Eight Weeks of Prototype: Week 3, Prototype Data Types
The Number Data Type
Prototype extends the native JavaScript number type with a range of new methods, each of which can be applied similarly to string methods. These methods are documented at http://prototypejs.org/api/number.
For the most part, these methods are just wrappers to the normal Math object methods. For example, the abs() method corresponds to the Math.abs() method. Similarly, the ceil(), floor() and round() methods also correspond to the respective Math method.
Aside from these methods, the only other methods of any great use are the toColorPart() and toPaddedString() methods.
The toColorPart() method is used to convert a number (assumed to be in the range of 0 to 255) to a 2 character hexadecimal number. This allows you to easily create a CSS colour string.
Listing 3 shows how toColorPart can be used. Later in this article we'll look at another way of using this method by making use of the array methods Prototype provides.
<html> <head> <title>Creating hex colour codes with toColorPart()</title> <script type="text/javascript" src="/js/prototype.js"></script> </head> <body> <div id="foo"> This div will change colour! </div> <script type="text/javascript"> var r = 255; var g = 100; var b = 0; var hex = '#' + r.toColorPart() + g.toColorPart() + b.toColorPart(); // hex will have the value #ff6400 $('foo').setStyle({ backgroundColor : hex }); </script> </body> </html>
The toPaddedString() method is useful for created a zero-padded string based on the target number. For example, calling (25).toPaddString(5) will result in a string 5 characters in length. That is, 00025.