Flash
 ActionScript

You can try using
[as]
MovieClip._name
[/as]

so,
[as]
function buttonClick ()
{
textBox.text = arguments.caller._name;
}
[/as]

You might need to try this, not sure:

[as]
function buttonClick ()
{
textBox.text = MovieClip(arguments.caller)._name;
}

[/as]

Let me know if this works for you

Thanks, I tried that but no joy. It traces undefined;

If trace(this); within button click I get an response of [object Object]. Could the name be within this object?

You could definitely try that, but it shouldn’t work since you’re Delegating that function call.  Try it I suppose

arguments.caller is a reference to the function that called the executing function, it won’t be a reference to the object that called the executing function:

[highlight=ActionScript 2.0]function a():Void
{
b();
}

function b():Void
{
trace( arguments.caller == a ); // true
}

a();[/highlight]
I use a custom Delegate class because it allows you to pass custom arguments to a function without overwriting any of the default arguments that may be passed to the function by Flash. So, you could do something like this:

[highlight=ActionScript 2.0]import neondust.utils.Delegate;

someButton.onRelease = Delegate.create( this, buttonClick, someButton );

function buttonClick( target:MovieClip ):Void
{
trace( this ); // _level0
trace( target == someButton ); // true
trace( target._name ); // someButton
}[/highlight]
Here is the class:

[highlight=ActionScript 2.0]class neondust.utils.Delegate
{
public static function create( scope:Object, func:Function ):Function
{
  var args:Array = arguments.splice( 2 );
  return function()
  {
  return func.apply( scope, args.concat( arguments ) );
  }
}
}[/highlight]
Your custom arguments will precede any of the default arguments sent to the function by Flash, if any.

Hey thanks, thats great it works a treat!

It is a lot easier this way, but is it also better performance wise?

Having lots of variables shouldn’t slow down the movie really, the main cause of slowdown would be the graphics. If your movie is running slow then the graphics are the first thing you should try to optimise.