How do you stop a tween?

NJL64

I want to end my tween process when my character body exits an area2d.

xyz

NJL64 Call Tween::kill() on the tween object. You'll need to keep a reference to it in a non-local variable so you can access it from the signal handler.

NJL64

xyz How do I create a reference it in a non-local variable. When I try to put "var tween = create_tween()" above the functions, I get "Enemy.gd @ @implicit_new(): Can't create Tween when not inside scene tree."

DaveTheCoder

Declare the variable at the top of the script:
var tween: Tween

In _on_laser_body_entered:
tween = create_tween()

NJL64

DaveTheCoder Thanks. I think I've almost got it, but now when the body exits the area2D, I get the error: "cannot call method 'kill' on a null value."

NJL64

DaveTheCoder thank you so much. Just so I understand how it works, how come getting rid of "var" did the trick?

xyz

NJL64
Do exactly as @DaveTheCoder said.
In _on_laser_body_entered(), instead:

var tween = create_tween()

do:

tween = create_tween()

NJL64

xyz Thanks so much. How come getting rid of "var" made it work?

xyz

NJL64 How come getting rid of "var" made it work?

When you use var you declare a new variable. If you declare a variable inside a function then that variable is local to function. If, at the same time, the script-wide variable with the same name exists (declared outside of the function), the local variable will take precedence and shadow the script-wide variable inside that function. The consequence in your case is - tween you used inside the function is not tween you declared at the top of the script. So the latter stays uninitialized i.e. null.

https://gdscript.com/tutorials/variables/ (scroll down to "Variable Scope" section)

NJL64

xyz Thank you!

DaveTheCoder

Think of the var declaration as defining where the variable lives. A file is a neighborhood, and the functions are houses. If the variable lives in a house, it can only be seen inside that house. If it lives outside of the house, then it can be seen from anywhere in the neighborhood.