I have a number of external class files that make up (or are trying to build) a portfolio. One of the class files for this project is a Menu.as class

I tried extends, but I'm yet to use extends to where it doesn't become a ball of tangled holiday cheer. So my main portfolio class (the one where I'm assembling everything) calls an instance of the Menu class.

From the Preloader through the Portfolio class into the Menu class is where I'm passing the content because I want to package things properly. This is Menu content, so naturally I want to position it in a properly names spot.

I'm trying to reveal this Menu in a mask and I'm getting the old #1009 error.

In a trace, this will work:

trace(site_mc.menu_mc.mainMask_mc);  // returns [object mainMask_mc_4]

However, when I try to truncate the string into a single compact_mc...

compactMenu_mc = site_mc.menu_mc.mainMask_mc;
trace(compact_mc);  // it won't trace (#1009).

I said to hell with it, but now I need to have one MovieClip mask another. So I figure I can't go all...

parent.parent.parent.clip_mc.mask = parent.parent.parent.masked_mc

Probably because of datatyping and whatever else.

I hate to be vague, but I'm new and have been working like gangbusters for days to get this portfolio up. Any suggestions or pointers on things my noob brain might've missed are given much thanks. :)