As3 Copy object

Question

sometimes we need clone a object.but if a displayObject has some children and use the function like this:

function clone(source:*):*
{
    var b:ByteArray = new ByteArray();
    b.writeObject(source);
    b.position = 0;
    return(b.readObject());
}

but the result has no children.. .. . so what should I do ?

Can you show the code around where you are calling clone? – mrk Jun 07 '11 at 04:27 — mrk, Jun 07 '11 at 04:27
try copying `displayObject.loaderInfo.bytes` – www0z0k Jun 07 '11 at 09:49 — www0z0k, Jun 07 '11 at 09:49

Dmitry Sapelnikov · Answer 1 · 2011-06-07T14:19:33.427

3

Unfortunately automatic cloning of objects in actionscript is a waste of time in the majority of cases.

Your snippet is right, but serialization/deserialization via ByteArray cannot perform real deep copy, i.e. copying of all references and containers. ByteArray technique will work only with non-reference data types (Number, int, String, etc.)

So there is no silver bullet and only one adequate solution - to write the clone() method for your class manually.

edited Jun 07 '11 at 14:19

answered Jun 07 '11 at 14:13

Dmitry Sapelnikov

1,129
8
16

+1, I have tried Lee's clone function, it does copy the object but the new copy didn't have the mx_internal_uid, so comparing the copy object with the original one failed. Looks like I will have to write my own method for the clone as you pointed out. – code90 Feb 29 '12 at 18:39

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Jun 07 '11 at 14:31

I didn't have to program a clone-method myself yet, but i found a way that might do the trick. By iterating through all your variables (in an xml-representation), you can copy them in a new instance of your class.

you can find the method i am talking about on this link: http://www.learnosity.com/techblog/index.cfm/2008/2/6/AS3--Looping-over-properties-of-a-class

Let me know if it works, i'm kind of curious myself :)

As3 Copy object

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