How do I reference the default `this` reference in Actionscript3 from an external package?

Question

My code is an external .as file. Google provides this code on their demo, which contains the this keyword:

import com.google.analytics.AnalyticsTracker; 
import com.google.analytics.GATracker; 
var tracker:AnalyticsTracker = new GATracker( this, "UA-111-222", "AS3", true ); 
playGame.addEventListener( MouseEvent.CLICK, onButtonClick ); 
function onButtonClick ( event:Event ):void 
{
   tracker.trackPageview("/myGame1"); 
}

This code probably works fine in the default context, but since I am embedding this code in an external .as file where I define a package, obviously the this reference differs since the execution context is different.

Currently, this is how I have it:

package {
        import flash.display.MovieClip;
        import flash.display.Sprite;
        import flash.events.Event;
        import flash.events.MouseEvent;
        import flash.net.URLRequest;
        import flash.net.navigateToURL;
        import flash.text.TextFieldAutoSize;
        import flash.text.TextFormat;
        import flash.external.ExternalInterface;    

        import com.google.analytics.AnalyticsTracker; 
        import com.google.analytics.GATracker; 

        public class DetailView extends MovieClip {

                //private var tracker:GATracker;
                private var tracker:AnalyticsTracker;

                function slugify(text) {
                        text = text.replace(/[^-a-zA-Z0-9,&\s]+/ig, '');
                        text = text.replace(/-/gi, "_");
                        text = text.replace(/\s/gi, "-");
                        return text.toLowerCase();
                }   

                public static var NEXTOFFER:String = "DETAIL_NEXTOFFER";
                public static var TERMS:String = "DETAIL_TERMS";
                private var link:String;
                private var fbshare:String;
                private var twshare:String;
                private var offerID:Number;
                private var details:Sprite;
                private var terms:Sprite;

                public function DetailView() {
                        ExternalInterface.call( "console.log", 'before');
                        ExternalInterface.call( "console.log", typeof GATracker );
                        ExternalInterface.call( "console.log", typeof this );
                        tracker = new GATracker( this, "UA-WATEVER", "AS3", true );  
                        ExternalInterface.call( "console.log", 'after');

Notice that I have 4 calls to console.log. The first 3 fire, but after the new GATracker statement, the 4th does not fire.

I have a feeling that I'm overriding the entire package with the object created from new GATracker when I should be passing a different context.

I believe the correct context I should pass is whatever this defaults to when not inside of a package/external file, I assume it references the main stage object.

If my assumption is right, how would I reference the main stage object from inside of the constructor?

Answer 1

If you want to reference the main stage, you need to wait until your object is added to the stage before you can reference it.

It might look something like this:

public function DetailView()
{
     addEventListener( Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, onAddedToStage );
}

protected function onAddedToStage( event:Event ):void 
{
     tracker = new GATracker( this, "UA-WATEVER", "AS3", true );  
     removeEventListener( Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE, onAddedToStage );
}

Another approach to this is listening to the ENTER_FRAME event and in the handler checking for a non-null value for the stage, then removing the handler and initializing your vars.