types.js

types.js

A tiny (1.3kb), but essential Javascript type checking library.

Especially in non-typed scripting languages like Javascript, proper manual type checking is crucial. Unfortunately the Javascript typeof operator gives us in some cases vague clues about what type some value is. typeof [] renders 'object', even in strict mode! So if we want to know if some input is an 'object', we are constantly fooled by typeof returning 'object' for [], null and /regexp/. The latter return 'array', 'null' and 'regexp' respectively in types.js.

types.js treats NaN a little different. In Javascript NaN (Not A Number) is of type Number, and NaN === NaN returns false... For that I added nan to Type's type-definitions. Now you can test NaN with: Types.isNaN(NaN) or Types.typeof( parseInt('Not A Number!') ) === 'nan', both will return true.

Be careful with using types.js for variables created with new Number() or other non-literal type instantiations. No support for them, because I don't want to get 'number' on Types.typeof( new Number(10) ), as it actually is an object where you can add stuff to.

To give it a little more functionality, I've added support for multiple arguments so you can test for multiple values in one call.

For use with node.js you can install with npm install types.js

Basic usage:

isString and notString (and the other is and not-types) are useful for single argument type checking.

allString (and the other all-types) are useful for checking if all given arguments are of a certain type.

hasString (and the other has-types) are useful for checking if one or more arguments are of a certain type.

typeof Returns a lowercase string representation of the type of the argument value, according to types.js type-definitions.

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var _= Types;											// browser
var _= require( './types.min.js' );						// node.js

// comments reflect the result
_.isString( 'Hello types.js!' );						// true
_.isString( 23456 );									// false
_.isBoolean( false );									// true
_.isArray( [1,2,3] );									// true
_.isObject( [1,2,3] );									// false
_.isObject( /myRegExp/g );								// false
_.isNaN( parseInt('generate NaN') );					// true

_.notNull('');											// true
_.notUndefined( undefined );							// false


_.allString( '', " ", 'with text' );					// true
_.allString( '', ' ', 'with text', 123 );				// false
_.allStringOrNumber( '', ' ', 'with text', 123 );		// true
_.allObject( { key: 'nice' }, [], /regexp/ig );			// false
_.allArray( [1,2,3], [{}], new RegExp('stop') );		// false
_.allArray( [1,2,3], [{}], [false, true] );				// true

_.hasString( 123, { value: 'nice' }, ['?'] );			// false
_.hasStringOrNumber( [1,2], /reg/, 'true' )				// true
_.hasFunction( 123, { value: 'nice' }, function(){} );	// true
_.hasUndefined( 'render false!', 123, null );			// false
_.hasUndefined( 'render true!', 123, undefined );		// true

_.typeof( [1,2,3] );									// 'array'
_.typeof( null );										// 'null'
_.typeof( parseInt('generate NaN') );					// 'nan'
_.typeof( new Date() );									// 'date'
// etc..

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API

Types.typeof

<String> Types.typeof( value )

Returns a lowercase string representation of the type of value, according to types.js types. See all types.js type-definitions below.

Types.isBoolean

<Boolean> Types.isBoolean( value )

Returns true if the given argument is a Boolean true or false

Types.notBoolean

<Boolean> Types.isBoolean( value )

Returns true if the given argument is not a Boolean true or false

Types.hasBoolean

<Boolean> Types.hasBoolean( values, [value1, ..., valueN])

Returns true if any of the given arguments is a Boolean true or false

Types.allBoolean

<Boolean> Types.allBoolean( values, [value1, ..., valueN])

Returns true only if all given arguments are either a Boolean true or false

All remaining methods are equal to the last four above, except for that they differ in the type being checked. The complete list of all these methods:

not	is	has	all
notBoolean	isBoolean	hasBoolean	allBoolean
notString	isString	hasString	allString
notNumber	isNumber	hasNumber	allNumber
notStringOrNumber	isStringOrNumber	hasStringOrNumber	allStringOrNumber
notObject	isObject	hasObject	allObject
notArray	isArray	hasArray	allArray
notFunction	isFunction	hasFunction	allFunction
notRegexp	isRegexp	hasRegexp	allRegexp
notDate	isDate	hasDate	allDate
notNull	isNull	hasNull	allNull
notUndefined	isUndefined	hasUndefined	allUndefined
notNaN	isNaN	hasNaN	allNaN

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types.js type definitions:

'boolean', 'string', 'number', 'object', 'array', 'function', 'regexp', 'date', 'null', 'undefined', 'nan', 'unknown'