All Objects
Function.call
METHOD: Function::apply
Function.
apply
(thisArg[, argArray])
The
apply
method allows you to call a function and specify what the keyword
this
will refer to within the context of that function. The thisArg argument should be an object. Within the context of the function being called,
this
will refer to thisArg. The second argument to the
apply
method is an array. The elements of this array will be passed as the arguments to the function being called. The argArray parameter can be either an array literal or the deprecated
arguments
property of a function.
The
apply
method can be used to simulate object inheritance as in the following example. We first define the constructor for an object called Car which has three properties. Then the constructor for a second object called RentalCar is defined. RentalCar will inherit the properties of Car and add one additional property of its own - carNo. The RentalCar constructor uses the
apply
method to call the Car constructor, passing itself as thisArg. Therefore, inside the Car function, the keyword
this
actually refers to the RentalCar object being constructed, and not a new Car object. By this means,the RentalCar object inherits the properties from the Car object.
Code:
function Car(make, model, year)
{
this.make = make;
this.model = model;
this.year = year;
}
function RentalCar(carNo, make, model, year)
{
this.carNo = carNo;
Car.apply(this, new Array(make, model, year))
}
myCar = new RentalCar(2134,"Ford","Mustang",1998)
document.write("Your car is a " + myCar.year + " " +
myCar.make + " " + myCar.model + ".")
Output:
Your car is a 1998 Ford Mustang.
NOTE: The
apply
method is very similar to the
call
method and only differs in that, up until now, you could use the deprecated
arguments
array as one of its parameters.
Copyright 1999-2001 by Infinite Software Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.
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