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Download this Flash command – Automatically name selected instances… sequentially

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Last Updated on February 26, 2019

So you have a bunch of instances on the Stage. Say you sprayed them using the new Spray Brush tool in Flash CS4, or maybe you just have a bunch of buttons in a menu that you need instance names for. And you don’t want to have to select each one, go to the PI, name it, repeat. This new JSFL file lets you select instances on the Stage, and will add an instance name for whatever can take one (buttons, movie clips, components, etc). You set the prefix for that name (say, yourName), and then it name them using the format yourName_0, yourName_1 and so on. If you select something that cannot take an instance name, it doesn’t get named (or mess up your sequential numbering).

Thanks to Jeffrey Ahlquist of Flash team engineering fame for writing up this JSFL. Download it (right-click, Save Link As): Sequentially Name Instances JSFL. After you download it, put this file in the Commands folder in your user config folder: (Win) Documents and Settings<em>username</em>Local SettingsApplication DataAdobeFlash CS4enConfigurationCommands (Mac) <em>username</em>/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Flash CS4/en/Configuration/Commands. In Flash, select the instances you want to name, and then select Commands > Sequentially Name instances.

The next post will detail using this new JSFL in conjunction with the Deco Tool and Tween instance features of Flash CS4. Along with a tiny bit of ActionScript 3.0. Read that next post… now!

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  2. Great goody!

    You might want to check the path for Mac: it’s:
    [username]/Library/Application Support/…
    (with forward slashes)

    thanks a bunch

  3. While this is an awesome addon and something I wish had been released a long time ago, it makes you wonder why it isn’t originally a part of flash considering a flash engineer wrote it. Thanks for this, however.

  4. Here is a list of a bunch of other useful ones I’ve found over the years. I wish I had credits for all of them, but I’m sure if you look around the web a bit you’ll find them.

    kevinsuttle.com/files/_Commands.zip

    The credits I do remember:

    http://www.tutorialized.com/tutorial/Flash-Macro-Organizing-Library-using-JSFL/9563

    http://www.flashguru.co.uk/duplicate-layer

    Huge set here. (Put your mouse at the very bottom corner of the screen and select ‘All Flash Commands’. Individual commands are listed above it.
    http://www.selftitled.ca/

  5. Great goody!

    You might want to check the path for Mac: it’s:
    [username]/Library/Application Support/…
    (with forward slashes)

    thanks a bunch

  6. Hey there – the path above does have forward slashes (it’s a little confusing with how the line wraps).

  7. Fantastic blog! Do you have any recommendations for aspiring writers? I’m planning to start my own site soon but I’m a little lost on everything. Would you recommend starting with a free platform like WordPress or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there that I’m totally confused .. Any suggestions? Thanks!