Mendix 8 Client Documentation: Class: mendix/lib/MxObject

Constructor

new mendix/lib/MxObject()

Methods

addReference(attr, guid) → {boolean}

If attr is a reference attribute, sets it to the given object. If attr is a reference set attribute, adds the given object to it.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`attr`	string	The reference attribute. Can refer to either a reference or reference set attribute.
`guid`	GUID	`GUID` of the object to add to the reference

Returns:

true if successful, false otherwise

Type: boolean

Example

mxobj.addReference("MyFirstModule.Ent_RefEnt", "12345");

addReferences(attr, guids) → {boolean}

Add an object to a reference set attribute.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`attr`	string	the reference set attribute
`guids`	Array.<GUID>	`GUIDs` of the objects to add to the reference

Returns:

true if successful, false otherwise

Type: boolean

Example

mxobj.addReferences("MyFirstModule.Ent_RefEnt", ["12345", "12346"]);

compare(mxobj) → {boolean}

Compare this MxObject to another MxObject and find out if they are the same.

This means they have the same Entity type and their attributes have the same value.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`mxobj`	mendix/lib/MxObject	`MxObject` to compare with

Deprecated:

since version 7.18.0

Returns:

mxobj true if they are identical, false otherwise

Type: boolean

Example

mxobj.compare(mxobj); // true

fetch(path, callback, error)

Gets an object or value of an attribute, through a path from this object.

The result is passed to a callback and depends on the requested path:

If no path is given, the result is set to the object itself. A reference set can only be the last reference in the path.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`path`	string	path from the object to the desired object or attribute
`callback`	mendix/lib/MxObject~FetchCallback	called when fetching is done
`error`	mendix/lib/MxObject~FetchErrorCallback	function to handle errors

Examples

Retrieving an attribute value from an object is essentially a callback version of mx.data.get:

mxobj.fetch("Name", function(value) {
    alert("Person's name is " + value);
});

Retrieving an object through a reference:

mxobj.fetch("MyFirstModule.Friend/MyFirstModule.Person", function(value) {
    alert("Name of person's friend is " + value.get("Name"));
});

When retrieving an object through a reference set, the result will be an Array:

mxobj.fetch("MyFirstModule.Owns/MyFirstModule.Pet", function(value) {
    alert("Person owns the following pets: " + value);
});

Retrieving an attribute through several references:

mxobj.fetch("MyFirstModule.Friend/MyFirstModule.Person/" +
            "MyFirstModule.Father/MyFirstModule.Person/" +
            "Age", function(value) {
    alert("Name of the father of this person's friend is " + value);
});

get(attr) → {string|number|external:Big|boolean}

Returns the value of an attribute.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`attr`	string	attribute whose value to return

Returns:

value of the specified attribute. The return type depends on the type of the attribute as follows:

Attribute type	Javascript type	Javascript value
Integer, Long, Decimal	`external:Big`	instance containing the number
Autonumber	`string`	string representation of the number
DateTime	`number`	timestamp of the date
Enum	`string`	value of the enumeration
String	`string`
Boolean	`boolean`
Reference	`string`	referenced object `GUID` as a string
ReferenceSet	`Array<string>`	referenced object `GUIDs` as strings

Empty values are always returned as the empty string ("").

Type: string | number | external:Big | boolean

Examples

mxobj.get("IsActive");   // true

mxobj.get("Name");       // "John Doe"

numericValue = mxobj.get("LoginCount");
numericValue instanceof Big // true
numericValue.toString()     // "315"

getAttributes()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#getAttributes

Example

var attrs = mxobject.getAttributes(); // ["Name", "Age"];

getChildren(attr) → {Array.<mendix/lib/MxObject>}

Retrieves the MxObjects referenced by a reference attribute, if these objects were retrieved together with the current one using mx.data.get's args.filter.references.

Otherwise returns an empty array, including the case when the reference has been modified since retrieval. When trying to retrieve a non-reference attribute this way, an exception is thrown. Passing a reference that contains multiple associations also throws an exception.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`attr`	string	attribute whose referenced objects to return

Returns:

MxObjects referenced by the given reference attribute

Type: Array.<mendix/lib/MxObject>

getEntity() → {string}

Gets the entity name.

Returns:

the entity name

Type: string

Example

mxobject.getEntity(); // "System.User"

getEnumCaption()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#getEnumCaption

Example

mxobject.getEnumCaption("Color", "red"); // "Rouge"

getEnumMap()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#getEnumMap

Example

mxobject.getEnumMap("Color"); // [ { key : "red",   caption : "Red" },
                              //   { key : "green", caption : "Green" },
                              //   { key : "blue",  caption : "Blue" } ]

getGuid()

Returns the GUID of this MxObject.

Example

mxobj.getGuid(); // "1234567890131"

getOptions()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#getOptions

Example

mxobject.getOptions("Color"); // [ "red", "green", "blue" ]

getOriginalReferences(attr) → {Array.<GUID>}

Retrieves the original MxObjects referenced by a reference or reference set attribute.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`attr`	string	reference attribute whose original referenced objects to return

Returns:

GUIDs of the original referenced objects

Type: Array.<GUID>

Example

mxobj.getReferences("MyFirstModule.Ref");            // [ "12345", "12346" ]
mxobj.set("MyFirstModule.Ref", [ "12347" ]);         // [ "12347" ]
mxobj.getReferences("MyFirstModule.Ref");            // [ "12347" ]
mxobj.getOriginalReferences("MyFirstModule.Ref");    // [ "12345", "12346" ]

getOriginalValue(attr) → {string|number|external:Big|boolean}

Returns the original, last committed, value of an attribute.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`attr`	string	attribute whose value to return

See:

mendix/lib/MxObject#get for an overview of how the return value depends on the attribute's type.

Returns:

original value of the specified attribute.

Type: string | number | external:Big | boolean

Example

mxobj.get("Name");               // "Fred"
mxobj.set("Name", "Henry");
mxobj.get("Name");               // "Henry"
mxobj.getOriginalValue("Name")   // "Fred"

getReference(reference) → {string}

Retrieves the GUID of the object referenced by a reference attribute. When trying to retrieve a non-reference or reference set attribute this way, an exception is thrown.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`reference`	string	attribute whose referenced object to return

Returns:

GUID of the MxObject referenced by the given reference attribute

Type: string

Example

// Get GUID of object over association MyFirstModule.Ref.
refs = mxobj.getReference("MyFirstModule.Ref"); // "12345"

getReferenceAttributes()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#getReferenceAttributes

Example

var refs = mxobject.getReferenceAttributes(); // [ "Mod.Person_Parent",
                                              //   "Mod.Person_Company" ]

getReferences(attr) → {Array.<GUID>}

Retrieves the MxObjects referenced by a reference or reference set attribute.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`attr`	string	reference attribute whose referenced objects to return

Returns:

GUIDs of the references objects

Type: Array.<GUID>

Example

// Get GUIDs of objects over association MyFirstModule.Ref.
mxobj.getReferences("MyFirstModule.Ref");    // [ "12345", "12346" ]

getSelectorEntity()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#getSelectorEntity

Example

mxobject.getSelectorEntity("Order_OrderLine"); // "CRM.OrderLine"

getSubEntities()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#getSubEntities

Example

mxobject.getSubEntities(); // [ "MyModule.EntityA", "MyModule.EntityB" ]

getSuperEntities()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#getSuperEntities

Example

mxobject.getSuperEntities(); // [ "MyModule.EntityC",
                             //   "MyModule.EntityD",
                             //   "System.User" ]

hasChanges() → {boolean}

Checks an MxObject for changes.

Returns:

true if this MxObject has changes, false otherwise

Type: boolean

Example

mx.data.get({
    guid: "12345",
    callback: function(obj) {
        // Object is fresh from the runtime; next line prints 'false'.
        console.log(obj.hasChanges());

        obj.set("Name", "foo");

        // Object has a changed attribute; next line prints 'true'.
        console.log(obj.hasChanges());
    }
});

hasSubEntities()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#hasSubEntities

Example

mxobject.getSubEntities(); // [ "MyModule.EntityA", "MyModule.EntityB" ]

hasSuperEntities()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#hasSuperEntities

Example

if (mxobject.hasSuperEntities()) {
    alert("This object inherits from another Entity");
} else {
    alert("This object does not inherit from another Entity");
}

inheritsFrom()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#inheritsFrom

Example

if (mxobject.inheritsFrom("System.User")) {
    alert("This object inherits from System.User");
} else {
    alert("This object does not inherit from System.User");
}

isA()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#isA

Example

if (mxobject.isA("System.User")) {
    alert("This object is a System.User");
} else {
    alert("This object is not a System.User");
}

isBoolean()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#isBoolean

Example

if (mxobject.isBoolean("Checked")) {
    alert("Attribute 'Checked' is a Boolean");
} else {
    alert("Attribute 'Checked' is not a Boolean");
}

isDate()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#isDate

Example

if (mxobject.isDate("DoB")) {
    alert("Attribute 'DoB' is a Date");
} else {
    alert("Attribute 'DoB' is not a Date");
}

isEnum()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#isEnum

Example

if (mxobject.isEnum("Colors")) {
    alert("Attribute 'Colors' is an Enumeration");
} else {
    alert("Attribute 'Colors' is not an Enumeration");
}

isLocalizedDate()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#isLocalizedDate

Example

if (mxobject.isLocalizedDate("DoB")) {
    alert("Attribute 'DoB' is a Localized Date");
} else {
    alert("Attribute 'DoB' is not a Localized Date");
}

isNumeric()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#isNumeric

Example

if (mxobject.isNumeric("Count")) {
    alert("Attribute 'Count' is numeric");
} else {
    alert("Attribute 'Count' is not numeric");
}

isObjectReference()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#isObjectReference

Example

if (mxobject.isObjectReference("Mother")) {
    alert("Attribute Parent is a reference");
} else {
    alert("Attribute Parent is not a reference");
}

isObjectReferenceSet()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#isObjectReferenceSet

Example

if (mxobject.isObjectReferenceSet("Children")) {
    alert("Attribute Children is a reference set");
} else {
    alert("Attribute Children is not a reference set");
}

isPassword()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#isPassword

Example

if (mxobject.isPassword("Password")) {
    alert("Attribute 'Password' is a Password");
} else {
    alert("Attribute 'Password' is not a Password");
}

isReadonlyAttr(attr) → {boolean}

Checks whether an attribute is read-only.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`attr`	string	attribute for which to check

Returns:

true if attr is a read-only attribute, false otherwise

Type: boolean

isReference()

Convenience function

See:

mendix/lib/MxMetaObject#isReference

Example

if (mxobject.isReference("Children")) {
    alert("Attribute Children is a reference set");
} else {
    alert("Attribute Children is not a reference set");
}

removeReferences(attr, guids) → {boolean}

Removes references from a reference attribute.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`attr`	string	refererence attribute to remove references from
`guids`	Array.<GUID>	`GUIDs` of the objects to remove from the reference

Returns:

false if an exception occured while removing the reference, true otherwise

Type: boolean

Example

mxobj.removeReferences("MyFirstMdule.Ent_RefEnt", ["12345", "12346"]);

set(attr, val)

Sets the value of attribute attr to the value of val.

The type of val depends on the type of attribute.

This only changes the mendix/lib/MxObject instance in the client session. To commit the object to the backend database, see mx.data.commit.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`attr`	string	attribute to set
`val`	*	value to set

Throws:

Error if value is invalid, use validator#validate before calling this method

Examples

mxobj.set("Name", "John Smith");

mxobj.set("IsActive", true);

Type Definitions

FetchCallback(requested)

Callback for returning data with mendix/lib/MxObject#fetch.

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`requested`	*	object, attribute value or an `Error` object when there was an error.

FetchErrorCallback(error)

Error callback for mendix/lib/MxObject#fetch

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
`error`	Error	error describing the failure of the request