Errata

You say that adding rounded or beveled corners is a special property of primitive rectangles, but I see those opens for regular rectangles, too.

Note from the Author or Editor:
This needs to be clarified when the book is updated, here's how the text in the sidebar should read:


Rectangle and Oval Primitives
Flash has two special shapes: the rectangle and oval primitives. What makes these guys so primitive, and where and how should you use them? When you draw a rectangle or an oval using the standard tools, Flash just considers them shapes. You see one as having corners and the other curves, but to Flash they?re pretty much the same. When you draw them in merge mode, you can chop standard ovals and rectangles into little irregularly shaped pieces.
Primitives behave like graphics drawn in object mode. And as with the shapes drawn in object mode, you can adjust the width and height of the objects by typing measurements in the Properties panel. When they?re in the hands of an ActionScript programmer, these primitives can really jump through hoops.
Primitives are different in that you can?t erase part of a primitive or break it into parts. It?s all or nothing. In spite of their object-drawn nature, primitives have some special features that you?ll find in merge mode graphics. For example, using the Properties panel, you can add rounded or beveled corners to your rectangle primitives. With the Oval primitive, you can create pie slices by defining the arc angles. You can perform these feats with merge mode shapes and primitives, but not with object-mode shapes.
Draw a rectangle, and then select it. Look in the Properties panel. If you drew it in object mode, then the Properties panel lists it as a drawing object. Otherwise, it describes it as a shape. Now draw a rectangle using the Rectangle Primitive tool. Sure enough, the Properties panel describes it as a rectangle primitive.