Create and position shapes with AS3

// First we define all the variables at the top of the actionscript, so we know where to change them, therefore its also important to give them good names to remember.

// first variable holds the value of how many objects we want.

var shapesNum:Number = 12;

// shapeSize holds the value of the size in pixels we want our object to be.

var shapeSize:Number = 55;

// Holds how many columns we want to create.

var columnsNum:Number = 4;

// This is the distance between the objects we create, its the space between them, we will need it later to do some simple math.

var distance:Number = 20;

// Here is the function wrapper, we name the function createShapes and void tells it to return no value.

function createShapes():void {

// some internal variables to hold the position of the objects, this is set to 0 now, but as we loop through all 12 objects, it will be changes.

var X:int = 0;

var Y:int = 0;

// this is the loop it basically says i = 0 and adds on each time, as long as its less then our variable shapesNum (which is 12). Meaning it will loop 12 times.

for (var i:int = 0; i < shapesNum; i++) {

// Now we create an instance of our shape, here we just name it shape and calls the linkage from before which we called myShape.

var shape:myShape = new myShape();

// This might seem a bit confusing, but I will try to explain, it says if not i (in the loop) is the same as i divided by columnsNum AND i is not equals to zero.

// Meaning in english that now we have reached the end of a column and needs to reset the X position and create a new column. and the Y position is brought down.

if (!(i%columnsNum) && i != 0) {

X = 0;

Y += shapeSize + distance;

}

// Here we just set the x and y position of the ghost object, saying distance (which was 20) + the shapeSize * X (X is how many shapes we have placed) + distance* X, now this gave me just a bit of scale number, but I experimented with it and found that if I added 15 to the number it fit.

// So this is a number you might want to experiment with yourself to find something that fits.

shape.x = distance+shapeSize*X+distance*X + 15

shape.y = distance+Y + 25

// Now we set the shape size equal to shapeSize

shape.width = shapeSize

shape.height = shapeSize

// Finally we add the shape to the stage using the addChild method.

addChild(shape);

// incrementing the X value so its ready for the next object in the loop.

X++;

}

}

// Last but most important thing is to make sure we run the function when flash starts by calling the function createShapes();

createShapes();