Wrote functions to convert collections and maps to strings and invoked

runtime/lib/collections.dart

Index: runtime/lib/collections.dart
===================================================================
--- runtime/lib/collections.dart	(revision 4343)
+++ runtime/lib/collections.dart	(working copy)
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-// Copyright (c) 2011, the Dart project authors.  Please see the AUTHORS file
+// Copyright (c) 2012, the Dart project authors.  Please see the AUTHORS file
 // for details. All rights reserved. Use of this source code is governed by a
 // BSD-style license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
 
@@ -49,4 +49,102 @@
   static bool isEmpty(Iterable<Object> iterable) {
     return !iterable.iterator().hasNext();
   }
+
+  // TODO(jjb): visiting list should be an identityHashSet when it exists
+
+  /**
+   * Returns a string representing the specified collection. If the
+   * collection is a [List], the returned string looks like this:
+   * [:'[element0, element1, ... elementN]':]. The value returned by its
+   * [toString] method is used to represent each element. If the specified
+   * collection is not a list, the returned string looks like this:
+   * [:{element0, element1, ... elementN}:]. In other words, the strings
+   * returned for lists are surrounded by square brackets, while the strings
+   * returned for other collections are surrounded by curly braces.
+   *
+   * If the specified collection contains a reference to itself, either
+   * directly or indirectly through other collections or maps, the contained
+   * reference is rendered as [:'[...]':] if it is a list, or [:'{...}':] if
+   * it is not. This prevents the infinite regress that would otherwise occur.
+   * So, for example, calling this method on a list whose sole element is a
+   * reference to itself would return [:'[[...]]':].
+   *
+   * A typical implementation of a collection's [toString] method will
+   * simply return the results of this method applied to the collection.
+   */
+  static String collectionToString(Collection c) {
+    var result = new StringBuffer();
+    _emitCollection(c, result, new List());
+    return result.toString();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Appends a string representing the specified collection to the specified
+   * string buffer. The string is formatted as per [collectionToString].
+   * The [:visiting:] list contains references to all of the enclosing
+   * collections and maps (which are currently in the process of being
+   * emitted into [:result:]). The [:visiting:] parameter allows this method to
+   * generate a [:'[...]':] or [:'{...}':] where required. In other words,
+   * it allows this method and [_emitMap] to identify recursive collections
+   * and maps.
+   */
+  static void _emitCollection(Collection c, StringBuffer result, List visiting) {
+    visiting.add(c);
+    bool isList = c is List;
+    result.add(isList ? '[' : '{');
+
+    bool first = true;
+    for (var e in c) {
+      if (!first) {
+        result.add(', ');
+      }
+      first = false;
+      _emitObject(e, result, visiting);
+    }
+
+    result.add(isList ? ']' : '}');
+    visiting.removeLast();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Appends a string representing the specified object to the specified
+   * string buffer. If the object is a [Collection] or [Map], it is formatted
+   * as per [collectionToString] or [mapToString]; otherwise, it is formatted
+   * by invoking its own [toString] method.
+   *
+   * The [:visiting:] list contains references to all of the enclosing
+   * collections and maps (which are currently in the process of being
+   * emitted into [:result:]). The [:visiting:] parameter allows this method
+   * to generate a [:'[...]':] or [:'{...}':] where required. In other words,
+   * it allows this method and [_emitCollection] to identify recursive maps
+   * and collections.
+   */
+  static void _emitObject(Object o, StringBuffer result, List visiting) {
+    if (o is Collection) {
+      if (_containsRef(visiting, o)) {
+        result.add(o is List ? '[...]' : '{...}');
+      } else {
+        _emitCollection(o, result, visiting);
+      }
+    } else if (o is Map) {
+      if (_containsRef(visiting, o)) {
+        result.add('{...}');
+      } else {
+        Maps._emitMap(o, result, visiting);
+      }
+    } else { // o is neither a collection nor a map
+      result.add(o);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns true if the specified collection contains the specified object
+   * reference.
+   */
+  static _containsRef(Collection c, Object ref) {
+    for (var e in c) {
+      if (e === ref) return true;
+    }
+    return false;
+  }
 }