| Package | starling.core |
| Class | public class Starling |
| Inheritance | Starling  EventDispatcher Object |
The Starling framework makes it possible to create 2D applications and games that make use of the Stage3D architecture introduced in Flash Player 11. It implements a display tree system that is very similar to that of conventional Flash, while leveraging modern GPUs to speed up rendering.
The Starling class represents the link between the conventional Flash display tree and the Starling display tree. To create a Starling-powered application, you have to create an instance of the Starling class:
var starling:Starling = new Starling(Game, stage);
The first parameter has to be a Starling display object class, e.g. a subclass of
starling.display.Sprite. In the sample above, the class "Game" is the
application root. An instance of "Game" will be created as soon as Starling is initialized.
The second parameter is the conventional (Flash) stage object. Per default, Starling will
display its contents directly below the stage.
It is recommended to store the Starling instance as a member variable, to make sure that the Garbage Collector does not destroy it. After creating the Starling object, you have to start it up like this:
starling.start();
It will now render the contents of the "Game" class in the frame rate that is set up for the application (as defined in the Flash stage).
Context3D ProfilesStage3D supports different rendering profiles, and Starling works with all of them. The last parameter of the Starling constructor allows you to choose which profile you want. The following profiles are available:
The recommendation is to deploy your app with the profile "auto" (which makes Starling pick the best available of those three), but test it in all available profiles.
Accessing the Starling objectFrom within your application, you can access the current Starling object anytime
through the static method Starling.current. It will return the active Starling
instance (most applications will only have one Starling object, anyway).
The area the Starling content is rendered into is, per default, the complete size of the stage. You can, however, use the "viewPort" property to change it. This can be useful when you want to render only into a part of the screen, or if the player size changes. For the latter, you can listen to the RESIZE-event dispatched by the Starling stage.
Native overlaySometimes you will want to display native Flash content on top of Starling. That's what the
nativeOverlay property is for. It returns a Flash Sprite lying directly
on top of the Starling content. You can add conventional Flash objects to that overlay.
Beware, though, that conventional Flash content on top of 3D content can lead to performance penalties on some (mobile) platforms. For that reason, always remove all child objects from the overlay when you don't need them any longer. Starling will remove the overlay from the display list when it's empty.
MultitouchStarling supports multitouch input on devices that provide it. During development,
where most of us are working with a conventional mouse and keyboard, Starling can simulate
multitouch events with the help of the "Shift" and "Ctrl" (Mac: "Cmd") keys. Activate
this feature by enabling the simulateMultitouch property.
On some operating systems and under certain conditions (e.g. returning from system sleep), Starling's stage3D render context may be lost. Starling can recover from a lost context if the class property "handleLostContext" is set to "true". Keep in mind, however, that this comes at the price of increased memory consumption; Starling will cache textures in RAM to be able to restore them when the context is lost. (Except if you use the 'AssetManager' for your textures. It is smart enough to recreate a texture directly from its origin.)
In case you want to react to a context loss, Starling dispatches an event with the type "Event.CONTEXT3D_CREATE" when the context is restored. You can recreate any invalid resources in a corresponding event listener.
Sharing a 3D ContextPer default, Starling handles the Stage3D context itself. If you want to combine
Starling with another Stage3D engine, however, this may not be what you want. In this case,
you can make use of the shareContext property:
stage3D.requestContext3D and
context.configureBackBuffer).shareContext.start() on your Starling instance (as usual). This will make
Starling queue input events (keyboard/mouse/touch).ENTER_FRAME event) and let it
call Starling's nextFrame as well as the equivalent method of the other
Stage3D engine. Surround those calls with context.clear() and
context.present().The Starling wiki contains a tutorial with more information about this topic.
| Property | Defined By | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| all : Vector.<Starling> [static] [read-only] All Starling instances. | Starling | ||
| antiAliasing : int The antialiasing level. | Starling | ||
| backBufferHeight : int [read-only] Returns the actual height (in pixels) of the back buffer. | Starling | ||
| backBufferWidth : int [read-only] Returns the actual width (in pixels) of the back buffer. | Starling | ||
| contentScaleFactor : Number [read-only] The ratio between viewPort width and stage width. | Starling | ||
| context : Context3D [read-only] The render context of this instance. | Starling | ||
| contextData : Dictionary [read-only] A dictionary that can be used to save custom data related to the current context. | Starling | ||
| contextValid : Boolean [read-only] Indicates if the Context3D object is currently valid (i.e. | Starling | ||
| current : Starling [static] [read-only] The currently active Starling instance. | Starling | ||
| enableErrorChecking : Boolean Indicates if Stage3D render methods will report errors. | Starling | ||
| handleLostContext : Boolean [static] Indicates if Starling should automatically recover from a lost device context. | Starling | ||
| isStarted : Boolean [read-only] Indicates if this Starling instance is started. | Starling | ||
| juggler : Juggler [read-only] The default juggler of this instance. | Starling | ||
| multitouchEnabled : Boolean [static] Indicates if multitouch input should be supported. | Starling | ||
| nativeOverlay : Sprite [read-only] A Flash Sprite placed directly on top of the Starling content. | Starling | ||
| nativeStage : Stage [read-only] The Flash (2D) stage object Starling renders beneath. | Starling | ||
| profile : String [read-only] The Context3D profile as requested in the constructor. | Starling | ||
| root : DisplayObject [read-only] The instance of the root class provided in the constructor. | Starling | ||
| shareContext : Boolean Indicates if the Context3D render calls are managed externally to Starling,
to allow other frameworks to share the Stage3D instance. | Starling | ||
| showStats : Boolean Indicates if a small statistics box (with FPS, memory usage and draw count) is displayed. | Starling | ||
| simulateMultitouch : Boolean Indicates if multitouch simulation with "Shift" and "Ctrl"/"Cmd"-keys is enabled. | Starling | ||
| stage : Stage [read-only] The Starling stage object, which is the root of the display tree that is rendered. | Starling | ||
| stage3D : Stage3D [read-only] The Flash Stage3D object Starling renders into. | Starling | ||
| supportHighResolutions : Boolean Indicates that if the device supports HiDPI screens Starling will attempt to allocate
a larger back buffer than indicated via the viewPort size. | Starling | ||
| touchProcessor : TouchProcessor The TouchProcessor is passed all mouse and touch input and is responsible for
dispatching TouchEvents to the Starling display tree. | Starling | ||
| viewPort : Rectangle The viewport into which Starling contents will be rendered. | Starling | ||
| Method | Defined By | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Starling(rootClass:Class, stage:Stage, viewPort:Rectangle = null, stage3D:Stage3D = null, renderMode:String = auto, profile:Object = baselineConstrained) Creates a new Starling instance. | Starling | ||
 | addEventListener(type:String, listener:Function):void Registers an event listener at a certain object. | EventDispatcher | |
advanceTime(passedTime:Number):void Dispatches ENTER_FRAME events on the display list, advances the Juggler
and processes touches. | Starling | ||
deleteProgram(name:String):void Deletes the vertex- and fragment-programs of a certain name. | Starling | ||
| dispatchEvent(event:Event):void Dispatches an event to all objects that have registered listeners for its type. | EventDispatcher | |
| dispatchEventWith(type:String, bubbles:Boolean = false, data:Object = null):void Dispatches an event with the given parameters to all objects that have registered
listeners for the given type. | EventDispatcher | |
dispose():void Disposes all children of the stage and the render context; removes all registered
event listeners. | Starling | ||
getProgram(name:String):Program3D Returns the vertex- and fragment-programs registered under a certain name. | Starling | ||
| hasEventListener(type:String):Boolean Returns if there are listeners registered for a certain event type. | EventDispatcher | |
hasProgram(name:String):Boolean Indicates if a set of vertex- and fragment-programs is registered under a certain name. | Starling | ||
makeCurrent():void Make this Starling instance the current one. | Starling | ||
nextFrame():void Calls advanceTime() (with the time that has passed since the last frame)
and render(). | Starling | ||
registerProgram(name:String, vertexShader:ByteArray, fragmentShader:ByteArray):Program3D Registers a compiled shader-program under a certain name. | Starling | ||
registerProgramFromSource(name:String, vertexShader:String, fragmentShader:String):Program3D Compiles a shader-program and registers it under a certain name. | Starling | ||
| removeEventListener(type:String, listener:Function):void Removes an event listener from the object. | EventDispatcher | |
| removeEventListeners(type:String = null):void Removes all event listeners with a certain type, or all of them if type is null. | EventDispatcher | |
render():void Renders the complete display list. | Starling | ||
showStatsAt(hAlign:String = left, vAlign:String = top, scale:Number = 1):void Displays the statistics box at a certain position. | Starling | ||
start():void As soon as Starling is started, it will queue input events (keyboard/mouse/touch);
furthermore, the method nextFrame will be called once per Flash Player
frame. | Starling | ||
stop(suspendRendering:Boolean = false):void Stops all logic and input processing, effectively freezing the app in its current state. | Starling | ||
| Event | Summary | Defined By | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dispatched when a new render context is created. | Starling | |||
| Dispatched when the root class has been created. | Starling | |||
| Constant | Defined By | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| VERSION : String = 1.5 [static] The version of the Starling framework. | Starling | ||
| all | property |
Hide Inherited Public Methods
Show Inherited Public Methodsall:Vector.<Starling> [read-only] All Starling instances.
CAUTION: not a copy, but the actual object! Do not modify!
public static function get all():Vector.<Starling>| antiAliasing | property |
antiAliasing:intThe antialiasing level. 0 - no antialasing, 16 - maximum antialiasing.
The default value is 0.
public function get antiAliasing():int public function set antiAliasing(value:int):void| backBufferHeight | property |
backBufferHeight:int [read-only] Returns the actual height (in pixels) of the back buffer. This can differ from the height of the viewPort rectangle if it is partly outside the native stage.
public function get backBufferHeight():int| backBufferWidth | property |
backBufferWidth:int [read-only] Returns the actual width (in pixels) of the back buffer. This can differ from the width of the viewPort rectangle if it is partly outside the native stage.
public function get backBufferWidth():int| contentScaleFactor | property |
contentScaleFactor:Number [read-only] The ratio between viewPort width and stage width. Useful for choosing a different set of textures depending on the display resolution.
public function get contentScaleFactor():Number| context | property |
context:Context3D [read-only] The render context of this instance.
public function get context():Context3D| contextData | property |
contextData:Dictionary [read-only] A dictionary that can be used to save custom data related to the current context. If you need to share data that is bound to a specific stage3D instance (e.g. textures), use this dictionary instead of creating a static class variable. The Dictionary is actually bound to the stage3D instance, thus it survives a context loss.
public function get contextData():Dictionary| contextValid | property |
contextValid:Boolean [read-only] Indicates if the Context3D object is currently valid (i.e. it hasn't been lost or disposed). Beware that each call to this method causes a String allocation (due to internal code Starling can't avoid), so do not call this method too often.
public function get contextValid():Boolean| current | property |
current:Starling [read-only] The currently active Starling instance.
public static function get current():Starling| enableErrorChecking | property |
enableErrorChecking:BooleanIndicates if Stage3D render methods will report errors. Activate only when needed, as this has a negative impact on performance.
The default value is false.
public function get enableErrorChecking():Boolean public function set enableErrorChecking(value:Boolean):void| handleLostContext | property |
handleLostContext:BooleanIndicates if Starling should automatically recover from a lost device context. On some systems, an upcoming screensaver or entering sleep mode may invalidate the render context. This setting indicates if Starling should recover from such incidents. Beware that this has a huge impact on memory consumption! It is recommended to enable this setting on Android and Windows, but to deactivate it on iOS and Mac OS X.
The default value is false.
public static function get handleLostContext():Boolean public static function set handleLostContext(value:Boolean):void| isStarted | property |
isStarted:Boolean [read-only] Indicates if this Starling instance is started.
public function get isStarted():Boolean| juggler | property |
juggler:Juggler [read-only] The default juggler of this instance. Will be advanced once per frame.
public function get juggler():Juggler| multitouchEnabled | property |
multitouchEnabled:BooleanIndicates if multitouch input should be supported.
public static function get multitouchEnabled():Boolean public static function set multitouchEnabled(value:Boolean):void| nativeOverlay | property |
nativeOverlay:Sprite [read-only] A Flash Sprite placed directly on top of the Starling content. Use it to display native Flash components.
public function get nativeOverlay():Sprite| nativeStage | property |
nativeStage:Stage [read-only] The Flash (2D) stage object Starling renders beneath.
public function get nativeStage():Stage| profile | property |
profile:String [read-only] The Context3D profile as requested in the constructor. Beware that if you are using a shared context, this is simply what you passed to the Starling constructor.
public function get profile():String| root | property |
root:DisplayObject [read-only] The instance of the root class provided in the constructor. Available as soon as the event 'ROOT_CREATED' has been dispatched.
public function get root():DisplayObject| shareContext | property |
shareContext:BooleanIndicates if the Context3D render calls are managed externally to Starling, to allow other frameworks to share the Stage3D instance.
The default value is false.
public function get shareContext():Boolean public function set shareContext(value:Boolean):void| showStats | property |
showStats:BooleanIndicates if a small statistics box (with FPS, memory usage and draw count) is displayed.
public function get showStats():Boolean public function set showStats(value:Boolean):void| simulateMultitouch | property |
simulateMultitouch:BooleanIndicates if multitouch simulation with "Shift" and "Ctrl"/"Cmd"-keys is enabled.
The default value is false.
public function get simulateMultitouch():Boolean public function set simulateMultitouch(value:Boolean):void| stage | property |
stage:Stage [read-only] The Starling stage object, which is the root of the display tree that is rendered.
public function get stage():Stage| stage3D | property |
stage3D:Stage3D [read-only] The Flash Stage3D object Starling renders into.
public function get stage3D():Stage3D| supportHighResolutions | property |
supportHighResolutions:BooleanIndicates that if the device supports HiDPI screens Starling will attempt to allocate a larger back buffer than indicated via the viewPort size. Note that this is used on Desktop only; mobile AIR apps still use the "requestedDisplayResolution" parameter the application descriptor XML.
public function get supportHighResolutions():Boolean public function set supportHighResolutions(value:Boolean):void| touchProcessor | property |
touchProcessor:TouchProcessorThe TouchProcessor is passed all mouse and touch input and is responsible for dispatching TouchEvents to the Starling display tree. If you want to handle these types of input manually, pass your own custom subclass to this property.
public function get touchProcessor():TouchProcessor public function set touchProcessor(value:TouchProcessor):void| viewPort | property |
viewPort:RectangleThe viewport into which Starling contents will be rendered.
public function get viewPort():Rectangle public function set viewPort(value:Rectangle):void| Starling | () | Constructor |
public function Starling(rootClass:Class, stage:Stage, viewPort:Rectangle = null, stage3D:Stage3D = null, renderMode:String = auto, profile:Object = baselineConstrained)Creates a new Starling instance.
ParametersrootClass:Class — A subclass of a Starling display object. It will be created as soon as
initialization is finished and will become the first child of the
Starling stage.
| |
stage:Stage — The Flash (2D) stage.
| |
viewPort:Rectangle (default = null) | |
stage3D:Stage3D (default = null)sharedContext will be set
to true. Default: the first available Stage3D.
| |
renderMode:String (default = auto) | |
profile:Object (default = baselineConstrained)
|
| advanceTime | () | method |
public function advanceTime(passedTime:Number):voidDispatches ENTER_FRAME events on the display list, advances the Juggler and processes touches.
Parameters
passedTime:Number |
| deleteProgram | () | method |
public function deleteProgram(name:String):voidDeletes the vertex- and fragment-programs of a certain name.
Parameters
name:String |
| dispose | () | method |
public function dispose():voidDisposes all children of the stage and the render context; removes all registered event listeners.
| getProgram | () | method |
public function getProgram(name:String):Program3DReturns the vertex- and fragment-programs registered under a certain name.
Parameters
name:String |
Program3D |
| hasProgram | () | method |
public function hasProgram(name:String):BooleanIndicates if a set of vertex- and fragment-programs is registered under a certain name.
Parameters
name:String |
Boolean |
| makeCurrent | () | method |
public function makeCurrent():void Make this Starling instance the current one.
| nextFrame | () | method |
public function nextFrame():void Calls advanceTime() (with the time that has passed since the last frame)
and render().
| registerProgram | () | method |
public function registerProgram(name:String, vertexShader:ByteArray, fragmentShader:ByteArray):Program3DRegisters a compiled shader-program under a certain name. If the name was already used, the previous program is overwritten.
Parameters
name:String | |
vertexShader:ByteArray | |
fragmentShader:ByteArray |
Program3D |
| registerProgramFromSource | () | method |
public function registerProgramFromSource(name:String, vertexShader:String, fragmentShader:String):Program3DCompiles a shader-program and registers it under a certain name. If the name was already used, the previous program is overwritten.
Parameters
name:String | |
vertexShader:String | |
fragmentShader:String |
Program3D |
| render | () | method |
public function render():void Renders the complete display list. Before rendering, the context is cleared; afterwards,
it is presented. This can be avoided by enabling shareContext.
| showStatsAt | () | method |
public function showStatsAt(hAlign:String = left, vAlign:String = top, scale:Number = 1):voidDisplays the statistics box at a certain position.
Parameters
hAlign:String (default = left) | |
vAlign:String (default = top) | |
scale:Number (default = 1) |
| start | () | method |
public function start():void As soon as Starling is started, it will queue input events (keyboard/mouse/touch);
furthermore, the method nextFrame will be called once per Flash Player
frame. (Except when shareContext is enabled: in that case, you have to
call that method manually.)
| stop | () | method |
public function stop(suspendRendering:Boolean = false):voidStops all logic and input processing, effectively freezing the app in its current state. Per default, rendering will continue: that's because the classic display list is only updated when stage3D is. (If Starling stopped rendering, conventional Flash contents would freeze, as well.)
However, if you don't need classic Flash contents, you can stop rendering, too. On some mobile systems (e.g. iOS), you are even required to do so if you have activated background code execution.
Parameters
suspendRendering:Boolean (default = false) |
| context3DCreate | Event |
| rootCreated | Event |
| VERSION | Constant |
public static const VERSION:String = 1.5The version of the Starling framework.