UIComponent  - AS3 Flex

A convenience accessor for the description property in this UIComponent's accessibilityProperties object.

The getter simply returns accessibilityProperties.description, or "" if accessibilityProperties is null. The setter first checks whether accessibilityProperties is null, and if it is, sets it to a new AccessibilityProperties instance. Then it sets accessibilityProperties.description.

A convenience accessor for the silent property in this UIComponent's accessibilityProperties object.

Note that accessibilityEnabled has the opposite sense from silent; accessibilityEnabled is true when silent is false.

The getter simply returns accessibilityProperties.silent, or true if accessibilityProperties is null. The setter first checks whether accessibilityProperties is null, and if it is, sets it to a new AccessibilityProperties instance. Then it sets accessibilityProperties.silent.

A convenience accessor for the name property in this UIComponent's accessibilityProperties object.

The getter simply returns accessibilityProperties.name, or "" if accessibilityProperties is null. The setter first checks whether accessibilityProperties is null, and if it is, sets it to a new AccessibilityProperties instance. Then it sets accessibilityProperties.name.

A convenience accessor for the shortcut property in this UIComponent's accessibilityProperties object.

The getter simply returns accessibilityProperties.shortcut, or "" if accessibilityProperties is null. The setter first checks whether accessibilityProperties is null, and if it is, sets it to a new AccessibilityProperties instance. Then it sets accessibilityProperties.shortcut.

The list of effects that are currently playing on the component, as an Array of EffectInstance instances.

The delegate object that handles the automation-related functionality.

True if this component is enabled for automation, false otherwise.

Name that can be used as an identifier for this object.

The owner of this component for automation purposes.

The parent of this component for automation purposes.

An implementation of the IAutomationTabularData interface, which can be used to retrieve the data.

This value generally corresponds to the rendered appearance of the object and should be usable for correlating the identifier with the object as it appears visually within the application.

True if this component is visible for automation, false otherwise.

For components, this layout constraint property is a facade on top of the similarly-named style. To set the property to its default value of undefined, use the @Clear() directive in MXML or the undefined value in ActionScript code. For example, in MXML code, baseline.s2="@Clear()" unsets the baseline constraint in state s2. Or in ActionScript code, button.baseline = undefined unsets the baseline constraint on button.

By default the anchor target is the top edge of the container's content area. In layouts with advanced constraints, the target can be a constraint row.

Setting the property to a number or to a numerical string like "10" specifies use of the default anchor target.

To specify an anchor target, set the property value to a string in the format: "anchorTargetName:value". For example, "row1:10".

The y-coordinate of the baseline of the first line of text of the component.

This property is used to implement the baseline constraint style. It is also used to align the label of a FormItem with the controls in the FormItem.

For components, this layout constraint property is a facade on top of the similarly-named style. To set the property to its default value of undefined, use the @Clear() directive in MXML or the undefined value in ActionScript code. For example, in MXML code, bottom.s2="@Clear()" unsets the bottom constraint in state s2. Or in ActionScript code, button.bottom = undefined unsets the bottom constraint on button.

By default the anchor target is the container's content area. In layouts with advanced constraints, the target can be a constraint row.

Setting the property to a number or to a numerical string like "10" specifies use of the default anchor target.

To specify an anchor target, set the property value to a string in the format: "anchorTargetName:value". For example, "row1:10".

Used by Flex to suggest bitmap caching for the object. If cachePolicy is UIComponentCachePolicy.AUTO, then cacheHeuristic is used to control the object's cacheAsBitmap property.

Specifies the bitmap caching policy for this object. Possible values in MXML are "on", "off" and "auto" (default).

Possible values in ActionScript are UIComponentCachePolicy.ON, UIComponentCachePolicy.OFF and UIComponentCachePolicy.AUTO (default).

• A value of UIComponentCachePolicy.ON means that the object is always cached as a bitmap.
• A value of UIComponentCachePolicy.OFF means that the object is never cached as a bitmap.
• A value of UIComponentCachePolicy.AUTO means that the framework uses heuristics to decide whether the object should be cached as a bitmap.

The default value is UIComponentCachePolicy.AUTO.

The name of this instance's class, such as "Button".

This string does not include the package name. If you need the package name as well, call the getQualifiedClassName() method in the flash.utils package. It returns a string such as "mx.controls::Button".

Returns the x position of the mouse, in the content coordinate system. Content coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper left corner of the component's content, and include all of the component's content area, including any regions that are currently clipped and must be accessed by scrolling the component.

Returns the y position of the mouse, in the content coordinate system. Content coordinates specify a pixel position relative to the upper left corner of the component's content, and include all of the component's content area, including any regions that are currently clipped and must be accessed by scrolling the component.

The state to be used when matching CSS pseudo-selectors. By default this is the currentState.

The current view state of the component. Set to "" or null to reset the component back to its base state.

When you use this property to set a component's state, Flex applies any transition you have defined. You can also use the setCurrentState() method to set the current state; this method can optionally change states without applying a transition.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the currentStateChange event.

Related API Elements

Gets the CursorManager that controls the cursor for this component and its peers. Each top-level window has its own instance of a CursorManager; To make sure you're talking to the right one, use this method.

Determines the order in which items inside of containers are rendered. Spark containers order their items based on their depth property, with the lowest depth in the back, and the higher in the front. Items with the same depth value appear in the order they are added to the container.

Reference to the UIComponentDescriptor, if any, that was used by the createComponentFromDescriptor() method to create this UIComponent instance. If this UIComponent instance was not created from a descriptor, this property is null.

Related API Elements

Specifies the optional DesignLayer instance associated with this visual element.

When a DesignLayer is assigned, a visual element must consider the visibility and alpha of its parent layer when ultimately committing its own effective visibility or alpha to its backing DisplayObject (if applicable).

A visual element must listen for layerPropertyChange notifications from the associated layer parent. When the effectiveAlpha or effectiveVisibility of the layer changes, the element must then compute its own effective visibility (or alpha) and apply it accordingly.

This property should not be set within MXML directly.

The designLayer property is not used for z-order control, please see depth.

A reference to the document object associated with this UIComponent. A document object is an Object at the top of the hierarchy of a Flex application, MXML component, or AS component.

Specifies whether the UIComponent object receives doubleClick events. The default value is false, which means that the UIComponent object does not receive doubleClick events.

The mouseEnabled property must also be set to true, its default value, for the object to receive doubleClick events.

The default value is false.

Whether the component can accept user interaction. After setting the enabled property to false, some components still respond to mouse interactions such as mouseOver. As a result, to fully disable UIComponents, you should also set the value of the mouseEnabled property to false. If you set the enabled property to false for a container, Flex dims the color of the container and of all of its children, and blocks user input to the container and to all of its children.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the enabledChanged event.

The text that displayed by a component's error tip when a component is monitored by a Validator and validation fails.

You can use the errorString property to show a validation error for a component, without actually using a validator class. When you write a String value to the errorString property, Flex draws a red border around the component to indicate the validation error, and the String appears in a tooltip as the validation error message when you move the mouse over the component, just as if a validator detected a validation error.

To clear the validation error, write an empty String, "", to the errorString property.

Note that writing a value to the errorString property does not trigger the valid or invalid events; it only changes the border color and displays the validation error message.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the errorStringChanged event.

Number that specifies the explicit height of the component, in pixels, in the component's coordinates.

This value is used by the container in calculating the size and position of the component. It is not used by the component itself in determining its default size. Thus this property may not have any effect if parented by Container, or containers that don't factor in this property. Because the value is in component coordinates, the true explicitHeight with respect to its parent is affected by the scaleY property.

Setting the height property also sets this property to the specified height value.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the explicitHeightChanged event.

The maximum recommended height of the component to be considered by the parent during layout. This value is in the component's coordinates, in pixels.

Application developers typically do not set the explicitMaxHeight property. Instead, they set the value of the maxHeight property, which sets the explicitMaxHeight property. The value of maxHeight does not change.

At layout time, if maxHeight was explicitly set by the application developer, then the value of explicitMaxHeight is used. Otherwise, the default value for maxHeight is used.

This value is used by the container in calculating the size and position of the component. It is not used by the component itself in determining its default size. Thus this property may not have any effect if parented by Container, or containers that don't factor in this property. Because the value is in component coordinates, the true maxHeight with respect to its parent is affected by the scaleY property. Some components have no theoretical limit to their height. In those cases their maxHeight is set to UIComponent.DEFAULT_MAX_HEIGHT.

The default value is NaN.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the explicitMaxHeightChanged event.

The maximum recommended width of the component to be considered by the parent during layout. This value is in the component's coordinates, in pixels.

Application developers typically do not set the explicitMaxWidth property. Instead, they set the value of the maxWidth property, which sets the explicitMaxWidth property. The value of maxWidth does not change.

At layout time, if maxWidth was explicitly set by the application developer, then the value of explicitMaxWidth is used. Otherwise, the default value for maxWidth is used.

This value is used by the container in calculating the size and position of the component. It is not used by the component itself in determining its default size. Thus this property may not have any effect if parented by Container, or containers that don't factor in this property. Because the value is in component coordinates, the true maxWidth with respect to its parent is affected by the scaleX property. Some components have no theoretical limit to their width. In those cases their maxWidth is set to UIComponent.DEFAULT_MAX_WIDTH.

The default value is NaN.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the explicitMaxWidthChanged event.

The minimum recommended height of the component to be considered by the parent during layout. This value is in the component's coordinates, in pixels.

Application developers typically do not set the explicitMinHeight property. Instead, they set the value of the minHeight property, which sets the explicitMinHeight property. The value of minHeight does not change.

At layout time, if minHeight was explicitly set by the application developer, then the value of explicitMinHeight is used. Otherwise, the value of measuredMinHeight is used.

This value is used by the container in calculating the size and position of the component. It is not used by the component itself in determining its default size. Thus this property may not have any effect if parented by Container, or containers that don't factor in this property. Because the value is in component coordinates, the true minHeight with respect to its parent is affected by the scaleY property.

The default value is NaN.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the explictMinHeightChanged event.

The minimum recommended width of the component to be considered by the parent during layout. This value is in the component's coordinates, in pixels.

Application developers typically do not set the explicitMinWidth property. Instead, they set the value of the minWidth property, which sets the explicitMinWidth property. The value of minWidth does not change.

At layout time, if minWidth was explicitly set by the application developer, then the value of explicitMinWidth is used. Otherwise, the value of measuredMinWidth is used.

This value is used by the container in calculating the size and position of the component. It is not used by the component itself in determining its default size. Thus this property may not have any effect if parented by Container, or containers that don't factor in this property. Because the value is in component coordinates, the true minWidth with respect to its parent is affected by the scaleX property.

The default value is NaN.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the explicitMinWidthChanged event.

Number that specifies the explicit width of the component, in pixels, in the component's coordinates.

This value is used by the container in calculating the size and position of the component. It is not used by the component itself in determining its default size. Thus this property may not have any effect if parented by Container, or containers that don't factor in this property. Because the value is in component coordinates, the true explicitWidth with respect to its parent is affected by the scaleX property.

Setting the width property also sets this property to the specified width value.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the explicitWidthChanged event.

The context menu for this UIComponent.

The default value is null.

Indicates whether the component can receive focus when tabbed to. You can set focusEnabled to false when a UIComponent is used as a subcomponent of another component so that the outer component becomes the focusable entity. If this property is false, focus is transferred to the first parent that has focusEnable set to true.

The default value is true, except for the spark.components.Scroller component. For that component, the default value is false.

Related API Elements

Gets the FocusManager that controls focus for this component and its peers. Each popup has its own focus loop and therefore its own instance of a FocusManager. To make sure you're talking to the right one, use this method.

The focus pane associated with this object. An object has a focus pane when one of its children has focus.

Returns true if the UIComponent has any non-translation (x,y) transform properties.

A flag that indicates whether child objects can receive focus.

Note: This property is similar to the tabChildren property used by Flash Player. Use the hasFocusableChildren property with Flex applications. Do not use the tabChildren property.

This property is usually false because most components either receive focus themselves or delegate focus to a single internal sub-component and appear as if the component has received focus. For example, a TextInput control contains a focusable child RichEditableText control, but while the RichEditableText sub-component actually receives focus, it appears as if the TextInput has focus. TextInput sets hasFocusableChildren to false because TextInput is considered the component that has focus. Its internal structure is an abstraction.

Usually only navigator components, such as TabNavigator and Accordion, have this flag set to true because they receive focus on Tab but focus goes to components in the child containers on further Tabs.

The default value is false, except for the spark.components.Scroller component. For that component, the default value is true.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the hasFocusableChildrenChange event.

Related API Elements

Contains true if the element has 3D Matrix.

Use hasLayoutMatrix3D instead of calling and examining the return value of getLayoutMatrix3D() because that method returns a valid matrix even when the element is in 2D.

Number that specifies the height of the component, in pixels, in the parent's coordinates. The default value is 0, but this property contains the actual component height after Flex completes sizing the components in your application.

Note: You can specify a percentage value in the MXML height attribute, such as height="100%", but you cannot use a percentage value for the height property in ActionScript; use the percentHeight property instead.

Setting this property causes a resize event to be dispatched. See the resize event for details on when this event is dispatched.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the heightChanged event.

Related API Elements

For components, this layout constraint property is a facade on top of the similarly-named style. To set the property to its default value of undefined, use the @Clear() directive in MXML or the undefined value in ActionScript code. For example, in MXML code, horizontalCenter.s2="@Clear()" unsets the horizontalCenter constraint in state s2. Or in ActionScript code, button.horizontalCenter = undefined unsets the horizontalCenter constraint on button.

The default anchor target is the container itself.

In layouts with advanced constraints, the anchor target can be a constraint column. Then the content area is the space between the preceding column (or container side) and the target column.

Setting the property to a number or to a numerical string like "10" specifies use of the default anchor target.

To specify an anchor target, set the property value to a string in the format "constraintColumnId:value". For example, "col1:10".

ID of the component. This value becomes the instance name of the object and should not contain any white space or special characters. Each component throughout an application should have a unique id.

If your application is going to be tested by third party tools, give each component a meaningful id. Testing tools use ids to represent the control in their scripts and having a meaningful name can make scripts more readable. For example, set the value of a button to submit_button rather than b1 or button1.

Specifies whether this component is included in the layout of the parent container. If true, the object is included in its parent container's layout and is sized and positioned by its parent container as per its layout rules. If false, the object size and position are not affected by its parent container's layout.

The default value is true.

This property can be used as the source for data binding. When this property is modified, it dispatches the includeInLayoutChanged event.

The beginning of this component's chain of inheriting styles. The getStyle() method simply accesses inheritingStyles[styleName] to search the entire prototype-linked chain. This object is set up by initProtoChain(). Developers typically never need to access this property directly.

A flag that determines if an object has been through all three phases of layout: commitment, measurement, and layout (provided that any were required).

The index of a repeated component. If the component is not within a Repeater, the value is -1.

An Array containing the indices required to reference this UIComponent object from its parent document. The Array is empty unless this UIComponent object is within one or more Repeaters. The first element corresponds to the outermost Repeater. For example, if the id is "b" and instanceIndices is [2,4], you would reference it on the parent document as b[2][4].

Contains true when the element is in 3D. The element can be in 3D either because it has 3D transform properties or it has 3D post layout transform offsets or both.

Contains true if this UIComponent instance is a document object. That means it is at the top of the hierarchy of a Flex application, MXML component, or ActionScript component.

Set to true by the PopUpManager to indicate that component has been popped up.

The transform matrix that is used to calculate a component's layout relative to its siblings. This matrix is defined by the component's 3D properties (which include the 2D properties such as x, y, rotation, scaleX, scaleY, transformX, and transformY, as well as rotationX, rotationY, scaleZ, z, and transformZ.

Most components do not have any 3D transform properties set on them.

This layout matrix is combined with the values of the postLayoutTransformOffsets property to determine the component's final, computed matrix.

Related API Elements

For components, this layout constraint property is a facade on top of the similarly-named style. To set a state-specific value of the property in MXML to its default value of undefined, use the @Clear() directive. For example, in MXML code, left.s2="@Clear()" unsets the left constraint in state s2. Or in ActionScript code, button.left = undefined unsets the left constraint on button.

By default the anchor target is the container's content area. In layouts with advanced constraints, the target can be a constraint column.

Setting the property to a number or to a numerical string like "10" specifies use of the default anchor target.

To specify an anchor target, set the property value to a string in the format "anchorTargetName:value". For example, "col1:10".

When true, the component keeps its projection matrix centered on the middle of its bounding box. If no projection matrix is defined on the component, one is added automatically.