image map with hotspots - newbie question

[scroce]

I have a map of Texas divided into its counties. I want the user to be able to roll over each individual county, and then the name of that county to pop up in a designated area on the stage.

I think maybe I have to use a hotspot for this, but how do I get the designated spot on the stage to show the name?

Probably I need to a text box and action script to somehow set the value of the text box, but since I'm relatively new to flash, I don't have a good idea on how to actually do this.

can someone please give me a hint/point me to a tutorial on the steps I should follow or read up on to make this happen?

I've seen a few tutorials on hotspots, but nothing regarding how to make it set the value of something else somewhere else on the stage.

thanks.



I am a nobody, and nobody is perfect; therefore, I am perfect.

 

[oldnewbie]

Well you could have invisible buttons laid (and in the shape of...) over each individual county. Then it's simply a question of addint an on rollOver script on those buttons to set the variable (or the text) of your dynamic textfield.

 

[scroce]

ok this helps, but how do I set up a dynamic textfield? is it a library item somewhere?

I am a nobody, and nobody is perfect; therefore, I am perfect.

 

[oldnewbie]

http://www.visualxtreme.com/flash_tut1.html

 

[scroce]

cool - thanks - just what i was looking for -

on another note - making the hotspots the same shape as the county - what tool do I use? - coming from Fireworks3 there is a tool based on the rectangle that you can draw a polygon with that does it - I tried the lasso with the polygon, but that isn't it - I'm using Flash 5

In a pinch I guess I could just use the fireworks tool and import the shape, but that seems like extra steps.

thanks.



I am a nobody, and nobody is perfect; therefore, I am perfect.

 

[oldnewbie]

I'm not familiar with Texas county shapes nor their number, but can't you simply use the pencil or line tools, draw the border around each county (you can adjust the contours with the arrow tool once the border is drawed), fill in this shape and set it as the Hit state of each button?

 

[scroce]

they're all different shapes, some square, some irregular. Yes, I guess you can do that, but it seems that the pencil or line make it awkward to cut in close to some of the more irregular shapes. If there's no better tool in Flash, I can just do it in fireworks studio.

you've got me on my way though - much obliged.


I am a nobody, and nobody is perfect; therefore, I am perfect.