In ActionScript 2.0 it is quite easy to import movie clips from Library via the MovieClip.attachMovie() function. In ActionScript 3.0 it’s a little bit different. The movie clips (or assets in the Library) don’t have a linkage id anymore. Instead they have class names.

So the way to import a movie clip (or another asset) is to first get a reference to that class specified as class name. This is done using the flash.utils.getDefinitionByName() function. Then instantiate the class and finally add the object to the display list.

Here is a simple example:

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import flash.utils.getDefinitionByName;
 
var className:String = "TestClip";
var ClassReference:Class = getDefinitionByName(className) as Class;
var clip:MovieClip = new ClassReference();
 
addChild(clip);
clip.x = 100;
clip.y = 100;