Packageflash.text.engine
Classpublic class ContentElement
InheritanceContentElement Inheritance Object
SubclassesGraphicElement, GroupElement, TextElement

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

The ContentElement class serves as a base class for the element types that can appear in a GroupElement, namely a GraphicElement, another GroupElement, or a TextElement.

ContentElement is an abstract base class; therefore, you cannot instantiate ContentElement directly. Invoking new ContentElement() throws an ArgumentError exception.

You can assign a ContentElement element to exactly one GroupElement or to the content property of exactly one text block.

See also

ElementFormat
GraphicElement
GroupElement
TextBlock.content
TextElement
TextLineMirrorRegion
TextRotation


Public Properties
 PropertyDefined by
 Inheritedconstructor : Object
A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.
Object
  elementFormat : ElementFormat
The ElementFormat object used for the element.
ContentElement
  eventMirror : EventDispatcher
The EventDispatcher object that receives copies of every event dispatched to valid text lines based on this content element.
ContentElement
  groupElement : GroupElement
[read-only] The GroupElement object that contains this element, or null if it is not in a group.
ContentElement
 Inheritedprototype : Object
[static] A reference to the prototype object of a class or function object.
Object
  rawText : String
[read-only] A copy of the text in the element, including any U+FDEF characters.
ContentElement
  text : String
[read-only] A copy of the text in the element, not including any U+FDEF characters, which represent graphic elements in the String.
ContentElement
  textBlock : TextBlock
[read-only] The TextBlock to which this element belongs.
ContentElement
  textBlockBeginIndex : int
[read-only] The index in the text block of the first character of this element.
ContentElement
  textRotation : String
The rotation to apply to the element as a unit.
ContentElement
  userData : *
Provides a way for an application to associate arbitrary data with the element.
ContentElement
Public Methods
 MethodDefined by
  
ContentElement(elementFormat:ElementFormat = null, eventMirror:EventDispatcher = null, textRotation:String = "rotate0")
Calling the new ContentElement() constructor throws an ArgumentError exception.
ContentElement
 Inherited
Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined.
Object
 Inherited
Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter.
Object
 Inherited
Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable.
Object
 Inherited
Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.
Object
 Inherited
Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions.
Object
 Inherited
Returns the string representation of the specified object.
Object
 Inherited
Returns the primitive value of the specified object.
Object
Public Constants
 ConstantDefined by
  GRAPHIC_ELEMENT : uint = 0xFDEF
[static] Indicates the presence of a graphic element in the text.
ContentElement
Property detail
elementFormatproperty
elementFormat:ElementFormat  [read-write]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

The ElementFormat object used for the element.

The default value is null.

When the elementFormat property is set, the ElementFormat object provided is locked: its locked property is set to true. A locked ElementFormat cannot be modified.

Implementation
    public function get elementFormat():ElementFormat
    public function set elementFormat(value:ElementFormat):void

See also

eventMirrorproperty 
eventMirror:EventDispatcher  [read-write]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

The EventDispatcher object that receives copies of every event dispatched to valid text lines based on this content element. The specified object can be used to set up listeners for a text link or other interactive piece of text, as it can be difficult to determine at runtime which parts of lines have resulted from particular content elements. You can also use listeners to apply decorations such as underlines, the metrics of which you cannot determine until after the text is laid out. The default value is null, which means no mirrored events are dispatched.

Event mirrors manifest themselves in text lines as instances of the TextLineMirrorRegion class. Depending on bidirectional processing and line breaking, one or more mirror regions can be produced.

The default value is null.

Implementation
    public function get eventMirror():EventDispatcher
    public function set eventMirror(value:EventDispatcher):void

See also

groupElementproperty 
groupElement:GroupElement  [read-only]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

The GroupElement object that contains this element, or null if it is not in a group.

The default value is null.

Implementation
    public function get groupElement():GroupElement

See also

rawTextproperty 
rawText:String  [read-only]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

A copy of the text in the element, including any U+FDEF characters. The Unicode character, U+FDEF, marks the location of a graphic element in the String.

Implementation
    public function get rawText():String
textproperty 
text:String  [read-only]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

A copy of the text in the element, not including any U+FDEF characters, which represent graphic elements in the String.

Implementation
    public function get text():String

See also

textBlockproperty 
textBlock:TextBlock  [read-only]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

The TextBlock to which this element belongs.

The default value is null.

Implementation
    public function get textBlock():TextBlock

See also

textBlockBeginIndexproperty 
textBlockBeginIndex:int  [read-only]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

The index in the text block of the first character of this element. This value is not cached; it is calculated whenever this method is called.

The default value is -1.

Implementation
    public function get textBlockBeginIndex():int
textRotationproperty 
textRotation:String  [read-write]

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

The rotation to apply to the element as a unit. Use TextRotation constants for this property.

The default value is TextRotation.ROTATE_0.

The final rotation of any glyph is the sum of ElementFormat.textRotation, ContentElement.textRotation, and TextBlock.lineRotation.

ContentElement.textRotation is used to create a short run of text whose rotation differs from the containing line. TCY runs in Japanese text are an example. TCY stands for Tate-Chu-Yoko and refers to a little horizontal run of text (usually a number) in some vertical Japanese text. To create a Paragraph of vertical Japanese text containing a TCY run, do the following:

  1. Set TextBlock.lineRotation=TextRotation.ROTATE_90
  2. Set TextBlock.content to a GroupElement, consisting of three TextElement objects. The first of these elements is the Japanese text before the TCY run, the second is the Latin text of the TCY run, and the third is the Japanese text after the TCY run.
  3. Set the textRotation property of the TCY TextElement to TextRotation.ROTATE_270. The TCY text element rotates as a unit. It starts with a 90 degree rotation inherited from the line. Adding another 270 degrees takes it around to horizontal.

Rotated content elements cannot be nested. In any hierarchy of content elements, no matter how complex, only one content element can have its textRotation property set. The following methods and property setters throw an argument error if nested rotations are detected:

  1. ContentElement.textRotation
  2. GroupElement.setElements
  3. GroupElement.replaceElements

To set values for this property, use the following string values:

String value Description
TextRotation.ROTATE_0 Element is not rotated.
TextRotation.ROTATE_90 Element is rotated 90 degrees clockwise.
TextRotation.ROTATE_180 Element is rotated 180 degrees.
TextRotation.ROTATE_270 Element is rotated 270 degrees clockwise.
TextRotation.AUTO Not supported.
Implementation
    public function get textRotation():String
    public function set textRotation(value:String):void

Throws
ArgumentError — If set to any value that is not a member of TextRotation.
 
ArgumentError — If set to TextRotation.AUTO.
 
ArgumentError — If the operation would result in nested rotations within a GroupElement.

See also

userDataproperty 
public var userData:*

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

Provides a way for an application to associate arbitrary data with the element.

The default value is null.

Constructor detail
ContentElement()constructor
public function ContentElement(elementFormat:ElementFormat = null, eventMirror:EventDispatcher = null, textRotation:String = "rotate0")

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

Calling the new ContentElement() constructor throws an ArgumentError exception. You can, however, call constructors for the following subclasses of ContentElement:

Parameters
elementFormat:ElementFormat (default = null) — The element format for the text in the element. The default value is null.
 
eventMirror:EventDispatcher (default = null) — The EventDispatcher object that receives copies of every event dispatched to valid text lines created based on this content element. The default value is null.
 
textRotation:String (default = "rotate0") — The rotation applied the element as a unit. Use TextRotation constants for this property. The default value is TextRotation.ROTATE_0.
Constant detail
GRAPHIC_ELEMENTconstant
public static const GRAPHIC_ELEMENT:uint = 0xFDEF

Language version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime version: AIR 1.5

Indicates the presence of a graphic element in the text.

See also