How to create dynamic variable vbox in actionscript

Question

Hello, I have to create several vbox-es in a for each loop. Now I want to do something like this.

formsArray["vb"+counter] = new VBox; formsArray["vb"+counter].visible = true;

add labels etc.

I can't get this thing to work. Anybody any idea how to create dynamic variable names for my vbox-es?

Thanks

Answer 1

First off, to use an associative array, you need to use an Object and not an Array (perhaps you already are, then never mind).

You can achieve what you want to do the following way:

var vbox:VBox;
var formsArray:Object = new Object();
var counter:int = 0;

for each(<statement>)
{
    vbox = new VBox();
    formsArray[("vb" + counter.toString())] = vbox;
    counter++;
}

The VBox's visible property is true by default, so no need to explicitly set it.

Answer to additional question in comments:

You don't really need to make use of dynamic references to do what you want to do. You'd be best of creating a custom component for this, extending the VBox class, by creating a new MXML class with VBox as the root tag. Something along these lines:

<mx:VBox ... >

    <mx:Button ... click="btnClickHandler()"/>
    <mx:Script>
        <![CDATA[

            // Toggles visibility of the VBox
            private function btnClickHandler():void
            {
                 visible = !visible;
            }

        ]]>
    </mx:Script>

</mx:VBox>

Then you can just instantiate as many of these custom VBox:es as you need. However, making the VBox invisible will make the contained button invisible as well, making it difficult to click it again. :) You probably want to address that. Anyways, I hope this will point you in the right direction.