Question

I have a javascript function which takes a parameter, like:

function getSomething(cat,handler) {

      varURI = 'text'+cat;
      document.write('<p>'+varURI+'</p>');

    }

What I see in the output is:

text[object Object]

How do I get the real textual value of the Object?

Answer 1

You need to override the toString method of the object -and give your object a “textual value”-.

You are getting "[object Object]" because the inherited Object.prototype.toString method is being executed, for example:

var cat = {
  name: 'Kitten',
  toString: function () {
    return this.name + ' meow';
  }
};

This own toString method will be executed when you make any implicit to string conversion (like when you concatenate a string to it), e.g.:

console.log(cat+' text'); // "Kitten meow text"

Note: If you mean by “textual value” a “string representation” of the object, (e.g. listing property/value pairs), your function will need to enumerate all the properties (using the for-in statement), but usually most of the time, that’s done for debugging purposes, if that’s the case, I would recommend you to get a debugger (like Firebug), and use the console.dir method.