186 lines
		
	
	
		
			5.6 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			Markdown
		
	
	
	
	
	
			
		
		
	
	
			186 lines
		
	
	
		
			5.6 KiB
		
	
	
	
		
			Markdown
		
	
	
	
	
	
# 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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