Compares the Objects and returns an integer value indicating if the first item is less than greater than or equal to the second item. This method will recursively compare properties on nested objects and will return as soon as a non-zero result is found. By default this method will recurse to the deepest level of any property. To change the depth for comparison specify a non-negative value for the depth parameter.

      var a:Object = {name:"Bob", info:[1,2,3]};
      var b:Object = {name:"Alice", info:[5,6,7]};
      var c:int = ObjectUtil.compare(a, b, 0);

Copies the specified Object and returns a reference to the copy. The copy is made using a native serialization technique. This means that custom serialization will be respected during the copy.

This method is designed for copying data objects, such as elements of a collection. It is not intended for copying a UIComponent object, such as a TextInput control. If you want to create copies of specific UIComponent objects, you can create a subclass of the component and implement a clone() method, or other method to perform the copy.

Compares the two Date objects and returns an integer value indicating if the first Date object is before, equal to, or after the second item.

Returns information about the class, and properties of the class, for the specified Object.

Uses getClassInfo and examines the metadata information to determine whether a property on a given object has the specified metadata.

Returns true if the object reference specified is a simple data type. The simple data types include the following:

• String
• Number
• uint
• int
• Boolean
• Date
• Array

Compares two numeric values.

Compares two String values.

Pretty-prints the specified Object into a String. All properties will be in alpha ordering. Each object will be assigned an id during printing; this value will be displayed next to the object type token preceded by a '#', for example:

      (mx.messaging.messages::AsyncMessage)#2.

This id is used to indicate when a circular reference occurs. Properties of an object that are of the Class type will appear only as the assigned type. For example a custom definition like the following:

        public class MyCustomClass {
          public var clazz:Class;
        }

With the clazz property assigned to Date will display as shown below:

       (somepackage::MyCustomClass)#0
          clazz = (Date)

      // example 1
      var obj:AsyncMessage = new AsyncMessage();
      obj.body = [];
      obj.body.push(new AsyncMessage());
      obj.headers["1"] = { name: "myName", num: 15.3};
      obj.headers["2"] = { name: "myName", num: 15.3};
      obj.headers["10"] = { name: "myName", num: 15.3};
      obj.headers["11"] = { name: "myName", num: 15.3};
      trace(ObjectUtil.toString(obj));
           // will output to flashlog.txt
      (mx.messaging.messages::AsyncMessage)#0
        body = (Array)#1
          [0] (mx.messaging.messages::AsyncMessage)#2
            body = (Object)#3
            clientId = (Null)
            correlationId = ""
            destination = ""
            headers = (Object)#4
            messageId = "378CE96A-68DB-BC1B-BCF7FFFFFFFFB525"
            sequenceId = (Null)
            sequencePosition = 0
            sequenceSize = 0
            timeToLive = 0
            timestamp = 0
        clientId = (Null)
        correlationId = ""
        destination = ""
        headers = (Object)#5
          1 = (Object)#6
            name = "myName"
            num = 15.3
          10 = (Object)#7
            name = "myName"
            num = 15.3
          11 = (Object)#8
            name = "myName"
            num = 15.3
          2 = (Object)#9
            name = "myName"
            num = 15.3
        messageId = "1D3E6E96-AC2D-BD11-6A39FFFFFFFF517E"
        sequenceId = (Null)
        sequencePosition = 0
        sequenceSize = 0
        timeToLive = 0
        timestamp = 0
           // example 2 with circular references
      obj = {};
      obj.prop1 = new Date();
      obj.prop2 = [];
      obj.prop2.push(15.2);
      obj.prop2.push("testing");
      obj.prop2.push(true);
      obj.prop3 = {};
      obj.prop3.circular = obj;
      obj.prop3.deeper = new ErrorMessage();
      obj.prop3.deeper.rootCause = obj.prop3.deeper;
      obj.prop3.deeper2 = {};
      obj.prop3.deeper2.deeperStill = {};
      obj.prop3.deeper2.deeperStill.yetDeeper = obj;
      trace(ObjectUtil.toString(obj));
           // will output to flashlog.txt
      (Object)#0
        prop1 = Tue Apr 26 13:59:17 GMT-0700 2005
        prop2 = (Array)#1
          [0] 15.2
          [1] "testing"
          [2] true
        prop3 = (Object)#2
          circular = (Object)#0
          deeper = (mx.messaging.messages::ErrorMessage)#3
            body = (Object)#4
            clientId = (Null)
            code = (Null)
            correlationId = ""
            destination = ""
            details = (Null)
            headers = (Object)#5
            level = (Null)
            message = (Null)
            messageId = "14039376-2BBA-0D0E-22A3FFFFFFFF140A"
            rootCause = (mx.messaging.messages::ErrorMessage)#3
            sequenceId = (Null)
            sequencePosition = 0
            sequenceSize = 0
            timeToLive = 0
            timestamp = 0
          deeper2 = (Object)#6
            deeperStill = (Object)#7
              yetDeeper = (Object)#0
     
     // example 3 with Dictionary
     var point:Point = new Point(100, 100);
     var point2:Point = new Point(100, 100);
     var obj:Dictionary = new Dictionary();
     obj[point] = "point";
     obj[point2] = "point2";
     obj["1"] = { name: "one", num: 1};
     obj["two"] = { name: "2", num: 2};
     obj[3] = 3;
     trace(ObjectUtil.toString(obj));
     
     // will output to flashlog.txt
     (flash.utils::Dictionary)#0
       {(flash.geom::Point)#1
         length = 141.4213562373095
         x = 100
         y = 100} = "point2"
       {(flash.geom::Point)#2
         length = 141.4213562373095
         x = 100
         y = 100} = "point"
       {1} = (Object)#3
         name = "one"
         num = 1
       {3} = 3
       {"two"} = (Object)#4
         name = "2"
         num = 2