how to reuse an image thats been loaded into Flash via AS3's loader()

Question

I'm displaying an external image in Flash with the loader object, and then addchild() and that whole thing. Im wondering how, if possible, I could then add that same child to another movie clip. So far, when i do, it doesn't show up in the original movie clip anymore. Is there a way for me to display an image twice by pulling it from the same source like you would do with html,css?

Do i have to use the bitmapdata object for something like this? Im reading about it and I cant even see the purpose for it.

Thanks guys!

Answer 1

Do i have to use the bitmapdata object for something like this? Im reading about it and I cant even see the purpose for it.

Yes, that's the way to go. Basically create a new Bitmap that uses the same BitmapData. Here's an example:

var loader:Loader = new Loader();
load.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener(Event.COMPLETE, function(event:Event):void {
    var bitmapData:BitmapData = event.target.content.bitmapData;

    // Now to make as many Bitmap instances as we want
    var bitmap1:Bitmap = new Bitmap(bitmapData);
    var bitmap2:Bitmap = new Bitmap(bitmapData);
    var bitmap3:Bitmap = new Bitmap(bitmapData);

    // Use them for whatever you want here.

    // Cleanup
    event.currentTarget.removeEventListener(event.type, arguments.callee);
});
loader.load(new URLRequest('bitmap.png'));