Date.prototype[@@toPrimitive]
The [@@toPrimitive]()
method converts a Date
object to a primitive value.
Syntax
Date()[Symbol.toPrimitive](hint);
Return value
The primitive value of the given Date
object. Depending on the argument,
the method can return either a string or a number.
Description
The [@@toPrimitive]()
method of the Date
object returns a
primitive value, that is either of type number or of type string.
If hint
is string
or default
,
[@@toPrimitive]()
tries to call the toString
method. If the toString
property does not exist, it tries to
call the valueOf
method and if the
valueOf
does not exist either, [@@toPrimitive]()
throws a
TypeError
.
If hint
is number
, [@@toPrimitive]()
first tries
to call valueOf
, and if that fails, it calls toString
.
JavaScript calls the [@@toPrimitive]()
method to convert an object to a
primitive value. You rarely need to invoke the [@@toPrimitive]()
method
yourself; JavaScript automatically invokes it when encountering an object where a
primitive value is expected.
Examples
Returning date primitives
const testDate = new Date(1590757517834);
// "Date Fri May 29 2020 14:05:17 GMT+0100 (British Summer Time)"
testDate[Symbol.toPrimitive]('string');
// Returns "Date Fri May 29 2020 14:05:17 GMT+0100 (British Summer Time)"
testDate[Symbol.toPrimitive]('number');
// Returns "1590757517834"
testDate[Symbol.toPrimitive]('default');
// Returns "Date Fri May 29 2020 14:05:17 GMT+0100 (British Summer Time)"
Specifications
Specification |
---|
ECMAScript Language Specification # sec-date.prototype-@@toprimitive |
Browser compatibility
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