Where's All the Code? (ActionScript: The Definitive Guide)

16.5. Where's All the Code?

Even for experienced Flash users, locating the code in a movie can sometimes be challenging. Because code may be attached to any frame in any timeline, to any button, or to any movie clip on stage, it is often lost in a sea of content. Obviously, a highly organized structure and thorough code documentation can mean dozens or hundreds of hours saved over the life span of a project. But if you're faced with a movie that seems to be mysteriously missing important code, open the Actions panel and try these techniques for finding it:

Click on any frame that has a little circle icon on it in the timeline. A circle indicates the presence of ActionScript code.

Look for, and select, any white circle with a black outline on stage. These circles indicate empty movie clips, which often contain nothing but code. If there's no code on the empty clip itself, double-click the clip to edit it and investigate its frames.

Select each button in the movie, one at a time. Some programmers tend not to centralize code and place long, important scripts directly on buttons.

Check the timeline for hidden or masked layers. A layer with a red X icon next to it is hidden during authoring but may contain clips and buttons with code that appear during movie playback. Similarly, masked layers may contain obscured objects that bear code. Unlock masked layers to reveal their contents.
Unlock all layers. Empty movie clips (the little circles with black outlines) are hidden when the layer they're on is locked.

Sometimes even these techniques can fail us. If someone's determined to hide some code, there are lots of places in Flash to do it. An empty clip, for example, can be placed far beyond the limits of the Stage, making it nearly impossible to find. Fortunately, when all seems lost, our code isn't -- we can always use the Movie Explorer to hunt down any script in a movie. Select Window Movie Explorer for a bird's-eye view of all the assets in a movie, including any scripts attached to a frame, button, or movie clip. Scripts are marked with a blue arrow Actions icon that matches the icon on the items in the Actions panel Toolbox. You can even filter the display to show only scripts; select the Actions icon under the Show menu at the top of the Explorer panel, and unselect all other icons.