Taught myself some more Flash today.

So I wanted to figure out how to make a navigation bar in which an indicator would move in a fluid fashion toward whatever you just clicked on. This could be for a website, interactive timeline, game menu, etc. This particular example I wanted the arrow to just move to the same horizontal (x) position as the mouse at the instant of the click. I also wanted to constrain it to a range of x values, specifically, to the width of the navigation bar. So when you click anywhere to the right or left of the bar, the arrow will only travel to the bar's edge.

Just for shits I also made a dynamic text field that constantly refreshes the pointer's x position as a percentage of the width of the bar.

Here's the code:


import fl.transitions.Tween;
import fl.motion.easing.*;

trackerMC.x=navBar.x;
trackerMC.y=navBar.y;

stage.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, comeHere);

function comeHere(event:MouseEvent):void {
var xTarget:Number=mouseX;
if (xTarget>navBar.x+navBar.width) {
xTarget=navBar.x+navBar.width;
} else if (xTarget < navBar.x) {
xTarget=navBar.x;
}
//trace(xTarget);
var xTween:Tween=new Tween(trackerMC,"x",Quartic.easeOut,trackerMC.x,xTarget,1,true);
xTween.start();
}

addEventListener(Event.ENTER_FRAME, refreshXPos);

var xPos:Number;

function refreshXPos(event:Event):void
{
xPos = Math.ceil((trackerMC.x - navBar.x)/navBar.width*100);
positionTxt.text = xPos.toString();
}

New Prius!

I finally got fed up with driving my 12-year old pickup truck on long road trips and bought a sensible, reliable car this week. I've been looking at the Prius for some time now and couldn't hold out any longer. Work started to pick up again last month and I decided I had waited long enough. I rode my bicycle to Wilson Toyota and test drove a 2009 Prius Option 6 Touring Edition in Spectra Blue Mica. After driving it for a week I couldn't be happier.

It it's got Vehicle stability control (which is good because my rear-wheel drive light pickup handled like ass in the winter); backup camera; smart key system; Anti-theft system; Auto-dimming rearview mirror with HomeLink garage door opener. Not that I have a power garage door, but I might eventually.

Its interior features are leather trimmed seats and steering wheel; Voice-activated DVD GPS navigation system; JBL AM/FM 6-Disc CD/MP3/WMA changer with 9 Speakers, Aux audio input miniplug, Satellite radio capability, and hands-free phone capability via Bluetooth. It didn't come with a peeing Calvin sticker though.