create new javascript object from variable

Question

i would like to create a new object in javascript (using simple inheritance) such that the class of the object is defined from a variable:

var class = 'Person';
var inst = new class

any ideas?

Answer 1

You can do something like

function Person(){};
var name = 'Person';
var inst = new this[name]

The key is just referencing the object that owns the function that's the constructor. This works fine in global scope but if you're dumping the code inside of a function, you might have to change the reference because this probably wont work.

EDIT: To pass parameters:

function Person(name){alert(name)};
var name = 'Person';
var inst = new this[name]('john')