object.super()

Call a superclass method or constructor from within the class method (of same name) or constructor.

Syntax

var result = this.super(args);

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Mandatory	Description	API Version

Parameter	Type	Mandatory	Description	API Version
args	Variant		Optionally specify any arguments to pass to the superclass constructor or method.	1.0

Return value

Value	Type	Description	API Version

Value	Type	Description	API Version
<result>	Variant	The return value of the superclass constructor/method.	1.0
<error>	Error	An error occurred.	1.0

Example

// define superclass
var supervillain = function(name, color) {
	this.name = name;
	this.color = color || "Pink";
}
supervillain.prototype.toString = function() {
	return this.name;
}
supervillain.prototype.evilName = function() {
	return this.color+" "+this.name;
}
 
// define class
var villain = function(name, weapon, colour) {
	this.weapon = weapon || "Chuck Norris";
	this.super(name, colour);
}
villain.inherit(supervillain);
villain.prototype.evilName = function() {
	return "Evil "+this.super();
}
 
// make some instances
var bob = new villain("Bob", "Spoon", "Purple");
var alice = new villain("Alice");
 
bob.name; // "Bob"
bob.weapon; // "Spoon"
bob.color; // "Purple"
bob.toString(); // "Bob"
bob.evilName(); // "Evil Purple Bob"
 
alice.name; // "Alice"
alice.weapon; // "Chuck Norris"
alice.color; // "Pink"
alice.toString(); // "Alice"
alice.evilName(); // "Evil Pink Alice"

Notes

By default, super() will search 4 levels of the prototype chain to locate superclass methods. When it finds a super-method, it will cache the result so subsequent calls are significantly faster. Constructor super-constructors are automatically cached during inheritance for maximum instantiation performance.

If you want to increase the depth to which super() will search the prototype chain, you can set this.super to a number like so:

Changing maximum prototype search depth...

this.super = 10; // this.super() will search 10 levels deep
this.super = void super; // revert to default (4 levels)

The super() method can only be invoked from within a function (otherwise it will throw an error). It will only work on instances of classes that use a classical prototypal inheritance model.