onClipEvent()

[k_os]

can somebody explain to me or point me to a URL that explains the purpose of onClipEvent()'s, specifically, what they do and when they should be used?

[Sualdam]

Clip events are events that can be assigned to certain objects like the mouse, keyboard, etc.

You can set one up that effectively 'listens' for a mouse movement and then executes some code as a result.

Probably the most common one is the one that executes at the frame rate of the movie - which is useful for updating realtime clocks of moving graphics smoothly.

The various events are explained here:

http://www.macromedia.com/support/flash/action_scripts/actionscript_dictionary/actionscript_dictionary614.html

With MX, 'listeners' are probably an even more powerful way of setting up event-based actions.

[k_os]

i guess, as the name implies, they have to be attached to a movie clip to be used?

[Sualdam]

Yes, whereas 'listeners' in MX are functions that can exist just as code.

That link provides more information.