Ted On Flash: copy() for the Object Class

Ted Patrick - Demos & MAX @ Adobe Systems

Note: This is the personal blog of Ted Patrick. The opinions and statements voiced here are my own.

copy() for the Object Class

DIGG IT! 4 Comments Published Sunday, November 16, 2003 at 9:48 AM .

On many projects, I find that adding a simple copy method to the Object Class is very handy. Copy allows you to make a duplicate of any object in the Flash Player that inheirits from Object. It makes data wrangling drop dead simple. ;) \0

Here is some sample usage:

a = [1,2,3,4]
b = a.copy()

c = {a:123, b:'abc'}
d = c.copy()

e = [123, 'abc', [1,2,3], {a:123,b:456}, new XML('<message>Hello Cruel World</message>')]
f = e.copy()

g = _level0.copy()

The method is fairly simply and easy to use. So simple in fact, that it is useful in 100's of situations that are impossible any other way. My favorite use is making components persistant when the primary property data is a complex type (RSDataProvider, Array, XML). It is also useful with Flash Remoting as you can store a local copy of the returned data to enable backtracking without a server roundtrip. In most cases, references cause all sorts of problems where a simple copy can make all the difference.

Notes: copy() stores MovieClips and functions as a reference as these dataTypes cannot be copied effectively. All other datatypes are copied whole. WARNING: Circular references will cause copy() to crash (hence the special treatment of XML & XMLNode). If anyone has a solution for this, please drop me an email, I am all ears. ;)

Download the copy method here.

Cheers,

Ted ;)

4 Responses to “copy() for the Object Class”

# Karasu September 30, 2007 10:00 AM

Thanks, it was just what I needed!

Cheers,
Karasu
# Chuck June 27, 2008 9:04 AM

How do I implement this? I copied it into a .as file, compiled, but no go. I'm using Flex3 Builder.
# wezzy August 11, 2008 8:07 AM

Hi, Flex has a method to copy objects, ObjectUtil.copy()
# rajendra March 30, 2009 10:18 PM

Hi i am unable to download the .as file !!!!

Ted Patrick - Demos & MAX @ Adobe Systems

Note: This is the personal blog of Ted Patrick. The opinions and statements voiced here are my own.

copy() for the Object Class

4 Responses to “copy() for the Object Class”

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