Creating Components > Creating components overview |  |

Creating components overview

Components replace and extend Smart Clips, introduced in earlier versions of Macromedia Flash. They are complex movie clips with defined parameters that are set during document authoring. They also include a unique set of ActionScript methods that allow you to set parameters and additional options at runtime.

In addition to using the user interface components that ship with Macromedia Flash MX, described in Working with components in Flash MX, you can create your own. With moderate scripting capabilities, you can create components that make it easy for users to add interactive elements to their movies, or that enable you to reuse an interactive element multiple times after you create it. The components you create can be as simple or as complex as your design and scripting abilities allow.

With components, you can add interactivity to a Macromedia Flash MX movie without the need to re-create the ActionScript that controls the interactivity. To use a component you create in a movie, you simply add an instance of the component symbol to the movie and select values for the component parameters.

Using components provides several advantages:

| Once a component is built, it can be reused in the same application and other applications
| The components you build can be easily shared with other team members, providing consistency in applications
| Using components also provides consistency for users, because the button or other component looks the same every time they see it

Note: Components replace and extend the SmartClip movie clips introduced in earlier versions of Macromedia Flash. You can save components authored in Flash MX in Flash 5 format. However, some component features are not supported in Flash 5. Information on features not supported in Flash 5 appears in notes throughout this chapter.

To practice creating a component, see the "Creating components in Macromedia Flash MX" tutorial on the Flash Support Center.