Is it possible to test an object against a component type and/or inherited type?

Question

What I am trying to do is test an object in ColdFusion to see what type of component it is. Something like...

<cfif isValid( "compath.dog", currentObj)>
    ...do something specific with dog objects...
</cfif>

I thought this was possible but receive an error saying the type I am passing does not correspond to one in the valid list of types...

Valid type arguments are: any, array, Boolean, date, numeric, query, string, struct, UUID, GUID, binary, integer, float, eurodate, time, creditcard, email, ssn, telephone, zipcode, url, regex, range , component, or variableName.

Is there a way to accomplish this in ColdFusion?

Answer 1

You could use GetMetaData to find the type. Some quick code:

<cfif GetMetaData(currentObj).type eq "compath.dog">

Answer 2

you could use name or fullname from the getmetadata() function.

<cfif GetMetaData(currentObj).name eq "compath.dog">
    ...do something specific with dog objects...
</cfif>

or

<cfif GetMetaData(currentObj).fullname eq "compath.dog">
    ...do something specific with dog objects...
</cfif>

docs are here getmetadata() on what getmetadata() returns depending on the object type.

Answer 3

You could also use IsInstanceOf(). Though you must still use the full path, it can also be used to determine inheritance or identify components that implement a particular interface.

<cfif IsInstanceOf(obj, "compath.Dog")>
   yes. it is a dog component {woof}
<cfelse>
    some other type of component 
</cfif>

<cfif IsInstanceOf(obj, "compath.AnimalInterface")>
     yes. it implements the animal interface
<cfelse>
     no. it must be vegetable or mineral ...
</cfif>