Arrange (z) order of objects in Flash with ActionScript 3?

Question

Is it possible to arrange (z) order of objects in Flash with ActionScript 3?

e.g. I have 3 symbol instances on a given layer, and I want to perform the equivalent of 'Bring to Front', 'Bring Forward', and/or target a certain z position.

Solution 1

You can change the z-index (stacking order) of a movie clip within a same layer using action script like this.

parent.setChildIndex(childObject, i)

Change childObject to the name of the movie clip you want to change the z-index, change i to an integer (the desired z-index value).

If you want to make this happen on a mouse event, put above code inside a function and attach an event listener to a button to invoke this function on a mouse event.

Solution 2

Bring to front would be something like:

myObject.parent.setChildIndex( myObject, myObject.parent.numChildren - 1);

Bring forward would be something like:

myObject.parent.setChildIndex( myObject, myObject.parent.getChildIndex( myObject ) + 1);

Setting a specific z index would be:

myObject.parent.setChildIndex( myObject, newZIndex);