Action.AddItem "ITEM_NAME"

where ITEM_NAME is the name of the item (as it appears in the "Manage Inventory" list in Adventure Maker) that you want to be added to the player's inventory. If you don't want the inventory to automatically pop up when the item is added, use the following syntax:
     Action.AddItem "ITEM_NAME", True

where PICTUREBOXNAME is the name of the picturebox that will contain the captured frame.

     Action.ChangeDefaultCursor "FILENAME"

where FILENAME is the name of an icon or a cursor (without the path) that is located inside the "icons" sub-folder of the "Project Resources", which corresponds to the directory "c:\...\PROJECTNAME\icons". The supported file types are ICO and CUR.

To restore the default cursor, replace FILENAME with an empty string, as shown below:
     Action.ChangeDefaultCursor ""

Note: you may need to reload the frame in order to restore the default cursors.

     Action.ChangeDisplayResolution MODE_NUMBER

where MODE_NUMBER is the number that identifies the screen mode. The available modes are:
     0   no changes
     1   for  640 x 480
     2   for  800 x 600
     3   for  1024 x 768 (not recommended)

For example, to change the screen size to 640x480, use the following code:
     Action.ChangeDisplayResolution 1

This function is particularly useful if you want to replace the Initial Screen (the start-up window) with a custom "Main Menu" frame that contains a "Start New Game" button, and that allows to change the display resolution when the player starts a new game. To implement this function, go to the properties of the "Start New Game" button, and type it in the VBScript text field. If your "Main Menu" frame also contains a "Load Game" button, you should type "Action.ChangeDisplayResolutionOnLoadGame" instead of "Action.ChangeDisplayResolution" (read below for details) in the properties of the "Load Game" button. Use these functions in conjunction with the "Bypass Initial Screen" option that is under the "Advanced" tab of the "Project Properties" window.

 Action.ChangeDisplayResolutionOnLoadGame MODE_NUMBER

where MODE_NUMBER is the number that identifies the screen mode. The available modes are:

     0   no changes
     1   for  640 x 480
     2   for  800 x 600
     3   for  1024 x 768 (not recommended)

Use this function if you want to replace the Initial Screen (the start-up window) with a custom "Main Menu" frame that contains a "Load game" button, and that allows to change the display resolution when the player loads a saved game. To implement this function, go to the properties of the "Load game" button, and type it in the VBScript text field. Use this function in conjunction with the "Action.PopupLoadGame" command, and the "Bypass Initial Screen" option that is under the "Advanced" tab of the "Project Properties" window.

It is particularly useful when used in conjunction with the CreateTimedEvent function: see the source code of the Flash Plugin for an example.

For example, ConvertToNumber("Hello") will return 0, whereas ConvertToNumber("1357") will return 1357.

     Action.CreateTimedEvent X, "CODE", REPEAT

where CODE is the VBScript code that must be executed after X seconds (or every X seconds), X is the number of seconds after which the specified code must be executed (it must be smaller than 60 seconds), and REPEAT is a boolean (the value of which is either True or False) specifying whether the code must be executed only once, or every X seconds (until the player goes to another frame). For example, if you want to quit the game after 4.5 seconds, you should type:

     Action.CreateTimedEvent  4.5 , "Action.Quit" , False

Important note: If you want to include quotes in your CODE, you must use the double quotes ("") instead of the single quotes ("). For example, if you want to display the message "Hello World" after 19 seconds, you should type (notice that there are 3 quotes after the exclamation mark):

  Action.CreateTimedEvent 19, "MsgBox ""Hello World!""", True

If you want the CODE to contain more than one command, simply separate the commands with the colon. For example, if you want to set VAR1 to 1 and also to set VAR2 to 0, you should type:

     Action.CreateTimedEvent  4.5 , "VAR1=1 : VAR2=0" , False

Note: the timed events are automatically removed when the end-user goes to another frame. To manually remove a timed event, use the "Action.RemoveTimedEvent" command.

Use them in conjunction with the if/then statements to reduce the number of hotspots used in your game.

For example:
If Action.GetClickPositionX < 50 Then Action.GoToFrame "FRAME1" else Action.GoToFrame "FRAME2"

Note: this command is particularly useful if your project contains hotspots that are shared by several frames (with the "Runtime Frames Merging" function for example), or procedures that are called by several frames.

Use the "Action.ChangeDisplayResolution" and "Action.ChangeDisplayResolutionOnLoadGame" commands to change the screen size (read above for details).

Note: for security reasons, the encrypted filename is returned ONLY if the corresponding file is found. Otherwise the original filename is returned. For example, if the file "MyFile.209" does not exist, GetEncryptedFileName("MyFile.wav") will return "MyFile.wav".

Example:
msgbox "The hotspot number is: "+CStr(Action.GetHotspotNumber)

To return the path of a different folder, call the GetPath function with one of the following arguments:

0 : location of the project folder
1: location of the "Root" sub-folder (in the compiled version of the project, it corresponds to the project folder)
2: location of the "External" sub-folder (default)
3: location of the "Config" sub-folder
4: location of the "Areas" sub-folder
5: location of the "Frames" sub-folder
6: location of the "FramesData" sub-folder
7: location of the "Icons" sub-folder

For example, GetPath(7) will return the path of the "Icons" sub-folder that is inside the project folder.

Use them in conjunction with the "Action.InvertTransitionsStatus" and "Action.InvertEffectsStatus" commands to create a custom "Options" frame, to replace the default "Options" menu that is located at the top of the runtime window.

If you want for example to create a led that is ON only when the transitions are enabled, create a new "integer" variable named "Var1", create a hotspot with the appearance of the led ON, set it to be visible only if "Var1=1" (by using the options that are under the "Variables" tab in the "Hotspot Properties"); then go to the properties of the frame that contains your custom "Options" menu, and enter the following code in the VBScript field under the "Advanced" tab:
if Action.GetTransitionsStatus=True then Var1=1 Else Var1=0

Set VAR2 = GetVariableReferenceFromName("VAR1")

where "VAR1" is the name of the global variable and VAR2 is the variable that will point to VAR1.

For example, if you wish to change the value of the global variable named "X" to 1357, you have two ways:

1. First way (very simple):   X = 1357

2. Second way (more complicate):
   Dim Y
   Set Y =  GetVariableReferenceFromName("X")
   Y = 1357

That function is particularly useful for creating plugins in which the end-user can specify a global variable by entering its name (as a string).

If you don't want any transition, use the following syntax:
     Action.GoToFrame "FRAME_NAME"

If you want a transition, use the following syntax:
     Action.GoToFrame "FRAME_NAME", DURATION, NUMBER

where DURATION is the transition duration in seconds and NUMBER is the number that identifies the transition. The possibilities for NUMBER are:

Note(1): The new frame is not loaded immediately. Adventure Maker waits until the end of the script execution before going to the other frame. If the "Action.GoToFrame" command is called several times during the execution of the script, only the last call is considered (all the other calls are ignored).

Note(2): The Action.GoToFrame command also allows to go to the last visited frame. To do so, use the following code:
     Action.GoToFrame "Last Visited Frame"

If you have put a "magnifier" item in the player's inventory, and you want to display an "Item Description" frame each time that the player drags the magnifier onto an inventory item, it is recommended that you hide the inventory to prevent the player from dragging the magnifier onto another inventory item while the "Item Description" frame is still open (which would result in the "Go back to the last visited frame" command not working properly).

Use them in conjunction with the "Action.GetTransitionsStatus" and "Action.GetEffectsStatus" commands to create a custom "Options" frame, to replace the default "Options" menu that is located at the top of the runtime window.

     Action.LoadAPicture Hotspot(HOTSPOT_NUMBER), "FILENAME"

where HOTSPOT_NUMBER is the number that identifies the hotspot into which you want to load the graphic file and FILENAME is the name of the graphic file. The graphic file must be located inside the "Hotspot Graphic Files" sub-folder of the "Project Resources", which corresponds to the directory "c:\...\PROJECTNAME\Areas". The supported graphic types are: BMP, JPG, GIF (not animated), WMF, EMF, ICO and CUR.

If you want to remove the hotspot picture (i.e. to make the hotspot become transparent), replace FILENAME with an empty string, as shown below:
     Action.LoadAPicture Hotspot(HOTSPOT_NUMBER), ""

   Hotspot(5).MouseIcon = LoadGraphicFile("FILENAME")
   Hotspot(5).MousePointer = 99

where FILENAME is the name of the graphic file, located inside the "Hotspot Graphic Files" sub-folder of the "Project Resources", which corresponds to the directory "c:\...\PROJECTNAME\Areas". The supported graphic types are: BMP, JPG, GIF (not animated), WMF, EMF, ICO and CUR. Replace FILENAME with an empty string to unload the picture.

x=Action.LoadParameter("PARAMETER_NAME", DEFAULTVALUE)

where x is the name of the variable in which you want to store the loaded parameter value, PARAMETER_NAME is the name of the parameter (for example "NumberOfTrialDaysLeft"), and DEFAULT_VALUE is the value that must be returned if the parameter is not found in the Registry.

Note: The function will always return a string. To convert it into another type (such as Integer), use the conversion functions CInt(), CLng(), etc.

     Action.Message "MESSAGE_TEXT"

where MESSAGE_TEXT is the body of your text message.

     Action.OpenFile "FILENAME"

where FILENAME is the name of the file you want to launch. If FILENAME does not contain the full path of the file, Adventure Maker will assume that the file is located in the "External" subfolder that is inside the project folder.

     Action.OpenURL "ENTER_URL_HERE"

Note: the "Load Game" window does not appear immediately: Adventure Maker waits until the end of script execution before showing it.

Note: the "Save Game" window does not appear immediately: Adventure Maker waits until the end of script execution before showing it.

     return_value = Action.ReadINI(FILENAME, SECTION, KEY)

where FILENAME is the name of the file (which can have any extension), and SECTION and KEY are two strings indicating the exact position (inside the file) of the value to retrieve. If FILENAME does not contain the full path of the file, Adventure Maker will assume that the file is located in the "External" subfolder that is inside the project folder. If the file (or the key) is not found, the function will return an empty string: "". Since the function will always return a string, you may need to also use a conversion function such as Clng() to convert it to a number. To write data to a INI file, use the Action.WriteINI command.

     Action.RemoveItem "ITEM_NAME"

where ITEM_NAME is the name of the item (as it appears in the "Manage Inventory" list in Adventure Maker) that you want to be removed from the player's inventory. If the item is not found, nothing occurs. If the inventory contains several copies of the same item (duplicates), only one of them will be removed. If you want all of them to be removed at the same time, use the following syntax:
     Action.RemoveItem "ITEM_NAME", True

     Action.RemoveTimedEvent NUMBER

where NUMBER is the number that identifies the Timed Event that you want to remove (the first one that you have created is number 1, the second one is number 2, etc.).

Note: If you want, when you create a new Timed Event, you can retrieve the number that identifies it, by using the following code:
     NUMBER = Action.CreateTimedEvent(X, "CODE", REPEAT)
Instead of the following one:
     Action.CreateTimedEvent X, "CODE", REPEAT

Note: This command is particularly useful to create a custom "Start New Game" button (in this case, it should be used in conjunction with "RemoveAllItems" and the other commands to reset everything).

where CONTROLNAME is the name of the object or control that contains the picture to save and FILENAME is the name of the output BMP file.

     Action.SaveParameter "PARAMETER_NAME", VALUE

where PARAMETER_NAME is the name of the parameter (for example, "NumberOfTrialDaysLeft"), and VALUE is the value of the parameter (for example 30 to indicate that there are 30 trial days left)

     Action.SendEmail "ENTER_EMAIL_ADDRESS_HERE"

     Action.SimulateHotspotClick INDEX

where INDEX is the hotspot number. Tip: to know the number of a hotspot, hold the pointer over the hotspot in the Adventure Maker editor, and wait for the tooltip text to appear. Alternatively, you can open the Hotspot Properties and read the number in the titlebar of the Hotspot Properties window.

Since the hotspots are automatically updated when the player clicks on a hotspot or when a Timed Event is executed, the function is useful ONLY when trapping events raised by custom ActiveX components (ocx).

     Action.WriteINI FILENAME, SECTION, KEY, VALUE

where FILENAME is the name of the file (which can have any extension), SECTION and KEY are two strings indicating the exact position (inside the file) where to write the value, and VALUE is the string that you want to write to the INI file. If FILENAME does not contain the full path of the file, Adventure Maker will assume that the file is located in the "External" subfolder that is inside the project folder. To retrieve a value from a INI file, use the Action.ReadINI command.

dim x   'the variable x is uninitialized!
x="ff"   'the variable x is NOT uninitialized anymore
x=empty   'the variable x is uninitialized!

Note: This is not the same as Null!!

Example: set myObject=Nothing

Note: This is not the same as Empty!!