nme.text.TextField

type: class
extends: nme.display.InteractiveObject
subclasses: nme.display.FPS
available in: nme

The TextField class is used to create display objects for text display and input. You can use the TextField class to perform low-level text rendering. However, in Flex, you typically use the Label, Text, TextArea, and TextInput controls to process text. You can give a text field an instance name in the Property inspector and use the methods and properties of the TextField class to manipulate it with ActionScript. TextField instance names are displayed in the Movie Explorer and in the Insert Target Path dialog box in the Actions panel.

To create a text field dynamically, use the TextField() constructor.

The methods of the TextField class let you set, select, and manipulate text in a dynamic or input text field that you create during authoring or at runtime.

ActionScript provides several ways to format your text at runtime. The TextFormat class lets you set character and paragraph formatting for TextField objects. You can apply Cascading Style Sheets(CSS) styles to text fields by using the TextField.styleSheet property and the StyleSheet class. You can use CSS to style built-in HTML tags, define new formatting tags, or apply styles. You can assign HTML formatted text, which optionally uses CSS styles, directly to a text field. HTML text that you assign to a text field can contain embedded media(movie clips, SWF files, GIF files, PNG files, and JPEG files). The text wraps around the embedded media in the same way that a web browser wraps text around media embedded in an HTML document.

Flash Player supports a subset of HTML tags that you can use to format text. See the list of supported HTML tags in the description of the htmlText property.

Static Variables

metadata

:require: flash10

Returns true if an embedded font is available with the specified fontName and fontStyle where Font.fontType is nme.text.FontType.EMBEDDED. Starting with Flash Player 10, two kinds of embedded fonts can appear in a SWF file. Normal embedded fonts are only used with TextField objects. CFF embedded fonts are only used with the nme.text.engine classes. The two types are distinguished by the fontType property of the Font class, as returned by the enumerateFonts() function.

TextField cannot use a font of type EMBEDDED_CFF. If embedFonts is set to true and the only font available at run time with the specified name and style is of type EMBEDDED_CFF, Flash Player fails to render the text, as if no embedded font were available with the specified name and style.

If both EMBEDDED and EMBEDDED_CFF fonts are available with the same name and style, the EMBEDDED font is selected and text renders with the EMBEDDED font.

Constructor

Creates a new TextField instance. After you create the TextField instance, call the addChild() or addChildAt() method of the parent DisplayObjectContainer object to add the TextField instance to the display list.

The default size for a text field is 100 x 100 pixels.

Instance Variables hide inherited show inherited

Indicates the alpha transparency value of the object specified. Valid values are 0(fully transparent) to 1(fully opaque). The default value is 1. Display objects with alpha set to 0 are active, even though they are invisible.

When set to true and the text field is not in focus, Flash Player highlights the selection in the text field in gray. When set to false and the text field is not in focus, Flash Player does not highlight the selection in the text field.

The type of anti-aliasing used for this text field. Use nme.text.AntiAliasType constants for this property. You can control this setting only if the font is embedded(with the embedFonts property set to true). The default setting is nme.text.AntiAliasType.NORMAL.

To set values for this property, use the following string values:

Controls automatic sizing and alignment of text fields. Acceptable values for the TextFieldAutoSize constants: TextFieldAutoSize.NONE(the default), TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT, TextFieldAutoSize.RIGHT, and TextFieldAutoSize.CENTER.

If autoSize is set to TextFieldAutoSize.NONE (the default) no resizing occurs.

If autoSize is set to TextFieldAutoSize.LEFT, the text is treated as left-justified text, meaning that the left margin of the text field remains fixed and any resizing of a single line of the text field is on the right margin. If the text includes a line break(for example, "\n" or "\r"), the bottom is also resized to fit the next line of text. If wordWrap is also set to true, only the bottom of the text field is resized and the right side remains fixed.

If autoSize is set to TextFieldAutoSize.RIGHT, the text is treated as right-justified text, meaning that the right margin of the text field remains fixed and any resizing of a single line of the text field is on the left margin. If the text includes a line break(for example, "\n" or "\r"), the bottom is also resized to fit the next line of text. If wordWrap is also set to true, only the bottom of the text field is resized and the left side remains fixed.

If autoSize is set to TextFieldAutoSize.CENTER, the text is treated as center-justified text, meaning that any resizing of a single line of the text field is equally distributed to both the right and left margins. If the text includes a line break(for example, "\n" or "\r"), the bottom is also resized to fit the next line of text. If wordWrap is also set to true, only the bottom of the text field is resized and the left and right sides remain fixed.

Specifies whether the text field has a background fill. If true, the text field has a background fill. If false, the text field has no background fill. Use the backgroundColor property to set the background color of a text field.

The color of the text field background. The default value is 0xFFFFFF(white). This property can be retrieved or set, even if there currently is no background, but the color is visible only if the text field has the background property set to true.

A value from the BlendMode class that specifies which blend mode to use. A bitmap can be drawn internally in two ways. If you have a blend mode enabled or an external clipping mask, the bitmap is drawn by adding a bitmap-filled square shape to the vector render. If you attempt to set this property to an invalid value, Flash runtimes set the value to BlendMode.NORMAL.

The blendMode property affects each pixel of the display object. Each pixel is composed of three constituent colors(red, green, and blue), and each constituent color has a value between 0x00 and 0xFF. Flash Player or Adobe AIR compares each constituent color of one pixel in the movie clip with the corresponding color of the pixel in the background. For example, if blendMode is set to BlendMode.LIGHTEN, Flash Player or Adobe AIR compares the red value of the display object with the red value of the background, and uses the lighter of the two as the value for the red component of the displayed color.

The following table describes the blendMode settings. The BlendMode class defines string values you can use. The illustrations in the table show blendMode values applied to a circular display object(2) superimposed on another display object(1).

Specifies whether the text field has a border. If true, the text field has a border. If false, the text field has no border. Use the borderColor property to set the border color.

The color of the text field border. The default value is 0x000000(black). This property can be retrieved or set, even if there currently is no border, but the color is visible only if the text field has the border property set to true.

An integer(1-based index) that indicates the bottommost line that is currently visible in the specified text field. Think of the text field as a window onto a block of text. The scrollV property is the 1-based index of the topmost visible line in the window.

All the text between the lines indicated by scrollV and bottomScrollV is currently visible in the text field.

If set to true, NME will use the software renderer to cache an internal bitmap representation of the display object. For native targets, this is often much slower than the default hardware renderer. When you are using the Flash target, this caching may increase performance for display objects that contain complex vector content.

All vector data for a display object that has a cached bitmap is drawn to the bitmap instead of the main display. If cacheAsBitmapMatrix is null or unsupported, the bitmap is then copied to the main display as unstretched, unrotated pixels snapped to the nearest pixel boundaries. Pixels are mapped 1 to 1 with the parent object. If the bounds of the bitmap change, the bitmap is recreated instead of being stretched.

If cacheAsBitmapMatrix is non-null and supported, the object is drawn to the off-screen bitmap using that matrix and the stretched and/or rotated results of that rendering are used to draw the object to the main display.

No internal bitmap is created unless the cacheAsBitmap property is set to true.

After you set the cacheAsBitmap property to true, the rendering does not change, however the display object performs pixel snapping automatically. The animation speed can be significantly faster depending on the complexity of the vector content.

The cacheAsBitmap property is automatically set to true whenever you apply a filter to a display object(when its filter array is not empty), and if a display object has a filter applied to it, cacheAsBitmap is reported as true for that display object, even if you set the property to false. If you clear all filters for a display object, the cacheAsBitmap setting changes to what it was last set to.

A display object does not use a bitmap even if the cacheAsBitmap property is set to true and instead renders from vector data in the following cases:

The bitmap is too large. In AIR 1.5 and Flash Player 10, the maximum size for a bitmap image is 8,191 pixels in width or height, and the total number of pixels cannot exceed 16,777,215 pixels.(So, if a bitmap image is 8,191 pixels wide, it can only be 2,048 pixels high.) In Flash Player 9 and earlier, the limitation is is 2880 pixels in height and 2,880 pixels in width.
The bitmap fails to allocate(out of memory error).

The cacheAsBitmap property is best used with movie clips that have mostly static content and that do not scale and rotate frequently. With such movie clips, cacheAsBitmap can lead to performance increases when the movie clip is translated(when its x and y position is changed).

The index of the insertion point(caret) position. If no insertion point is displayed, the value is the position the insertion point would be if you restored focus to the field(typically where the insertion point last was, or 0 if the field has not had focus).

Selection span indexes are zero-based(for example, the first position is 0, the second position is 1, and so on).

A Boolean value that specifies whether extra white space(spaces, line breaks, and so on) in a text field with HTML text is removed. The default value is false. The condenseWhite property only affects text set with the htmlText property, not the text property. If you set text with the text property, condenseWhite is ignored.

If condenseWhite is set to true, use standard HTML commands such as and

to place line breaks in the text field.

Set the condenseWhite property before setting the htmlText property.

Specifies the format applied to newly inserted text, such as text entered by a user or text inserted with the replaceSelectedText() method.

Note: When selecting characters to be replaced with setSelection() and replaceSelectedText(), the defaultTextFormat will be applied only if the text has been selected up to and including the last character. Here is an example:

 var my_txt:TextField new TextField();
	  my_txt.text = "Flash Macintosh version"; var my_fmt:TextFormat = new
	  TextFormat(); my_fmt.color = 0xFF0000; my_txt.defaultTextFormat = my_fmt;
	  my_txt.setSelection(6,15); // partial text selected - defaultTextFormat
	  not applied my_txt.setSelection(6,23); // text selected to end -
	  defaultTextFormat applied my_txt.replaceSelectedText("Windows version");

When you access the defaultTextFormat property, the returned TextFormat object has all of its properties defined. No property is null.

Note: You can't set this property if a style sheet is applied to the text field.

Specifies whether the text field is a password text field. If the value of this property is true, the text field is treated as a password text field and hides the input characters using asterisks instead of the actual characters. If false, the text field is not treated as a password text field. When password mode is enabled, the Cut and Copy commands and their corresponding keyboard shortcuts will not function. This security mechanism prevents an unscrupulous user from using the shortcuts to discover a password on an unattended computer.

Specifies whether the object receives doubleClick events. The default value is false, which means that by default an InteractiveObject instance does not receive doubleClick events. If the doubleClickEnabled property is set to true, the instance receives doubleClick events within its bounds. The mouseEnabled property of the InteractiveObject instance must also be set to true for the object to receive doubleClick events.

No event is dispatched by setting this property. You must use the addEventListener() method to add an event listener for the doubleClick event.

Specifies whether to render by using embedded font outlines. If false, Flash Player renders the text field by using device fonts.

If you set the embedFonts property to true for a text field, you must specify a font for that text by using the font property of a TextFormat object applied to the text field. If the specified font is not embedded in the SWF file, the text is not displayed.

An indexed array that contains each filter object currently associated with the display object. The nme.filters package contains several classes that define specific filters you can use.

Filters can be applied in Flash Professional at design time, or at run time by using ActionScript code. To apply a filter by using ActionScript, you must make a temporary copy of the entire filters array, modify the temporary array, then assign the value of the temporary array back to the filters array. You cannot directly add a new filter object to the filters array.

To add a filter by using ActionScript, perform the following steps (assume that the target display object is named myDisplayObject):

Create a new filter object by using the constructor method of your chosen filter class.
Assign the value of the myDisplayObject.filters array to a temporary array, such as one named myFilters.
Add the new filter object to the myFilters temporary array.
Assign the value of the temporary array to the myDisplayObject.filters array.

If the filters array is undefined, you do not need to use a temporary array. Instead, you can directly assign an array literal that contains one or more filter objects that you create. The first example in the Examples section adds a drop shadow filter by using code that handles both defined and undefined filters arrays.

To modify an existing filter object, you must use the technique of modifying a copy of the filters array:

Assign the value of the filters array to a temporary array, such as one named myFilters.
Modify the property by using the temporary array, myFilters. For example, to set the quality property of the first filter in the array, you could use the following code: myFilters0.quality = 1;
Assign the value of the temporary array to the filters array.

At load time, if a display object has an associated filter, it is marked to cache itself as a transparent bitmap. From this point forward, as long as the display object has a valid filter list, the player caches the display object as a bitmap. This source bitmap is used as a source image for the filter effects. Each display object usually has two bitmaps: one with the original unfiltered source display object and another for the final image after filtering. The final image is used when rendering. As long as the display object does not change, the final image does not need updating.

The nme.filters package includes classes for filters. For example, to create a DropShadow filter, you would write:

Specifies whether this object displays a focus rectangle. It can take one of three values: true, false, or null. Values of true and false work as expected, specifying whether or not the focus rectangle appears. A value of null indicates that this object obeys the stageFocusRect property of the Stage.

Indicates the height of the display object, in pixels. The height is calculated based on the bounds of the content of the display object. When you set the height property, the scaleY property is adjusted accordingly, as shown in the following code:

Except for TextField and Video objects, a display object with no content(such as an empty sprite) has a height of 0, even if you try to set height to a different value.

Contains the HTML representation of the text field contents.

Flash Player supports the following HTML tags:

Flash Player and AIR also support explicit character codes, such as &(ASCII ampersand) and €(Unicode € symbol).

The number of characters in a text field. A character such as tab (\t) counts as one character.

Returns a LoaderInfo object containing information about loading the file to which this display object belongs. The loaderInfo property is defined only for the root display object of a SWF file or for a loaded Bitmap(not for a Bitmap that is drawn with ActionScript). To find the loaderInfo object associated with the SWF file that contains a display object named myDisplayObject, use myDisplayObject.root.loaderInfo.

A large SWF file can monitor its download by calling this.root.loaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, func).

The calling display object is masked by the specified mask object. To ensure that masking works when the Stage is scaled, the mask display object must be in an active part of the display list. The mask object itself is not drawn. Set mask to null to remove the mask.

To be able to scale a mask object, it must be on the display list. To be able to drag a mask Sprite object(by calling its startDrag() method), it must be on the display list. To call the startDrag() method for a mask sprite based on a mouseDown event being dispatched by the sprite, set the sprite's buttonMode property to true.

When display objects are cached by setting the cacheAsBitmap property to true an the cacheAsBitmapMatrix property to a Matrix object, both the mask and the display object being masked must be part of the same cached bitmap. Thus, if the display object is cached, then the mask must be a child of the display object. If an ancestor of the display object on the display list is cached, then the mask must be a child of that ancestor or one of its descendents. If more than one ancestor of the masked object is cached, then the mask must be a descendent of the cached container closest to the masked object in the display list.

Note: A single mask object cannot be used to mask more than one calling display object. When the mask is assigned to a second display object, it is removed as the mask of the first object, and that object's mask property becomes null.

The maximum number of characters that the text field can contain, as entered by a user. A script can insert more text than maxChars allows; the maxChars property indicates only how much text a user can enter. If the value of this property is 0, a user can enter an unlimited amount of text.

The maximum value of scrollH.

The maximum value of scrollV.

Specifies whether this object receives mouse, or other user input, messages. The default value is true, which means that by default any InteractiveObject instance that is on the display list receives mouse events or other user input events. If mouseEnabled is set to false, the instance does not receive any mouse events(or other user input events like keyboard events). Any children of this instance on the display list are not affected. To change the mouseEnabled behavior for all children of an object on the display list, use nme.display.DisplayObjectContainer.mouseChildren.

No event is dispatched by setting this property. You must use the addEventListener() method to create interactive functionality.

A Boolean value that indicates whether Flash Player automatically scrolls multiline text fields when the user clicks a text field and rolls the mouse wheel. By default, this value is true. This property is useful if you want to prevent mouse wheel scrolling of text fields, or implement your own text field scrolling.

Indicates the x coordinate of the mouse or user input device position, in pixels.

Note: For a DisplayObject that has been rotated, the returned x coordinate will reflect the non-rotated object.

Indicates the y coordinate of the mouse or user input device position, in pixels.

Note: For a DisplayObject that has been rotated, the returned y coordinate will reflect the non-rotated object.

Indicates whether field is a multiline text field. If the value is true, the text field is multiline; if the value is false, the text field is a single-line text field. In a field of type TextFieldType.INPUT, the multiline value determines whether the Enter key creates a new line(a value of false, and the Enter key is ignored). If you paste text into a TextField with a multiline value of false, newlines are stripped out of the text.

Indicates the instance name of the DisplayObject. The object can be identified in the child list of its parent display object container by calling the getChildByName() method of the display object container.

metadata

:require: flash11

Specifies whether a virtual keyboard(an on-screen, software keyboard) should display when this InteractiveObject instance receives focus.

By default, the value is false and focusing an InteractiveObject instance does not raise a soft keyboard. If the needsSoftKeyboard property is set to true, the runtime raises a soft keyboard when the InteractiveObject instance is ready to accept user input. An InteractiveObject instance is ready to accept user input after a programmatic call to set the Stage focus property or a user interaction, such as a "tap." If the client system has a hardware keyboard available or does not support virtual keyboards, then the soft keyboard is not raised.

The InteractiveObject instance dispatches softKeyboardActivating, softKeyboardActivate, and softKeyboardDeactivate events when the soft keyboard raises and lowers.

Note: This property is not supported in AIR applications on iOS.

Defines the number of text lines in a multiline text field. If wordWrap property is set to true, the number of lines increases when text wraps.

Specifies whether the display object is opaque with a certain background color. A transparent bitmap contains alpha channel data and is drawn transparently. An opaque bitmap has no alpha channel(and renders faster than a transparent bitmap). If the bitmap is opaque, you specify its own background color to use.

If set to a number value, the surface is opaque(not transparent) with the RGB background color that the number specifies. If set to null(the default value), the display object has a transparent background.

The opaqueBackground property is intended mainly for use with the cacheAsBitmap property, for rendering optimization. For display objects in which the cacheAsBitmap property is set to true, setting opaqueBackground can improve rendering performance.

The opaque background region is not matched when calling the hitTestPoint() method with the shapeFlag parameter set to true.

The opaque background region does not respond to mouse events.

Indicates the DisplayObjectContainer object that contains this display object. Use the parent property to specify a relative path to display objects that are above the current display object in the display list hierarchy.

You can use parent to move up multiple levels in the display list as in the following:

metadata

:require: flash11

Raises a virtual keyboard.

Calling this method focuses the InteractiveObject instance and raises the soft keyboard, if necessary. The needsSoftKeyboard must also be true. A keyboard is not raised if a hardware keyboard is available, or if the client system does not support virtual keyboards.

Note: This method is not supported in AIR applications on iOS.

Indicates the set of characters that a user can enter into the text field. If the value of the restrict property is null, you can enter any character. If the value of the restrict property is an empty string, you cannot enter any character. If the value of the restrict property is a string of characters, you can enter only characters in the string into the text field. The string is scanned from left to right. You can specify a range by using the hyphen (-) character. Only user interaction is restricted; a script can put any text into the text field. This property does not synchronize with the Embed font options in the Property inspector.

If the string begins with a caret(^) character, all characters are initially accepted and succeeding characters in the string are excluded from the set of accepted characters. If the string does not begin with a caret(^) character, no characters are initially accepted and succeeding characters in the string are included in the set of accepted characters.

The following example allows only uppercase characters, spaces, and numbers to be entered into a text field:

 my_txt.restrict = "A-Z 0-9";

The following example includes all characters, but excludes lowercase letters:

 my_txt.restrict = "^a-z";

You can use a backslash to enter a ^ or - verbatim. The accepted backslash sequences are \-, \^ or \\. The backslash must be an actual character in the string, so when specified in ActionScript, a double backslash must be used. For example, the following code includes only the dash(-) and caret(^):

 my_txt.restrict = "\\-\\^";

The ^ can be used anywhere in the string to toggle between including characters and excluding characters. The following code includes only uppercase letters, but excludes the uppercase letter Q:

 my_txt.restrict = "A-Z^Q";

You can use the \u escape sequence to construct restrict strings. The following code includes only the characters from ASCII 32(space) to ASCII 126(tilde).

 my_txt.restrict = "\u0020-\u007E";

For a display object in a loaded SWF file, the root property is the top-most display object in the portion of the display list's tree structure represented by that SWF file. For a Bitmap object representing a loaded image file, the root property is the Bitmap object itself. For the instance of the main class of the first SWF file loaded, the root property is the display object itself. The root property of the Stage object is the Stage object itself. The root property is set to null for any display object that has not been added to the display list, unless it has been added to a display object container that is off the display list but that is a child of the top-most display object in a loaded SWF file.

For example, if you create a new Sprite object by calling the Sprite() constructor method, its root property is null until you add it to the display list(or to a display object container that is off the display list but that is a child of the top-most display object in a SWF file).

For a loaded SWF file, even though the Loader object used to load the file may not be on the display list, the top-most display object in the SWF file has its root property set to itself. The Loader object does not have its root property set until it is added as a child of a display object for which the root property is set.

Indicates the rotation of the DisplayObject instance, in degrees, from its original orientation. Values from 0 to 180 represent clockwise rotation; values from 0 to -180 represent counterclockwise rotation. Values outside this range are added to or subtracted from 360 to obtain a value within the range. For example, the statement my_video.rotation = 450 is the same as my_video.rotation = 90.

The current scaling grid that is in effect. If set to null, the entire display object is scaled normally when any scale transformation is applied.

When you define the scale9Grid property, the display object is divided into a grid with nine regions based on the scale9Grid rectangle, which defines the center region of the grid. The eight other regions of the grid are the following areas:

The upper-left corner outside of the rectangle
The area above the rectangle
The upper-right corner outside of the rectangle
The area to the left of the rectangle
The area to the right of the rectangle
The lower-left corner outside of the rectangle
The area below the rectangle
The lower-right corner outside of the rectangle

You can think of the eight regions outside of the center(defined by the rectangle) as being like a picture frame that has special rules applied to it when scaled.

When the scale9Grid property is set and a display object is scaled, all text and gradients are scaled normally; however, for other types of objects the following rules apply:

Content in the center region is scaled normally.
Content in the corners is not scaled.
Content in the top and bottom regions is scaled horizontally only. Content in the left and right regions is scaled vertically only.
All fills(including bitmaps, video, and gradients) are stretched to fit their shapes.

If a display object is rotated, all subsequent scaling is normal(and the scale9Grid property is ignored).

For example, consider the following display object and a rectangle that is applied as the display object's scale9Grid:

A common use for setting scale9Grid is to set up a display object to be used as a component, in which edge regions retain the same width when the component is scaled.

Indicates the horizontal scale(percentage) of the object as applied from the registration point. The default registration point is(0,0). 1.0 equals 100% scale.

Scaling the local coordinate system changes the x and y property values, which are defined in whole pixels.

Indicates the vertical scale(percentage) of an object as applied from the registration point of the object. The default registration point is(0,0). 1.0 is 100% scale.

Scaling the local coordinate system changes the x and y property values, which are defined in whole pixels.

The current horizontal scrolling position. If the scrollH property is 0, the text is not horizontally scrolled. This property value is an integer that represents the horizontal position in pixels.

The units of horizontal scrolling are pixels, whereas the units of vertical scrolling are lines. Horizontal scrolling is measured in pixels because most fonts you typically use are proportionally spaced; that is, the characters can have different widths. Flash Player performs vertical scrolling by line because users usually want to see a complete line of text rather than a partial line. Even if a line uses multiple fonts, the height of the line adjusts to fit the largest font in use.

Note: The scrollH property is zero-based, not 1-based like the scrollV vertical scrolling property.

The scroll rectangle bounds of the display object. The display object is cropped to the size defined by the rectangle, and it scrolls within the rectangle when you change the x and y properties of the scrollRect object.

The properties of the scrollRect Rectangle object use the display object's coordinate space and are scaled just like the overall display object. The corner bounds of the cropped window on the scrolling display object are the origin of the display object(0,0) and the point defined by the width and height of the rectangle. They are not centered around the origin, but use the origin to define the upper-left corner of the area. A scrolled display object always scrolls in whole pixel increments.

You can scroll an object left and right by setting the x property of the scrollRect Rectangle object. You can scroll an object up and down by setting the y property of the scrollRect Rectangle object. If the display object is rotated 90° and you scroll it left and right, the display object actually scrolls up and down.

The vertical position of text in a text field. The scrollV property is useful for directing users to a specific paragraph in a long passage, or creating scrolling text fields.

The units of vertical scrolling are lines, whereas the units of horizontal scrolling are pixels. If the first line displayed is the first line in the text field, scrollV is set to 1(not 0). Horizontal scrolling is measured in pixels because most fonts are proportionally spaced; that is, the characters can have different widths. Flash performs vertical scrolling by line because users usually want to see a complete line of text rather than a partial line. Even if there are multiple fonts on a line, the height of the line adjusts to fit the largest font in use.

A Boolean value that indicates whether the text field is selectable. The value true indicates that the text is selectable. The selectable property controls whether a text field is selectable, not whether a text field is editable. A dynamic text field can be selectable even if it is not editable. If a dynamic text field is not selectable, the user cannot select its text.

If selectable is set to false, the text in the text field does not respond to selection commands from the mouse or keyboard, and the text cannot be copied with the Copy command. If selectable is set to true, the text in the text field can be selected with the mouse or keyboard, and the text can be copied with the Copy command. You can select text this way even if the text field is a dynamic text field instead of an input text field.

The zero-based character index value of the first character in the current selection. For example, the first character is 0, the second character is 1, and so on. If no text is selected, this property is the value of caretIndex.

The zero-based character index value of the last character in the current selection. For example, the first character is 0, the second character is 1, and so on. If no text is selected, this property is the value of caretIndex.

The sharpness of the glyph edges in this text field. This property applies only if the nme.text.AntiAliasType property of the text field is set to nme.text.AntiAliasType.ADVANCED. The range for sharpness is a number from -400 to 400. If you attempt to set sharpness to a value outside that range, Flash sets the property to the nearest value in the range(either -400 or 400).

metadata

:require: flash11

Defines the area that should remain on-screen when a soft keyboard is displayed.

If the needsSoftKeyboard property of this InteractiveObject is true, then the runtime adjusts the display as needed to keep the object in view while the user types. Ordinarily, the runtime uses the object bounds obtained from the DisplayObject.getBounds() method. You can specify a different area using this softKeyboardInputAreaOfInterest property.

Specify the softKeyboardInputAreaOfInterest in stage coordinates.

Note: On Android, the softKeyboardInputAreaOfInterest is not respected in landscape orientations.

The Stage of the display object. A Flash runtime application has only one Stage object. For example, you can create and load multiple display objects into the display list, and the stage property of each display object refers to the same Stage object(even if the display object belongs to a loaded SWF file).

If a display object is not added to the display list, its stage property is set to null.

Specifies whether this object is in the tab order. If this object is in the tab order, the value is true; otherwise, the value is false. By default, the value is false, except for the following:

For a SimpleButton object, the value is true.
For a TextField object with type = "input", the value is true.
For a Sprite object or MovieClip object with buttonMode = true, the value is true.

Specifies the tab ordering of objects in a SWF file. The tabIndex property is -1 by default, meaning no tab index is set for the object.

If any currently displayed object in the SWF file contains a tabIndex property, automatic tab ordering is disabled, and the tab ordering is calculated from the tabIndex properties of objects in the SWF file. The custom tab ordering includes only objects that have tabIndex properties.

The tabIndex property can be a non-negative integer. The objects are ordered according to their tabIndex properties, in ascending order. An object with a tabIndex value of 1 precedes an object with a tabIndex value of 2. Do not use the same tabIndex value for multiple objects.

The custom tab ordering that the tabIndex property defines is flat. This means that no attention is paid to the hierarchical relationships of objects in the SWF file. All objects in the SWF file with tabIndex properties are placed in the tab order, and the tab order is determined by the order of the tabIndex values.

Note: To set the tab order for TLFTextField instances, cast the display object child of the TLFTextField as an InteractiveObject, then set the tabIndex property. For example:

	  InteractiveObject(tlfInstance.getChildAt(1)).tabIndex = 3;

To reverse the tab order from the default setting for three instances of a TLFTextField object(tlfInstance1, tlfInstance2 and tlfInstance3), use:

	  InteractiveObject(tlfInstance1.getChildAt(1)).tabIndex = 3;
	  InteractiveObject(tlfInstance2.getChildAt(1)).tabIndex = 2;
	  InteractiveObject(tlfInstance3.getChildAt(1)).tabIndex = 1;

A string that is the current text in the text field. Lines are separated by the carriage return character('\r', ASCII 13). This property contains unformatted text in the text field, without HTML tags.

To get the text in HTML form, use the htmlText property.

The color of the text in a text field, in hexadecimal format. The hexadecimal color system uses six digits to represent color values. Each digit has 16 possible values or characters. The characters range from 0-9 and then A-F. For example, black is 0x000000; white is 0xFFFFFF.

The height of the text in pixels.

The width of the text in pixels.

The thickness of the glyph edges in this text field. This property applies only when nme.text.AntiAliasType is set to nme.text.AntiAliasType.ADVANCED.

The range for thickness is a number from -200 to 200. If you attempt to set thickness to a value outside that range, the property is set to the nearest value in the range(either -200 or 200).

An object with properties pertaining to a display object's matrix, color transform, and pixel bounds. The specific properties - matrix, colorTransform, and three read-only properties (concatenatedMatrix, concatenatedColorTransform, and pixelBounds) - are described in the entry for the Transform class.

Each of the transform object's properties is itself an object. This concept is important because the only way to set new values for the matrix or colorTransform objects is to create a new object and copy that object into the transform.matrix or transform.colorTransform property.

For example, to increase the tx value of a display object's matrix, you must make a copy of the entire matrix object, then copy the new object into the matrix property of the transform object:

 var myMatrix:Matrix =
	  myDisplayObject.transform.matrix; myMatrix.tx += 10;
	  myDisplayObject.transform.matrix = myMatrix;

You cannot directly set the tx property. The following code has no effect on myDisplayObject:

 myDisplayObject.transform.matrix.tx +=
	  10;

You can also copy an entire transform object and assign it to another display object's transform property. For example, the following code copies the entire transform object from myOldDisplayObj to myNewDisplayObj:

myNewDisplayObj.transform = myOldDisplayObj.transform;

The resulting display object, myNewDisplayObj, now has the same values for its matrix, color transform, and pixel bounds as the old display object, myOldDisplayObj.

Note that AIR for TV devices use hardware acceleration, if it is available, for color transforms.

The type of the text field. Either one of the following TextFieldType constants: TextFieldType.DYNAMIC, which specifies a dynamic text field, which a user cannot edit, or TextFieldType.INPUT, which specifies an input text field, which a user can edit.

Specifies whether to copy and paste the text formatting along with the text. When set to true, Flash Player copies and pastes formatting(such as alignment, bold, and italics) when you copy and paste between text fields. Both the origin and destination text fields for the copy and paste procedure must have useRichTextClipboard set to true. The default value is false.

Whether or not the display object is visible. Display objects that are not visible are disabled. For example, if visible=false for an InteractiveObject instance, it cannot be clicked.

Indicates the width of the display object, in pixels. The width is calculated based on the bounds of the content of the display object. When you set the width property, the scaleX property is adjusted accordingly, as shown in the following code:

Except for TextField and Video objects, a display object with no content(such as an empty sprite) has a width of 0, even if you try to set width to a different value.

A Boolean value that indicates whether the text field has word wrap. If the value of wordWrap is true, the text field has word wrap; if the value is false, the text field does not have word wrap. The default value is false.

Indicates the x coordinate of the DisplayObject instance relative to the local coordinates of the parent DisplayObjectContainer. If the object is inside a DisplayObjectContainer that has transformations, it is in the local coordinate system of the enclosing DisplayObjectContainer. Thus, for a DisplayObjectContainer rotated 90° counterclockwise, the DisplayObjectContainer's children inherit a coordinate system that is rotated 90° counterclockwise. The object's coordinates refer to the registration point position.

Indicates the y coordinate of the DisplayObject instance relative to the local coordinates of the parent DisplayObjectContainer. If the object is inside a DisplayObjectContainer that has transformations, it is in the local coordinate system of the enclosing DisplayObjectContainer. Thus, for a DisplayObjectContainer rotated 90° counterclockwise, the DisplayObjectContainer's children inherit a coordinate system that is rotated 90° counterclockwise. The object's coordinates refer to the registration point position.

Instance Methods hide inherited show inherited

parameters: type The type of event.; useCapture Determines whether the listener works in the capture phase or the target and bubbling phases. If useCapture is set to true, the listener processes the event only during the capture phase and not in the target or bubbling phase. If useCapture is false, the listener processes the event only during the target or bubbling phase. To listen for the event in all three phases, call addEventListener twice, once with useCapture set to true, then again with useCapture set to false.; priority The priority level of the event listener. The priority is designated by a signed 32-bit integer. The higher the number, the higher the priority. All listeners with priority n are processed before listeners of priority n-1. If two or more listeners share the same priority, they are processed in the order in which they were added. The default priority is 0.; useWeakReference Determines whether the reference to the listener is strong or weak. A strong reference(the default) prevents your listener from being garbage-collected. A weak reference does not.
Class-level member functions are not subject to garbage collection, so you can set useWeakReference to true for class-level member functions without subjecting them to garbage collection. If you set useWeakReference to true for a listener that is a nested inner function, the function will be garbage-collected and no longer persistent. If you create references to the inner function(save it in another variable) then it is not garbage-collected and stays persistent.
throws: ArgumentError The listener specified is not a function.

Registers an event listener object with an EventDispatcher object so that the listener receives notification of an event. You can register event listeners on all nodes in the display list for a specific type of event, phase, and priority.

After you successfully register an event listener, you cannot change its priority through additional calls to addEventListener(). To change a listener's priority, you must first call removeListener(). Then you can register the listener again with the new priority level.

Keep in mind that after the listener is registered, subsequent calls to addEventListener() with a different type or useCapture value result in the creation of a separate listener registration. For example, if you first register a listener with useCapture set to true, it listens only during the capture phase. If you call addEventListener() again using the same listener object, but with useCapture set to false, you have two separate listeners: one that listens during the capture phase and another that listens during the target and bubbling phases.

You cannot register an event listener for only the target phase or the bubbling phase. Those phases are coupled during registration because bubbling applies only to the ancestors of the target node.

If you no longer need an event listener, remove it by calling removeEventListener(), or memory problems could result. Event listeners are not automatically removed from memory because the garbage collector does not remove the listener as long as the dispatching object exists(unless the useWeakReference parameter is set to true).

Copying an EventDispatcher instance does not copy the event listeners attached to it.(If your newly created node needs an event listener, you must attach the listener after creating the node.) However, if you move an EventDispatcher instance, the event listeners attached to it move along with it.

If the event listener is being registered on a node while an event is being processed on this node, the event listener is not triggered during the current phase but can be triggered during a later phase in the event flow, such as the bubbling phase.

If an event listener is removed from a node while an event is being processed on the node, it is still triggered by the current actions. After it is removed, the event listener is never invoked again(unless registered again for future processing).

parameters: newText The string to append to the existing text.

Appends the string specified by the newText parameter to the end of the text of the text field. This method is more efficient than an addition assignment(+=) on a text property (such as someTextField.text += moreText), particularly for a text field that contains a significant amount of content.

parameters: event The Event object that is dispatched into the event flow. If the event is being redispatched, a clone of the event is created automatically. After an event is dispatched, its target property cannot be changed, so you must create a new copy of the event for redispatching to work.
returns: A value of true if the event was successfully dispatched. A value of false indicates failure or that preventDefault() was called on the event.
throws: Error The event dispatch recursion limit has been reached.

Dispatches an event into the event flow. The event target is the EventDispatcher object upon which the dispatchEvent() method is called.

parameters: targetCoordinateSpace The display object that defines the coordinate system to use.
returns: The rectangle that defines the area of the display object relative to the targetCoordinateSpace object's coordinate system.

Returns a rectangle that defines the area of the display object relative to the coordinate system of the targetCoordinateSpace object. Consider the following code, which shows how the rectangle returned can vary depending on the targetCoordinateSpace parameter that you pass to the method:

Note: Use the localToGlobal() and globalToLocal() methods to convert the display object's local coordinates to display coordinates, or display coordinates to local coordinates, respectively.

The getBounds() method is similar to the getRect() method; however, the Rectangle returned by the getBounds() method includes any strokes on shapes, whereas the Rectangle returned by the getRect() method does not. For an example, see the description of the getRect() method.

parameters: charIndex The zero-based index value for the character(for example, the first position is 0, the second position is 1, and so on).
returns: A rectangle with x and y minimum and maximum values defining the bounding box of the character.

Returns a rectangle that is the bounding box of the character.

parameters: x The x coordinate of the character.; y The y coordinate of the character.
returns: The zero-based index value of the character(for example, the first position is 0, the second position is 1, and so on). Returns -1 if the point is not over any character.

Returns the zero-based index value of the character at the point specified by the x and y parameters.

parameters: charIndex The zero-based index value of the character(for example, the first character is 0, the second character is 1, and so on).
returns: The zero-based index value of the first character in the same paragraph.
throws: RangeError The character index specified is out of range.

Given a character index, returns the index of the first character in the same paragraph.

parameters: id The id to match(in the id attribute of the tag).
returns: The display object corresponding to the image or SWF file with the matching id attribute in the tag of the text field. For media loaded from an external source, this object is a Loader object, and, once loaded, the media object is a child of that Loader object. For media embedded in the SWF file, it is the loaded object. If no tag with the matching id exists, the method returns null.

Returns a DisplayObject reference for the given id, for an image or SWF file that has been added to an HTML-formatted text field by using an tag. The tag is in the following format:

parameters: x The x coordinate of the line.; y The y coordinate of the line.
returns: The zero-based index value of the line(for example, the first line is 0, the second line is 1, and so on). Returns -1 if the point is not over any line.

Returns the zero-based index value of the line at the point specified by the x and y parameters.

parameters: charIndex The zero-based index value of the character(for example, the first character is 0, the second character is 1, and so on).
returns: The zero-based index value of the line.
throws: RangeError The character index specified is out of range.

Returns the zero-based index value of the line containing the character specified by the charIndex parameter.

parameters: lineIndex The line number for which you want the length.
returns: The number of characters in the line.
throws: RangeError The line number specified is out of range.

Returns the number of characters in a specific text line.

parameters: lineIndex The zero-based index value of the line(for example, the first line is 0, the second line is 1, and so on).
returns: The zero-based index value of the first character in the line.
throws: RangeError The line number specified is out of range.

Returns the character index of the first character in the line that the lineIndex parameter specifies.

parameters: lineIndex The zero-based index value of the line(for example, the first line is 0, the second line is 1, and so on).
returns: The text string contained in the specified line.
throws: RangeError The line number specified is out of range.

Returns the text of the line specified by the lineIndex parameter.

parameters: charIndex The zero-based index value of the character(for example, the first character is 0, the second character is 1, and so on).
returns: Returns the number of characters in the paragraph.
throws: RangeError The character index specified is out of range.

Given a character index, returns the length of the paragraph containing the given character. The length is relative to the first character in the paragraph(as returned by getFirstCharInParagraph()), not to the character index passed in.

parameters: targetCoordinateSpace The display object that defines the coordinate system to use.
returns: The rectangle that defines the area of the display object relative to the targetCoordinateSpace object's coordinate system.

Returns a rectangle that defines the boundary of the display object, based on the coordinate system defined by the targetCoordinateSpace parameter, excluding any strokes on shapes. The values that the getRect() method returns are the same or smaller than those returned by the getBounds() method.

Note: Use localToGlobal() and globalToLocal() methods to convert the display object's local coordinates to Stage coordinates, or Stage coordinates to local coordinates, respectively.

returns: The TextFormat object that represents the formatting properties for the specified text.
throws: RangeError The beginIndex or endIndex specified is out of range.

Returns a TextFormat object that contains formatting information for the range of text that the beginIndex and endIndex parameters specify. Only properties that are common to the entire text specified are set in the resulting TextFormat object. Any property that is mixed, meaning that it has different values at different points in the text, has a value of null.

If you do not specify values for these parameters, this method is applied to all the text in the text field.

The following table describes three possible usages:

parameters: point An object created with the Point class. The Point object specifies the x and y coordinates as properties.
returns: A Point object with coordinates relative to the display object.

Converts the point object from the Stage(global) coordinates to the display object's(local) coordinates.

To use this method, first create an instance of the Point class. The x and y values that you assign represent global coordinates because they relate to the origin(0,0) of the main display area. Then pass the Point instance as the parameter to the globalToLocal() method. The method returns a new Point object with x and y values that relate to the origin of the display object instead of the origin of the Stage.

parameters: type The type of event.
returns: A value of true if a listener of the specified type is registered; false otherwise.

Checks whether the EventDispatcher object has any listeners registered for a specific type of event. This allows you to determine where an EventDispatcher object has altered handling of an event type in the event flow hierarchy. To determine whether a specific event type actually triggers an event listener, use willTrigger().

The difference between hasEventListener() and willTrigger() is that hasEventListener() examines only the object to which it belongs, whereas willTrigger() examines the entire event flow for the event specified by the type parameter.

When hasEventListener() is called from a LoaderInfo object, only the listeners that the caller can access are considered.

parameters: obj The display object to test against.
returns: true if the bounding boxes of the display objects intersect; false if not.

Evaluates the bounding box of the display object to see if it overlaps or intersects with the bounding box of the obj display object.

parameters: x The x coordinate to test against this object.; y The y coordinate to test against this object.; shapeFlag Whether to check against the actual pixels of the object (true) or the bounding box (false).
returns: true if the display object overlaps or intersects with the specified point; false otherwise.

Evaluates the display object to see if it overlaps or intersects with the point specified by the x and y parameters. The x and y parameters specify a point in the coordinate space of the Stage, not the display object container that contains the display object(unless that display object container is the Stage).

parameters: point The name or identifier of a point created with the Point class, specifying the x and y coordinates as properties.
returns: A Point object with coordinates relative to the Stage.

Converts the point object from the display object's(local) coordinates to the Stage(global) coordinates.

This method allows you to convert any given x and y coordinates from values that are relative to the origin(0,0) of a specific display object(local coordinates) to values that are relative to the origin of the Stage(global coordinates).

To use this method, first create an instance of the Point class. The x and y values that you assign represent local coordinates because they relate to the origin of the display object.

You then pass the Point instance that you created as the parameter to the localToGlobal() method. The method returns a new Point object with x and y values that relate to the origin of the Stage instead of the origin of the display object.

parameters: type The type of event.; useCapture Specifies whether the listener was registered for the capture phase or the target and bubbling phases. If the listener was registered for both the capture phase and the target and bubbling phases, two calls to removeEventListener() are required to remove both, one call with useCapture() set to true, and another call with useCapture() set to false.

Removes a listener from the EventDispatcher object. If there is no matching listener registered with the EventDispatcher object, a call to this method has no effect.

parameters: value The string to replace the currently selected text.
throws: Error This method cannot be used on a text field with a style sheet.

Replaces the current selection with the contents of the value parameter. The text is inserted at the position of the current selection, using the current default character format and default paragraph format. The text is not treated as HTML.

You can use the replaceSelectedText() method to insert and delete text without disrupting the character and paragraph formatting of the rest of the text.

Note: This method does not work if a style sheet is applied to the text field.

parameters: beginIndex The zero-based index value for the start position of the replacement range.; endIndex The zero-based index position of the first character after the desired text span.; newText The text to use to replace the specified range of characters.
throws: Error This method cannot be used on a text field with a style sheet.

Replaces the range of characters that the beginIndex and endIndex parameters specify with the contents of the newText parameter. As designed, the text from beginIndex to endIndex-1 is replaced.

Note: This method does not work if a style sheet is applied to the text field.

parameters: beginIndex The zero-based index value of the first character in the selection(for example, the first character is 0, the second character is 1, and so on).; endIndex The zero-based index value of the last character in the selection.

Sets as selected the text designated by the index values of the first and last characters, which are specified with the beginIndex and endIndex parameters. If the two parameter values are the same, this method sets the insertion point, as if you set the caretIndex property.

parameters: format A TextFormat object that contains character and paragraph formatting information.
throws: Error This method cannot be used on a text field with a style sheet.; RangeError The beginIndex or endIndex specified is out of range.

Applies the text formatting that the format parameter specifies to the specified text in a text field. The value of format must be a TextFormat object that specifies the desired text formatting changes. Only the non-null properties of format are applied to the text field. Any property of format that is set to null is not applied. By default, all of the properties of a newly created TextFormat object are set to null.

Note: This method does not work if a style sheet is applied to the text field.

The setTextFormat() method changes the text formatting applied to a range of characters or to the entire body of text in a text field. To apply the properties of format to all text in the text field, do not specify values for beginIndex and endIndex. To apply the properties of the format to a range of text, specify values for the beginIndex and the endIndex parameters. You can use the length property to determine the index values.

The two types of formatting information in a TextFormat object are character level formatting and paragraph level formatting. Each character in a text field can have its own character formatting settings, such as font name, font size, bold, and italic.

For paragraphs, the first character of the paragraph is examined for the paragraph formatting settings for the entire paragraph. Examples of paragraph formatting settings are left margin, right margin, and indentation.

Any text inserted manually by the user, or replaced by the replaceSelectedText() method, receives the default text field formatting for new text, and not the formatting specified for the text insertion point. To set the default formatting for new text, use defaultTextFormat.

parameters: type The type of event.
returns: A value of true if a listener of the specified type will be triggered; false otherwise.

Checks whether an event listener is registered with this EventDispatcher object or any of its ancestors for the specified event type. This method returns true if an event listener is triggered during any phase of the event flow when an event of the specified type is dispatched to this EventDispatcher object or any of its descendants.

The difference between the hasEventListener() and the willTrigger() methods is that hasEventListener() examines only the object to which it belongs, whereas the willTrigger() method examines the entire event flow for the event specified by the type parameter.

When willTrigger() is called from a LoaderInfo object, only the listeners that the caller can access are considered.

nme.text.TextField

Static Variables

isFontCompatible : fontName : String -> fontStyle : String -> Bool

Constructor

Instance Variables hide inherited show inherited

alpha : Float

alwaysShowSelection : Bool

antiAliasType : AntiAliasType

autoSize : TextFieldAutoSize

background : Bool

backgroundColor : Int

blendMode : BlendMode

border : Bool

borderColor : Int

bottomScrollV(default,null) : Int

cacheAsBitmap : Bool

caretIndex(default,null) : Int

condenseWhite : Bool

defaultTextFormat : TextFormat

displayAsPassword : Bool

doubleClickEnabled : Bool

embedFonts : Bool

filters : Array<Dynamic>

focusRect : Dynamic

height : Float

htmlText : String

length(default,null) : Int

loaderInfo(default,null) : LoaderInfo

mask : DisplayObject

maxChars : Int

maxScrollH(default,null) : Int

maxScrollV(default,null) : Int

mouseEnabled : Bool

mouseWheelEnabled : Bool

mouseX(default,null) : Float

mouseY(default,null) : Float

multiline : Bool

name : String

needsSoftKeyboard : Bool

numLines(default,null) : Int

opaqueBackground : Null<Int>

parent(default,null) : DisplayObjectContainer

requestSoftKeyboard : Void -> Bool

restrict : String

root(default,null) : DisplayObject

rotation : Float

scale9Grid : nme.geom.Rectangle

scaleX : Float

scaleY : Float

scrollH : Int

scrollRect : nme.geom.Rectangle

scrollV : Int

selectable : Bool

selectedText(default,null) : String

selectionBeginIndex(default,null) : Int

selectionEndIndex(default,null) : Int

sharpness : Float

softKeyboardInputAreaOfInterest : nme.geom.Rectangle

stage(default,null) : Stage

tabEnabled : Bool

tabIndex : Int

text : String

textColor : Int

textHeight(default,null) : Float

textWidth(default,null) : Float

thickness : Float

transform : nme.geom.Transform

type : TextFieldType

useRichTextClipboard : Bool

visible : Bool

width : Float

wordWrap : Bool

x : Float

y : Float

Instance Methods hide inherited show inherited

addEventListener(type : String, listener : Dynamic -> Void, ?useCapture : Bool, ?priority : Int, ?useWeakReference : Bool) : Void

appendText(newText : String) : Void

copyRichText() : String

dispatchEvent(event : Event) : Bool

getBounds(targetCoordinateSpace : DisplayObject) : nme.geom.Rectangle