Question

199

Getting the object variable name in JavaScript

rated 0 times [ 200] [ 1] / answers: 1 / hits: 16990 / 7 Years ago, sat, march 18, 2017, 12:00:00

I am creating a JavaScript code and I had a situation where I want to read the object name (string) in the object method. The sample code of what I am trying to achieve is shown below:

// Define my object

var TestObject = function() {

    return {

        getObjectName: function() {

            console.log( /* Get the Object instance name */ );

        }

    };

}



// create instance

var a1 = TestObject();

var a2 = TestObject();



a1.getObjectName(); // Here I want to get the string name a1;



a2.getObjectName(); // Here I want to get the string name a2;

I am not sure if this is possible in JavaScript. But in case it is, I would love to hear from you guys how to achieve this.

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taliac

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4 Years ago

answered 7 Years ago lucianod · Accepted Answer

This is not possible in JavaScript. A variable is just a reference to an object, and the same object can be referenced by multiple variables. There is no way to tell which variable was used to gain access to your object. However, if you pass a name to your constructor function you could return that instead:

// Define my object

function TestObject (name) {

    return {

        getObjectName: function() {

            return name

        }

    };

}



// create instance

var a1 = TestObject('a1')

var a2 = TestObject('a2')



console.log(a1.getObjectName()) //=> 'a1'



console.log(a2.getObjectName()) //=> 'a2'