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# ts-interface-checker |
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[](https://travis-ci.org/gristlabs/ts-interface-checker) |
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[](https://badge.fury.io/js/ts-interface-checker) |
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> Runtime library to validate data against TypeScript interfaces. |
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This package is the runtime support for validators created by |
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[ts-interface-builder](https://github.com/gristlabs/ts-interface-builder). |
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It allows validating data, such as parsed JSON objects received |
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over the network, or parsed JSON or YAML files, to check if they satisfy a |
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TypeScript interface, and to produce informative error messages if they do not. |
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## Installation |
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```bash |
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npm install --save-dev ts-interface-builder |
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npm install --save ts-interface-checker |
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``` |
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## Usage |
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Suppose you have a TypeScript file defining an interface: |
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```typescript |
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// foo.ts |
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interface Square { |
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size: number; |
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color?: string; |
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} |
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``` |
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The first step is to generate some code for runtime checks: |
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```bash |
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`npm bin`/ts-interface-builder foo.ts |
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``` |
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It produces a file like this: |
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```typescript |
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// foo-ti.js |
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import * as t from "ts-interface-checker"; |
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export const Square = t.iface([], { |
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"size": "number", |
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"color": t.opt("string"), |
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}); |
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... |
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``` |
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Now at runtime, to check if a value satisfies the Square interface: |
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```typescript |
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import fooTI from "./foo-ti"; |
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import {createCheckers} from "ts-interface-checker"; |
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const {Square} = createCheckers(fooTI); |
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Square.check({size: 1}); // OK |
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Square.check({size: 1, color: "green"}); // OK |
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Square.check({color: "green"}); // Fails with "value.size is missing" |
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Square.check({size: 4, color: 5}); // Fails with "value.color is not a string" |
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``` |
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Note that `ts-interface-builder` is only needed for the build-time step, and |
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`ts-interface-checker` is needed at runtime. That's why the recommendation is to npm-install the |
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former using `--save-dev` flag and the latter using `--save`. |
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## Checking method calls |
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If you have an interface with methods, you can validate method call arguments and return values: |
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```typescript |
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// greet.ts |
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interface Greeter { |
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greet(name: string): string; |
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} |
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``` |
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After generating the runtime code, you can now check calls like: |
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```typescript |
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import greetTI from "./greet-ti"; |
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import {createCheckers} from "ts-interface-checker"; |
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const {Greeter} = createCheckers(greetTI); |
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Greeter.methodArgs("greet").check(["Bob"]); // OK |
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Greeter.methodArgs("greet").check([17]); // Fails with "value.name is not a string" |
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Greeter.methodArgs("greet").check([]); // Fails with "value.name is missing" |
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Greeter.methodResult("greet").check("hello"); // OK |
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Greeter.methodResult("greet").check(null); // Fails with "value is not a string" |
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``` |
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## Type suites |
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If one type refers to a type defined in another file, you need to tell the interface checker about |
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all type names when you call `createCheckers()`. E.g. given |
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```typescript |
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// color.ts |
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export type Color = RGB | string; |
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export type RGB = [number, number, number]; |
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``` |
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```typescript |
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// shape.ts |
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import {Color} from "./color"; |
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export interface Square { |
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size: number; |
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color?: Color; |
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} |
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``` |
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the produced files `color-ti.ts` and `shape-ti.ts` do not automatically refer to each other, but |
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expect you to relate them in `createCheckers()` call: |
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```typescript |
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import color from "./color-ti"; |
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import shape from "./shape-ti"; |
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import {createCheckers} from "ts-interface-checker"; |
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const {Square} = createCheckers(shape, color); // Pass in all required type suites. |
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Square.check({size: 1, color: [255,255,255]}); |
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``` |
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## Strict checking |
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You may check that data contains no extra properties. Note that it is not generally recommended as |
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it this prevents backward compatibility: if you add new properties to an interface, then older |
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code with strict checks will not accept them. |
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Following on the example above: |
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```typescript |
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Square.strictCheck({size: 1, color: [255,255,255], bg: "blue"}); // Fails with value.bg is extraneous |
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Square.strictCheck({size: 1, color: [255,255,255,0.5]}); // Fails with ...value.color[3] is extraneous |
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``` |
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## Type guards |
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Standard `Checker` objects do the type checking logic, but are unable to make the TypeScript |
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compiler aware that an object of `unknown` type implements a certain interface. |
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Basic code: |
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```typescript |
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const unk: unknown = {size: 1, color: "green"}; |
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// Type is unknown, so TypeScript will not let you access the members. |
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console.log(unk.size); // Error: "Object is of type 'unknown'" |
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``` |
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With a `Checker` available: |
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```typescript |
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import fooTI from "./foo-ti"; |
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import {createCheckers} from "ts-interface-checker"; |
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const {Square} = createCheckers(fooTI); |
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const unk: unknown = {size: 1, color: "green"}; |
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if (Square.test(unk)) { |
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// unk does implement Square, but TypeScript is not aware of it. |
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console.log(unk.size); // Error: "Object is of type 'unknown'" |
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} |
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``` |
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To enable type guard functionality on the existing `test`, and `strictTest` functions, `Checker` |
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objects should be cast to `CheckerT<>` using the appropriate type. |
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Using `CheckerT<>`: |
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```typescript |
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import {Square} from "./foo"; |
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import fooTI from "./foo-ti"; |
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import {createCheckers, CheckerT} from "ts-interface-checker"; |
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const {Square} = createCheckers(fooTI) as {Square: CheckerT<Square>}; |
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const unk: unknown = {size: 1, color: "green"}; |
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if (Square.test(unk)) { |
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// TypeScript is now aware that unk implements Square, and allows member access. |
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console.log(unk.size); |
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} |
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``` |
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## Type assertions |
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`CheckerT<>` will eventually support type assertions using the `check` and `strictCheck` functions, |
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however, this feature is not yet fully working in TypeScript. |
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