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Core JavaScript Reference 1.5 |
The Boolean object is an object wrapper for a boolean value.
JavaScript 1.3: added toSource method
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The Boolean constructor:
Description
Do not confuse the primitive Boolean values true and false with the true and false values of the Boolean object.Any object whose value is not undefined or null, including a Boolean object whose value is false, evaluates to true when passed to a conditional statement. For example, the condition in the following if statement evaluates to true:
x = new Boolean(false);
if(x) //the condition is trueThis behavior does not apply to Boolean primitives. For example, the condition in the following if statement evaluates to false:
x = false;
if(x) //the condition is falseDo not use a Boolean object to convert a non-boolean value to a boolean value. Instead, use Boolean as a function to perform this task:
x = Boolean(expression) //preferred
x = new Boolean(expression) //don't useIf you specify any object, including a Boolean object whose value is false, as the initial value of a Boolean object, the new Boolean object has a value of true.
myFalse=new Boolean(false) // initial value of false
g=new Boolean(myFalse) //initial value of true
myString=new String("Hello") // string object
s=new Boolean(myString) //initial value of trueDo not use a Boolean object in place of a Boolean primitive.
JavaScript 1.2 and earlier versions. The Boolean object behaves as follows:
- When a Boolean object is used as the condition in a conditional test, JavaScript returns the value of the Boolean object. For example, a Boolean object whose value is false is treated as the primitive value false, and a Boolean object whose value is true is treated as the primitive value true in conditional tests. If the Boolean object is a false object, the conditional statement evaluates to false.
- You can use a Boolean object in place of a Boolean primitive.
Property Summary
Property
Description
constructor
prototype
Method
Description
toSource
Returns an object literal representing the specified Boolean object; you can use this value to create a new object. Overrides the Object.toSource method.
toString
Returns a string representing the specified object. Overrides the Object.toString method.
valueOf
Returns the primitive value of a Boolean object. Overrides the Object.valueOf method.
In addition, this object inherits the watch and unwatch methods from Object.
Examples
The following examples create Boolean objects with an initial value of false:bNoParam = new Boolean()
bZero = new Boolean(0)
bNull = new Boolean(null)
bEmptyString = new Boolean("")
bfalse = new Boolean(false)The following examples create Boolean objects with an initial value of true:
btrue = new Boolean(true)
btrueString = new Boolean("true")
bfalseString = new Boolean("false")
bSuLin = new Boolean("Su Lin")
Specifies the function that creates an object's prototype. Note that the value of this property is a reference to the function itself, not a string containing the function's name.
Description
See Object.constructor.
Represents the prototype for this class. You can use the prototype to add properties or methods to all instances of a class. For information on prototypes, see Function.prototype.
Returns a string representing the source code of the object.
Description
The toSource method returns the following values:This method is usually called internally by JavaScript and not explicitly in code.
- For the built-in Boolean object, toSource returns the following string indicating that the source code is not available:
- For instances of Boolean, toSource returns a string representing the source code.
See also
Object.toSource
Returns a string representing the specified Boolean object.
Description
The Boolean object overrides the toString method of the Object object; it does not inherit Object.toString. For Boolean objects, the toString method returns a string representation of the object.JavaScript calls the toString method automatically when a Boolean is to be represented as a text value or when a Boolean is referred to in a string concatenation.
For Boolean objects and values, the built-in toString method returns the string "true" or "false" depending on the value of the boolean object. In the following code, flag.toString returns "true".
var flag = new Boolean(true)
var myVar=flag.toString()
See also
Object.toString
Returns the primitive value of a Boolean object.
Description
The valueOf method of Boolean returns the primitive value of a Boolean object or literal Boolean as a Boolean data type.This method is usually called internally by JavaScript and not explicitly in code.
Examples
x = new Boolean();
myVar=x.valueOf() //assigns false to myVar
See also
Object.valueOf
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Last Updated
September 28, 2000