ActionScript 3.0 using closures for event handlers

Question

I tried doing this:

root.addEventListener(\"click\", 
   function () 
   { 
      navigateToURL(ClickURLRequest,\"_self\"); 
   });

And it

Answer 1

Here's a generic way of removing event listeners that i have used on production projects

addEventListener
(
    Event.ACTIVATE, 
    function(event:Event):void
    {
        (event.target as EventDispatcher).removeEventListener(event.type, arguments.callee)             
    }
)

Answer 2

You can think of the function() keyword as a constructor, creating a new object (a closure) each time. Therefore, if you create the closure just for as a parameter and don't retain a reference anywhere, there's no way to get a hold of "the same" closure somewhere else.

The obvious solution is what you don't like, defining the function before using it. Of course, it can still be a full closure and not just a 'static-like' function. simply define it in the context you want, and assign it to a local variable.

Answer 3

I dont know what you're actually doing but in this particular example perhaps you could have a _clickEnabled global variable.

Then inside the event handler you just check _clickEnabled, and if its false you just return immediately.

Then you can enable and disable the overall event without detaching and reattaching it.