Adobe® Flex® 4 Language Reference
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mx.core 
IVisualElementContainer 
Packagemx.core
Interfacepublic interface IVisualElementContainer
Implementors Container, ContainerMovieClip, Group, Scroller, SkinnableContainer

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

The IVisualElementContainer interface defines the minimum properties and methods required for a container to manage Spark components for display.

Note that the Spark SkinnableDataContainer and DataGroup containers do not implement this interface. Those containers manage their children through the dataProvider property.

See also



Public Properties
 PropertyDefined By
  numElements : int
[read-only] The number of visual elements in this container.
IVisualElementContainer
Public Methods
 MethodDefined By
  
Adds a visual element to this container.
IVisualElementContainer
  
Adds a visual element to this container.
IVisualElementContainer
  
Returns the visual element at the specified index.
IVisualElementContainer
  
Returns the index position of a visual element.
IVisualElementContainer
  
Removes all visual elements from the container.
IVisualElementContainer
  
Removes the specified visual element from the child list of this container.
IVisualElementContainer
  
Removes a visual element from the specified index position in the container.
IVisualElementContainer
  
Changes the position of an existing visual element in the visual container.
IVisualElementContainer
  
Swaps the index of the two specified visual elements.
IVisualElementContainer
  
swapElementsAt(index1:int, index2:int):void
Swaps the visual elements at the two specified index positions in the container.
IVisualElementContainer
Property Detail

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
Method Detail

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.

Events
elementAdd:ElementExistenceEvent — Dispatched when the element is added to the child list.

Throws
ArgumentError — If the element is the same as the visual container.

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.

Events
elementAdd — Dispatched when the element is added to the child list.

Throws
ArgumentError — If the element is the same as the container.
 
RangeError — If the index position does not exist in the child list.

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.

Throws
RangeError — If the index position does not exist in the child list.

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.

Throws
ArgumentError — If the element is not a child of this visual 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.

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.

Throws
ArgumentError — If the element parameter is not a child of this visual container.

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.

Throws
RangeError — If the index does not exist in the child list.

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.


Throws
RangeError — If the index does not exist in the child list.
 
ArgumentError — If the element parameter is not a child of this visual container.

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.


Throws
RangeError — If either index does not exist in the visual container.