Last May, I complained about the change in the “Info” panel from Flash MX 2004 to Flash CS3. Since I needed the functionality, I whipped up a very simple (and crude) panel to let me see and edit the top-left of an element.
Download the compiled panel and the source code.
As you can see, it’s very primitive. Select the element you want to operate on, and click “Get topLeft” to read the values of its top and left bounds. Click “Set topLeft” to move the selected element.
This comes in handy for changing a MovieClip’s registration point while leaving its visual position intact. Select a MovieClip instance, click “Get topLeft,” then edit the MovieClip and slide its contents around so that the registration point is where you want. Exit MovieClip editing, then click “Set topLeft” (without changing the values in the edit fields). The instance will go back to its original visual position.