Movie Clip through Display Object Not working correctly - arrays

Question

Hey everyone so I have a movie Clip called popEffect that i want to show on the current bubbles that are being clicked by the mouse. Now Whenever I click on a Bubble everything works correctly they get removed from the stage, but the problem I am having is that the popEffect is not positioned to the current bubbles that are being clicked. Instead they are positioned at a different bubble that shows on the screen in the display object array.
Here is how I have it all set up:
private function addBubbles(e:TimerEvent):void
{
bubbles = new mcBubbles();
stage.addChild(bubbles);
aBubbleArray.push(bubbles);
bubbles.addEventListener(MouseEvent.CLICK, bubblesBeingClicked);
}
Then the BubblesBeingClicked function:
private function bubblesBeingClicked(e:MouseEvent):void
{
var BubblePop:DisplayObject = e.target as DisplayObject; // HERE is your clicked square
var i:int = aBubbleArray.indexOf(BubblePop); // and HERE is your index in the array
if (i < 0)
{
// the MC is out of the array
//trace("Pop Clicked");
onBubbleIsClicked(BubblePop);
aBubbleArray.splice(i, 1);
BubblePop.parent.removeChild(BubblePop);
//Remove Listeners!!!
BubblePop.removeEventListener(MouseEvent.MOUSE_DOWN, onBubbleIsClicked);
// Null
BubblePop = null;
}
}
Finally my onBubbleIsClicked function where i have the popEffect located:
private function onBubbleIsClicked(bubblePop:DisplayObject):void
{
nScore++;
updateHighScore();
//Pop Effect
popEffect = new mcBubblePop();
stage.addChild(popEffect);
popEffect.x = bubbles.x;
popEffect.y = bubbles.y;
}
Can anyone see why the popEffect wont position on the current bubble that is being popped? Its acting really weird.

Answer 1

The reason is this:
popEffect.x = bubbles.x;
popEffect.y = bubbles.y;
As far as I can understand, bubbles is a member variable in the class (you are using it in the addBubbles function. Inside onBubbleIsClicked, you provide bubblePop, but do not use it. You are using bubbles instead, which is actually the last instance you've created inside the tick function!
So every time you create popEffect, you actually assign the x and y to the latest created bubblePop.
Some advises:
Do not use member variables that often. They are used WHEN you need to use a variable between functions. In your case, bubbles is a variable that is used only inside the creational function. You even put them into an array! And because you override it with a new one every time you create an instance, your member variables just saves the last one. Is this really needed? Same with popEffect, does anyone else uses it, as it's again just the last one? Such things create mistakes, as you see..
I truly don't understand what this means: if (i < 0). You search if the object you've clicked is not in the array? Well if it is not (how come?!), then what's the meaning of aBubbleArray.splice(i, 1);? Since i < 0, you actually splice with negative value, so you splice some other element! Plan what you want to do, thing logically and then do the actual code. If the object is not in the array, then why do you remove anything from the array?
Start formatting your code better. Read about camel case and variables scope.
Try to manage your logic better. For example this is pretty awkward: BubblePop.parent.removeChild(BubblePop);, as long as you've added it by using stage.addChild(bubbles);. So isn't it more simple to use stage.removeChild(child);? There are some rules in programming (especially in Flash), like 'what added it should remove it'. This will keep you safe in future.
Good luck!