             _invertValues = false;
             _isPlaying = false;
         }
+    }
+    /**
+     *  Stops the animation, ending it without dispatching an 
+     *  EFFECT_END event or calling the <code>end()</code> method.
+     *  The EFFECT_STOP event will be sent to the 
+     *  <code>animationTarget</code>. 
+     *  
+     *  @langversion 3.0
+     *  @playerversion Flash 10
+     *  @playerversion AIR 1.5
+     *  @productversion Flex 4
+     */
+    public function stop():void
+    {
+        stopAnimation();
+        sendAnimationEvent(EffectEvent.EFFECT_STOP);
     }
     
     /**

            sendAnimationEvent(EffectEvent.EFFECT_END);
        }

        // The rest of what we need to do is handled by the stop() function
        stop();
    }
    
    private function addToDelayedAnimations(timeToDelay:Number):void

    public function play():void
    {
        // stop an already-playing animation first
        stopAnimation();
        
        // Make sure the time values in our motion paths are reasonable
        // SimpleMotionPath objects may be set up with no time values, so
