Page 1 of 6 You've read Jen deHaan's excellent Flash ActionScript 2.0 Learning Guide and are now eyeballing an empty Actions panel. Either that, or you've found a code sample online and have pasted it into the same. But you're stuck. You're itching to jump in, and yet ... something tugs at you, holds you back. For some reason, you still don't know where to begin.
Sure, you have a handle on the concepts, but the nitty-gritty still evades you. It's that pesky ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference, isn't it? It's supposed to be your first stop, yet "stop" is all you've done. In theory, it's got everything you need, but it seems so vast! How is anyone expected to plod through this seemingly endless reference? So you sit.
Well, let's get you moving!
Referrals to the documentation arrive in all flavors, from the gentle, "Chin up, check out the docs," to the sarcastic "Don't be afraid of the F1 key", to the curt "Look it up," to the brutal, "RTFM!" The thing is, you've tried, right? You have hit the F1 key — but then what?
Let's start from the beginning. The F1 key might be the quickest way to bring up the Help panel, but you may also select Help > Flash Help from the file menu. While you're there, notice that additional choices exist, such as "Getting Started with Flash" and "What's New in Flash 8." You can also get to these from the Help panel's table of contents, but it's nice to have the shortcut. These are all part of the tome collectively known as "The documentation," which includes the ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference. If you're new to Flash altogether, read the more general "getting started" guides first. The ActionScript 2.0 Language Reference is specifically for programming.
With the Help panel open, take note of your surroundings.
Figure 1 - Help panel
The Help panel behaves something like a browser. You have a search field, History Back and History Forward buttons, a Print button, and a tad more. Before you do anything else, click the Update button to make sure you receive the most up-to-date content. Here is a breakdown of the Help panel features.
| Search field and button: | Often the quickest way to jump to a relevant entry. |  |
|---|---|---|
| Clear button: | Clears the search field and restores the Table of Contents view. |  |
| History Back button: | As you click from page to page, this lets you step backwards to an earlier visited entry. |  |
| History Forward button: | Same thing, but in the opposite direction. |  |
| Table of Contents button: | Identical to the Clear button. |  |
| Update button: | Checks Adobe servers for updates to the documentation. |  |
| Print button: | Sends the currently chosen entry to your printer. |  |
| Category menu: | Filters the list of available references, allowing you to search and browse among specific "books" only, or all books. Browsing is great for studying ActionScript at length and surprising yourself with new topics you didn't even know to ask for. |  |
Figure 2 - Help panel features
Keywords
actionscript, flash, reference
