The following table contains a list of error messages returned by the Flash compiler. An explanation of each message is provided to aid you in troubleshooting your movie files.
| Error message | Description |
|---|---|
| 'on' handlers may not nest within other 'on' handlers | An on handler was declared inside another on handler. All on handlers must appear at the top level of an action list. |
| 'onClipEvent' handlers may not nest within other 'onClipEvent' handlers | An onClipEvent handler was declared inside another onClipEvent handler. All onClipEvent handlers must appear at the top level of an action list. |
| <token> Expected | An invalid or unexpected token was encountered. For example, in the syntax below, the token foo is not valid. The expected token is while.do { trace (i) } foo (i < 100) |
| 1 Classes may only be defined in package scripts. | |
| 10 All member functions need to have names. | |
| 11 This statement is not permitted in a class definition. | |
| 12 A class or interface has already been defined with this name. | |
| 13 Type mismatch. | |
| 14 There is no class with this name. | |
| 15 There is no property with the name ' '. | |
| 16 A function call on a non-function was attempted. | |
| 17 Type mismatch in assignment statement. | |
| 18 The member is private and cannot be accessed. | |
| 19 Variable declarations are not permitted in interfaces. | |
| 2 Interfaces may only be defined in package scripts. | |
| 20 Event declarations are not permitted in interfaces. | |
| 21 Private members are not permitted in interfaces. | |
| 22 Function bodies are not permitted in interfaces. | |
| 23 A class may not extend itself. | |
| 24 An interface may not extend itself. | |
| 25 There is no interface defined with this name. | |
| 26 A class may not extend an interface. | |
| 27 An interface may not extend a class. | |
| 28 An interface name is expected after the 'implements' keyword. | |
| 29 A class may not imlement a class, only interfaces. | |
| 3 Packages may only define class constructs. | |
| 30 The class must implement method ' ' from interface ' '. | |
| 31 The implementation of an interface method must be a method, not a property. | |
| 32 A class may not extend the same interface more than once. | |
| 33 The implementation of the interface method doesn't match its definition. | |
| 34 This construct is only available in ActionScript 1.0. | |
| 35 This construct is only available in ActionScript 2.0. | |
| 36 Static members are not permitted in interfaces. | |
| 37 The expression returned must match the function's return type. | |
| 38 A return statement is required in this function. | |
| 39 Attribute used outside class. | |
| 4 The name used to define this class is invalid. | |
| 40 A function with return type Void may not return a value. | |
| 41 The 'extends' clause must appear before the 'implements' clause. | |
| 42 A type identifier is expected after the ':'. | |
| 43 Interfaces must use the 'extends' keyword, not 'implements'. | |
| 44 A class may not extend more than one class. | |
| 45 An interface may not extend more than one interface. | |
| 46 There is no method with the name ' '. | |
| 47 This statement is not permitted in an interface definition. | |
| 48 A set function requires exactly one parameter. | |
| 49 A get function requires no parameters. | |
| 5 The specified package could not be loaded. | |
| 50 Classes may only be defined in package scripts. | |
| 51 Packages may only define class or interface constructs. | |
| 52 The name used to define this class is invalid. | |
| 53 The specified package could not be loaded. | |
| 54 Interfaces may only be defined in package scripts. | |
| 55 Instance variables cannot be accessed in static functions. | |
| 56 Class and interface definitions cannot be nested. | |
| 57 The property being references does not have the static attribute. | |
| 58 This call to super does not match the superconstructor. | |
| 59 Only the public attribute is allowed for interface methods. | |
| 6 A class name was expected. | |
| 60 The import keyword cannot be used as a directive. | |
| 61 A class must have only one constructor. | |
| 62 A constructor may not return a value. | |
| 63 A constructor may not specify a return type. | |
| 64 A variable may not be of type Void. | |
| 65 A function parameter may not be of type Void. | |
| 66 Static members cannot be assigned from instances. | |
| 67 Multiple implemented interfaces contain same method with different types. | |
| 68 There is already a class or interface defined with this name. | |
| 69 Classes, interfaces, and built-in types may not be deleted. | |
| 7 A base class name is expected after the 'extends' keyword. | |
| 70 There is no package or class with this name. | |
| 71 The keyword ' ' is reserved for ActionScript 2.0 and cannot be used here. | |
| 72 The class being compiled, '<className>', does not match the class that was imported, '<className>'. | |
| 8 A member attribute was used incorrectly. | |
| 9 The same member name may not be repeated more than once. | |
| Case statements can only be used inside a switch statement | Case statements must be used inside of switch statements. |
| Case statements must be terminated with a ':' | Every case statement within a switch statement must end with a colon. |
| Case-insensitive identifier <identifier> will obscure built-in object <object name> | Since ActionScript is case-insensitive, a case-insensitive identifier would obscure a built-in object. |
| Clip events are permitted only for movie clip instances | A clip event handler was declared in a frame action list or a button instance's action list. Clip events are permitted only in the action lists of movie clip instances. |
| Duplicate in event list | An on handler was specified with a duplicate event. |
| 'else' encountered without matching 'if' | An else statement was encountered, but no if statement appeared before it. You can use else only in conjunction with an if statement. |
| Error opening include file:file not found | There was an error opening a file included with the include directive. The file was not present. |
| Event expected | An on(MouseEvent) handler was declared, but no event was specified, or an unexpected token was encountered where an event should appear. |
| Expected a field name after '.' operator | You must specify a valid field name when using the object.field syntax. |
| Function declaration not permitted here | Cannot use a named function when declaring it in an assignment. |
| Function name expected | The name specified for this function is not a valid function name. |
| Hexadecimal digits expected after 0x | The sequence 0x was encountered, but the sequence was not followed by valid hexadecimal digits. |
| Identifier expected | An unexpected token was encountered in place of an identifier. In the example below, 3 is not a valid identifier.var 3 = 4; |
| Initializer list must be terminated by <terminator> | An object or array initializer list is missing the closing ] or }. |
| Internal error | An internal error occurred in the ActionScript compiler. Please send the FLA file that generated this error to Macromedia, with detailed instructions on how to reproduce the message. |
| Invalid key code | The specified key code does not exist. |
| Invalid mouse event specified | The script contains an invalid mouse event in a handler. For a list of valid mouse events, see the On(MouseEvent) entry in the online ActionScript Dictionary. |
| Invalid movie clip event specified | An onClipEvent handler can only accept load, enterForm, unload, mouseMove, mouseDown, mouseUp, keyDown, keyUp, or data events. |
| Key code identifier expected | You need to specify a key code. See Appendix B for a list of key codes. |
| Left side of assignment operator must be variable or property | An assignment operator was used, but the left side of the assignment was not a legal variable or property. |
| Malformed #include directive | An include directive was not written correctly. An include directive must use the following syntax: #include "somefile.as" |
| Mouse events are permitted only for button instances (Message appears for Flash 5 format) | A button event handler was declared in a frame action list or a movie clip instance's action list. Button events are permitted only in the action lists of button instances. |
| Multi-line comment was not terminated | A multi-line comment started with /* is missing the closing */ tag. |
| Operator <operator> must be followed by an operand | An operator without an operand was encountered. For example, x = 1 + requires an operand after the + operator. |
| Parameter <parameter> cannot be declared multiple times | A parameter name appeared multiple times in the parameter list of a function declaration. All parameter names must be unique. |
| Parameter name expected | A parameter (argument) name was expected in a function declaration, but an unexpected token was encountered. |
| Property <property> does not exist | A property that does not exist was encountered. For example, x = _green is invalid, because there is no _green property. |
| Property name expected in getProperty | The getProperty function was called, but the second parameter was not the name of a movie clip property. |
| Scene name must be a quoted string | The scene argument of a gotoAndPlay, gotoAndStop, or ifFrameLoaded action was of the wrong type. The scene argument must be a string constant. |
| Statement block must be terminated by '}' | A group of statements was declared within curly braces, but the closing brace is missing. |
| Statement must appear within on handler (Message appears for Flash 5 format) | In the actions for a button instance, a statement was declared without a surrounding on block. All actions for a button instance must appear inside an on block. |
| Statement must appear within on or onClipEvent handler (Message appears for Flash MX format) | In the actions for a movie clip instance, a statement was declared without a surrounding on or onClipEvent block. All actions for a movie clip instance must appear inside an on or onClipEvent block. |
| Statement must appear within onClipEvent handler (Message appears for Flash 5 format) | In the actions for a movie clip instance, a statement was declared without a surrounding onClipEvent block. All actions for a movie clip instance must appear inside an onClipEvent block. |
| String literal was not properly terminated | A string literal started with an opening quotation mark (single or double) is missing the closing quotation mark. |
| Syntax error | This message is issued whenever a nonspecific syntax error is encountered. |
| The JavaScript 'void' construct is not supported | A JavaScript construct that is not supported by ActionScript was encountered. This message appears if any of the following JavaScript constructs are used: void, try, catch, or throw. |
| Trailing garbage found | The script or expression parsed correctly but contained additional trailing characters that could not be parsed. |
| Variable <variable> cannot be declared multiple times | A variable name appeared multiple times in a var statement. All variable names in a single var statement must be unique. |
| Wrong number of parameters; <function> requires between <low> and <high> | A function was called, but an unexpected number of parameters were encountered. |