Button Symbols

Using actions provides basic control of your movie, but in order to allow user-directed interaction, you need additional controls. The simplest way to achieve this is the use of buttons.

Buttons are a special type of symbol, different from graphic symbols in that they are are actually four-frame interactive movie clips. Note that the term "button" is not meant to be taken literally- the button control mechanism can be used for any purpose in your movie where you want to effect a change based on the user clicking the mouse in a particular area. For example, each of the buildings on the BU Campus interactive map was created as a "button".

When you select the button behavior for a symbol or create a new symbol and specify its behavior as "Button", Flash creates a timeline - internal to that symbol - with four frames. Follow these steps to create a new button symbol.

Step 1

Select Insert | New Symbol from the menu.

Step 2

In the Create New Symbol dialog box, select Button as the Behavior.

Step 3

The new button has been created, and you are in Edit mode. Notice the four frames of the button's timeline. The first three frames of the button's timeline display the button's three possible states; the fourth frame defines the active area of the button. The button's timeline doesn't actually play, it simply reacts to pointer movement and actions by jumping to the appropriate frame.