Hello.
From my own experience Array<Dynamic> works fine on flash, but on android it’s kind of sketchy.
var array:Array<Dynamic> = [];
var box:Sprite = new Sprite();
box.graphics.beginFill(0xFF0000);
box.graphics.drawRect(0, 0, 32, 32);
box.x = 100;
box.y = 100;
stage.addChild(box);
array.push(box);
trace(array[0]); // flash return: [object Sprite], android return: [object Sprite]
trace(array[0].x); // flash return: 100, android return: null
When I push a sprite in Array<Dynamic> and I want to access it’s x, y, width or height it just returns null on android. In flash it all works fine.
If I change Array<Dynamic> to Array<Sprite> it will work great on both platforms but I really need it to be dynamic.
//Works on Android but not Flash:
trace(array[0].get_x());
//Works on both:
trace(Reflect.getProperty(array[0], "x"));
//Works on both:
trace(cast(array[0], Sprite).x);
OpenFL has a getter and setter for the Sprite.x field. That means that there’s a get_x() and set_x() function, and you’re supposed to use those instead of accessing x directly.
So why can you use x normally? Shouldn’t it always fail?
Well, the Haxe compiler makes that replacement for you. When you type sprite.x, the compiler replaces it with sprite.get_x(). Since the get_x() function exists, everything works as expected.
The problem is, the compiler can’t tell if a Dynamic object is supposed to use a getter, so it assumes not. It won’t replace dynamic.x with dynamic.get_x(), and then at compile time, it tries to access x on an object that doesn’t have an x field. That’s why it returns null.
Here’s how the three solutions work:
- If you explicitly type out
get_x(), then of course it will use that function. Problem is, that function doesn’t exist in Flash, so it won’t work in Flash.
-
Reflect.getProperty() checks for a getter function. On Android, it’ll find a getter, and use that. On Flash, it won’t find a getter, so it’ll just use the x field. This is a bit slower, but it covers everything.
- If you tell the compiler that this will be a
Sprite, then it will know about the getter, and it’ll replace x with get_x() on non-Flash targets. But the object has to be an actual Sprite, which kind of defeats the point.
Thank you @player_03, you were more than insightful with your reply.
