Constraining/clipping symbol boundaries in Flash CS5

Question

I want to create a MovieClip symbol of a certain width and height, but with content that extends outside its boundaries, with the option to have the external content be clipped/hidden or visible.

In Flex, the solution would be to create a group with .clipAndEnableScrolling = true.

Is there a way to do this in Flash CS5, or will the symbol always resolve to the size of its contents?

Answer 1

The answer is to use a mask layer to define your symbol boundary rect. This technique will clip out-of-bounds content. See this excellent video:

Creating masks and masked content from lynda.com

Answer 2

The symbol will always resolve to the size of its contents.

If you wish to make a particular size visible, inside the clip:

• Draw a shape on a layer above the content layer
• Mask the content layer.