Setting hotspot attribute creates the object???

trace("1: startX = ",get(hotspot[startX]));  => null
set(hotspot[startX].visible, true);
trace("2: startX = ",get(hotspot[startX])); => [object][object]

Apparently if you try to set an attribute of a non-existent object (hotspot), rather than failing the hotspot gets created with default values. I understand that you can create a simple variable (which is an object) by setting its value without declaring the variable first. But is this really intended behavior for hotspots etc?

OK. It seems the workaround (for my purposes) is to first test if the hotspot/plugin exists before defining an attribute if I don't want to "accidentally" create the object.

Thanks