Adobe® Flex® 4 Language Reference
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flash.events 
GestureEvent 
Packageflash.events
Classpublic class GestureEvent
InheritanceGestureEvent Inheritance Event Inheritance Object
Subclasses PressAndTapGestureEvent, TransformGestureEvent

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2, Flash Lite 4

The GestureEvent class lets you handle multi-touch events on devices that detect complex user contact with the device (such as pressing two fingers on a touch screen at the same time). When a user interacts with a device such as a mobile phone or tablet with a touch screen, the user typically touches and moves across the screen with his or her fingers or a pointing device. You can develop applications that respond to this user interaction with the GestureEvent and TransformGestureEvent classes. Create event listeners using the event types defined here, or in the related TouchEvent and TransformGestureEvent classes. And, use the properties and methods of these classes to construct event handlers that respond to the user touching the device.

Use the Multitouch class to determine the current environment's support for touch interaction, and to manage the support of touch interaction if the current environment supports it.

Note: When objects are nested on the display list, touch events target the deepest possible nested object that is visible in the display list. This object is called the target node. To have a target node's ancestor (an object containing the target node in the display list) receive notification of a touch event, use EventDispatcher.addEventListener() on the ancestor node with the type parameter set to the specific touch event you want to detect.

View the examples

See also



Public Properties
 PropertyDefined By
  altKey : Boolean
Indicates whether the Alt key is active (true) or inactive (false).
GestureEvent
 Inheritedbubbles : Boolean
[read-only] Indicates whether an event is a bubbling event.
Event
 Inheritedcancelable : Boolean
[read-only] Indicates whether the behavior associated with the event can be prevented.
Event
  AIR-only commandKey : Boolean
Indicates whether the command key is activated (Mac only).
GestureEvent
 Inheritedconstructor : Object
A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.
Object
  controlKey : Boolean
Indicates whether the Control key is activated on Mac and whether the Ctrl key is activated on Windows or Linux.
GestureEvent
  ctrlKey : Boolean
On Windows or Linux, indicates whether the Ctrl key is active (true) or inactive (false).
GestureEvent
 InheritedcurrentTarget : Object
[read-only] The object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
Event
 InheritedeventPhase : uint
[read-only] The current phase in the event flow.
Event
  localX : Number
The horizontal coordinate at which the event occurred relative to the containing sprite.
GestureEvent
  localY : Number
The vertical coordinate at which the event occurred relative to the containing sprite.
GestureEvent
  phase : String
A value from the GesturePhase class indicating the progress of the touch gesture.
GestureEvent
 Inheritedprototype : Object
[static] A reference to the prototype object of a class or function object.
Object
  shiftKey : Boolean
Indicates whether the Shift key is active (true) or inactive (false).
GestureEvent
  stageX : Number
[read-only] The horizontal coordinate at which the event occurred in global Stage coordinates.
GestureEvent
  stageY : Number
[read-only] The vertical coordinate at which the event occurred in global Stage coordinates.
GestureEvent
 Inheritedtarget : Object
[read-only] The event target.
Event
 Inheritedtype : String
[read-only] The type of event.
Event
Public Methods
 MethodDefined By
  
GestureEvent(type:String, bubbles:Boolean = true, cancelable:Boolean = false, phase:String = null, localX:Number = 0, localY:Number = 0, ctrlKey:Boolean = false, altKey:Boolean = false, shiftKey:Boolean = false, commandKey:Boolean = false, controlKey:Boolean = false)
Creates an Event object that contains information about multi-touch events (such as pressing two fingers on a touch screen at the same time).
GestureEvent
  
[override] Creates a copy of the GestureEvent object and sets the value of each property to match that of the original.
GestureEvent
 Inherited
formatToString(className:String, ... arguments):String
A utility function for implementing the toString() method in custom ActionScript 3.0 Event classes.
Event
 Inherited
Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined.
Object
 Inherited
Checks whether the preventDefault() method has been called on the event.
Event
 Inherited
Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter.
Object
 Inherited
Cancels an event's default behavior if that behavior can be canceled.
Event
 Inherited
Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable.
Object
 Inherited
Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.
Object
 Inherited
Prevents processing of any event listeners in the current node and any subsequent nodes in the event flow.
Event
 Inherited
Prevents processing of any event listeners in nodes subsequent to the current node in the event flow.
Event
 Inherited
Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions.
Object
  
[override] Returns a string that contains all the properties of the GestureEvent object.
GestureEvent
  
Refreshes the Flash runtime display after processing the gesture event, in case the display list has been modified by the event handler.
GestureEvent
 Inherited
Returns the primitive value of the specified object.
Object
Public Constants
 ConstantDefined By
 InheritedACTIVATE : String = "activate"
[static] The ACTIVATE constant defines the value of the type property of an activate event object.
Event
 InheritedADDED : String = "added"
[static] The Event.ADDED constant defines the value of the type property of an added event object.
Event
 InheritedADDED_TO_STAGE : String = "addedToStage"
[static] The Event.ADDED_TO_STAGE constant defines the value of the type property of an addedToStage event object.
Event
 InheritedCANCEL : String = "cancel"
[static] The Event.CANCEL constant defines the value of the type property of a cancel event object.
Event
 InheritedCHANGE : String = "change"
[static] The Event.CHANGE constant defines the value of the type property of a change event object.
Event
 InheritedCLEAR : String = "clear"
[static] The Event.CLEAR constant efines the value of the type property of a clear event object.
Event
 InheritedCLOSE : String = "close"
[static] The Event.CLOSE constant defines the value of the type property of a close event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only CLOSING : String = "closing"
[static] The Event.CLOSING constant defines the value of the type property of a closing event object.
Event
 InheritedCOMPLETE : String = "complete"
[static] The Event.COMPLETE constant defines the value of the type property of a complete event object.
Event
 InheritedCONNECT : String = "connect"
[static] The Event.CONNECT constant defines the value of the type property of a connect event object.
Event
 InheritedCOPY : String = "copy"
[static] Defines the value of the type property of a copy event object.
Event
 InheritedCUT : String = "cut"
[static] Defines the value of the type property of a cut event object.
Event
 InheritedDEACTIVATE : String = "deactivate"
[static] The Event.DEACTIVATE constant defines the value of the type property of a deactivate event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only DISPLAYING : String = "displaying"
[static] The Event.DISPLAYING constant defines the value of the type property of a displaying event object.
Event
 InheritedENTER_FRAME : String = "enterFrame"
[static] The Event.ENTER_FRAME constant defines the value of the type property of an enterFrame event object.
Event
 InheritedEXIT_FRAME : String = "exitFrame"
[static] The Event.EXIT_FRAME constant defines the value of the type property of an exitFrame event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only EXITING : String = "exiting"
[static] The Event.EXITING constant defines the value of the type property of an exiting event object.
Event
 InheritedFRAME_CONSTRUCTED : String = "frameConstructed"
[static] The Event.FRAME_CONSTRUCTED constant defines the value of the type property of an frameConstructed event object.
Event
 InheritedFULLSCREEN : String = "fullScreen"
[static] The Event.FULL_SCREEN constant defines the value of the type property of a fullScreen event object.
Event
  GESTURE_TWO_FINGER_TAP : String = "gestureTwoFingerTap"
[static] Defines the value of the type property of a GESTURE_TWO_FINGER_TAP gesture event object.
GestureEvent
 InheritedAIR-only HTML_BOUNDS_CHANGE : String = "htmlBoundsChange"
[static] The Event.HTML_BOUNDS_CHANGE constant defines the value of the type property of an htmlBoundsChange event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only HTML_DOM_INITIALIZE : String = "htmlDOMInitialize"
[static] The Event.HTML_DOM_INITIALIZE constant defines the value of the type property of an htmlDOMInitialize event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only HTML_RENDER : String = "htmlRender"
[static] The Event.HTML_RENDER constant defines the value of the type property of an htmlRender event object.
Event
 InheritedID3 : String = "id3"
[static] The Event.ID3 constant defines the value of the type property of an id3 event object.
Event
 InheritedINIT : String = "init"
[static] The Event.INIT constant defines the value of the type property of an init event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only LOCATION_CHANGE : String = "locationChange"
[static] The Event.LOCATION_CHANGE constant defines the value of the type property of a locationChange event object.
Event
 InheritedMOUSE_LEAVE : String = "mouseLeave"
[static] The Event.MOUSE_LEAVE constant defines the value of the type property of a mouseLeave event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only NETWORK_CHANGE : String = "networkChange"
[static] The Event.NETWORK_CHANGE constant defines the value of the type property of a networkChange event object.
Event
 InheritedOPEN : String = "open"
[static] The Event.OPEN constant defines the value of the type property of an open event object.
Event
 InheritedPASTE : String = "paste"
[static] The Event.PASTE constant defines the value of the type property of a paste event object.
Event
 InheritedREMOVED : String = "removed"
[static] The Event.REMOVED constant defines the value of the type property of a removed event object.
Event
 InheritedREMOVED_FROM_STAGE : String = "removedFromStage"
[static] The Event.REMOVED_FROM_STAGE constant defines the value of the type property of a removedFromStage event object.
Event
 InheritedRENDER : String = "render"
[static] The Event.RENDER constant defines the value of the type property of a render event object.
Event
 InheritedRESIZE : String = "resize"
[static] The Event.RESIZE constant defines the value of the type property of a resize event object.
Event
 InheritedSCROLL : String = "scroll"
[static] The Event.SCROLL constant defines the value of the type property of a scroll event object.
Event
 InheritedSELECT : String = "select"
[static] The Event.SELECT constant defines the value of the type property of a select event object.
Event
 InheritedSELECT_ALL : String = "selectAll"
[static] The Event.SELECT_ALL constant defines the value of the type property of a selectAll event object.
Event
 InheritedSOUND_COMPLETE : String = "soundComplete"
[static] The Event.SOUND_COMPLETE constant defines the value of the type property of a soundComplete event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only STANDARD_ERROR_CLOSE : String = "standardErrorClose"
[static] The Event.STANDARD_ERROR_CLOSE constant defines the value of the type property of a standardErrorClose event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only STANDARD_INPUT_CLOSE : String = "standardInputClose"
[static] The Event.STANDARD_INPUT_CLOSE constant defines the value of the type property of a standardInputClose event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only STANDARD_OUTPUT_CLOSE : String = "standardOutputClose"
[static] The Event.STANDARD_OUTPUT_CLOSE constant defines the value of the type property of a standardOutputClose event object.
Event
 InheritedTAB_CHILDREN_CHANGE : String = "tabChildrenChange"
[static] The Event.TAB_CHILDREN_CHANGE constant defines the value of the type property of a tabChildrenChange event object.
Event
 InheritedTAB_ENABLED_CHANGE : String = "tabEnabledChange"
[static] The Event.TAB_ENABLED_CHANGE constant defines the value of the type property of a tabEnabledChange event object.
Event
 InheritedTAB_INDEX_CHANGE : String = "tabIndexChange"
[static] The Event.TAB_INDEX_CHANGE constant defines the value of the type property of a tabIndexChange event object.
Event
 InheritedUNLOAD : String = "unload"
[static] The Event.UNLOAD constant defines the value of the type property of an unload event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only USER_IDLE : String = "userIdle"
[static] The Event.USER_IDLE constant defines the value of the type property of a userIdle event object.
Event
 InheritedAIR-only USER_PRESENT : String = "userPresent"
[static] The Event.USER_PRESENT constant defines the value of the type property of a userPresent event object.
Event
Property Detail

altKey

property
altKey:Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2

Indicates whether the Alt key is active (true) or inactive (false). Supported for Windows and Linux operating systems only.



Implementation
    public function get altKey():Boolean
    public function set altKey(value:Boolean):void
AIR-only 

commandKey

property 
commandKey:Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: AIR 2

Indicates whether the command key is activated (Mac only).

On a Mac OS, the value of the commandKey property is the same value as the ctrlKey property. This property is always false on Windows or Linux.



Implementation
    public function get commandKey():Boolean
    public function set commandKey(value:Boolean):void

controlKey

property 
controlKey:Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2

Indicates whether the Control key is activated on Mac and whether the Ctrl key is activated on Windows or Linux.



Implementation
    public function get controlKey():Boolean
    public function set controlKey(value:Boolean):void

ctrlKey

property 
ctrlKey:Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2

On Windows or Linux, indicates whether the Ctrl key is active (true) or inactive (false). On Macintosh, indicates whether either the Control key or the Command key is activated.



Implementation
    public function get ctrlKey():Boolean
    public function set ctrlKey(value:Boolean):void

localX

property 
localX:Number

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2, Flash Lite 4

The horizontal coordinate at which the event occurred relative to the containing sprite.



Implementation
    public function get localX():Number
    public function set localX(value:Number):void

localY

property 
localY:Number

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2, Flash Lite 4

The vertical coordinate at which the event occurred relative to the containing sprite.



Implementation
    public function get localY():Number
    public function set localY(value:Number):void

phase

property 
phase:String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2, Flash Lite 4

A value from the GesturePhase class indicating the progress of the touch gesture. For most gestures, the value is begin, update, or end. For the swipe and two-finger tap gestures, the phase value is always all once the event is dispatched. Use this value to determine when an event handler responds to a complex user interaction, or responds in different ways depending on the current phase of a multi-touch gesture (such as expanding, moving, and "dropping" as a user touches and drags a visual object across a screen).



Implementation
    public function get phase():String
    public function set phase(value:String):void

See also

shiftKey

property 
shiftKey:Boolean

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2

Indicates whether the Shift key is active (true) or inactive (false).



Implementation
    public function get shiftKey():Boolean
    public function set shiftKey(value:Boolean):void

stageX

property 
stageX:Number  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2, Flash Lite 4

The horizontal coordinate at which the event occurred in global Stage coordinates. This property is calculated when the localX property is set.



Implementation
    public function get stageX():Number

stageY

property 
stageY:Number  [read-only]

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2, Flash Lite 4

The vertical coordinate at which the event occurred in global Stage coordinates. This property is calculated when the localY property is set.



Implementation
    public function get stageY():Number
Constructor Detail

GestureEvent

()Constructor
public function GestureEvent(type:String, bubbles:Boolean = true, cancelable:Boolean = false, phase:String = null, localX:Number = 0, localY:Number = 0, ctrlKey:Boolean = false, altKey:Boolean = false, shiftKey:Boolean = false, commandKey:Boolean = false, controlKey:Boolean = false)

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2, Flash Lite 4

Creates an Event object that contains information about multi-touch events (such as pressing two fingers on a touch screen at the same time). Event objects are passed as parameters to event listeners.

Parameters
type:String — The type of the event. The supported value is: GestureEvent.GESTURE_TWO_FINGER_TAP.
 
bubbles:Boolean (default = true) — Determines whether the Event object participates in the bubbling phase of the event flow.
 
cancelable:Boolean (default = false) — Determines whether the Event object can be canceled.
 
phase:String (default = null) — A value from the GesturePhase class indicating the progress of the touch gesture (begin, update, end, or all).
 
localX:Number (default = 0) — The horizontal coordinate at which the event occurred relative to the containing sprite.
 
localY:Number (default = 0) — The vertical coordinate at which the event occurred relative to the containing sprite.
 
ctrlKey:Boolean (default = false) — On Windows or Linux, indicates whether the Ctrl key is activated. On Mac, indicates whether either the Ctrl key or the Command key is activated.
 
altKey:Boolean (default = false) — Indicates whether the Alt key is activated (Windows or Linux only).
 
shiftKey:Boolean (default = false) — Indicates whether the Shift key is activated.
 
commandKey:Boolean (default = false) — (AIR only) Indicates whether the Command key is activated (Mac only). This parameter is for Adobe AIR only; do not set it for Flash Player content.
 
controlKey:Boolean (default = false) — (AIR only) Indicates whether the Control or Ctrl key is activated. This parameter is for Adobe AIR only; do not set it for Flash Player content.

See also

Method Detail

clone

()method
override public function clone():Event

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2, Flash Lite 4

Creates a copy of the GestureEvent object and sets the value of each property to match that of the original.

Returns
Event — A new GestureEvent object with property values that match those of the original.

toString

()method 
override public function toString():String

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2, Flash Lite 4

Returns a string that contains all the properties of the GestureEvent object. The string is in the following format:

[GestureEvent type=value bubbles=value cancelable=value ... ]

Returns
String — A string that contains all the properties of the GestureEvent object.

updateAfterEvent

()method 
public function updateAfterEvent():void

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2, Flash Lite 4

Refreshes the Flash runtime display after processing the gesture event, in case the display list has been modified by the event handler.

Constant Detail

GESTURE_TWO_FINGER_TAP

Constant
public static const GESTURE_TWO_FINGER_TAP:String = "gestureTwoFingerTap"

Language Version: ActionScript 3.0
Runtime Versions: Flash Player 10.1, AIR 2, Flash Lite 4

Defines the value of the type property of a GESTURE_TWO_FINGER_TAP gesture event object.

The dispatched GestureEvent object has the following properties:

PropertyValue
altKeytrue if the Alt key is active (Windows or Linux).
bubblestrue
cancelablefalse; there is no default behavior to cancel.
commandKey(AIR only) true on the Mac if the Command key is active; false if it is inactive. Always false on Windows.
controlKeytrue if the Ctrl or Control key is active; false if it is inactive.
ctrlKeytrue on Windows or Linux if the Ctrl key is active. true on Mac if either the Ctrl key or the Command key is active. Otherwise, false.
currentTargetThe object that is actively processing the Event object with an event listener.
phaseThe current phase in the event flow. For two-finger tap events, this value is always all corresponding to the value GesturePhase.ALL once the event is dispatched.
isRelatedObjectInaccessibletrue if the relatedObject property is set to null because of security sandbox rules.
localXThe horizontal coordinate at which the event occurred relative to the containing sprite.
localYThe vertical coordinate at which the event occurred relative to the containing sprite.
shiftKeytrue if the Shift key is active; false if it is inactive.
targetThe InteractiveObject instance under the touching device. The target is not always the object in the display list that registered the event listener. Use the currentTarget property to access the object in the display list that is currently processing the event.

See also

GestureTwoFingerTap.as

The following example shows event handling for the GESTURE_TWO_FINGER_TAP event. While the user performs a two-finger tap gesture, mySprite rotates and myTextField populates with the phase all, which is the only phase for two-finger tap events. Other gestures from the TransformGestureEvent class support begin, update, and end phases.
Multitouch.inputMode = MultitouchInputMode.GESTURE;

var mySprite = new Sprite();
mySprite.addEventListener(GestureEvent.GESTURE_TWO_FINGER_TAP , onTwoFingerTap );
mySprite.graphics.beginFill(0x336699);
mySprite.graphics.drawRect(0, 0, 100, 80);
var myTextField = new TextField();
myTextField.y = 200;
addChild(mySprite);
addChild(myTextField);

function onTwoFingerTap(evt:GestureEvent):void {

    evt.target.rotation -= 45;
    myTextField.text = evt.phase; //"all"

}