Is it possible to access the prototype object of function by its function itself

Question

for example

//creating constructor function

function Something(){}

//adding name property to Something prototype


Something.prototype.name='javascript';

is it possible to access name property from its object itself?

//like

Something.name

// but here output will be 'undefined'

// code

function Fan(){}

Fan.prototype.speed='high';

Fan.speed

//output of (Fan.speed) undefined

Please provide relevant Code Snippets of what you have so far. — AndrewL64, Jul 09 '20 at 11:49
Well, `Something.prototype.name`. It is only looked up from `o.name` to `o.prototype.name` on *instances* of that class/constructor. — deceze, Jul 09 '20 at 11:49
Does this answer your question? [Can I get the name of the currently running function in JavaScript?](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1013239/can-i-get-the-name-of-the-currently-running-function-in-javascript) — Mark Schultheiss, Jul 09 '20 at 11:58
You need to add more details to your question as to why it is different other than "no" as there seem to be answers already for your limited example. — Mark Schultheiss, Jul 09 '20 at 12:17
Please explain why you are looking to do this so we understand your use case. — JLRishe, Jul 09 '20 at 15:31

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 09 '20 at 12:21

No, if you set it up as Fan.prototype.speed, then that value is on Fan.prototype.speed and not Fan.speed. When you use Fan as the constructor of an object, that's when the instantiated object is set up with a lookup chain to look up properties that it doesn't have on the constructor's prototype:

const f = new Fan();
console.log(f.speed);  // lookup to Fan.prototype.speed

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 09 '20 at 13:25

You can create an instance of the object and then access it:

function Something() {}
Something.prototype.name = 'javascript';
// create an instance for that
var x = new Something();
console.log(x.name);

//Another set of examples, note the prototype on the objects function has no instance so the getName.protytppe.bucket
const another = {
  secret: "skim",
  name: "cream",
  getName: function() {
    return this.name;
  },
  getSecret: function() {
    return this.secret;
  },
  makeButter: function(n) {
    this.name = n;
    return `We made {this.name} from cream`;
  }
};
another.getName.prototype.bucket = "lot-o-milk"

var n = Object.create(another);
console.log(n.name);
console.log(n.getName());
// make cream into butter
n.name = "butter";
console.log(n.name);
console.log(n.getName());
// turn butter back to cream
delete n.name;
console.log(n.name);
console.log(n.getName());
n.makeButter('yellow');
console.log(n.getName());
console.log(n.getSecret(), n.getName.prototype.bucket);

Is it possible to access the prototype object of function by its function itself

2 Answers2