check-types.js

A tiny JavaScript library for checking arguments and throwing exceptions.

• Why would I want that?
• How tiny is it?
• How do I install it?
• How do I use it?
  • Loading the library
  • Calling the exported functions
    • String functions
    • Number functions
    • Function functions
    • Array functions
    • Date functions
    • Object functions
    • Modifiers
    • Batch operations
    • Some examples
• What changed from 0.x to 1.x?
• How do I set up the build environment?
• What license is it released under?

Why would I want that?

Writing explicit conditions in your functions for checking arguments and throwing exceptions is a task that swiftly becomes tiresome and adds complexity to your codebase.

The purpose of check-types.js is to remove this burden from JavaScript application developers in an efficient and robust manner, abstracted by a simple API.

How tiny is it?

11.9 kb unminified with comments, 2.7 kb minified, 1 kb minified + gzipped.

How do I install it?

Any of the following will do:

npm install check-types

jam install check-types

bower install check-types

component install philbooth/check-types.js

git clone git@github.com:philbooth/check-types.js.git

How do I use it?

Loading the library

If you are running in Node.js, Browserify or another CommonJS-style environment, you can require check-types.js like so:

var check = require('check-types');

It also the supports the AMD-style format preferred by Require.js:

require.config({
    paths: {
        check: 'check-types.js/src/check-types'
    }
});

require([ 'check' ], function (check) {
});

If you are including check-types.js with an HTML <script> tag, or neither of the above environments are detected, check-types.js will just export its interface globally as check.

Calling the exported functions

Once you have loaded the library in your application, a whole bunch of functions are available to call.

For the most part, the exported functions are broadly split into four types.

• check.xxx(thing): These functions are predicates, returning true or false depending on the type and value of thing.

• check.maybe.xxx(thing): The maybe modifier returns true if thing is null or undefined, otherwise it returns the result of the equivalent predicate.

• check.not.xxx(thing): The not modifier negates a predicate, returning true if the predicate returns false and false if the predicate returns true.

• check.verify.xxx(thing, message): The verify modifier calls the equivalent predicate and throws an Error if the result is false. It can also be applied to maybe and not modifiers using the form check.verify.maybe.xxx(thing, message) or check.verify.not.xxx(thing, message) respectively.

Additionally, there are some batch operations that allow you to test maps of many predicates at once. These are implemented by check.map, check.any and check.every.

String functions

• check.string(thing): Returns true if thing is a string, false otherwise.

• check.unemptyString(thing): Returns true if thing is a non-empty string, false otherwise.

• check.webUrl(thing): Returns true if thing is an HTTP or HTTPS URL, false otherwise.

• check.gitUrl(thing): Returns true if thing is a git+ssh, git+http or git+https URL, false otherwise.

• check.length(thing, value): Returns true if thing has a length property that equals value, false otherwise.

Number functions

• check.number(thing): Returns true if thing is a number, false otherwise. In this case, NaN is not considered a number.

• check.positiveNumber(thing): Returns true if thing is a number greater than zero, false otherwise.

• check.negativeNumber(thing): Returns true if thing is a number less than zero, false otherwise.

• check.oddNumber(thing): Returns true if thing is an odd number, false otherwise.

• check.evenNumber(thing): Returns true if thing is an even number, false otherwise.

Function functions

• check.fn(thing): Returns true if thing is a function, false otherwise.

Array functions

• check.array(thing): Returns true if thing is an array, false otherwise.

• check.length(thing, value): Returns true if thing has a length property that equals value, false otherwise.

Date functions

• check.date(thing): Returns true if thing is a date, false otherwise.

Object functions

• check.object(thing): Returns true if thing is a non-null, non-array, non-date object, false otherwise.

• check.emptyObject(thing): Returns true if thing is an empty object, false otherwise.

• check.instance(thing, prototype): Returns true if thing is an instance of prototype, false otherwise.

• check.like(thing, duck): Duck-typing checker. Returns true if thing has all of the properties of duck, false otherwise. If either argument is not an object, an exception is thrown.

Modifiers

• check.maybe.xxx(...): Returns true if thing is null or undefined, otherwise it propagates the return value from its predicate.

• check.verify.xxx(...) / check.verify.maybe.xxx(...): Throws an Error if the predicate returns false. The last argument is an optional message to be set on the Error instance.

Batch operations

• check.map(things, functions): Maps each predicate from the functions object to the corresponding value from things, returning the hash of results. Similar to like but using functions instead of values. Supports nested objects.

• check.every(predicateResults): Returns true if all properties of the predicateResults object are true, false otherwise.

• check.any(predicateResults): Returns true is any property of the predicateResults object is true, false otherwise.

Some examples

check.object(0);
// Returns false

check.maybe.object(null);
// Returns true

check.not.object(0);
// Returns true

check.verify.like({}, { foo: 'bar' }, 'Invalid object');
// Throws new Error('Invalid object')

check.verify.maybe.like(undefined, { foo: 'bar' }, 'Invalid object');
// Doesn't throw

check.verify.not.like({}, { foo: 'bar' }, 'Invalid object');
// Doesn't throw

check.map({
    foo: 2,
    bar: {
        baz: 'qux'
    }
}, {
    foo: check.oddNumber,
    bar: {
        baz: check.unemptyString
    }
});
// Returns { foo: false, bar: { baz: true } }

check.every(
    check.map({
        foo: 0,
        bar: ''
    }, {
        foo: check.number,
        bar: check.unemptyString
    })
);
// Returns false

check.any(
    check.map({
        foo: 0,
        bar: ''
    }, {
        foo: check.number,
        bar: check.unemptyString
    })
);
// Returns true

What changed from 0.x to 1.x?

Breaking changes were made to the API in version 1.0.0.

Specifically, all of the predicates were renamed from check.isXxxx to check.xxx and all of the verifiers were renamed from check.verifyXxxx to check.verify.xxx.

See the history for more details.

How do I set up the build environment?

The build environment relies on Node.js, NPM, JSHint, Mocha, Chai and UglifyJS. Assuming that you already have Node.js and NPM set up, you just need to run npm install to install all of the dependencies as listed in package.json.

The unit tests are in test/check-types.js. You can run them with the command npm test. To run the tests in a web browser, open test/check-types.html.

What license is it released under?

MIT