.toString()

All objects classes in xJSFL have meaningful toString() methods, meaning that it you simply trace the object or class to the Output panel, you'll get something more useful that the fairly anonymous [object Object]. For example:

A File instance

[object File name="dialog.xml"]

A Context instance

[object Context dom="Level 05" timeline="Scene 1" layer[0]="Layer 1" keyframe[0]=0]

A Config instance

[object Config path="xJSFL/user/config/settings/keyframer.xml" nodes=9]

An ItemCollection instance

[object ItemCollection length=23]

Output class

Output is the main class you'll use for inspecting objects, and printing text to the Output panel for debugging. It has a variety of methods, all of which are covered in more detail on the API page for Output, but will be summarised here.

Note that all Output methods are called statically, directly on the class, without creating an instance of Output with the new keyword.

.inspect()

Output.inspect() is the Swiss Army knife of inspection functions! It will recursively trawl an object and print the tree of results directly to the listener, and is useful for inspecting the properties of objects, especially when you're not sure what you have.

Output.inspect(dom.selection[0])

Inspect: SymbolInstance (depth:4, objects:13, values:110, time:0.0 seconds)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
object => SymbolInstance
	 instanceType: "symbol"
	 symbolType: "movie clip"
	 effectSymbol: false
	[libraryItem] => SymbolItem
		[timeline] => Timeline
			 name: "Symbol 1"
			[layers] => Array
				[0] => Layer
			 frameCount: 1
			 currentFrame: 0
			 layerCount: 1
			 currentLayer: 0
			[bindings] => Array
		 symbolType: "movie clip"
		 sourceFilePath: ""
		 sourceLibraryName: undefined
		 sourceAutoUpdate: undefined
		 scalingGrid: false
		[scalingGridRect] => Object
			 left: -2147483.648
			 top: -2147483.648
			 right: -2147483.648
			 bottom: -2147483.648
		 itemType: "movie clip"
		 name: "Symbol 1"
		 linkageExportForAS: false
		 linkageExportForRS: false
		 linkageImportForRS: false
		 linkageExportInFirstFrame: undefined
		 linkageIdentifier: undefined
		 linkageClassName: undefined
		 linkageBaseClass: undefined
		 linkageURL: undefined
	 colorAlphaPercent: 100
	 colorRedPercent: 100
	 colorGreenPercent: 100
	 colorBluePercent: 100
	 colorAlphaAmount: 0
	 colorRedAmount: 0
	 colorGreenAmount: 0
	 colorBlueAmount: 0
	 colorMode: "none"
	 filters: undefined
	 blendMode: "normal"
	 cacheAsBitmap: false
	 firstFrame: undefined
	 loop: undefined
	 actionScript: ""
	 accName: ""
	 description: ""
	 shortcut: ""
	 tabIndex: 0
	 silent: false
	 forceSimple: false
	 buttonTracking: undefined
	 brightness: [ SKIPPING! ]
	 tintColor: [ SKIPPING! ]
	 tintPercent: [ SKIPPING! ]
	 elementType: "instance"
	 name: ""
	 left: 66.5
	 top: 33.5
	 width: 90
	 height: 90
	 locked: false
	[matrix] => Object
		 a: 1
		 b: 0
		 c: 0
		 d: 1
		 tx: 66.5
		 ty: 33.5
	 depth: 0
	[layer] => Layer
		 name: "Layer 1"
		 layerType: "normal"
		 visible: true
		 locked: false
		 frameCount: 1
		[frames] => Array
			[0] => Frame
				 name: ""
				 actionScript: ""
				[elements] => Array
				 startFrame: 0
				 duration: 1
				 soundLibraryItem: null
				 soundEffect: "none"
				 soundName: ""
				 soundSync: "stream"
				 soundLoopMode: "repeat"
				 soundLoop: 1
				 tweenType: "none"
				 tweenEasing: 0
				 motionTweenScale: true
				 motionTweenRotate: "auto"
				 motionTweenRotateTimes: 0
				 motionTweenOrientToPath: false
				 motionTweenSync: false
				 motionTweenSnap: false
				 shapeTweenBlend: "distributive"
				 labelType: "none"
				 hasCustomEase: false
				 useSingleEaseCurve: true
		 color: "#4fff4f"
		 height: 100
		 outline: false
		 parentLayer: null
	 selected: true
	 x: 66.5
	 y: 33.5
	 transformX: 111.5
	 transformY: 78.5
	 scaleX: 1
	 scaleY: 1
	 skewX: 0
	 skewY: 0
	 rotation: 0
	[transformationPoint] => Object
		 x: 45
		 y: 45
	[objectSpaceBounds] => Object
		 left: -0.499
		 top: -0.499
		 right: 90.5
		 bottom: 90.5

.list()

Output.list() is designed to list specific properties of a selection, object or other elements. It is useful for quickly outputting arrays of objects or selections into something readable by us humans:

Output.list(dom.selection, 'name');

List: Array (depth:1, objects:0, values:15, time:0.0 seconds)
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
array => Array
	 0: "bakersfield"
	 1: "chico"
	 2: "eureka"
	 3: "fresno"
	 4: "la"
	 5: "medford"
	 6: "monterey"
	 7: "palm_springs"
	 8: "phoenix"
	 9: "reno"
	 10: "sacramento"
	 11: "san_diego"
	 12: "san_francisco"
	 13: "santa_barbara"
	 14: "yuma"

.table()

Output.table() is actually a reference to Table.print(), but is included in the Output class for convenience. As you would expect, it prints a table of objects and properties to the Output panel.

Output.table(xjsfl.get.items());

+-------------------+------------+-----------------+--------------------+------------------+-------------+-----------------+------------+---------------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+---------------------------+-------------------+------------------+------------------+------------+
| timeline          | symbolType | sourceFilePath  | sourceLibraryName  | sourceAutoUpdate | scalingGrid | scalingGridRect | itemType   | name                            | linkageExportForAS | linkageExportForRS | linkageImportForRS | linkageExportInFirstFrame | linkageIdentifier | linkageClassName | linkageBaseClass | linkageURL |
+-------------------+------------+-----------------+--------------------+------------------+-------------+-----------------+------------+---------------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+---------------------------+-------------------+------------------+------------------+------------+
| [object Timeline] | movie clip | .\usa - all.fla | states/alabama     | false            | false       | [object Object] | movie clip | graphics/key folder/alabama     | false              | false              | false              |                           |                   |                  |                  |            |
| [object Timeline] | movie clip | .\usa - all.fla | states/alaska      | false            | false       | [object Object] | movie clip | graphics/key folder/alaska      | false              | false              | false              |                           |                   |                  |                  |            |
| [object Timeline] | movie clip | .\usa - all.fla | states/arizona     | false            | false       | [object Object] | movie clip | graphics/key folder/arizona     | false              | false              | false              |                           |                   |                  |                  |            |
| [object Timeline] | movie clip | .\usa - all.fla | states/arkansas    | false            | false       | [object Object] | movie clip | graphics/key folder/arkansas    | false              | false              | false              |                           |                   |                  |                  |            |
| [object Timeline] | movie clip | .\usa - all.fla | states/california  | false            | false       | [object Object] | movie clip | graphics/key folder/california  | false              | false              | false              |                           |                   |                  |                  |            |
| [object Timeline] | movie clip | .\usa - all.fla | states/colorado    | false            | false       | [object Object] | movie clip | graphics/key folder/colorado    | false              | false              | false              |                           |                   |                  |                  |            |
| [object Timeline] | movie clip | .\usa - all.fla | states/connecticut | false            | false       | [object Object] | movie clip | graphics/key folder/connecticut | false              | false              | false              |                           |                   |                  |                  |            |
+-------------------+------------+-----------------+--------------------+------------------+-------------+-----------------+------------+---------------------------------+--------------------+--------------------+--------------------+---------------------------+-------------------+------------------+------------------+------------+

.folder()

Output.folder() is a wrapper for Data.recurseFolder() with some added functionality to output the visual structure of a folder and subfolders.

Output.folder('user/jsfl/snippets');

/snippets
	/Demo
		/Make test Sprites.jsfl
	/Development
		/Check variable is defined.jsfl
		/Copy ActionScript font name.jsfl
		/Declare stage instances.jsfl
		/Export SWC.jsfl
		/Hello World.jsfl
		/Inspect variables.jsfl
	/Instances
		/Instance name from item name.jsfl
		/Movieclips to Graphics.jsfl
	/Library
		/Change selected items type.jsfl
		/Delete empty folders.jsfl
		/Inspect selected items.jsfl
		/Spreadsheet Edit.jsfl

Next steps

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