of a class or function object.
Object
  rawChildren : IChildList
[read-only] A container typically contains child components, which can be enumerated using the Container.getChildAt() method and Container.numChildren property.
Container
 Inheritedrepeater : IRepeater
[read-only] A reference to the Repeater object in the parent document that produced this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 InheritedrepeaterIndex : int
[read-only] The index of the item in the data provider of the Repeater that produced this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 InheritedrepeaterIndices : Array
An Array containing the indices of the items in the data provider of the Repeaters in the parent document that produced this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 Inheritedrepeaters : Array
An Array containing references to the Repeater objects in the parent document that produced this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 Inheritedright : Object
The horizontal distance in pixels from the right edge of the component to the anchor target's right edge.
UIComponent
 Inheritedroot : DisplayObject
[read-only] For a display object in a loaded SWF file, the root property is the top-most display object in the portion of the display list's tree structure represented by that SWF file.
DisplayObject
 Inheritedrotation : Number
[override] Indicates the rotation of the DisplayObject instance, in degrees, from its original orientation.
UIComponent
 InheritedrotationX : Number
[override] Indicates the x-axis rotation of the DisplayObject instance, in degrees, from its original orientation relative to the 3D parent container.
UIComponent
 InheritedrotationY : Number
[override] Indicates the y-axis rotation of the DisplayObject instance, in degrees, from its original orientation relative to the 3D parent container.
UIComponent
 InheritedrotationZ : Number
[override] Indicates the z-axis rotation of the DisplayObject instance, in degrees, from its original orientation relative to the 3D parent container.
UIComponent
 Inheritedscale9Grid : Rectangle
The current scaling grid that is in effect.
DisplayObject
 InheritedscaleX : Number
[override] Number that specifies the horizontal scaling factor.
UIComponent
 InheritedscaleY : Number
[override] Number that specifies the vertical scaling factor.
UIComponent
 InheritedscaleZ : Number
[override] Number that specifies the scaling factor along the z axis.
UIComponent
 Inheritedscreen : Rectangle
[read-only] Returns an object that contains the size and position of the base drawing surface for this object.
UIComponent
 InheritedscrollRect : Rectangle
The scroll rectangle bounds of the display object.
DisplayObject
 InheritedshowInAutomationHierarchy : Boolean
A flag that determines if an automation object shows in the automation hierarchy.
UIComponent
 InheritedsoundTransform : flash.media:SoundTransform
Controls sound within this sprite.
Sprite
 Inheritedstage : Stage
[read-only] The Stage of the display object.
DisplayObject
 Inheritedstates : Array
The view states that are defined for this component.
UIComponent
 InheritedstyleDeclaration : CSSStyleDeclaration
Storage for the inline inheriting styles on this object.
UIComponent
 InheritedstyleManager : IStyleManager2
[read-only] Returns the StyleManager instance used by this component.
UIComponent
 InheritedstyleName : Object
The class style used by this component.
UIComponent
 InheritedstyleParent : IAdvancedStyleClient
[read-only] A component's parent is used to evaluate descendant selectors.
UIComponent
 InheritedsystemManager : ISystemManager
Returns the SystemManager object used by this component.
UIComponent
 InheritedtabChildren : Boolean
Determines whether the children of the object are tab enabled.
DisplayObjectContainer
 InheritedtabEnabled : Boolean
Specifies whether this object is in the tab order.
InteractiveObject
 InheritedtabFocusEnabled : Boolean
A flag that indicates whether this object can receive focus via the TAB key This is similar to the tabEnabled property used by the Flash Player. This is usually true for components that handle keyboard input, but some components in controlbars have them set to false because they should not steal focus from another component like an editor.
UIComponent
 InheritedtabIndex : int
Specifies the tab ordering of objects in a SWF file.
InteractiveObject
 InheritedtextSnapshot : flash.text:TextSnapshot
[read-only] Returns a TextSnapshot object for this DisplayObjectContainer instance.
DisplayObjectContainer
 InheritedtoolTip : String
Text to display in the ToolTip.
UIComponent
 Inheritedtop : Object
The vertical distance in pixels from the top edge of the component to the anchor target's top edge.
UIComponent
 Inheritedtransform : flash.geom:Transform
An object with properties pertaining to a display object's matrix, color transform, and pixel bounds.
DisplayObject
 InheritedtransformX : Number
Sets the x coordinate for the transform center of the component.
UIComponent
 InheritedtransformY : Number
Sets the y coordinate for the transform center of the component.
UIComponent
 InheritedtransformZ : Number
Sets the z coordinate for the transform center of the component.
UIComponent
 Inheritedtransitions : Array
An Array of Transition objects, where each Transition object defines a set of effects to play when a view state change occurs.
UIComponent
 InheritedtweeningProperties : Array
Array of properties that are currently being tweened on this object.
UIComponent
 Inheriteduid : String
A unique identifier for the object.
UIComponent
 InheritedupdateCompletePendingFlag : Boolean
A flag that determines if an object has been through all three phases of layout validation (provided that any were required).
UIComponent
 InheriteduseHandCursor : Boolean
A Boolean value that indicates whether the pointing hand (hand cursor) appears when the mouse rolls over a sprite in which the buttonMode property is set to true.
Sprite
 InheritedvalidationSubField : String
Used by a validator to associate a subfield with this component.
UIComponent
 InheritedverticalCenter : Object
The vertical distance in pixels from the center of the component to the center of the anchor target's content area.
UIComponent
  verticalLineScrollSize : Number
Number of pixels to scroll when the up- or down-arrow button in the vertical scroll bar is pressed, or when you scroll by using the mouse wheel.
Container
  verticalPageScrollSize : Number
Number of pixels to scroll when the track in the vertical scroll bar is pressed.
Container
  verticalScrollBar : ScrollBar
The vertical scrollbar used in this container.
Container
  verticalScrollPolicy : String
Specifies whether the vertical scroll bar is always present, always absent, or automatically added when needed.
Container
  verticalScrollPosition : Number
The current position of the vertical scroll bar.
Container
  viewMetrics : EdgeMetrics
[read-only] Returns an object that has four properties: left, top, right, and bottom.
Container
  viewMetricsAndPadding : EdgeMetrics
[read-only] Returns an object that has four properties: left, top, right, and bottom.
Container
 Inheritedvisible : Boolean
[override] Whether or not the display object is visible.
UIComponent
 Inheritedwidth : Number
[override] Number that specifies the width of the component, in pixels, in the parent's coordinates.
UIComponent
 Inheritedx : Number
[override] Number that specifies the component's horizontal position, in pixels, within its parent container.
UIComponent
 Inheritedy : Number
[override] Number that specifies the component's vertical position, in pixels, within its parent container.
UIComponent
 Inheritedz : Number
[override] Indicates the z coordinate position along the z-axis of the DisplayObject instance relative to the 3D parent container.
UIComponent
Protected Properties
 PropertyDefined By
  actualCreationPolicy : String
The creation policy of this container.
Container
 InheritedcurrentCSSState : String
[read-only] The state to be used when matching CSS pseudo-selectors.
UIComponent
 InheritedhasComplexLayoutMatrix : Boolean
[read-only] Returns true if the UIComponent has any non-translation (x,y) transform properties.
UIComponent
 InheritedresourceManager : IResourceManager
[read-only] A reference to the object which manages all of the application's localized resources.
UIComponent
 InheritedunscaledHeight : Number
[read-only] A convenience method for determining the unscaled height of the component.
UIComponent
 InheritedunscaledWidth : Number
[read-only] A convenience method for determining the unscaled width of the component All of a component's drawing and child layout should be done within a bounding rectangle of this width, which is also passed as an argument to updateDisplayList().
UIComponent
Public Methods
 MethodDefined By
  
Constructor.
Container
  
[override] Adds a child DisplayObject to this Container.
Container
  
[override] Adds a child DisplayObject to this Container.
Container
  
Adds a visual element to this container.
Container
  
Adds a visual element to this container.
Container
 Inherited
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
 Inherited
Indicates whether the security restrictions would cause any display objects to be omitted from the list returned by calling the DisplayObjectContainer.getObjectsUnderPoint() method with the specified point point.
DisplayObjectContainer
 Inherited
callLater(method:Function, args:Array = null):void
Queues a function to be called later.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Deletes a style property from this component instance.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Determines whether the specified display object is a child of the DisplayObjectContainer instance or the instance itself.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
[override] Converts a Point object from content coordinates to global coordinates.
Container
  
[override] Converts a Point object from content to local coordinates.
Container
 Inherited
Returns a set of properties that identify the child within this container.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Returns a set of properties that identify the child within this container.
UIComponent
  
Given a single UIComponentDescriptor, create the corresponding component and add the component as a child of this Container.
Container
  
Iterate through the Array of childDescriptors, and call the createComponentFromDescriptor() method for each one.
Container
  
Performs the equivalent action of calling the createComponentsFromDescriptors(true) method for containers that implement the IDeferredContentOwner interface to support deferred instantiation.
Container
 Inherited
Creates an id reference to this IUIComponent object on its parent document object.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Deletes the id reference to this IUIComponent object on its parent document object.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Returns a UITextFormat object corresponding to the text styles for this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 Inherited
[override] Dispatches an event into the event flow.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Shows or hides the focus indicator around this component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
drawRoundRect(x:Number, y:Number, w:Number, h:Number, r:Object = null, c:Object = null, alpha:Object = null, rot:Object = null, gradient:String = null, ratios:Array = null, hole:Object = null):void
Programmatically draws a rectangle into this skin's Graphics object.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Called by the effect instance when it stops playing on the component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Called by the effect instance when it starts playing on the component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Ends all currently playing effects on the component.
UIComponent
  
executeBindings(recurse:Boolean = false):void
[override] Executes all the data bindings on this Container.
Container
  
Executes the bindings into this Container's child UIComponent objects.
Container
 Inherited
Called after printing is complete.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Provides the automation object at the specified index.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Provides the automation object list .
UIComponent
 Inherited
getBounds(targetCoordinateSpace:DisplayObject):Rectangle
Returns a rectangle that defines the area of the display object relative to the coordinate system of the targetCoordinateSpace object.
DisplayObject
 Inherited
getBoundsXAtSize(width:Number, height:Number, postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the x coordinate of the element's bounds at the specified element size.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getBoundsYAtSize(width:Number, height:Number, postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the y coordinate of the element's bounds at the specified element size.
UIComponent
  
[override] Gets the nth child component object.
Container
  
[override] Returns the child whose name property is the specified String.
Container
  
[override] Gets the zero-based index of a specific child.
Container
  
Returns an Array of DisplayObject objects consisting of the content children of the container.
Container
 Inherited
Finds the type selectors for this UIComponent instance.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getConstraintValue(constraintName:String):*
Returns a layout constraint value, which is the same as getting the constraint style for this component.
UIComponent
  
Returns the visual element at the specified index.
Container
  
Returns the index position of a visual element.
Container
 Inherited
A convenience method for determining whether to use the explicit or measured height
UIComponent
 Inherited
A convenience method for determining whether to use the explicit or measured width
UIComponent
 Inherited
Gets the object that currently has focus.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getLayoutBoundsHeight(postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the element's layout height.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getLayoutBoundsWidth(postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the element's layout width.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getLayoutBoundsX(postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the x coordinate that the element uses to draw on screen.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getLayoutBoundsY(postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the y coordinate that the element uses to draw on screen.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Returns the transform matrix that is used to calculate the component's layout relative to its siblings.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Returns the layout transform Matrix3D for this element.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getMaxBoundsHeight(postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the element's maximum height.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getMaxBoundsWidth(postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the element's maximum width.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getMinBoundsHeight(postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the element's minimum height.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getMinBoundsWidth(postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the element's minimum width.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Returns an array of objects that lie under the specified point and are children (or grandchildren, and so on) of this DisplayObjectContainer instance.
DisplayObjectContainer
 Inherited
getPreferredBoundsHeight(postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the element's preferred height.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getPreferredBoundsWidth(postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):Number
Returns the element's preferred width.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getRect(targetCoordinateSpace:DisplayObject):Rectangle
Returns a rectangle that defines the boundary of the display object, based on the coordinate system defined by the targetCoordinateSpace parameter, excluding any strokes on shapes.
DisplayObject
 Inherited
getRepeaterItem(whichRepeater:int = -1):Object
Returns the item in the dataProvider that was used by the specified Repeater to produce this Repeater, or null if this Repeater isn't repeated.
UIComponent
 Inherited
getStyle(styleProp:String):*
Gets a style property that has been set anywhere in this component's style lookup chain.
UIComponent
  
[override] Converts a Point object from global to content coordinates.
Container
 Inherited
Converts the point object from the Stage (global) coordinates to the display object's (local) coordinates.
DisplayObject
 Inherited
Converts a two-dimensional point from the Stage (global) coordinates to a three-dimensional display object's (local) coordinates.
DisplayObject
 Inherited
Checks whether the EventDispatcher object has any listeners registered for a specific type of event.
EventDispatcher
 Inherited
Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined.
Object
 Inherited
Determines whether the specified state has been defined on this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Evaluates the bounding box of the display object to see if it overlaps or intersects with the bounding box of the obj display object.
DisplayObject
 Inherited
hitTestPoint(x:Number, y:Number, shapeFlag:Boolean = false):Boolean
Evaluates the display object to see if it overlaps or intersects with the point specified by the x and y parameters.
DisplayObject
 Inherited
Returns a box Matrix which can be passed to the drawRoundRect() method as the rot parameter when drawing a horizontal gradient.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Initializes the internal structure of this component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Initializes various properties which keep track of repeated instances of this component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Marks a component so that its updateDisplayList() method gets called during a later screen update.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Called by a component's items to indicate that their depth property has changed.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Marks a component so that its commitProperties() method gets called during a later screen update.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Marks a component so that its measure() method gets called during a later screen update.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter.
Object
 Inherited
Converts a three-dimensional point of the three-dimensional display object's (local) coordinates to a two-dimensional point in the Stage (global) coordinates.
DisplayObject
  
[override] Converts a Point object from local to content coordinates.
Container
 Inherited
Converts the point object from the display object's (local) coordinates to the Stage (global) coordinates.
DisplayObject
 Inherited
Returns true if cssState matches currentCSSState.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Determines whether this instance is the same as, or is a subclass of, the given type.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Measures the specified HTML text, which can contain HTML tags such as <font> and <b>, assuming that it is displayed in a single-line UITextField using a UITextFormat determined by the styles of this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Measures the specified text, assuming that it is displayed in a single-line UITextField (or UIFTETextField) using a UITextFormat determined by the styles of this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Moves the component to a specified position within its parent.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Propagates style changes to the children.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Returns true if the chain of owner properties points from child to this UIComponent.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Called by Flex when a UIComponent object is added to or removed from a parent.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Prepares an IFlexDisplayObject for printing.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable.
Object
 Inherited
Builds or rebuilds the CSS style cache for this component and, if the recursive parameter is true, for all descendants of this component as well.
UIComponent
 Inherited
For each effect event, registers the EffectManager as one of the event listeners.
UIComponent
  
Removes all children from the child list of this container.
Container
  
Removes all visual elements from the container.
Container
  
[override] Removes a child DisplayObject from the child list of this Container.
Container
  
[override] Removes a child DisplayObject from the child list of this Container at the specified index.
Container
  
Removes the specified visual element from the child list of this container.
Container
  
Removes a visual element from the specified index position in the container.
Container
 Inherited
removeEventListener(type:String, listener:Function, useCapture:Boolean = false):void
Removes a listener from the EventDispatcher object.
EventDispatcher
 Inherited
Replays the specified event.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Resolves a child by using the id provided.
UIComponent
 Inherited
[static] Resumes the background processing of methods queued by callLater(), after a call to suspendBackgroundProcessing().
UIComponent
 Inherited
Sizes the object.
UIComponent
  
[override] Sets the index of a particular child.
Container
 Inherited
setConstraintValue(constraintName:String, value:*):void
Sets a layout constraint value, which is the same as setting the constraint style for this component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
setCurrentState(stateName:String, playTransition:Boolean = true):void
Set the current state.
UIComponent
  
Changes the position of an existing visual element in the visual container.
Container
 Inherited
Sets the focus to this component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
setLayoutBoundsPosition(x:Number, y:Number, postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):void
Sets the coordinates that the element uses to draw on screen.
UIComponent
 Inherited
setLayoutBoundsSize(width:Number, height:Number, postLayoutTransform:Boolean = true):void
Sets the layout size of the element.
UIComponent
 Inherited
setLayoutMatrix(value:Matrix, invalidateLayout:Boolean):void
Sets the transform Matrix that is used to calculate the component's layout size and position relative to its siblings.
UIComponent
 Inherited
setLayoutMatrix3D(value:Matrix3D, invalidateLayout:Boolean):void
Sets the transform Matrix3D that is used to calculate the component's layout size and position relative to its siblings.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.
Object
 Inherited
setStyle(styleProp:String, newValue:*):void
Sets a style property on this component instance.
UIComponent
 Inherited
setVisible(value:Boolean, noEvent:Boolean = false):void
Called when the visible property changes.
UIComponent
 Inherited
startDrag(lockCenter:Boolean = false, bounds:Rectangle = null):void
Lets the user drag the specified sprite.
Sprite
 Inherited
Ends the startDrag() method.
Sprite
 Inherited
Detects changes to style properties.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Flex calls the stylesInitialized() method when the styles for a component are first initialized.
UIComponent
 Inherited
[static] Blocks the background processing of methods queued by callLater(), until resumeBackgroundProcessing() is called.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Swaps the z-order (front-to-back order) of the two specified child objects.
DisplayObjectContainer
 Inherited
swapChildrenAt(index1:int, index2:int):void
Swaps the z-order (front-to-back order) of the child objects at the two specified index positions in the child list.
DisplayObjectContainer
  
Swaps the index of the two specified visual elements.
Container
  
swapElementsAt(index1:int, index2:int):void
Swaps the visual elements at the two specified index positions in the container.
Container
 Inherited
Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions.
Object
 Inherited
[override] Returns a string indicating the location of this object within the hierarchy of DisplayObjects in the Application.
FlexSprite
 Inherited
transformAround(transformCenter:Vector3D, scale:Vector3D = null, rotation:Vector3D = null, translation:Vector3D = null, postLayoutScale:Vector3D = null, postLayoutRotation:Vector3D = null, postLayoutTranslation:Vector3D = null, invalidateLayout:Boolean = true):void
A utility method to update the rotation, scale, and translation of the transform while keeping a particular point, specified in the component's own coordinate space, fixed in the parent's coordinate space.
UIComponent
 Inherited
transformPointToParent(localPosition:Vector3D, position:Vector3D, postLayoutPosition:Vector3D):void
A utility method to transform a point specified in the local coordinates of this object to its location in the object's parent's coordinates.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Validates the position and size of children and draws other visuals.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Validate and update the properties and layout of this object and redraw it, if necessary.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Used by layout logic to validate the properties of a component by calling the commitProperties() method.
UIComponent
 Inherited
validateSize(recursive:Boolean = false):void
Validates the measured size of the component If the LayoutManager.invalidateSize() method is called with this ILayoutManagerClient, then the validateSize() method is called when it's time to do measurements.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Handles both the valid and invalid events from a validator assigned to this component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Returns the primitive value of the specified object.
Object
 Inherited
Returns a box Matrix which can be passed to drawRoundRect() as the rot parameter when drawing a vertical gradient.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Checks whether an event listener is registered with this EventDispatcher object or any of its ancestors for the specified event type.
EventDispatcher
Protected Methods
 MethodDefined By
 Inherited
Adjust the focus rectangle.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Commits the computed matrix built from the combination of the layout matrix and the transform offsets to the flash displayObject's transform.
UIComponent
  
[override] Used internally by the Dissolve Effect to add the overlay to the chrome of a container.
Container
 Inherited
Determines if the call to the measure() method can be skipped.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Performs any final processing after child objects are created.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Processes the properties set on the component.
UIComponent
  
Creates the container's border skin if it is needed and does not already exist.
Container
 Inherited
Create child objects of the component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Creates a new object using a context based on the embedded font being used.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Creates the object using a given moduleFactory.
UIComponent
 Inherited
dispatchPropertyChangeEvent(prop:String, oldValue:*, value:*):void
Helper method for dispatching a PropertyChangeEvent when a property is updated.
UIComponent
 Inherited
The event handler called when a UIComponent object gets focus.
UIComponent
 Inherited
The event handler called when a UIComponent object loses focus.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Initializes the implementation and storage of some of the less frequently used advanced layout features of a component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Finalizes the initialization of this component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Initializes this component's accessibility code.
UIComponent
 Inherited
Helper method to invalidate parent size and display list if this object affects its layout (includeInLayout is true).
UIComponent
 Inherited
Typically overridden by components containing UITextField objects, where the UITextField object gets focus.
UIComponent
 Inherited
The event handler called for a keyDown event.
UIComponent
 Inherited
The event handler called for a keyUp event.
UIComponent
  
layoutChrome(unscaledWidth:Number, unscaledHeight:Number):void
Respond to size changes by setting the positions and sizes of this container's borders.
Container
 Inherited
Calculates the default size, and optionally the default minimum size, of the component.
UIComponent
 Inherited
This method is called when a UIComponent is constructed, and again whenever the ResourceManager dispatches a "change" Event to indicate that the localized resources have changed in some way.
UIComponent
  
Positions the container's content area relative to the viewable area based on the horizontalScrollPosition and verticalScrollPosition properties.
Container
 Inherited
setStretchXY(stretchX:Number, stretchY:Number):void
Specifies a transform stretch factor in the horizontal and vertical direction.
UIComponent
 Inherited
stateChanged(oldState:String, newState:String, recursive:Boolean):void
This method is called when a state changes to check whether state-specific styles apply to this component.
UIComponent
  
updateDisplayList(unscaledWidth:Number, unscaledHeight:Number):void
[override] Respond to size changes by setting the positions and sizes of this container's children.
Container
Events
 Event Summary Defined By
 Inherited[broadcast event] Dispatched when the Flash Player or AIR application gains operating system focus and becomes active.EventDispatcher
 InheritedDispatched when the component is added to a container as a content child by using the addChild(), addChildAt(), addElement(), or addElementAt() method.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when a display object is added to the display list.DisplayObject
 InheritedDispatched when a display object is added to the on stage display list, either directly or through the addition of a sub tree in which the display object is contained.DisplayObject
  Dispatched after a child has been added to a container.Container
  Dispatched after the index (among the container children) of a container child changes.Container
  Dispatched before a child of a container is removed.Container
 InheritedDispatched when the user selects 'Clear' (or 'Delete') from the text context menu.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a user presses and releases the main button of the user's pointing device over the same InteractiveObject.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a user gesture triggers the context menu associated with this interactive object in an AIR application.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when the user activates the platform specific accelerator key combination for a copy operation or selects 'Copy' from the text context menu.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when the component has finished its construction, property processing, measuring, layout, and drawing.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched after the view state has changed.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched after the currentState property changes, but before the view state changes.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when the user activates the platform specific accelerator key combination for a cut operation or selects 'Cut' from the text context menu.InteractiveObject
  Dispatched when the data property changes.Container
 Inherited[broadcast event] Dispatched when the Flash Player or AIR application operating loses system focus and is becoming inactive.EventDispatcher
 InheritedDispatched when a user presses and releases the main button of a pointing device twice in rapid succession over the same InteractiveObject when that object's doubleClickEnabled flag is set to true.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched by the drag initiator (the component that is the source of the data being dragged) when the drag operation completes, either when you drop the dragged data onto a drop target or when you end the drag-and-drop operation without performing a drop.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched by the drop target when the user releases the mouse over it.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched by a component when the user moves the mouse over the component during a drag operation.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched by the component when the user drags outside the component, but does not drop the data onto the target.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched by a component when the user moves the mouse while over the component during a drag operation.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched by the drag initiator when starting a drag operation.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched after an effect ends.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched just before an effect starts.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched after an effect is stopped, which happens only by a call to stop() on the effect.UIComponent
 Inherited[broadcast event] Dispatched when the playhead is entering a new frame.DisplayObject
 InheritedDispatched after the component has entered a view state.UIComponent
 Inherited[broadcast event] Dispatched when the playhead is exiting the current frame.DisplayObject
 InheritedDispatched just before the component exits a view state.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched after a display object gains focus.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched after a display object loses focus.InteractiveObject
 Inherited[broadcast event] Dispatched after the constructors of frame display objects have run but before frame scripts have run.DisplayObject
 InheritedDispatched when an object's state changes from visible to invisible.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when the component has finished its construction and has all initialization properties set.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when a component is monitored by a Validator and the validation failed.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when the user presses a key.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when the user attempts to change focus by using keyboard navigation.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when the user releases a key.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a user presses and releases the middle button of the user's pointing device over the same InteractiveObject.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a user presses the middle pointing device button over an InteractiveObject instance.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a user releases the pointing device button over an InteractiveObject instance.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a user presses the pointing device button over an InteractiveObject instance.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched from a component opened using the PopUpManager when the user clicks outside it.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when the user attempts to change focus by using a pointer device.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a user moves the pointing device while it is over an InteractiveObject.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when the user moves a pointing device away from an InteractiveObject instance.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when the user moves a pointing device over an InteractiveObject instance.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a user releases the pointing device button over an InteractiveObject instance.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a mouse wheel is spun over an InteractiveObject instance.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched from a component opened using the PopUpManager when the user scrolls the mouse wheel outside it.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when the object has moved.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched by the drag initiator InteractiveObject when the user releases the drag gesture.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched by the target InteractiveObject when a dragged object is dropped on it and the drop has been accepted with a call to DragManager.acceptDragDrop().InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched by an InteractiveObject when a drag gesture enters its boundary.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched by an InteractiveObject when a drag gesture leaves its boundary.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched by an InteractiveObject continually while a drag gesture remains within its boundary.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched at the beginning of a drag operation by the InteractiveObject that is specified as the drag initiator in the DragManager.doDrag() call.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched during a drag operation by the InteractiveObject that is specified as the drag initiator in the DragManager.doDrag() call.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when the user activates the platform specific accelerator key combination for a paste operation or selects 'Paste' from the text context menu.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched at the beginning of the component initialization sequence.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when the component is removed from a container as a content child by using the removeChild(), removeChildAt(), removeElement(), or removeElementAt() method.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when a display object is about to be removed from the display list.DisplayObject
 InheritedDispatched when a display object is about to be removed from the display list, either directly or through the removal of a sub tree in which the display object is contained.DisplayObject
 Inherited[broadcast event] Dispatched when the display list is about to be updated and rendered.DisplayObject
 InheritedDispatched when the component is resized.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when a user presses and releases the right button of the user's pointing device over the same InteractiveObject.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a user presses the pointing device button over an InteractiveObject instance.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a user releases the pointing device button over an InteractiveObject instance.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when the user moves a pointing device away from an InteractiveObject instance.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when the user moves a pointing device over an InteractiveObject instance.InteractiveObject
  Dispatched when the user manually scrolls the container.Container
 InheritedDispatched when the user activates the platform specific accelerator key combination for a select all operation or selects 'Select All' from the text context menu.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when an object's state changes from invisible to visible.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when the value of the object's tabChildren flag changes.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when the object's tabEnabled flag changes.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when the value of the object's tabIndex property changes.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched when a user enters one or more characters of text.InteractiveObject
 InheritedDispatched by the component when it is time to create a ToolTip.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched by the component when its ToolTip has been hidden and is to be discarded soon.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched by the component when its ToolTip is about to be hidden.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched by the component when its ToolTip is about to be shown.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched by the component when its ToolTip has been shown.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched by a component whose toolTip property is set, as soon as the user moves the mouse over it.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when an object has had its commitProperties(), measure(), and updateDisplayList() methods called (if needed).UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when a component is monitored by a Validator and the validation succeeded.UIComponent
 InheritedDispatched when values are changed programmatically or by user interaction.UIComponent
Styles

Styles are either common or associated with a specific theme. If the style is common, it can be used with any theme. If a style is associated with a specific theme, it can only be used if your application uses that theme.

Common Styles
 Style Description Defined By
  
backgroundAttachment
Type: String CSS Inheritance: no
If a background image is specified, this style specifies whether it is fixed with regard to the viewport ("fixed") or scrolls along with the content ("scroll"). The default value is "scroll".
Container
 InheritedType: String CSS Inheritance: no
The vertical distance in pixels from the top edge of the content area to the control's baseline position.
UIComponent
  
borderSkin
Type: Class CSS Inheritance: no
The border skin class of the component. The default value in all components that do not explicitly set their own default for the Halo theme is mx.skins.halo.HaloBorder and for the Spark theme is mx.skins.spark.BorderSkin. The Panel container has a default value of mx.skins.halo.PanelSkin for the Halo theme and mx.skins.spark.BorderSkin for the Spark theme. To determine the default value for a component, see the default.css file.
Container
  
borderStyle
Type: String CSS Inheritance: no
Bounding box style. The possible values are "none", "solid", "inset", and "outset". The default value depends on the component class; if not overridden for the class, the default value is "inset". The default value for most Containers is "none". The "inset" and "outset" values are only valid with the halo theme.
Container
 InheritedType: String CSS Inheritance: no
The vertical distance, in pixels, from the bottom edge of the component to the bottom edge of its parent container's content area.
UIComponent
  
color
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes
Color of text in the component, including the component label. The default value for the Halo theme is 0x0B333C. The default value for the Spark theme is 0x000000.
Container
  
direction
Type: String CSS Inheritance: yes
The directionality of the text displayed by the component.

The allowed values are "ltr" for left-to-right text, as in Latin-style scripts, and "rtl" for right-to-left text, as in Arabic and Hebrew.

FTE and TLF use this value in their bidirectional text layout algorithm, which maps Unicode character order to glyph order.

Note: This style only applies when an MX component specifies UIFTETextField as its textFieldClass.

The direction also affects the alignment of the text within the bounds of the TLFTextField. It does not, however, affect the the placement of the TLFTextField within the component.

The default value is "ltr".
Container
  
disabledColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes
Color of text in the component if it is disabled. The default value is 0xAAB3B3.
Container
  
disabledOverlayAlpha
Type: Number CSS Inheritance: no
The alpha value for the overlay that is placed on top of the container when it is disabled.
Container
 InheritedType: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes
Color of the component highlight when validation fails.
UIComponent
 InheritedType: String CSS Inheritance: no
Blend mode used by the focus rectangle.
UIComponent
 InheritedType: Class CSS Inheritance: no
Skin used to draw the focus rectangle.
UIComponent
 InheritedType: Number Format: Length CSS Inheritance: no
Thickness, in pixels, of the focus rectangle outline.
UIComponent
  
fontAntiAliasType
Type: String CSS Inheritance: yes
Sets the antiAliasType property of internal TextFields. The possible values are "normal" (flash.text.AntiAliasType.NORMAL) and "advanced" (flash.text.AntiAliasType.ADVANCED).

The default value is "advanced", which enables advanced anti-aliasing for the font. Set to "normal" to disable the advanced anti-aliasing.

This style has no effect for system fonts.

This style applies to all the text in a TextField subcontrol; you cannot apply it to some characters and not others.

The default value is "advanced".

See also

Container
  
fontFamily
Type: String CSS Inheritance: yes
Name of the font to use. Unlike in a full CSS implementation, comma-separated lists are not supported. You can use any font family name. If you specify a generic font name, it is converted to an appropriate device font. The default font for the Halo theme is "Verdana". The default font for the Spark theme is "Arial".
Container
  
fontGridFitType
Type: String CSS Inheritance: yes
Sets the gridFitType property of internal TextFields that represent text in Flex controls. The possible values are "none" (flash.text.GridFitType.NONE), "pixel" (flash.text.GridFitType.PIXEL), and "subpixel" (flash.text.GridFitType.SUBPIXEL).

This property only applies when you are using an embedded font and the fontAntiAliasType property is set to "advanced".

This style has no effect for system fonts.

This style applies to all the text in a TextField subcontrol; you can't apply it to some characters and not others.

The default value is "pixel".

See also

Container
  
fontSharpness
Type: Number CSS Inheritance: yes
Sets the sharpness property of internal TextFields that represent text in Flex controls. This property specifies the sharpness of the glyph edges. The possible values are Numbers from -400 through 400.

This property only applies when you are using an embedded font and the fontAntiAliasType property is set to "advanced".

This style has no effect for system fonts.

This style applies to all the text in a TextField subcontrol; you can't apply it to some characters and not others.

The default value is 0.

See also

Container
  
fontSize
Type: Number Format: Length CSS Inheritance: yes
Height of the text, in pixels. In the Halo theme, the default value is 10 for all controls except the ColorPicker control. For the Halo themed ColorPicker control, the default value is 11. In the Spark theme, the default value is 12 for all controls except the ColorPicker control. For the Spark themed ColorPicker control, the default value is 11.
Container
  
fontStyle
Type: String CSS Inheritance: yes
Determines whether the text is italic font. Recognized values are "normal" and "italic". The default value is "normal".
Container
  
fontThickness
Type: Number CSS Inheritance: yes
Sets the thickness property of internal TextFields that represent text in Flex controls. This property specifies the thickness of the glyph edges. The possible values are Numbers from -200 to 200.

This property only applies when you are using an embedded font and the fontAntiAliasType property is set to "advanced".

This style has no effect on system fonts.

This style applies to all the text in a TextField subcontrol; you can't apply it to some characters and not others.

The default value is 0.

See also

Container
  
fontWeight
Type: String CSS Inheritance: yes
Determines whether the text is boldface. Recognized values are normal and bold. The default value for Button controls is bold. The default value for all other controls is normal.
Container
 InheritedType: String CSS Inheritance: no
The horizontal distance in pixels from the center of the component's content area to the center of the component.
UIComponent
  
horizontalScrollBarStyleName
Type: String CSS Inheritance: no
The name of the horizontal scrollbar style. The default value is undefined.
Container
  
kerning
Type: Boolean CSS Inheritance: yes
A Boolean value that indicates whether kerning is enabled (true) or disabled (false). Kerning adjusts the gap between certain character pairs to improve readability, and should be used only when necessary, such as with headings in large fonts. Kerning is supported for embedded fonts only. Certain fonts, such as Verdana, and monospaced fonts, such as Courier New, do not support kerning. The default value is false.
Container
 InheritedType: String CSS Inheritance: no
The horizontal distance, in pixels, from the left edge of the component to the left edge of its parent container's content area.
UIComponent
  
letterSpacing
Type: Number CSS Inheritance: yes
The number of additional pixels to appear between each character. A positive value increases the character spacing beyond the normal spacing, while a negative value decreases it. The default value is 0.
Container
  
locale
Type: String CSS Inheritance: yes
The locale of the text displayed by this component.

FTE and TLF use this locale to map Unicode characters to font glyphs and to find fallback fonts.

Note: This style only applies when an MX component specifies UIFTETextField as its textFieldClass.

The default value is "en".
Container
  
paddingBottom
Type: Number Format: Length CSS Inheritance: no
Number of pixels between the container's bottom border and the bottom of its content area. The default value is 0.
Container
  
paddingLeft
Type: Number Format: Length CSS Inheritance: no
Number of pixels between the component's left border and the left edge of its content area.

The default value is 0.

The default value for a Button control in the Halo theme is 10 and in the Spark theme is 6.

The default value for the ComboBox control is 5.

The default value for the Form container is 16.

The default value for the Tree control is 2.

Container
  
paddingRight
Type: Number Format: Length CSS Inheritance: no
Number of pixels between the component's right border and the right edge of its content area.

The default value is 0.

The default value for a Button control in the Halo theme is 10 and in the Spark theme is 6.

The default value for the ComboBox control is 5.

The default value for the Form container is 16.

Container
  
paddingTop
Type: Number Format: Length CSS Inheritance: no
Number of pixels between the container's top border and the top of its content area. The default value is 0.
Container
 InheritedType: String CSS Inheritance: no
The horizontal distance, in pixels, from the right edge of the component to the right edge of its parent container's content area.
UIComponent
  
textAlign
Type: String CSS Inheritance: yes
Alignment of text within a container. Possible values are "left", "right", or "center".

The default value for most components is "left". For the FormItem component, the default value is "right". For the Button, LinkButton, and AccordionHeader components, the default value is "center", and this property is only recognized when the labelPlacement property is set to "left" or "right". If labelPlacement is set to "top" or "bottom", the text and any icon are centered.

Container
  
textDecoration
Type: String CSS Inheritance: yes
Determines whether the text is underlined. Possible values are "none" and "underline". The default value is "none".
Container
  
textFieldClass
Type: Class CSS Inheritance: no
The class implementing IUITextField that is used by this component to render text.

It can be set to either the mx.core.UITextField class (to use the classic TextField class built into Flash Player) or the mx.core.UIFTETextField class (to use the Text Layout Framework to get improved text rendering, including bidirectional layout).

The default value is mx.core.UITextField.
Container
  
textIndent
Type: Number Format: Length CSS Inheritance: yes
Offset of first line of text from the left side of the container, in pixels. The default value is 0.
Container
 InheritedType: String CSS Inheritance: no
The vertical distance, in pixels, from the top edge of the component to the top edge of its parent container's content area.
UIComponent
 InheritedType: String CSS Inheritance: no
The vertical distance in pixels from the center of the component's content area to the center of the component.
UIComponent
  
verticalScrollBarStyleName
Type: String CSS Inheritance: no
The name of the vertical scrollbar style. The default value is undefined.
Container
Spark Theme Styles
 Style Description Defined By
  
accentColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes Theme: spark
Accent color used by component skins. The default button skin uses this color to tint the background. Slider track highlighting uses this color. The default value is #0099FF.
Container
  
backgroundAlpha
Type: Number CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo, spark
Alpha level of the color defined by the backgroundColor property, of the image or SWF file defined by the backgroundImage style. Valid values range from 0.0 to 1.0. For most controls, the default value is 1.0, but for ToolTip controls, the default value is 0.95 and for Alert controls, the default value is 0.9. The default value is 1.0.
Container
  
backgroundColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo, spark
Background color of a component. You can have both a backgroundColor and a backgroundImage set. Some components do not have a background. The DataGrid control ignores this style. The default value is undefined, which means it is not set. If both this style and the backgroundImage style are undefined, the component has a transparent background.

For the Application container, this style specifies the background color while the application loads, and a background gradient while it is running. Flex calculates the gradient pattern between a color slightly darker than the specified color, and a color slightly lighter than the specified color.

The default skins of most Flex controls are partially transparent. As a result, the background color of a container partially "bleeds through" to controls that are in that container. You can avoid this by setting the alpha values of the control's fillAlphas property to 1, as the following example shows:

  <mx:Container backgroundColor="0x66CC66"/>
      <mx:ControlName ... fillAlphas="[1,1]"/>
  </mx:Container>

Container
  
borderAlpha
Type: Number CSS Inheritance: no Theme: spark
Alpha of the border. The default value is 1.
Container
  
borderColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo, spark
Color of the border. The default value depends on the component class; if not overridden for the class, the default value is 0xB7BABC for the Halo theme and 0x696969 for the Spark theme.
Container
  
borderVisible
Type: Boolean CSS Inheritance: no Theme: spark
Visibility of the border. The default value is true.
Container
 InheritedType: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes Theme: spark
The main color for a component.
UIComponent
  
contentBackgroundAlpha
Type: Number CSS Inheritance: yes Theme: spark
The alpha of the content background for this component.
Container
  
contentBackgroundColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes Theme: spark
Color of the content area of the component. The default value is 0xFFFFFF.
Container
  
cornerRadius
Type: Number Format: Length CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo, spark
Radius of component corners. The default value depends on the component class; if not overridden for the class, the default value is 0. The default value for ApplicationControlBar is 5.
Container
  
dropShadowVisible
Type: Boolean CSS Inheritance: no Theme: spark
Boolean property that specifies whether the component has a visible drop shadow. The default value is false.

Note: For drop shadows to appear on containers, set contentBackgroundColor property. Otherwise, the shadow appears behind the container because the default background of a container is transparent.

Container
  
focusColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes Theme: spark
Color of focus ring when the component is in focus The default value is 0x70B2EE.
Container
  
symbolColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes Theme: spark
Color of any symbol of a component. Examples include the check mark of a CheckBox or the arrow of a ScrollBar button. The default value is 0x000000.
Container
Halo Theme Styles
 Style Description Defined By
  
backgroundAlpha
Type: Number CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo, spark
Alpha level of the color defined by the backgroundColor property, of the image or SWF file defined by the backgroundImage style. Valid values range from 0.0 to 1.0. For most controls, the default value is 1.0, but for ToolTip controls, the default value is 0.95 and for Alert controls, the default value is 0.9. The default value is 1.0.
Container
  
backgroundColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo, spark
Background color of a component. You can have both a backgroundColor and a backgroundImage set. Some components do not have a background. The DataGrid control ignores this style. The default value is undefined, which means it is not set. If both this style and the backgroundImage style are undefined, the component has a transparent background.

For the Application container, this style specifies the background color while the application loads, and a background gradient while it is running. Flex calculates the gradient pattern between a color slightly darker than the specified color, and a color slightly lighter than the specified color.

The default skins of most Flex controls are partially transparent. As a result, the background color of a container partially "bleeds through" to controls that are in that container. You can avoid this by setting the alpha values of the control's fillAlphas property to 1, as the following example shows:

  <mx:Container backgroundColor="0x66CC66"/>
      <mx:ControlName ... fillAlphas="[1,1]"/>
  </mx:Container>

Container
  
backgroundDisabledColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes Theme: halo
Background color of the component when it is disabled. The global default value is undefined. The default value for List controls is 0xDDDDDD (light gray). If a container is disabled, the background is dimmed, and the degree of dimming is controlled by the disabledOverlayAlpha style.
Container
  
backgroundImage
Type: Object Format: File CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo
Background image of a component. This can be an absolute or relative URL or class. You can set either the backgroundColor or the backgroundImage. The background image is displayed on top of the background color. The default value is undefined, meaning "not set". If this style and the backgroundColor style are undefined, the component has a transparent background.

The default skins of most Flex controls are partially transparent. As a result, the background image of a container partially "bleeds through" to controls that are in that container. You can avoid this by setting the alpha values of the control's fillAlphas property to 1, as the following example shows:

  <mx:Container backgroundColor="0x66CC66"/>
      <mx:ControlName ... fillAlphas="[1,1]"/>
  </mx:Container>

Container
  
backgroundSize
Type: String CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo
Scales the image specified by backgroundImage to different percentage sizes. A value of "100%" stretches the image to fit the entire component. To specify a percentage value, you must include the percent sign (%). The default for the Application container is 100%. The default value for all other containers is auto, which maintains the original size of the image.
Container
  
barColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes Theme: halo
Determines the color of a ProgressBar. A ProgressBar is filled with a vertical gradient between this color and a brighter color computed from it. This style has no effect on other components, but can be set on a container to control the appearance of all progress bars found within. The default value is undefined, which means it is not set. In this case, the themeColor style property is used.
Container
  
borderColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo, spark
Color of the border. The default value depends on the component class; if not overridden for the class, the default value is 0xB7BABC for the Halo theme and 0x696969 for the Spark theme.
Container
  
borderSides
Type: String CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo
Bounding box sides. A space-delimited String that specifies the sides of the border to show. The String can contain "left", "top", "right", and "bottom" in any order. The default value is "left top right bottom", which shows all four sides. This style is only used when borderStyle is "solid".
Container
  
borderThickness
Type: Number Format: Length CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo
Bounding box thickness. Only used when borderStyle is set to "solid". The default value is 1.
Container
  
cornerRadius
Type: Number Format: Length CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo, spark
Radius of component corners. The default value depends on the component class; if not overridden for the class, the default value is 0. The default value for ApplicationControlBar is 5.
Container
  
dropShadowColor
Type: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes Theme: halo
Color of the drop shadow. The default value is 0x000000.
Container
  
dropShadowEnabled
Type: Boolean CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo
Boolean property that specifies whether the component has a visible drop shadow. This style is used with borderStyle="solid". The default value is false.

Note: For drop shadows to appear on containers, set backgroundColor or backgroundImage properties. Otherwise, the shadow appears behind the container because the default background of a container is transparent.

Container
  
shadowDirection
Type: String CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo
Direction of the drop shadow. Possible values are "left", "center", and "right". The default value is "center".
Container
  
shadowDistance
Type: Number Format: Length CSS Inheritance: no Theme: halo
Distance of the drop shadow. If the property is set to a negative value, the shadow appears above the component. The default value is 2.
Container
 InheritedType: uint Format: Color CSS Inheritance: yes Theme: halo
Theme color of a component.
UIComponent
Effects
 Effect Description Defined By
 Inherited Triggering Event: added
Played when the component is added as a child to a Container.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: creationComplete
Played when the component is created.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: focusIn
Played when the component gains keyboard focus.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: focusOut
Played when the component loses keyboard focus.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: hide
Played when the component becomes invisible.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: mouseDown
Played when the user presses the mouse button while over the component.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: mouseUp
Played when the user releases the mouse button while over the component.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: move
Played when the component is moved.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: removed
Played when the component is removed from a Container.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: resize
Played when the component is resized.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: rollOut
Played when the user rolls the mouse so it is no longer over the component.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: rollOver
Played when the user rolls the mouse over the component.
UIComponent
 Inherited Triggering Event: show
Played when the component becomes visible.
UIComponent
Public Constants
 ConstantDefined By
 InheritedDEFAULT_MAX_HEIGHT : Number = 10000
[static] The default value for the maxHeight property.
UIComponent
 InheritedDEFAULT_MAX_WIDTH : Number = 10000
[static] The default value for the maxWidth property.
UIComponent
 InheritedDEFAULT_MEASURED_HEIGHT : Number = 22
[static] The default value for the measuredHeight property.
UIComponent
 InheritedDEFAULT_MEASURED_MIN_HEIGHT : Number = 22
[static] The default value for the measuredMinHeight property.
UIComponent
 InheritedDEFAULT_MEASURED_MIN_WIDTH : Number = 40
[static] The default value for the measuredMinWidth property.
UIComponent
 InheritedDEFAULT_MEASURED_WIDTH : Number = 160
[static] The default value for the measuredWidth property.
UIComponent
Property Detail

actualCreationPolicy

property
protected var actualCreationPolicy:String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The creation policy of this container.

autoLayout

property 
autoLayout:Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

If true, measurement and layout are done when the position or size of a child is changed. If false, measurement and layout are done only once, when children are added to or removed from the container.

When using the Move effect, the layout around the component that is moving does not readjust to fit that the Move effect animates. Setting a container's autoLayout property to true has no effect on this behavior.

The Zoom effect does not work when the autoLayout property is false.

The autoLayout property does not apply to Accordion or ViewStack containers.

The default value is true.



Implementation
    public function get autoLayout():Boolean
    public function set autoLayout(value:Boolean):void

borderMetrics

property 
borderMetrics:EdgeMetrics  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Returns an EdgeMetrics object that has four properties: left, top, right, and bottom. The value of each property is equal to the thickness of one side of the border, expressed in pixels.

Unlike viewMetrics, this property is not overridden by subclasses of Container.



Implementation
    public function get borderMetrics():EdgeMetrics

childDescriptors

property 
childDescriptors:Array  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Array of UIComponentDescriptor objects produced by the MXML compiler.

Each UIComponentDescriptor object contains the information specified in one child MXML tag of the container's MXML tag. The order of the UIComponentDescriptor objects in the Array is the same as the order of the child tags. During initialization, the child descriptors are used to create the container's child UIComponent objects and its Repeater objects, and to give them the initial property values, event handlers, effects, and so on, that were specified in MXML.



Implementation
    public function get childDescriptors():Array

See also

clipContent

property 
clipContent:Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Whether to apply a clip mask if the positions and/or sizes of this container's children extend outside the borders of this container. If false, the children of this container remain visible when they are moved or sized outside the borders of this container. If true, the children of this container are clipped.

If clipContent is false, then scrolling is disabled for this container and scrollbars will not appear. If clipContent is true, then scrollbars will usually appear when the container's children extend outside the border of the container. For additional control over the appearance of scrollbars, see horizontalScrollPolicy and verticalScrollPolicy.

The default value is true.



Implementation
    public function get clipContent():Boolean
    public function set clipContent(value:Boolean):void

contentMouseX

property 
contentMouseX:Number  [read-only] [override]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Returns the x position of the mouse, in the content coordinate system. Content coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper left corner of the component's content, and include all of the component's content area, including any regions that are currently clipped and must be accessed by scrolling the component.



Implementation
    override public function get contentMouseX():Number

contentMouseY

property 
contentMouseY:Number  [read-only] [override]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Returns the y position of the mouse, in the content coordinate system. Content coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper left corner of the component's content, and include all of the component's content area, including any regions that are currently clipped and must be accessed by scrolling the component.



Implementation
    override public function get contentMouseY():Number

creatingContentPane

property 
creatingContentPane:Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Containers use an internal content pane to control scrolling. The creatingContentPane is true while the container is creating the content pane so that some events can be ignored or blocked.



Implementation
    public function get creatingContentPane():Boolean
    public function set creatingContentPane(value:Boolean):void

creationIndex

property 
creationIndex:int
Deprecated: Deprecated

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Specifies the order to instantiate and draw the children of the container.

This property can only be used when the creationPolicy property is set to ContainerCreationPolicy.QUEUED. Otherwise, it is ignored.

The default value is -1.



Implementation
    public function get creationIndex():int
    public function set creationIndex(value:int):void

creationPolicy

property 
creationPolicy:String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The child creation policy for this MX Container. ActionScript values can be ContainerCreationPolicy.AUTO, ContainerCreationPolicy.ALL, or ContainerCreationPolicy.NONE. MXML values can be auto, all, or none.

If no creationPolicy is specified for a container, that container inherits its parent's creationPolicy. If no creationPolicy is specified for the Application, it defaults to ContainerCreationPolicy.AUTO.

A creationPolicy of ContainerCreationPolicy.AUTO means that the container delays creating some or all descendants until they are needed, a process which is known as deferred instantiation. This policy produces the best startup time because fewer UIComponents are created initially. However, this introduces navigation delays when a user navigates to other parts of the application for the first time. Navigator containers such as Accordion, TabNavigator, and ViewStack implement the ContainerCreationPolicy.AUTO policy by creating all their children immediately, but wait to create the deeper descendants of a child until it becomes the selected child of the navigator container.

A creationPolicy of ContainerCreationPolicy.ALL means that the navigator containers immediately create deeper descendants for each child, rather than waiting until that child is selected. For single-view containers such as a VBox container, there is no difference between the ContainerCreationPolicy.AUTO and ContainerCreationPolicy.ALL policies.

A creationPolicy of ContainerCreationPolicy.NONE means that the container creates none of its children. In that case, it is the responsibility of the MXML author to create the children by calling the createComponentsFromDescriptors() method.

The default value is ContainerCreationPolicy.AUTO.



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

data

property 
data:Object

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The data property lets you pass a value to the component when you use it in an item renderer or item editor. You typically use data binding to bind a field of the data property to a property of this component.

You do not set this property in MXML.

The default value is null.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the dataChange event.



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

See also

defaultButton

property 
defaultButton:IFlexDisplayObject

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The Button control designated as the default button for the container. When controls in the container have focus, pressing the Enter key is the same as clicking this Button control.

The default value is null.



Implementation
    public function get defaultButton():IFlexDisplayObject
    public function set defaultButton(value:IFlexDisplayObject):void

deferredContentCreated

property 
deferredContentCreated:Boolean  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

IDeferredContentOwner equivalent of processedDescriptors



Implementation
    public function get deferredContentCreated():Boolean

See also

horizontalLineScrollSize

property 
horizontalLineScrollSize:Number

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Number of pixels to move when the left- or right-arrow button in the horizontal scroll bar is pressed.

The default value is 5.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the horizontalLineScrollSizeChanged event.



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

horizontalPageScrollSize

property 
horizontalPageScrollSize:Number

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Number of pixels to move when the track in the horizontal scroll bar is pressed. A value of 0 means that the page size will be calculated to be a full screen.

The default value is 0.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the horizontalPageScrollSizeChanged event.



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

horizontalScrollBar

property 
horizontalScrollBar:ScrollBar

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The horizontal scrollbar used in this container. This property is null if no horizontal scroll bar is currently displayed. In general you do not access this property directly. Manipulation of the horizontalScrollPolicy and horizontalScrollPosition properties should provide sufficient control over the scroll bar.



Implementation
    public function get horizontalScrollBar():ScrollBar
    public function set horizontalScrollBar(value:ScrollBar):void

horizontalScrollPolicy

property 
horizontalScrollPolicy:String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Specifies whether the horizontal scroll bar is always present, always absent, or automatically added when needed. ActionScript values can be ScrollPolicy.ON, ScrollPolicy.OFF, and ScrollPolicy.AUTO. MXML values can be "on", "off", and "auto".

Setting this property to ScrollPolicy.OFF also prevents the horizontalScrollPosition property from having an effect.

Note: This property does not apply to the ControlBar container.

If the horizontalScrollPolicy is ScrollPolicy.AUTO, the horizontal scroll bar appears when all of the following are true:

  • One of the container's children extends beyond the left edge or right edge of the container.
  • The clipContent property is true.
  • The width and height of the container are large enough to reasonably accommodate a scroll bar.

The default value is ScrollPolicy.AUTO.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the horizontalScrollPolicyChanged event.



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

horizontalScrollPosition

property 
horizontalScrollPosition:Number

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The current position of the horizontal scroll bar. This is equal to the distance in pixels between the left edge of the scrollable surface and the leftmost piece of the surface that is currently visible.

The default value is 0.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the viewChanged event.



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

icon

property 
icon:Class

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The Class of the icon displayed by some navigator containers to represent this Container.

For example, if this Container is a child of a TabNavigator, this icon appears in the corresponding tab. If this Container is a child of an Accordion, this icon appears in the corresponding header.

To embed the icon in the SWF file, use the @Embed() MXML compiler directive:

        icon="@Embed('filepath')"
      

The image can be a JPEG, GIF, PNG, SVG, or SWF file.

The default value is null.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the iconChanged event.



Implementation
    public function get icon():Class
    public function set icon(value:Class):void

label

property 
label:String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The text displayed by some navigator containers to represent this Container.

For example, if this Container is a child of a TabNavigator, this string appears in the corresponding tab. If this Container is a child of an Accordion, this string appears in the corresponding header.

The default value is "".

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the labelChanged event.



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

maxHorizontalScrollPosition

property 
maxHorizontalScrollPosition:Number  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The largest possible value for the horizontalScrollPosition property. Defaults to 0 if the horizontal scrollbar is not present.



Implementation
    public function get maxHorizontalScrollPosition():Number

maxVerticalScrollPosition

property 
maxVerticalScrollPosition:Number  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The largest possible value for the verticalScrollPosition property. Defaults to 0 if the vertical scrollbar is not present.



Implementation
    public function get maxVerticalScrollPosition():Number

numChildren

property 
numChildren:int  [read-only] [override]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Number of child components in this container.

The number of children is initially equal to the number of children declared in MXML. At runtime, new children may be added by calling addChild() or addChildAt(), and existing children may be removed by calling removeChild(), removeChildAt(), or removeAllChildren().



Implementation
    override public function get numChildren():int

numElements

property 
numElements:int  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

The number of visual elements in this container. Visual elements include classes that implement the IVisualElement interface, such as subclasses of UIComponent and GraphicElement.



Implementation
    public function get numElements():int

rawChildren

property 
rawChildren:IChildList  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

A container typically contains child components, which can be enumerated using the Container.getChildAt() method and Container.numChildren property. In addition, the container may contain style elements and skins, such as the border and background. Flash Player and AIR do not draw any distinction between child components and skins. They are all accessible using the player's getChildAt() method and numChildren property. However, the Container class overrides the getChildAt() method and numChildren property (and several other methods) to create the illusion that the container's children are the only child components.

If you need to access all of the children of the container (both the content children and the skins), then use the methods and properties on the rawChildren property instead of the regular Container methods. For example, use the Container.rawChildren.getChildAt()) method. However, if a container creates a ContentPane Sprite object for its children, the rawChildren property value only counts the ContentPane, not the container's children. It is not always possible to determine when a container will have a ContentPane.

Note:If you call the addChild or addChildAt method of the rawChildren object, set tabFocusEnabled = false on the component that you have added. Doing so prevents users from tabbing to the visual-only component that you have added.



Implementation
    public function get rawChildren():IChildList

verticalLineScrollSize

property 
verticalLineScrollSize:Number

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Number of pixels to scroll when the up- or down-arrow button in the vertical scroll bar is pressed, or when you scroll by using the mouse wheel.

The default value is 5.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the verticalLineScrollSizeChanged event.



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

verticalPageScrollSize

property 
verticalPageScrollSize:Number

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Number of pixels to scroll when the track in the vertical scroll bar is pressed. A value of 0 means that the page size will be calculated to be a full screen.

The default value is 0.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the verticalPageScrollSizeChanged event.



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

verticalScrollBar

property 
verticalScrollBar:ScrollBar

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The vertical scrollbar used in this container. This property is null if no vertical scroll bar is currently displayed. In general you do not access this property directly. Manipulation of the verticalScrollPolicy and verticalScrollPosition properties should provide sufficient control over the scroll bar.



Implementation
    public function get verticalScrollBar():ScrollBar
    public function set verticalScrollBar(value:ScrollBar):void

verticalScrollPolicy

property 
verticalScrollPolicy:String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Specifies whether the vertical scroll bar is always present, always absent, or automatically added when needed. Possible values are ScrollPolicy.ON, ScrollPolicy.OFF, and ScrollPolicy.AUTO. MXML values can be "on", "off", and "auto".

Setting this property to ScrollPolicy.OFF also prevents the verticalScrollPosition property from having an effect.

Note: This property does not apply to the ControlBar container.

If the verticalScrollPolicy is ScrollPolicy.AUTO, the vertical scroll bar appears when all of the following are true:

  • One of the container's children extends beyond the top edge or bottom edge of the container.
  • The clipContent property is true.
  • The width and height of the container are large enough to reasonably accommodate a scroll bar.

The default value is ScrollPolicy.AUTO.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the verticalScrollPolicyChanged event.



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

verticalScrollPosition

property 
verticalScrollPosition:Number

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The current position of the vertical scroll bar. This is equal to the distance in pixels between the top edge of the scrollable surface and the topmost piece of the surface that is currently visible.

The default value is 0.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the viewChanged event.



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

viewMetrics

property 
viewMetrics:EdgeMetrics  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Returns an object that has four properties: left, top, right, and bottom. The value of each property equals the thickness of the chrome (visual elements) around the edge of the container.

The chrome includes the border thickness. If the horizontalScrollPolicy or verticalScrollPolicy property value is ScrollPolicy.ON, the chrome also includes the thickness of the corresponding scroll bar. If a scroll policy is ScrollPolicy.AUTO, the chrome measurement does not include the scroll bar thickness, even if a scroll bar is displayed.

Subclasses of Container should override this method, so that they include other chrome to be taken into account when positioning the Container's children. For example, the viewMetrics property for the Panel class should return an object whose top property includes the thickness of the Panel container's title bar.



Implementation
    public function get viewMetrics():EdgeMetrics

viewMetricsAndPadding

property 
viewMetricsAndPadding:EdgeMetrics  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Returns an object that has four properties: left, top, right, and bottom. The value of each property is equal to the thickness of the chrome (visual elements) around the edge of the container plus the thickness of the object's margins.

The chrome includes the border thickness. If the horizontalScrollPolicy or verticalScrollPolicy property value is ScrollPolicy.ON, the chrome also includes the thickness of the corresponding scroll bar. If a scroll policy is ScrollPolicy.AUTO, the chrome measurement does not include the scroll bar thickness, even if a scroll bar is displayed.



Implementation
    public function get viewMetricsAndPadding():EdgeMetrics
Constructor Detail

Container

()Constructor
public function Container()

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Constructor.

Method Detail

addChild

()method
override public function addChild(child:DisplayObject):DisplayObject

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Adds a child DisplayObject to this Container. The child is added after other existing children, so that the first child added has index 0, the next has index 1, an so on.

Note: While the child argument to the method is specified as of type DisplayObject, the argument must implement the IUIComponent interface to be added as a child of a container. All Flex components implement this interface.

Children are layered from back to front. In other words, if children overlap, the one with index 0 is farthest to the back, and the one with index numChildren - 1 is frontmost. This means the newly added children are layered in front of existing children.

Parameters

child:DisplayObject — The DisplayObject to add as a child of this Container. It must implement the IUIComponent interface.

Returns
DisplayObject — The added child as an object of type DisplayObject. You typically cast the return value to UIComponent, or to the type of the added component.

See also

addChildAt

()method 
override public function addChildAt(child:DisplayObject, index:int):DisplayObject

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Adds a child DisplayObject to this Container. The child is added at the index specified.

Note: While the child argument to the method is specified as of type DisplayObject, the argument must implement the IUIComponent interface to be added as a child of a container. All Flex components implement this interface.

Children are layered from back to front. In other words, if children overlap, the one with index 0 is farthest to the back, and the one with index numChildren - 1 is frontmost. This means the newly added children are layered in front of existing children.

When you add a new child at an index that is already occupied by an old child, it doesn't replace the old child; instead the old child and the ones after it "slide over" and have their index incremented by one. For example, suppose a Container contains the children (A, B, C) and you add D at index 1. Then the container will contain (A, D, B, C). If you want to replace an old child, you must first remove it before adding the new one.

Parameters

child:DisplayObject — The DisplayObject to add as a child of this Container. It must implement the IUIComponent interface.
 
index:int — The index to add the child at.

Returns
DisplayObject — The added child as an object of type DisplayObject. You typically cast the return value to UIComponent, or to the type of the added component.

See also

addElement

()method 
public function addElement(element:IVisualElement):IVisualElement

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Adds a visual element to this container. The element is added after all other elements and appears top of all other elements. To add a visual element to a specific index position, use the addElementAt() method.

If you add a visual element that already has a different container as a parent, the element is removed from the other container.

Parameters

element:IVisualElement — The visual element to add as a child of this container.

Returns
IVisualElement — The element that was added.

addElementAt

()method 
public function addElementAt(element:IVisualElement, index:int):IVisualElement

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Adds a visual element to this container. The element is added at the index position specified. An index of 0 represents the first element in the display list.

If you add a visual element that already has a different container as a parent, the element is removed from the other container.

Parameters

element:IVisualElement — The element to add as a child of this visual container.
 
index:int — The index position to which the element is added. If you specify a currently occupied index position, the child that exists at that position and all higher positions are moved up one position in the child list.

Returns
IVisualElement — The element that was added.

attachOverlay

()method 
override protected function attachOverlay():void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Used internally by the Dissolve Effect to add the overlay to the chrome of a container.

contentToGlobal

()method 
override public function contentToGlobal(point:Point):Point

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Converts a Point object from content coordinates to global coordinates. Content coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper left corner of the component's content, and include all of the component's content area, including any regions that are currently clipped and must be accessed by scrolling the component. You use the content coordinate system to set and get the positions of children of a container that uses absolute positioning. Global coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper-left corner of the stage, that is, the outermost edge of the application.

Parameters

point:Point — A Point object that specifies the x and y coordinates in the content coordinate system as properties.

Returns
Point — A Point object with coordinates relative to the Stage.

contentToLocal

()method 
override public function contentToLocal(point:Point):Point

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Converts a Point object from content to local coordinates. Content coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper left corner of the component's content, and include all of the component's content area, including any regions that are currently clipped and must be accessed by scrolling the component. You use the content coordinate system to set and get the positions of children of a container that uses absolute positioning. Local coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper left corner of the component.

Parameters

point:Point — A Point object that specifies the x and y coordinates in the content coordinate system as properties.

Returns
Point — Point A Point object with coordinates relative to the local coordinate system.

createBorder

()method 
protected function createBorder():void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Creates the container's border skin if it is needed and does not already exist.

createComponentFromDescriptor

()method 
public function createComponentFromDescriptor(descriptor:ComponentDescriptor, recurse:Boolean):IFlexDisplayObject

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Given a single UIComponentDescriptor, create the corresponding component and add the component as a child of this Container.

This method instantiates the new object but does not add it to the display list, so the object does not appear on the screen by default. To add the new object to the display list, call the validateNow() method on the container after calling the createComponentFromDescriptor() method, as the following example shows:

      myVBox.createComponentFromDescriptor(myVBox.childDescriptors[0],false);
      myVBox.validateNow();
      

Alternatively, you can call the createComponentsFromDescriptors() method on the container to create all components at one time. You are not required to call the validateNow() method after calling the createComponentsFromDescriptors() method.

Parameters

descriptor:ComponentDescriptor — The UIComponentDescriptor for the component to be created. This argument is either a UIComponentDescriptor object or the index of one of the container's children (an integer between 0 and n-1, where n is the total number of children of this container).
 
recurse:Boolean — If false, create this component but none of its children. If true, after creating the component, Flex calls the createComponentsFromDescriptors() method to create all or some of its children, based on the value of the component's creationPolicy property.

Returns
IFlexDisplayObject

See also

createComponentsFromDescriptors

()method 
public function createComponentsFromDescriptors(recurse:Boolean = true):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Iterate through the Array of childDescriptors, and call the createComponentFromDescriptor() method for each one.

If the value of the container's creationPolicy property is ContainerCreationPolicy.ALL, then this method is called automatically during the initialization sequence.

If the value of the container's creationPolicy is ContainerCreationPolicy.AUTO, then this method is called automatically when the container's children are about to become visible.

If the value of the container's creationPolicy property is ContainerCreationPolicy.NONE, then you should call this function when you want to create this container's children.

Parameters

recurse:Boolean (default = true) — If true, recursively create components.

createDeferredContent

()method 
public function createDeferredContent():void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Performs the equivalent action of calling the createComponentsFromDescriptors(true) method for containers that implement the IDeferredContentOwner interface to support deferred instantiation.

See also

executeBindings

()method 
override public function executeBindings(recurse:Boolean = false):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Executes all the data bindings on this Container. Flex calls this method automatically once a Container has been created to cause any data bindings that have destinations inside of it to execute. Workaround for MXML container/bindings problem (177074): override Container.executeBindings() to prefer descriptor.document over parentDocument in the call to BindingManager.executeBindings(). This should always provide the correct behavior for instances created by descriptor, and will provide the original behavior for procedurally-created instances. (The bug may or may not appear in the latter case.) A more complete fix, guaranteeing correct behavior in both non-DI and reparented-component scenarios, is anticipated for updater 1.

Parameters

recurse:Boolean (default = false) — If false, then only execute the bindings on this Container. If true, then also execute the bindings on this container's children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on.

executeChildBindings

()method 
public function executeChildBindings(recurse:Boolean):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Executes the bindings into this Container's child UIComponent objects. Flex calls this method automatically once a Container has been created.

Parameters

recurse:Boolean — If false, then only execute the bindings on the immediate children of this Container. If true, then also execute the bindings on this container's grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and so on.

getChildAt

()method 
override public function getChildAt(index:int):DisplayObject

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Gets the nth child component object.

The children returned from this method include children that are declared in MXML and children that are added using the addChild() or addChildAt() method.

Parameters

index:int — Number from 0 to (numChildren - 1).

Returns
DisplayObject — Reference to the child as an object of type DisplayObject. You typically cast the return value to UIComponent, or to the type of a specific Flex control, such as ComboBox or TextArea.

getChildByName

()method 
override public function getChildByName(name:String):DisplayObject

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Returns the child whose name property is the specified String.

Parameters

name:String — The identifier of the child.

Returns
DisplayObject — The DisplayObject representing the child as an object of type DisplayObject. You typically cast the return value to UIComponent, or to the type of a specific Flex control, such as ComboBox or TextArea. Throws a run-time error if the child of the specified name does not exist.

getChildIndex

()method 
override public function getChildIndex(child:DisplayObject):int

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Gets the zero-based index of a specific child.

The first child of the container (i.e.: the first child tag that appears in the MXML declaration) has an index of 0, the second child has an index of 1, and so on. The indexes of a container's children determine the order in which they get laid out. For example, in a VBox the child with index 0 is at the top, the child with index 1 is below it, etc.

If you add a child by calling the addChild() method, the new child's index is equal to the largest index among existing children plus one. You can insert a child at a specified index by using the addChildAt() method; in that case the indices of the child previously at that index, and the children at higher indices, all have their index increased by 1 so that all indices fall in the range from 0 to (numChildren - 1).

If you remove a child by calling removeChild() or removeChildAt() method, then the indices of the remaining children are adjusted so that all indices fall in the range from 0 to (numChildren - 1).

If myView.getChildIndex(myChild) returns 5, then myView.getChildAt(5) returns myChild.

The index of a child may be changed by calling the setChildIndex() method.

Parameters

child:DisplayObject — Reference to child whose index to get.

Returns
int — Number between 0 and (numChildren - 1).

getChildren

()method 
public function getChildren():Array

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Returns an Array of DisplayObject objects consisting of the content children of the container. This array does not include the DisplayObjects that implement the container's display elements, such as its border and the background image.

Returns
Array — Array of DisplayObject objects consisting of the content children of the container.

See also

getElementAt

()method 
public function getElementAt(index:int):IVisualElement

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Returns the visual element at the specified index.

Parameters

index:int — The index of the element to retrieve.

Returns
IVisualElement — The element at the specified index.

getElementIndex

()method 
public function getElementIndex(element:IVisualElement):int

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Returns the index position of a visual element.

Parameters

element:IVisualElement — The visual element.

Returns
int — The index position of the element in the container.

globalToContent

()method 
override public function globalToContent(point:Point):Point

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Converts a Point object from global to content coordinates. Global coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper-left corner of the stage, that is, the outermost edge of the application. Content coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper left corner of the component's content, and include all of the component's content area, including any regions that are currently clipped and must be accessed by scrolling the component. You use the content coordinate system to set and get the positions of children of a container that uses absolute positioning.

Parameters

point:Point — A Point object that specifies the x and y coordinates in the global (Stage) coordinate system as properties.

Returns
Point — Point A Point object with coordinates relative to the component.

layoutChrome

()method 
protected function layoutChrome(unscaledWidth:Number, unscaledHeight:Number):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Respond to size changes by setting the positions and sizes of this container's borders. This is an advanced method that you might override when creating a subclass of Container.

Flex calls the layoutChrome() method when the container is added to a parent container using the addChild() method, and when the container's invalidateDisplayList() method is called.

The Container.layoutChrome() method is called regardless of the value of the autoLayout property.

The Container.layoutChrome() method sets the position and size of the Container container's border. In every subclass of Container, the subclass's layoutChrome() method should call the super.layoutChrome() method, so that the border is positioned properly.

Parameters

unscaledWidth:Number — Specifies the width of the component, in pixels, in the component's coordinates, regardless of the value of the scaleX property of the component.
 
unscaledHeight:Number — Specifies the height of the component, in pixels, in the component's coordinates, regardless of the value of the scaleY property of the component.

See also

localToContent

()method 
override public function localToContent(point:Point):Point

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Converts a Point object from local to content coordinates. Local coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper left corner of the component. Content coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper left corner of the component's content, and include all of the component's content area, including any regions that are currently clipped and must be accessed by scrolling the component. You use the content coordinate system to set and get the positions of children of a container that uses absolute positioning.

Parameters

point:Point — A Point object that specifies the x and y coordinates in the local coordinate system as properties.

Returns
Point — Point A Point object with coordinates relative to the content coordinate system.

removeAllChildren

()method 
public function removeAllChildren():void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Removes all children from the child list of this container.

removeAllElements

()method 
public function removeAllElements():void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Removes all visual elements from the container.

removeChild

()method 
override public function removeChild(child:DisplayObject):DisplayObject

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Removes a child DisplayObject from the child list of this Container. The removed child will have its parent property set to null. The child will still exist unless explicitly destroyed. If you add it to another container, it will retain its last known state.

Parameters

child:DisplayObject — The DisplayObject to remove.

Returns
DisplayObject — The removed child as an object of type DisplayObject. You typically cast the return value to UIComponent, or to the type of the removed component.

removeChildAt

()method 
override public function removeChildAt(index:int):DisplayObject

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Removes a child DisplayObject from the child list of this Container at the specified index. The removed child will have its parent property set to null. The child will still exist unless explicitly destroyed. If you add it to another container, it will retain its last known state.

Parameters

index:int — The child index of the DisplayObject to remove.

Returns
DisplayObject — The removed child as an object of type DisplayObject. You typically cast the return value to UIComponent, or to the type of the removed component.

removeElement

()method 
public function removeElement(element:IVisualElement):IVisualElement

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Removes the specified visual element from the child list of this container. The index positions of any elements above the element in this visual container are decreased by 1.

Parameters

element:IVisualElement — The element to be removed from the container.

Returns
IVisualElement — The element removed.

removeElementAt

()method 
public function removeElementAt(index:int):IVisualElement

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Removes a visual element from the specified index position in the container. The index positions of any elements above the element in this visual container are decreased by 1.

Parameters

index:int — The index of the element to remove.

Returns
IVisualElement — The element removed.

scrollChildren

()method 
protected function scrollChildren():void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Positions the container's content area relative to the viewable area based on the horizontalScrollPosition and verticalScrollPosition properties. Content that doesn't appear in the viewable area gets clipped. This method should be overridden by subclasses that have scrollable chrome in the content area.

setChildIndex

()method 
override public function setChildIndex(child:DisplayObject, newIndex:int):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Sets the index of a particular child. See the getChildIndex() method for a description of the child's index.

Parameters

child:DisplayObject — Reference to child whose index to set.
 
newIndex:int — Number that indicates the new index. Must be an integer between 0 and (numChildren - 1).

setElementIndex

()method 
public function setElementIndex(element:IVisualElement, index:int):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Changes the position of an existing visual element in the visual container.

When you call the setElementIndex() method and specify an index position that is already occupied, the only positions that change are those in between the elements's former and new position. All others stay the same.

If a visual element is moved to an index lower than its current index, the index of all elements in between increases by 1. If an element is moved to an index higher than its current index, the index of all elements in between decreases by 1.

Parameters

element:IVisualElement — The element for which you want to change the index number.
 
index:int — The resulting index number for the element.

swapElements

()method 
public function swapElements(element1:IVisualElement, element2:IVisualElement):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Swaps the index of the two specified visual elements. All other elements remain in the same index position.

Parameters

element1:IVisualElement — The first visual element.
 
element2:IVisualElement — The second visual element.

swapElementsAt

()method 
public function swapElementsAt(index1:int, index2:int):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 4
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10, AIR 1.5

Swaps the visual elements at the two specified index positions in the container. All other visual elements remain in the same index position.

Parameters

index1:int — The index of the first element.
 
index2:int — The index of the second element.

updateDisplayList

()method 
override protected function updateDisplayList(unscaledWidth:Number, unscaledHeight:Number):void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Respond to size changes by setting the positions and sizes of this container's children.

See the UIComponent.updateDisplayList() method for more information about the updateDisplayList() method.

The Container.updateDisplayList() method sets the position and size of the Container container's border. In every subclass of Container, the subclass's updateDisplayList() method should call the super.updateDisplayList() method, so that the border is positioned properly.

Parameters

unscaledWidth:Number — Specifies the width of the component, in pixels, in the component's coordinates, regardless of the value of the scaleX property of the component.
 
unscaledHeight:Number — Specifies the height of the component, in pixels, in the component's coordinates, regardless of the value of the scaleY property of the component.

See also

Event Detail

childAdd

Event
Event Object Type: mx.events.ChildExistenceChangedEvent
property ChildExistenceChangedEvent.type = mx.events.ChildExistenceChangedEvent.CHILD_ADD

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Dispatched after a child has been added to a container.

The childAdd event is dispatched when the addChild() or addChildAt() method is called. When a container is first created, the addChild() method is automatically called for each child component declared in the MXML file. The addChildAt() method is automatically called whenever a Repeater object adds or removes child objects. The application developer may also manually call these methods to add new children.

At the time when this event is sent, the child object has been initialized, but its width and height have not yet been calculated, and the child has not been drawn on the screen. If you want to be notified when the child has been fully initialized and rendered, then register as a listener for the child's creationComplete event.

The ChildExistenceChangedEvent.CHILD_ADD constant defines the value of the type property of the event object for a childAdd event.

The properties of the event object have the following values:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse
currentTargetThe 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.
relatedObjectContains a reference to the child object that was created.
targetThe 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.

childIndexChange

Event  
Event Object Type: mx.events.IndexChangedEvent
property IndexChangedEvent.type = mx.events.IndexChangedEvent.CHILD_INDEX_CHANGE

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Dispatched after the index (among the container children) of a container child changes. This event is only dispatched for the child specified as the argument to the setChildIndex() method; it is not dispatched for any other child whose index changes as a side effect of the call to the setChildIndex() method.

The child's index is changed when the setChildIndex() method is called.

The IndexChangedEvent.CHILD_INDEX_CHANGE constant defines the value of the type property of the event object for a childIndexChange event, which indicates that a component's index among a container's children has changed.

The properties of the event object have the following values:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse
currentTargetThe 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.
inputTypeIndicates whether this event was caused by a mouse or keyboard interaction.
newIndexThe zero-based index of the child after the change.
oldIndexThe zero-based index of the child before the change.
relatedObjectContains a reference to the child object whose index changed.
targetThe 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.
TriggerEventnull
TypeIndexChangedEvent.CHILD_INDEX_CHANGE

childRemove

Event  
Event Object Type: mx.events.ChildExistenceChangedEvent
property ChildExistenceChangedEvent.type = mx.events.ChildExistenceChangedEvent.CHILD_REMOVE

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Dispatched before a child of a container is removed.

This event is delivered when any of the following methods is called: removeChild(), removeChildAt(), or removeAllChildren().

The ChildExistenceChangedEvent.CHILD_REMOVE constant defines the value of the type property of the event object for a childRemove event.

The properties of the event object have the following values:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse
currentTargetThe 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.
relatedObjectContains a reference to the child object that is about to be removed.
targetThe 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.

dataChange

Event  
Event Object Type: mx.events.FlexEvent
property FlexEvent.type = mx.events.FlexEvent.DATA_CHANGE

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Dispatched when the data property changes.

When a container is used as a renderer in a List or other components, the data property is used pass to the container the data to display.

The FlexEvent.DATA_CHANGE constant defines the value of the type property of the event object for a dataChange event.

The properties of the event object have the following values:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse
currentTargetThe 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.
targetThe 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.

scroll

Event  
Event Object Type: mx.events.ScrollEvent
property ScrollEvent.type = mx.events.ScrollEvent.SCROLL

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Product Version: Flex 3
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Dispatched when the user manually scrolls the container.

The event is dispatched when the scroll position is changed using either the mouse (e.g. clicking on the scrollbar's "down" button) or the keyboard (e.g., clicking on the down-arrow key). However, this event is not dispatched if the scroll position is changed programatically (e.g., setting the value of the horizontalScrollPosition property). The viewChanged event is delivered whenever the scroll position is changed, either manually or programatically.

At the time when this event is dispatched, the scrollbar has been updated to the new position, but the container's child objects have not been shifted to reflect the new scroll position.

The ScrollEvent.SCROLL constant defines the value of the type property of the event object for a scroll event.

The properties of the event object have the following values:

PropertyValue
bubblesfalse
cancelablefalse
currentTargetThe 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.
deltaContains the change in scroll position, expressed in pixels. A positive value indicates the scroll was down or to the right. A negative value indicates the scroll was up or to the left.
directionContains the scroll direction, either ScrollEventDirection.HORIZONTAL or ScrollEventDirection.VERTICAL.
positionContains the new scroll position.
targetThe 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.