Is it possible to call a function in AS3 using a string value as the function name e.g.
var functionName:String = "getDetails";
var instance1:MyObject = new MyObject();
instance1.functionName(); // I know this is so wrong, but it gets the point accross:)
UPDATE
The answer from @Taskinoor on accessing a function is correct:
instance1[functionName]();
And to access a property we would use:
instance1[propertyName]
instance1[functionName]();
Check this for some details.
in keyword: if(functionName in instance1)You may use function.apply() or function.call() methods instead in the case when you dont know whether object has such method for instance.
var functionName:String = "getDetails";
var instance1:MyObject = new MyObject();
var function:Function = instance1[functionName]
if (function)
function.call(instance1, yourArguments)
...args. You just have to make sure that the switch can handle the length of arguments.I have created the following wrappers for calling a function. You can call it by its name or by the actual function. I tried to make these as error-prone as possible.
The following function converts a function name to the corresponding function given the scope.
public static function parseFunc(func:*, scope:Object):Function {
if (func is String && scope && scope.hasOwnProperty(funcName)) {
func = scope[func] as Function;
}
return func is Function ? func : null;
}
Signature: call(func:*,scope:Object,...args):*
public static function call(func:*, scope:Object, ...args):* {
func = parseFunc(func, scope);
if (func) {
switch (args.length) {
case 0:
return func.call(scope);
case 1:
return func.call(scope, args[0]);
case 2:
return func.call(scope, args[0], args[1]);
case 3:
return func.call(scope, args[0], args[1], args[2]);
// Continue...
}
}
return null;
}
Signature: apply(func:*,scope:Object,argArray:*=null):*
public static function apply(func:*, scope:Object, argArray:*=null):* {
func = parseFunc(func, scope);
return func != null ? func.apply(scope, argArray) : null;
}
The switch is needed, because both ...args and arguments.slice(2) are Arrays. You need to call Function.call() with variable arguments.
The built-in function (apply(thisArg:*, argArray:*):*) uses a non-typed argument for the argArray. I am just piggy-backing off of this.
