Another set of Flash commands by request. I’ve had these on my machine for a while but haven’t released them. This extension contains 3 commands to accelerate the process of working with names in Flash. One command names your layer based on the content (assuming there’s only one object on the layer), the second command automatically names an instance by the name its library symbol, and the third copies the name of the selected symbol to the clipboard so that it can be quickly pasted into Actionscript. All of these commands are intended to be used most efficiently with keyboard shortcuts.
The auto-naming for layers also recognizes layers with actions and labels (and automatically locks them).
Package Contents:
- INSTANCE – auto name
- LAYER – auto name
- CLIPBOARD – copy instance name
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(Compatibility: MX 2004 – Flash CS4)
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Hi there!
Really useful commands!!
One suggestion – wouldn’t it be good to add _mc to the INSTANCE – auto name command. That way you would get code hinting…
Niklas
Niklas,
Open a new Flash JavaScript document, paste in this text and hit the grey triangle to run the script:
fl.openScript(fl.configURI + "Commands/INSTANCE - auto name.jsfl");That will open the JSFL file.
Then change line 9 to:
dom.selection[i].name = mc_name + "_mc";and you should be all set.
Justin, after I checked, the line number not in line 9 anymore but at line 15 now.
Then for auto name process, I suggest it will better modify the code like below because it will generate number after mc_name.
dom.selection[i].name = mc_name+[i];
That works, too. Thanks for the suggestion, Arie!
Ah – thanks for your fast answer!
I will check that out for shure!!!
Niklas
Oh and by the way!!
Is there a way to assign a shortcut key to commands?
Niklas
You can assign keyboard shortcuts.
Edit (Flash on Mac) > Keyboard Shortcuts…
Create a new set (you can’t add to the default set), then twirl open the Commands section, select the command and click the “+” button to add a new shortcut.
Thank you very much for your help with the shortcut tip & your exensions – awesome!!. That you can assign shortcuts to commands was new to me & this will truly help with my workflow!!
Niklas
Excellent, Niklas! Glad to be of service.
Hi there again!
I did the changes you told me to do above & it works. But it only works with shortcuts if I first open the pull down meny for commands & close it without using it & then use the shortcuts – otherwise I get a message:
An error ocurred opening file”
It doesn’t say which file – it just stops like that…
Niklas
Hmm…Sounds like a bug with your installation of Flash. Not sure what to tell you. Are you having that problem with your other (command) shortcuts as well?
The error code
An error occurred opening file”
has been happening ever since I set up custom shortcuts on my CPU since Flash 8 (i believe)
Pretty sure its a fairly common bug. I still haven’t found a way to fix it, other to revert to default & make new shortcuts every time.
Chris,
Did you make sure to create a new set to store your shortcuts in? I usually start off by duplicating the Adobe standard and customizing from there…
These commands are great. I’m wondering about one modification, would it be possible to add a option to set instance name by the user?
Szaq,
How would you get that information from the user? I don’t believe JSFL has access to the operating system’s login info.
I have tons of JSFL commands, most of which I wrote but some of which I got online. I’ve been having the same problem as Niklas and Chris ever since moving to CS4. My solution has been to run an Autohotkey script to open Flash. I made it open and close the commands menu for me automatically so I never run into that error any more.
Of course, that’s only one of many bugs with the commands menu. For instance, it appears to support submenus by adding subfolders to the commands folder, but good luck having the menu cork correctly after that. And even more good luck getting keyboard shortcuts to work correctly on any command in a subfolder.
Then there’s the fact that if you have a command with a name that’s also the beginning of another command (for instance, one called “blah” and the other called “blah squish”), sometimes Flash will call the “blah” one when you hit the keyboard shortcut for “blah squish”.
Anyway, I’ve learned to live with these limitations, hoping beyond reason that they’ll fix the bugs in the next version. I’m almost always disappointed when the next version comes out, though, containing all the same bugs I’ve been annoyed with for years.
thanks for the autoName package, you saved me a lot of time 🙂
Hi,
I’m using flash CS5 but it seems that i need flash 7 or greater. Weird.
Any ideas?
Thank you very much
Mihai, You should be able to install this extension in CS5. Are you getting an error in Extension Manager?
Yes. Extension manager CS5.
Thanks for the fast reply.
Mihai, Sound like this is an issue with your installation of Extension Manager. I’m able to install the package with EM CS5, so I have no way to diagnose the issue. You might try contacting Adobe or checking the Adobe Forums.
Have found your web page. My pal mentioned it to me before, yet never got around to checking it out until now. I must express, I’m floored. I really enjoyed reading through your posts and will absolutely be back to get more.