# Is there a "this" type reference in the expression language?

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-there-a-this-type-reference-in-the-expression-language/14757>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Created:** [July 11, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-there-a-this-type-reference-in-the-expression-language/14757 "2017-07-11T16:35:27Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
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**Author:** ![paul-griffith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/paul-griffith/32/37249_2.png) [@paul-griffith](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/paul-griffith)\
**Post date:** [July 11, 2017, 4:45pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/is-there-a-this-type-reference-in-the-expression-language/14757/2 "2017-07-11T16:45:32Z")

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There is not a way to do this within the expression language (might be good for [ideas.inductiveautomation.com](http://ideas.inductiveautomation.com)).

However, there is a workaround. I would caution that this can cause unnecessary CPU load, and so I would definitely recommend simply using a template. However, in an expression binding using `runScript`, `self` is available in the namespace. So: `runScript("self.name")` will return the name of the component that fired the expression.

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