The pretty-format npm package is a JavaScript library that allows you to serialize any JavaScript value into a string with a human-readable format. It is particularly useful for snapshot testing, where you want to compare the expected and actual output of your test cases.

What are pretty-format's main functionalities?

Pretty-printing of basic JavaScript types

This feature allows you to convert basic JavaScript types like objects, arrays, strings, numbers, etc., into a nicely formatted string.

const prettyFormat = require('pretty-format');
const value = { foo: 'bar', baz: 42 };
console.log(prettyFormat(value));

Customizing output with plugins

pretty-format supports plugins that can be used to customize the output for specific types of values, such as React elements.

const prettyFormat = require('pretty-format');
const ReactElementPlugin = require('pretty-format/plugins/ReactElement');
const reactElement = <div>Hello World</div>;
console.log(prettyFormat(reactElement, { plugins: [ReactElementPlugin] }));

Minimizing diff output

By using pretty-format in combination with a diffing library like jest-diff, you can minimize the output of diffs to make them easier to read and understand.

const prettyFormat = require('pretty-format');
const diff = require('jest-diff');
const oldValue = { a: 'old', b: 'values' };
const newValue = { a: 'new', b: 'values' };
const difference = diff(prettyFormat(oldValue), prettyFormat(newValue));
console.log(difference);

Other packages similar to pretty-format

Readme

Source

pretty-format

Stringify any JavaScript value.

Supports all built-in JavaScript types
Blazingly fast (similar performance to v8's JSON.stringify and significantly faster than Node's util.format)
Plugin system for extending with custom types (i.e. ReactTestComponent)

Installation

$ npm install pretty-format

Usage

var prettyFormat = require('pretty-format');

var obj = { property: {} };
obj.circularReference = obj;
obj[Symbol('foo')] = 'foo';
obj.map = new Map();
obj.map.set('prop', 'value');
obj.array = [1, NaN, Infinity];

console.log(prettyFormat(obj));

Result:

Object {
  "property": Object {},
  "circularReference": [Circular],
  "map": Map {
    "prop" => "value"
  },
  "array": Array [
    1,
    NaN,
    Infinity
  ],
  Symbol(foo): "foo"
}

Type Support

Object, Array, ArrayBuffer, DataView, Float32Array, Float64Array, Int8Array, Int16Array, Int32Array, Uint8Array, Uint8ClampedArray, Uint16Array, Uint32Array, arguments, Boolean, Date, Error, Function, Infinity, Map, NaN, null, Number, RegExp, Set, String, Symbol, undefined, WeakMap, WeakSet

Plugins

Pretty format also supports adding plugins:

var fooPlugin = {
  test: function(val) {
    return val && val.hasOwnProperty('foo');
  },
  print: function(val, print, indent) {
    return 'Foo: ' + print(val.foo);
  }
};

var obj = { foo: { bar: {} } };

prettyFormat(obj, {
  plugins: [fooPlugin]
});
// Foo: Object {
//   "bar": Object {}
// }

`ReactTestComponent` plugin

var prettyFormat = require('pretty-format');
var reactPlugin = require('pretty-format/plugins/ReactTestComponent');

var React = require('react');
var renderer = require('react/lib/ReactTestRenderer');

var jsx = React.createElement('h1', null, 'Hello World');

prettyFormat(renderer.create(jsx).toJSON(), {
  plugins: [reactPlugin]
});
// <h1>
//   Hello World
// </h1>

FAQs

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Last updated on 11 Sep 2016

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