Returning Object ID and not value

I'm trying to concatenate some values for display and I have the following problem:
Given:

if (info.elapsedTime != null) {

    var options = { :seconds => (info.elapsedTime / 1000) };

    timer = Time.Gregorian.duration( options );

}

return timer; behaves as expected and gives duration in a 0.00 format.
return timer + " /"; returns Obj: XXXXXX /

Is this expected behavior? How can include the formatted value in a concatenate string?

tonny.madsen over 10 years ago

You have to use

return timer.toString() + " /";

The automatic string handling known from Java does not work in MC.

C.NICK over 10 years ago

return timer.toString() + " /";

This also returns Obj: XXXXXX /

Former Member over 10 years ago

The Duration class does not have a toString() method. When toString() is used with the Duration, it calls the superclass (Object) toString() method, which prints the internal object reference. If you want get the number of seconds for the duration as a string, you can use timer.value().toString()

C.NICK over 10 years ago

Thanks Brian. Any options to get it formatted as H:MM:SS, or do I need to roll my own?

Former Member over 10 years ago

I don't think there are any native APIs that will create that formatting.

tonny.madsen over 10 years ago

The Duration class does not have a toString() method. When toString() is used with the Duration, it calls the superclass (Object) toString() method, which prints the internal object reference. If you want get the number of seconds for the duration as a string, you can use timer.value().toString()

Given that toString() really is only meant for debugging, could you maybe implement a version for Object that will include the Class name in the returned string. That will make it so much easier to debug peculiar values in your code!

Former Member over 10 years ago

I agree that the toString() method for objects could be better. The current output for objects is completely meaningless for developers, and almost completely meaningless for our internal work.

travis.vitek over 10 years ago

It seems like there is an enhancement request in here. I've mentioned before wanting the ability to format times like strftime() from the C Standard Library. Is there some reason we couldn't get a Duration.format() method (and Moment.format() as well)?

I'm not sure that solves the problem (returning a duration from compute() results in a formatted time, but duration isn't formatted correctly otherwise). But it does eliminate code that nearly every watch face has to to implement.

Travis

Brandon.ConnectIQ over 10 years ago

Kyle filed a ticket back in December to create a Moment.format() to follow the strftime() C function based on your thread:

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?176798-Request-to-add-Moment-format%28

I'll track the request on this thread and update you when we have something implemented.