Function.displayName

Summary

The function.displayName property returns the display name of the function.

Description

When defined, the displayName property returns the display name of a function:

function doSomething() {}

alert(doSomething.displayName); // "undefined"

var popup = function(content) { alert(content); };

popup.displayName = 'Show Popup';

alert(popup.displayName); // "Show Popup"

You can define a function with a display name in a function expression:

var object = {
  someMethod: function() {}
};

object.someMethod.displayName = 'someMethod';

alert(object.someMethod.displayName); // alerts "someMethod"

try { someMethod } catch(e) { alert(e); }
// ReferenceError: someMethod is not defined

You can dynamically change the displayName of a function:

var object = {
  // anonymous
  someMethod: function(value) {
    this.displayName = 'someMethod (' + value + ')';
  }
};

alert(object.someMethod.displayName); // "undefined"

object.someMethod('123')
alert(object.someMethod.displayName); // "someMethod (123)"

Examples

It is usually preferred by consoles and profilers over func.name to display the name of a function.

By entering the following in a console, it should display as something like "function My Function()":

var a = function() {};
a.displayName = 'My Function';

a

Specifications

Not part of any specification.

Browser compatibility