Clearing my array leaves blank array positions - arrays

Question

So I'm facing a problem with an AS3 class that's not operating the way I need it to. It's a simple problem, but a complex set of methods that cause it.
Firstly, the 'quiz' I'm building has 6 questions loaded as external SWFs inside of a Shell, run by a class. First we declared a var "a_quiz" to hold 6 values pushed from the external SWFs. These 6 values are reduced to a string and then checked against another array that contains the correct answers. The following loadQuiz function is designed to launch one of three random quizes and clear the a_quiz array so it can take new answers:
public function loadQuiz():void {
a_quiz.length=0;
trace("loadQuiz");
n_quizCorrect = n_quizScore = 0;
n_currentQuiz = Math.floor(Math.random() * (n_totalTopics - n_quizStart + 1) + n_quizStart);
loadTopic(n_currentQuiz);
}
Now I've tested the Shell and confirmed that the trace "loadQuiz" fires every time. And the first time you load the quiz, everything behaves as it should. The 6 questions trace correct or incorrect responses and push 6 binary values into the a_quiz array. The output looks like this:
loadQuiz
incorrect
correct
incorrect
incorrect
incorrect
incorrect
0,1,0,0,0,0
you failed
Then I jump back to the main menu and launch again. This deploys the loadQuiz function all over again. The first line of the function:
a_quiz.length=0;
should be emptying the a_quiz array to accept new answers to mark against. But when I complete the quiz I get this:
loadQuiz
correct
correct
correct
correct
correct
correct
,,,,,,1,1,1,1,1,1
you failed
For some reason beyond my understanding, the push values are stacking on top of empty positions, so when the strings compare...they won't match. What is going on here?
The push function:
function handleClick(evt:MouseEvent):void{
var tempCORRECT = a_answerSheet.toString();
var tempSELECTION = a_selected.toString();
//
if(tempSELECTION == tempCORRECT){
trace('correct');
parentObj1.a_quiz[ parentObj1.n_currentQuestion - 1 ] = 1;
}else{
trace('incorrect');
parentObj1.a_quiz[ parentObj1.n_currentQuestion - 1 ] = 0;
}
parentObj1.n_currentQuestion ++;
// GOTO NEXT SLIDE
parentObj1.LOADNEXT('up');
}

Answer 1

The problem originated in the loading of the Quiz itself.
as you can see on the handleClick function:
parentObj.n_currentQuestion++
was increasing an integer variable on the parentObj's timeline called n_currentQuestion. The problem then, originated in how the quiz was logging n_currentQuestion when the quiz loads with this function:
public function loadQuiz():void {
a_quiz= [];
trace("loadQuiz");
n_quizCorrect = n_quizScore = 0;
n_currentQuiz = Math.floor(Math.random() * (n_totalTopics - n_quizStart + 1) + n_quizStart);
loadTopic(n_currentQuiz);
}
So to correct the error, I needed to add a line to the loadQuiz, so that it would always load with n_currentQuestion set to 1.
public function loadQuiz():void {
a_quiz= [];
n_currentQuestion = 1;
trace("loadQuiz");
n_quizCorrect = n_quizScore = 0;
n_currentQuiz = Math.floor(Math.random() * (n_totalTopics - n_quizStart + 1) + n_quizStart);
loadTopic(n_currentQuiz);
}