Timeline commands such as stop() , play(), nextFrame(), prevFrame, gotoAndStop() and gotoAndPlay() are basic actionscript commands. Their use is to control the timeline.

For instance, if I want to stop my Flash movie on the first frame, I simply apply a “stop()” command to it.

These actionscript commands seem fundamental, but they can be used to accomplish complex tasks. For instance, you can create a point-and-click game using these simple commands.

Below, I’ll explain the function of each commands.

stop() : stops the timeline the frame it is applied to.

play() : plays a frame that has been stopped.

nextFrame() : Jumps to the next frame.

prevFrame(): Jumps to the previous frame.

gotoAndStop() : jumps toward a frame you specify, and stops on that frame. For instance, I use gotoAndStop(2) to jump to and stop at the second frame.

gotoAndPlay(): Jumps to a frame you specify, and plays from that frame. For example, I use gotoAndPlay (3) to jump towards, and play at the third frame.

nextScene() : jumps to the next scene

prevScene() : jumps to the previous scene

How to apply timeline commands to the timeline

These commands are applied to frames in the timeline.

Step 1: click on the frame you want to apply a command to.

Step 2: click on the actions panel to expand it (if you can’t see the actions panel, in the top selection pane, select “Windows” > “Workspace layout” > “Default” to return the Flash document’s layout to it’s default state).

Step 3: Type in a timeline command into the actions panel. For instance, “stop();”

 

(Image above) The Actions panel is where actionscripts are typed in.

 

An alphabet “a” will show on a frame that has actionscript.