AS3- Is it possible to call a variable from a string?

Question

Is there a way to make "getDefinitionByName()" work with any Object type, I have only gotten it to work with a Class:

 var test:Class = getDefinitionByName("myClass") as Class;

I need something like:

var myNumber:Number = 10; 
var test:Number = getDefinitionByName("myNumber") as Number;

trace(test); //10

Or is there another method to achieve this?

Answer 1

No.

That's the short answer, getDefinitionByName gets the class definition. You can access public fields and function with the [] syntax, as in trace(this["myNumber"]);. You example seems to be with a local variable which really does not really make sense.

Perhaps you can explain what you want to do, this sounds like something you can design you way out of.

Answer 2

You should define your key codes as public static constants in your KeyCodes class:

class KeyCodes { 
    public static const A:int = 65;
}

You can then use them as arguments to your useKeyCodes function:

useKeyCodes(KeyCodes.A);

This way you get the benefit of not having to remember every key code.