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ObjectUtil

Package | mx.utils
Class | public class ObjectUtil
Inheritance | ObjectUtil Object

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 3

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The ObjectUtil class is an all-static class with methods for working with Objects within Flex. You do not create instances of ObjectUtil; instead you simply call static methods such as the `ObjectUtil.isSimple()` method.

Public Methods

| Method | Defined By
--- | --- | ---
|  | clone(value:Object):Object [static] Clones the specified Object and returns a reference to the clone. | ObjectUtil
|  | compare(a:Object, b:Object, depth:int = -1):int [static] Compares the Objects and returns an integer value indicating if the first item is less than greater than or equal to the second item. | ObjectUtil
|  | copy(value:Object):Object [static] Copies the specified Object and returns a reference to the copy. | ObjectUtil
|  | dateCompare(a:Date, b:Date):int [static] Compares the two Date objects and returns an integer value indicating if the first Date object is before, equal to, or after the second item. | ObjectUtil
|  | getClassInfo(obj:Object, excludes:Array = null, options:Object = null):Object [static] Returns information about the class, and properties of the class, for the specified Object. | ObjectUtil
|  | hasMetadata(obj:Object, propName:String, metadataName:String, excludes:Array = null, options:Object = null):Boolean [static] Uses getClassInfo and examines the metadata information to determine whether a property on a given object has the specified metadata. | ObjectUtil
|  | isDynamicObject(obj:Object):Boolean [static] Returns true if the object is an instance of a dynamic class. | ObjectUtil
|  | isSimple(value:Object):Boolean [static] Returns true if the object reference specified is a simple data type. | ObjectUtil
|  | numericCompare(a:Number, b:Number):int [static] Compares two numeric values. | ObjectUtil
|  | stringCompare(a:String, b:String, caseInsensitive:Boolean = false):int [static] Compares two String values. | ObjectUtil
|  | toString(value:Object, namespaceURIs:Array = null, exclude:Array = null):String [static] Pretty-prints the specified Object into a String. | ObjectUtil

Method Detail

clone | () | method

`public static function clone(value:Object):Object`

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 4

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Clones the specified Object and returns a reference to the clone. The clone is made using a native serialization technique. This means that custom serialization will be respected during the cloning. clone() differs from copy() in that the uid property of each object instance is retained.

This method is designed for cloning data objects, such as elements of a collection. It is not intended for cloning a UIComponent object, such as a TextInput control. If you want to clone specific UIComponent objects, you can create a subclass of the component and implement a `clone()` method.

Parameters

| `value:Object` — Object that should be cloned.

Returns

| `Object` — Clone of the specified Object.

compare | () | method |

`public static function compare(a:Object, b:Object, depth:int = -1):int`

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 3

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Compares the Objects and returns an integer value indicating if the first item is less than greater than or equal to the second item. This method will recursively compare properties on nested objects and will return as soon as a non-zero result is found. By default this method will recurse to the deepest level of any property. To change the depth for comparison specify a non-negative value for the `depth` parameter.

Parameters

| `a:Object` — Object.
| `b:Object` — Object.
| `depth:int` (default = `-1`)`` — Indicates how many levels should be recursed when performing the comparison. Set this value to 0 for a shallow comparison of only the primitive representation of each property. For example:
          var a:Object = {name:"Bob", info:[1,2,3]};
          var b:Object = {name:"Alice", info:[5,6,7]};
          var c:int = ObjectUtil.compare(a, b, 0);
In the above example the complex properties of `a` and `b` will be flattened by a call to `toString()` when doing the comparison. In this case the `info` property will be turned into a string when performing the comparison.

Returns

| `int` — Return 0 if a and b are null, NaN, or equal. Return 1 if a is null or greater than b. Return -1 if b is null or greater than a.

copy | () | method |

`public static function copy(value:Object):Object`

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 3

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Copies the specified Object and returns a reference to the copy. The copy is made using a native serialization technique. This means that custom serialization will be respected during the copy.

This method is designed for copying data objects, such as elements of a collection. It is not intended for copying a UIComponent object, such as a TextInput control. If you want to create copies of specific UIComponent objects, you can create a subclass of the component and implement a `clone()` method, or other method to perform the copy.

Parameters

| `value:Object` — Object that should be copied.

Returns

| `Object` — Copy of the specified Object.

dateCompare | () | method |

`public static function dateCompare(a:Date, b:Date):int`

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 3

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Compares the two Date objects and returns an integer value indicating if the first Date object is before, equal to, or after the second item.

Parameters

| `a:Date` — Date object.
| `b:Date` — Date object.

Returns

| `int` — 0 if `a` and `b` are equal (or both are `null`); -1 if `a` is before `b` (or `b` is `null`); 1 if `a` is after `b` (or `a` is `null`).

getClassInfo | () | method |

`public static function getClassInfo(obj:Object, excludes:Array = null, options:Object = null):Object`

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 3

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Returns information about the class, and properties of the class, for the specified Object.

Parameters

| `obj:Object` — The Object to inspect.
| `excludes:Array` (default = `null`)`` — Array of Strings specifying the property names that should be excluded from the returned result. For example, you could specify `["currentTarget", "target"]` for an Event object since these properties can cause the returned result to become large.
| `options:Object` (default = `null`)`` — An Object containing one or more properties that control the information returned by this method. The properties include the following: `includeReadOnly`: If `false`, exclude Object properties that are read-only. The default value is `true`. `includeTransient`: If `false`, exclude Object properties and variables that have `[Transient]` metadata. The default value is `true`. `uris`: Array of Strings of all namespaces that should be included in the output. It does allow for a wildcard of "*". By default, it is null, meaning no namespaces should be included. For example, you could specify `["mx_internal", "mx_object"]` or `["*"]`.

Returns

| `Object` — An Object containing the following properties: `name`: String containing the name of the class. `properties`: Sorted list of the property names of the specified object, or references to the original key if the specified object is a Dictionary. The individual array elements are QName instances, which contain both the local name of the property as well as the URI.

hasMetadata | () | method |

`public static function hasMetadata(obj:Object, propName:String, metadataName:String, excludes:Array = null, options:Object = null):Boolean`

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 3

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Uses `getClassInfo` and examines the metadata information to determine whether a property on a given object has the specified metadata.

Parameters

| `obj:Object` — The object holding the property.
| `propName:String` — The property to check for metadata.
| `metadataName:String` — The name of the metadata to check on the property.
| `excludes:Array` (default = `null`)`` — If any properties need to be excluded when generating class info. (Optional)
| `options:Object` (default = `null`)`` — If any options flags need to changed when generating class info. (Optional)

Returns

| `Boolean` — true if the property has the specified metadata.

isDynamicObject | () | method |

`public static function isDynamicObject(obj:Object):Boolean`

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 3

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Returns `true` if the object is an instance of a dynamic class.

Parameters

| `obj:Object` — The object.

Returns

| `Boolean` — `true` if the object is an instance of a dynamic class.

isSimple | () | method |

`public static function isSimple(value:Object):Boolean`

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 3

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Returns `true` if the object reference specified is a simple data type. The simple data types include the following:

- `String`
- `Number`
- `uint`
- `int`
- `Boolean`
- `Date`
- `Array`

Parameters

| `value:Object` — Object inspected.

Returns

| `Boolean` — `true` if the object specified is one of the types above; `false` otherwise.

numericCompare | () | method |

`public static function numericCompare(a:Number, b:Number):int`

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 3

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Compares two numeric values.

Parameters

| `a:Number` — First number.
| `b:Number` — Second number.

Returns

| `int` — 0 is both numbers are NaN. 1 if only `a` is a NaN. -1 if only `b` is a NaN. -1 if `a` is less than `b`. 1 if `a` is greater than `b`.

stringCompare | () | method |

`public static function stringCompare(a:String, b:String, caseInsensitive:Boolean = false):int`

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 3

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Compares two String values.

Parameters

| `a:String` — First String value.
| `b:String` — Second String value.
| `caseInsensitive:Boolean` (default = `false`)`` — Specifies to perform a case insensitive compare, `true`, or not, `false`.

Returns

| `int` — 0 is both Strings are null. 1 if only `a` is null. -1 if only `b` is null. -1 if `a` precedes `b`. 1 if `b` precedes `a`.

toString | () | method |

`public static function toString(value:Object, namespaceURIs:Array = null, exclude:Array = null):String`

Language Version : | ActionScript 3.0

Product Version : | Flex 3

Runtime Versions : | Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Pretty-prints the specified Object into a String. All properties will be in alpha ordering. Each object will be assigned an id during printing; this value will be displayed next to the object type token preceded by a '#', for example:

          (mx.messaging.messages::AsyncMessage)#2.

This id is used to indicate when a circular reference occurs. Properties of an object that are of the `Class` type will appear only as the assigned type. For example a custom definition like the following:

            public class MyCustomClass {
              public var clazz:Class;
            }

With the `clazz` property assigned to `Date` will display as shown below:

           (somepackage::MyCustomClass)#0
              clazz = (Date)

Parameters

| `value:Object` — Object to be pretty printed.
| `namespaceURIs:Array` (default = `null`)`` — Array of namespace URIs for properties that should be included in the output. By default only properties in the public namespace will be included in the output. To get all properties regardless of namespace pass an array with a single element of ".
| `exclude:Array` (default = `null`)`` — Array of the property names that should be excluded from the output. Use this to remove data from the formatted string.

Returns

| `String` — String containing the formatted version of the specified object.

Example

          // example 1
          var obj:AsyncMessage = new AsyncMessage();
          obj.body = [];
          obj.body.push(new AsyncMessage());
          obj.headers["1"] = { name: "myName", num: 15.3};
          obj.headers["2"] = { name: "myName", num: 15.3};
          obj.headers["10"] = { name: "myName", num: 15.3};
          obj.headers["11"] = { name: "myName", num: 15.3};
          trace(ObjectUtil.toString(obj));

          // will output to flashlog.txt
          (mx.messaging.messages::AsyncMessage)#0
            body = (Array)#1
              [0] (mx.messaging.messages::AsyncMessage)#2
                body = (Object)#3
                clientId = (Null)
                correlationId = ""
                destination = ""
                headers = (Object)#4
                messageId = "378CE96A-68DB-BC1B-BCF7FFFFFFFFB525"
                sequenceId = (Null)
                sequencePosition = 0
                sequenceSize = 0
                timeToLive = 0
                timestamp = 0
            clientId = (Null)
            correlationId = ""
            destination = ""
            headers = (Object)#5
              1 = (Object)#6
                name = "myName"
                num = 15.3
              10 = (Object)#7
                name = "myName"
                num = 15.3
              11 = (Object)#8
                name = "myName"
                num = 15.3
              2 = (Object)#9
                name = "myName"
                num = 15.3
            messageId = "1D3E6E96-AC2D-BD11-6A39FFFFFFFF517E"
            sequenceId = (Null)
            sequencePosition = 0
            sequenceSize = 0
            timeToLive = 0
            timestamp = 0

          // example 2 with circular references
          obj = {};
          obj.prop1 = new Date();
          obj.prop2 = [];
          obj.prop2.push(15.2);
          obj.prop2.push("testing");
          obj.prop2.push(true);
          obj.prop3 = {};
          obj.prop3.circular = obj;
          obj.prop3.deeper = new ErrorMessage();
          obj.prop3.deeper.rootCause = obj.prop3.deeper;
          obj.prop3.deeper2 = {};
          obj.prop3.deeper2.deeperStill = {};
          obj.prop3.deeper2.deeperStill.yetDeeper = obj;
          trace(ObjectUtil.toString(obj));

          // will output to flashlog.txt
          (Object)#0
            prop1 = Tue Apr 26 13:59:17 GMT-0700 2005
            prop2 = (Array)#1
              [0] 15.2
              [1] "testing"
              [2] true
            prop3 = (Object)#2
              circular = (Object)#0
              deeper = (mx.messaging.messages::ErrorMessage)#3
                body = (Object)#4
                clientId = (Null)
                code = (Null)
                correlationId = ""
                destination = ""
                details = (Null)
                headers = (Object)#5
                level = (Null)
                message = (Null)
                messageId = "14039376-2BBA-0D0E-22A3FFFFFFFF140A"
                rootCause = (mx.messaging.messages::ErrorMessage)#3
                sequenceId = (Null)
                sequencePosition = 0
                sequenceSize = 0
                timeToLive = 0
                timestamp = 0
              deeper2 = (Object)#6
                deeperStill = (Object)#7
                  yetDeeper = (Object)#0

         // example 3 with Dictionary
         var point:Point = new Point(100, 100);
         var point2:Point = new Point(100, 100);
         var obj:Dictionary = new Dictionary();
         obj[point] = "point";
         obj[point2] = "point2";
         obj["1"] = { name: "one", num: 1};
         obj["two"] = { name: "2", num: 2};
         obj[3] = 3;
         trace(ObjectUtil.toString(obj));

         // will output to flashlog.txt
         (flash.utils::Dictionary)#0
           {(flash.geom::Point)#1
             length = 141.4213562373095
             x = 100
             y = 100} = "point2"
           {(flash.geom::Point)#2
             length = 141.4213562373095
             x = 100
             y = 100} = "point"
           {1} = (Object)#3
             name = "one"
             num = 1
           {3} = 3
           {"two"} = (Object)#4
             name = "2"
             num = 2

Thu Jan 16 2014, 01:11 PM +08:00