I often create something that behaves like a For-Loop, by giving my components an overridable variable that is an ID number. As if they are in an array, each instance of the component has an ascending value. After I put a twenty instances of my component on the stage, I then need to manually assign the ID value to every instance, one at a time, multiple clicks and typing. If only I could say that the ID value = the Z-index of the component layer, this would become automatic.

You are able to reorder layers in your events, so why can't you read the stacking order value?