The History panel helps you work more efficiently in Flash. As you work, the History panel tracks all the steps you take in Flash. With the History panel, you can undo or redo steps to correct mistakes, replay selected steps for new tasks to streamline repetitive work, and record steps for replay from the Commands menu to automate your work. In addition, Flash allows you to use Object-level undo modes. Which means you can undo steps to a specific object without having to undo the changes made to other main objects on the Stage.
You can open the History panel from the Other Panels submenu on the Window menu. Each step you take in the active document during a work session appears on a separate line in the History panel. You can undo or redo a single step or series of steps quickly with the Undo/Redo slider, which you can drag up to undo a series of steps or drag down to redo a series of steps. You can also select a series of steps in the History panel and replay them to the same object or to a different object in the document.
Do you often repeat the same series of steps? Rather than repeat the same actions, you can work faster by saving the entire series of steps as a command on the Commands menu, which you can reuse again and again. Flash stores the commands you save for future use. After you save steps as a command, you can select the command name on the Commands menu to run it, or use the Manage Saved Command dialog box to rename or delete commands.
Due to the complex nature of some steps, such as adding a gradient to a shape or modifying document size, Flash cannot replay or save (as a command) all steps in the History panel. For these steps, a red X appears in the icon for a step in the History panel. Even though Flash cannot replay or save all steps, it can undo and redo all steps.
The History panel helps you automate and streamline the way you work in Flash. As you work in Flash, the History panel is tracking all your steps for the entire document or only on individual or all objects behind the scenes. With the History panel, you can do any of the following:
Undo or redo steps to correct mistakes.
Replay selected steps for new tasks to streamline repetitive work.
Record steps for replay from the Commands menu to automate your work.
The History panel doesn’t replace the Undo, Redo, and Repeat commands on the Edit menu, it simply tracks every step you perform in Flash. When you undo or redo one or more commands, the History panel displays the results; the Undo/Redo slider moves according to the commands you select.
You can open the History panel using the Window menu like any of the other panels in Flash. Each step you take in the active document during a work session (since you created or opened the document) appears on a separate line in the History panel. The first step you perform in a work session appears at the top of the list and the last step appears at the bottom. If a red X appears in the icon for a step, it indicates Flash cannot save or replay the step. Unlike other panels in Flash, the History panel includes a slider on the left side that you can use to undo/redo steps; the Undo/Redo slider initially points to the last step you performed. The bottom of the History panel includes buttons to replay selected steps, copy selected steps to the Clipboard, and create a command from selected steps. The Options menu displays commands, such as Clear History, specific to the History panel.
You can use the Window menu to open the History panel like any of the other panels in Flash; the History panel appears on the Other Panels submenu. Each step you take in the active document during a work session appears on a separate line in the History panel. Steps you take in other Flash documents don’t appear in other History panel lists. If you no longer need the steps in the History panel, you can erase the entire list. When you close a document, Flash clears the History panel.
You can undo or redo a single step or a series of steps quickly with the History panel. The History panel contains the Undo/Redo slider which you can drag up to undo (restore previous steps) a series of steps, or drag down to redo (restore steps you’ve undone) a series of steps. You can also undo and redo previous steps one at a time using the Undo and Redo commands on the Edit menu. When you use these commands, the steps in the History panel change based on the command results. The History panel and the Undo command can undo steps up to a maximum number (from 2 to 9999) set in the General tab of the Preferences dialog box.
Open or expand the History panel.
Drag the Undo/Redo slider up until the slider points to the last step you want to keep.
Timesaver
Position the pointer in the gray area to the left of a step, and then click the gray area to make the slider point to the step.
Flash undoes and grays out each selected step, starting from the bottom.
When you’re done, click the Close button on the History panel.
Did You Know?
You can undo steps using the Undo command. Click the Edit menu, and then click Undo, or press
+Z (Mac) or Ctrl+Z (Win).
See Also
See “Examining the History Panel” on page 452 for information on different elements in the History panel.
Open or expand the History panel.
Drag the Undo/Redo slider down until the slider points to the last step you want to redo.
Flash redoes and removes the gray highlighting for each selected step.
When you’re done, click the Close button on the History panel.
Did You Know?
You can redo steps using the Redo command. Click the Edit menu, and then click Redo, or press
+Y (Mac) or Ctrl+Y (Win).
You can change the number of undo levels for the Undo command. Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, click Preferences, click the General tab, enter a number (from 2 to 9999) in the Undo Level box, and then click OK.
You can replay steps from the History panel to the same object or to a different object in the document. You can replay steps only in the order in which you performed them; you can’t rearrange the order of the steps in the History panel. If a red X appears in the icon for a step, it indicates Flash cannot save or replay the step. The Repeat command on the Edit menu allows you to apply your previous step to another object. For example, if you fill a shape with a color or pattern, you can fill another shape with the same color or pattern by selecting the other shape and using the Repeat command.
Open or expand the History panel.
Select the steps you want:
• One step. Click a step.
• Adjacent steps. Drag from one step to another or click the first step, hold down the Shift key, and then click the last step.
• Nonadjacent steps. Hold down the
(Mac) or Ctrl (Win) key, and then click steps.
Select the same object used in the History steps or another object.
Click Replay in the History panel.
The steps are replayed in order, and a new step called Replay Steps appears in the History panel.
When you’re done, click the Close button on the History panel.
See Also
See “Copying Steps Between Documents” on page 460 for information on replaying steps in a different document.
The History panel records the steps you take in the order in which you performed them in Flash. If you perform the same set of steps several times while you work on a document, you can save the steps in the History panel as a command on the Commands menu, which you can reuse again and again. Flash stores the commands you save for future use (even if you close the document). Some steps, including selecting a frame or modifying a document size, can’t be saved as commands, but they can be undone and redone. If a red X appears in the icon for a step, it indicates Flash cannot save or replay the step. After you save steps as a command, you can run, rename, or delete commands.
Open or expand the History panel.
Select the steps you want to save.
Click the Save As Command button in the History panel.
Enter a name for the command.
Click OK.
The command is available on the Commands menu and saved as a JavaScript file with the extension .jsfl in the Commands folder, which is located in AdobeFlash CS4First Run.
When you’re done, click the Close button on the History panel.
Each document only tracks its own set of steps in the History panel. When you close a document, Flash clears the History panel. If you want to use a set of steps in another document, you need to copy them from one History panel and paste them to another document. You can use the Copy Steps button on the History panel or the same command on the Options menu to complete the task. When you paste steps into another document, Flash replays the steps and the History panel shows the steps as only one step called Paste Steps (Mac) or Paste (Win).
Open a document containing the steps you want to copy.
Open or expand the History panel.
Select the steps in the History panel you want to copy.
Click the Copy Steps button in the History panel.
Open the document into which you want to paste the steps.
Select the objects to which you want to apply the steps.
Click the Edit menu, and then click Paste In Center.
The steps play in the document as Flash pastes the steps into the History panel of the document. The steps appear in the History panel as a single step called Paste Steps (Mac) or Paste (Win).
When you’re done, click the Close button on the History panel.
The Flash History panel now allows you to keep track of the changes made in Flash on a per-object basis. When this mode is activated in the General Preferences dialog box, each object on the Stage and even objects in the Library panel have their own undo list. Think about just what this means. You can now undo the changes you make to an object without having to undo changes to any other object.
Click the Flash (Mac) or Edit (Win) menu, and then click Preferences.
Click the General category.
Click the Undo popup, and then click Object-Level Undo.
Click OK to confirm changing from Document to Object level undo will delete your current undo history.
Click OK to set object level undo or click Cancel to keep document level undo.
As you work, Flash keeps a per-object record of the history of each main Flash object.
