Ordering Component Parameters in Flash CS5/CS5.5
If you’ve created a Flash Pro component and had “issues” with the component parameters, you are not the only one. While I still have a number that irk me, I found a solution to one small irritation this morning.
The problem is that the parameters are listed in alphabetical order by the field name rather than in a more logical order. To assert your own order, you need to game the alphabetization process.
In the Inspectable tag, you need to add one or more characters to the front of the name value like below:
[Inspectable (name = “Horizontal Placement”, variable = “hPlacement”, type = “String”, defaultValue = “Right”, enumeration=”Right,Left”)]
If you don’t see anything, don’t worry, that is the point. I’ve pasted in the character U+200B which is the Unicode character for “Zero-width space.” A space alphabetizes before normal characters. Also, because it is a zero-width space, it does not affect the layout of the text.
Let’s take an example. For this example, I’m going to use “*” for the U+200B character so you can actually see it. If I have three parameters:
- Alpha
- Color
- Placement
But I want them to show up in the order:
- Placement
- Color
- Alpha
I would change their names to:
- *Alpha
- **Color
- ***Placement
The more spaces I add, the higher in the list it will go. Just keep in mind to do this to the name value, not the variable!
If you want to paste this character in, the easiest way I’ve found is to use the Character Map application that comes with Windows. Just scroll way down (about 90%) and after some greek characters, you’ll see a patch of empty squares. Try a few until you find the “Zero-width space.” Click the select button, then the copy button. You can then paste it in your code editor. You’ll know its there because if you try to cursor through the characters with the arrow keys, the cursor won’t move, but you’ll have to cursor again to get past the character.
Hope this helps!
F9 for actions is another good resource for component tips.
