Debugging Flex applications using the describeType() method and the ObjectUtil class

The following example shows how you can debug your Flex applications using the describeType() method (in the flash.utils package), as well as the static ObjectUtil.toString() method to display information about objects in Flex.

Full code after the jump.

View MXML

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- http://blog.flexexamples.com/2007/12/09/debugging-flex-applications-using-the-describetype-method-and-the-objectutil-class/ -->
<mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml"
        layout="vertical"
        verticalAlign="middle"
        backgroundColor="white"
        creationComplete="traceObj(progressBar);">

    <mx:Script>
        <![CDATA[
            import mx.utils.ObjectUtil;

            private function traceObj(target:Object):void {
                textArea1.text = ObjectUtil.toString(target);
                textArea2.text = describeType(target).toXMLString();
            }
        ]]>
    </mx:Script>

    <mx:Form width="100%" height="100%">
        <mx:FormItem label="target:">
            <mx:ProgressBar id="progressBar"
                    labelPlacement="center"
                    indeterminate="true" />
        </mx:FormItem>
        <mx:FormItem label="ObjectUtil.toString(...):"
                width="100%"
                height="50%">
            <mx:TextArea id="textArea1"
                    editable="false"
                    width="100%"
                    height="100%" />
        </mx:FormItem>
        <mx:FormItem label="describeType.toXMLString(...):"
                width="100%"
                height="50%">
            <mx:TextArea id="textArea2"
                    editable="false"
                    width="100%"
                    height="100%" />
        </mx:FormItem>
    </mx:Form>

</mx:Application>

View source is enabled in the following example.

There was an enhancement to the ObjectUtil class in Flex 3 (SDK build 187815 or later), where you can now use the ObjectUtil.toString() method on all display objects without getting a run time error.