When you load an external SWF using the Loader Class, the document class is invoked and is added to the external SWF's stage automatically. because of this, you cannot give the loaded SWF a name. however, the Loader Class can be named and added to the timeline, ad you gain accesss to the external SWF by way of loader.content.
To make you life easier, you could declare a variable that holds a reference to the content of the loader.
ActionScript Code:
var _reference:MovieClip = null;
var loader:Loader = new Loader();
loader.name = "externalMovie";
loader.contentLoaderInfo.addEventListener( Event.COMPLETE, handleLoad, false, 0, true );
loader.load( new URLRequest( "ExternalMovie.swf" ) );
function handleLoad( event:Event ):void
{
event.target.removeEventListener( Event.COMPLETE, handleLoad, false );
// keep reference to the content
_reference = event.target.content as MovieClip;
// add loader to the display list so we can see the external SWF.
addChild( event.target.loader );
}
//now to manipulate the content...
_reference.visible = true;
_reference.x = 299.99;
// or
var theLoader:Loader = getChildByName( "externalMovie" ) as Loader;
theLoader.content.visible = false;
// etc...