When when you add features to a class and they aren’t seeming to work, STOP. Your doing something that doesn’t jive w/ you code. You are overwhelmed w/ all the code you already have. You are missing something or your code just doesn’t work w/ what your trying to do.
Solution:
Simple, create a new class. Name it controlVariable (yep, just like in Science class). Try that troublesome code there all by its self. That way if it works in controlVariable then you know you code is correct and just the implimenation in you project is off. I feel this is very helpful when I’m in the trenches. Cause sometimes some code chunks don’t play well w/ others.
Don’t be prideful and recompile a swf for 2hrs just because you think, “I declared that Blue Rectangle, it should be there”. When you didn’t addChild or import or instantiate the Shape Class.
Hope this helps someone.