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What does [object Object] mean?

Asked 2011-01-20T17:07:32.337
209

I am trying to alert a returned value from a function and I get this in the alert:

[object Object]

Here is the JavaScript code:

<script type="text/javascript">
$(function ()
{
    var $main = $('#main'),
    $1 = $('#1'),
    $2 = $('#2');

    $2.hide(); // hide div#2 when the page is loaded

    $main.click(function ()
    {
        $1.toggle();
        $2.toggle();
    });

    $('#senddvd').click(function ()
    {
       alert('hello');
       var a=whichIsVisible();
       alert(whichIsVisible());
    });

    function whichIsVisible()
    {
        if (!$1.is(':hidden')) return $1;
        if (!$2.is(':hidden')) return $2;
    }

});

</script>

whichIsVisible is the function which I am trying to check on.

javascript jquery object
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2 Answers

13

It's the value returned by that object's toString() function.

I understand what you're trying to do, because I answered your question yesterday about determining which div is visible. :)
The whichIsVisible() function returns an actual jQuery object, because I thought that would be more programmatically useful. If you want to use this function for debugging purposes, you can just do something like this:

function whichIsVisible_v2()
{
    if (!$1.is(':hidden')) return '#1';
    if (!$2.is(':hidden')) return '#2';
}

That said, you really should be using a proper debugger rather than alert() if you're trying to debug a problem. If you're using Firefox, Firebug is excellent. If you're using IE8, Safari, or Chrome, they have built-in debuggers.

answered 2011-01-20T17:09:04.710
2

You have a javascript object

$1 and $2 are jquery objects, maybe use alert($1.text()); to get text or alert($1.attr('id'); etc...

you have to treat $1 and $2 like jQuery objects.

answered 2011-01-20T17:11:28.983

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