Prototype - inspect() Method

This method returns the debug-oriented string representation of element. Prototype provides inspect methods for many types, both built-in and library-defined, such as in String, Array, Enumerable and Hash, which attempts to provide most-useful string representations for their respective types.

undefined and null are represented as such.
Other types are looked up for a inspect method: if there is one, it is used, otherwise, it reverts to the toString method.

Syntax

element.inspect();

Return Value

Returns HTML element after inserted content.

Example

<html>
   <head>
      <title>Prototype examples</title>
      <script type = "text/javascript" src = "/javascript/prototype.js"></script>
      
      <script>
         function showResult() {
            var str = $('golden-delicious').inspect();
            alert("$('golden-delicious').inspect(): " + str );
      
            var str = $('mutsu').inspect();
            alert("$('mutsu').inspect() : " + str );
         
            var str = $('mutsu').next().inspect();
            alert("$('mutsu').next().inspect() : " + str );
         }
      </script>
   </head>

   <body>
      <p>Click the button to see the result.</p>
      
      <ul>
         <li id = "golden-delicious">Golden Delicious</li>
         <li id = "mutsu" class = "yummy apple">Mutsu</li>
         <li id = "mcintosh" class = "yummy">McIntosh</li>
         <li</li>
      </ul>
      <br />
      
      <input type = "button" value = "Click" onclick = "showResult();"/>
   </body>
</html>

Output

prototype_element_object.htm