Validall

Advanced javaScript schema validator written with typescript.

Installation

npm install @pestras/validall

Class Validall

To create a schema, we can instantiate Vaildall in two ways:

import { Validall } from "Validall";

let schema = new Validall('schemaName', {
  // schema definition
});

// or

let schema = new Validall({
  // schema defintion
});

Giving schema a name, gives the ablity to reference that schema in other schema for reusebility.

Schema Definition

Schema is built up through various operators that simulates each specific case.

Operators can be categorized by their behavior or type:

Basic Operators:

$required: boolean

Marks the field as required.

let schema = new Validall({
  username: { $required: true },
  password: { $required: true },
});

console.log(schema.validate({})); // false
console.log(schema.error.message); // 'username' is required

So if the username or the password is undefined, Validall will return false value with a proper error message of failure.

$nullable: boolean

Marks the field as nullable.

let schema = new Validall({
  birthdate: { $nullable: true },
});

let user = {}

console.log(schema.validate(user)); // true
console.log(user); // { birthdate: null }

When the nullable field is undefined, Validall will sets its value to null.

$default: any

Sets the field with the provided value when undefined.

let schema = new Validall({
  value: { $default: '' },
});

let input = {}

console.log(schema.validate(input)); // true
console.log(input); // { value: '' }

Also $default will be applied when the provided value is an empty string and the $type operator was set to 'string' as well.

let schema = new Validall({
  description: { $type: 'string', $default: 'none' },
});

let input = { description: '' }

console.log(schema.validate(input)); // true
console.log(input); // { description: 'none' }

$default operator accepts special keywords for specific values:

  • '$now':

    When default value set to '$now', then assign value will be the current date instance, however it can accept modifiers to make it a string, ISOString or timestamp

    let schema = new Validall({
  birthdate: { $default: '$now' } // new Date()
  // or
  birthdate: { $default: '$now string' } // new Date().toLocaleDateString()
  // or
  birthdate: { $default: '$now number' } // new Date().getTime()
  // or
  birthdate: { $default: '$now iso' } // new Date().toISOString()
});

  • '$':

    Assign the current field with the same value of the givin field path form the input object.

    let schema = new Validall({
  name: { $default: '$username' }
});

let user = { username: 'myusername' }
schema.validate(user);

console.log(user) // { username: 'myusername', name: 'myusername' }

Note: when using $default operator with $type operator, the default value must match the type given otherwise schema validation will fail on instantiation.

// the following will throw an error with a message 'invalid 'id.$default' argument type: (string: 0), expected to be of type (number)'
let schema = new Validall({
  id: { $type: 'number' $default: '0' }
});

This also applies when using reference path as a default value or $now keyword.

// the following will throw an error with a message 'invalid 'id.$default' argument type: (string: 0), expected to be of type (number)'
let schema = new Validall({
  id: { $type: 'number' $default: '$serial' }
});

console.log(schema.validate({ serial: '123' })); // false
console.log(schema.error.message) // "invalid default value type passed to 'id'"

In case we want Validall to ignore default value type check, adding { $checkDefaultType: false } as a sibling to $default operator will do the trick.

$message: string

Validall accepts custom messages for each validation segment.

let schema = new Validall({
  name: { $type: 'string', $message: 'invalidName' }
});

console.log(schema.validate({ name: 123 })); // false
console.log(schema.error.message); // 'invalidName'

$message can be a template that support three keywords path, input and inputType to provide more details when needed.

let schema = new Validall({
  profile: {
    name: { $type: 'string', $message: 'invalid input, path: {{path}}, input value: ({{inputType}}: {{input}})' }
  }
});

console.log(schema.validate({ name: 123 })); // false
console.log(schema.error.message); // 'invalid input, path: profile.name, input value: (number: 123)'

Equality Operators:

$equals: any

Compares the current value with one provided.

let schema = new Validall({
  age: { $equals: 25 }
});

$equalsRef: string

Compares the current value with the provided referenced value.

let schema = new Validall({
  repassword: { $equalsRef: 'password' }
});

console.log(schema.validate({ password: 123, repassword: 123 })); // true

Numerics Operaotrs:

$gt: number

Checks whether current value larger than the provided one.

let schema = new Validall({
  age: { $gt: 25 }
});

$gtRef: string

Checks whether current value larger than the provided reference value.

let schema = new Validall({
  value1: { $gtRef: 'value2' }
});

console.log(schema.validate({ value1: 10, value2: 5 })); // true

$gte: number

Checks whether current value larger than or equals to the provided one.

let schema = new Validall({
  age: { $gte: 25 }
});

$gteRef: string

Checks whether current value larger than or equals to the provided reference value.

let schema = new Validall({
  value1: { $gteRef: 'value2' }
});

console.log(schema.validate({ value1: 10, value2: 10 })); // true

$lt: number

Checks whether current value less than the provided one.

let schema = new Validall({
  age: { $lt: 25 }
});

$ltRef: string

Checks whether current value less than the provided reference value.

let schema = new Validall({
  value1: { $ltRef: 'value2' }
});

console.log(schema.validate({ value1: 5, value2: 10 })); // true

$lte: number

Checks whether current value less than or equals to the provided one.

let schema = new Validall({
  age: { $lte: 25 }
});

$lteRef: string

Checks whether current value less than or equals to the provided reference value.

let schema = new Validall({
  value1: { $lteRef: 'value2' }
});

console.log(schema.validate({ value1: 10, value2: 10 })); // true

$inRange: [number, number]

Checks whether current value in range between specific values.

let schema = new Validall({
  age: { $inRange: [12, 18] }
});

Note: 12 and 18 are considered in range as well.

Types & Patterns Operators:

$type: typeOptions

Checks whether the current value type matches the one provided.

let schema = new Validall({
  // Only Date instances are accepted
  createDate: { $type: 'date' }
});

$type operator currently supports the following types options:

  • number
  • int
  • float
  • string
  • boolean
  • primitive: combination of (number, boolean, string)
  • date
  • regexp
  • function
  • object
  • array

For array specific types, we can combine $type operator with $each or $tuple operator, more on that later.

$is: isOptions

Checks whether the current value matched the provided option prebuilt pattern.

let schema = new Validall({
  // valid (Date, string or number) dates are accepted
  createDate: { $is: 'date' }  
});

console.log(schema.validate({ createDate: '5-8-2021' })); // true

$is operator currently supports the following options:

  • name: alphabetical space seperated strings
  • email: checks for valid emails
  • url: checks for valid urls
  • notEmpty: checks for not (empty strings, empty arrays or empty objects)
  • number: any thing that can be converted to a number.
  • date: Date, string date or number date

Using one of ('name', 'email', 'url' ) values will throw error on empty strings unless we add { $default: '' } as a sibling operator;

$regex: RegExp

Test the current value with the provided Regexp.

let schema = new Validall({
  password: { $regex: /[a-zA-Z0-9\-\$@&\!]{8,}/g }  
});

$instanceof: Function | class

Checks Whether the current value is instance of the provided constructor.

class Article {}

let schema = new Validall({
  article: { $instanceof: Article }  
});

$enum: (number | string)[]

Make sure the current value is one or the provided list.

let schema = new Validall({
  role: { $enum: ['Admin', 'Author', 'Viewer'] }
  // or with numbers
  value: { $enum: [10, 12, 15, 18] }
});

Dates Operators:

$on: Date | string | number

Checks whether the current date is the same as the one provided.

let schema = new Validall({
  createDate: { $on: new Date(2020, 8, 5) }
  // or with string date
  createDate: { $on: '9-5-2020' }
  // or with timestamp
  createDate: { $on: 1599253200000 }
});

Invalid input date will throw error the time of instantiation.

$onRef: string

Checks whether the current date is the same as the provided reference value.

let schema = new Validall({
  createDate: { $onRef: 'updateDate' }
});

$before: Date | string | number

Checks whether the current date is before the one provided.

let schema = new Validall({
  createDate: { $before: new Date(2020, 8, 5) }
  // or with string date
  createDate: { $before: '9-5-2020' }
  // or with timestamp
  createDate: { $before: 1599253200000 }
});

Invalid input date will throw error the time of instantiation.

$beforeRef: string

Checks whether the current date is before the provided reference value.

let schema = new Validall({
  createDate: { $beforeRef: 'updateDate' }
});

$after: Date | string | number

Checks whether the current date is after the one provided.

let schema = new Validall({
  createDate: { $after: new Date(2020, 8, 5) }
  // or with string date
  createDate: { $after: '9-5-2020' }
  // or with timestamp
  createDate: { $after: 1599253200000 }
});

Invalid input date will throw error the time of instantiation.

$afterRef: string

Checks whether the current date is after the provided reference value.

let schema = new Validall({
  updateDate: { $afterRef: 'createDate' }
});

Objects Operaotrs:

$props: { [key: string]: ISchema }

Used to validate objects properties.

let schema = new Validall({
  contacts: {
    $props: {
      name: { $type: 'string' },
      mobile: { $tye: 'string', $is: 'number' },
      email: { $is: 'email' }
    }
  }
});

Actually the root object is nested inside $props operator implicitly, so the previous example can be rewritten as:

let schema = new Validall({
  // used explicitly
  $props: {
    contacts: {
      $props: {
        name: { $type: 'string' },
        mobile: { $tye: 'string', $is: 'number' },
        email: { $is: 'email' }
      }
    }
  }
});

We can use other operators at the root level instead of $props.

$paths: { [key: string]: ISchema }

It provides the same functionality as props operator, however it can jump to nested propertes directly.

let schema = new Validall({
  // used as rool operator instead of $props
  $paths: {
    'work.contacts.name': { $type: 'string' },
    'work.contacts.tel': { $type: 'string', $is: 'number' },
    'work.contacts.email': { $is: 'email' }
  }
});

$map: ISchema

Used to validate map or hashMaps where keys are unknown but values should follow the schema.

let schema = new Validall({
  // used as rool operator instead of $props
  $map: {
    // each value ot the map is a document with some properties
    $props: {
      title: { $type: 'string' $required: true },
      content: { $type: 'string', $default: '' },
      createDate: { $is: 'date', $default: 'Date.now number' }
    }
  }
});

$size: number | INumericOperators

Validates objects sizes.

let schema = new Validall({
  keyValueMap: {
    $map: { $type: 'string' },
    // restrict size to specific value
    $size: 10
    // or validate size
    $size: { $lt: 20 }
  }
});

$keys: IArrayOperators

Validate objects keys list.

let schema = new Validall({
  // restrict contacts object keys to only the following array, can have less.
  contacts: { $keys: { $in: ['name', 'email', 'mobile', 'address'] } }
});

$strict: boolean

Strict the object keys only to the keys that are defined in sibling $props operator, any more key will make the validation fali.

let schema = new Validall({
  $strict: true,
  $props: {
    name: { $is: 'name' },
    email: { $is: 'email' }
  }
});

schema.validate({
  name: 'John',
  email: 'john@there.com',
  // this will cause validation to fail
  mobile: '468446743'
});

console.log(schema.error.message); // "'mobile' field is not allowed"

Note: Using $strict with no $props operator, will throw an error the time of instantiation.

$filter: boolean

filter object keys to match the keys that are defined in sibling $props operator.

let schema = new Validall({
  $filter: true,
  $props: {
    name: { $is: 'name' },
    email: { $is: 'email' }
  }
});

let user = {
  name: 'John',
  email: 'john@there.com',
  // this will be filtered
  mobile: '468446743'
}

schema.validate(user);

console.log(user); // { name: 'John', email 'john@there.com' }

Note: Using $filter with no $props operator, will throw an error the time of instantiation.

Arrays Operators:

$each: ISchema

Validate each element in the input array.

let schema = new Validall({
  // used os the root operator instead of $props
  $each: {
    $props: {
      name: { $is: 'name' },
      email: { $is: 'email' }
    }
  }
});

schema.validate([{
    name: 'John',
    email: 'john@there.com'
  }, {
    name: 'David',
    email: 'david@there.com'
  }, {
    name: 'Sam',
    email: 'sam@there.com'
}]);

$tuple: ISchema[]

Validate each element in the input array by the corresponding schema with same index.

let schema = new Validall({
  // used os the root operator instead of $props
  $tuple: [
    { $type: 'string' },
    { $type: 'number' }
  ]
});

schema.validate(["John", 35]);

$tuple checks for array length that must match its length implicitly.

$length: number | INumericOperators

Validates arrays length.

let schema = new Validall({
  $each: {
    $props: {
      name: { $is: 'name' },
      email: { $is: 'email' }
    }
  },
  // restrict length to specific value
  $length: 10,
  // or validate length
  $length: { $naRange: [5, 20] }
});

$intersects: (string | number)[]

Makes sure the input array share at least on value with giving list.

let schame = new Schema({
  activites: { $intersects: ['swimming', 'hiking', 'sleeping'] }
});

$in: (string | number)[]

Makes sure the input array has no value out of the giving list.

let schame = new Schema({
  roles: { $in: ['admin', 'author', 'viewer'] }
});

Logical Operators:

$not:

Some operator can be inverted to match the opposite case.

let schema = new Validall({
  username: { $not: { equals: '' } },
  // do not share any value
  roles: { $not: { $intersects: ['admin', 'author'] } },
  // out of range
  age: { $not: { $inRange: [25, 32] } }
});

$not operator can only neglect the folloeing operators:

  • $equals
  • $equalsRef
  • $inRange
  • $intersects
  • $on
  • $onRef
  • $instanceof
  • $regex
  • $alias

$and:

The default behavior in Validall is the && checking, however some times we need to explicitly use that to seperate messages or group validations.

let schema = new Validall({
  // if name was not a string or not even provided then the same message will be outputed
  name: { $type: 'string', $required: true, $message: 'invalid name' }
  // different message for each case
  name: { $and: [
    { $type: 'sring', $message: 'name must be string' },
    { $required: true, $message: 'name is required' }
  ]}
});

$or:

As the name suggests, when any case passes, jumps to the next validation block.

let schema = new Validall({
  id: { $or: [{ $type: 'string' }, { $type: 'number' }] }
});

$xor:

Allows just one case to pass but not the others

let schema = new Validall({
  roles: { $xor: [{ $in: ['admin', 'author'] }, { $in: 'subscriber', 'viewer' }] }
});

$nor:

Returns true when one of the cases pass.

let schema = new Validall({
  roles: { $nor: [{ $intersects: ['admin', 'author'] }, { $length: { $gt: 1 } }] }
});

Conditional Operators:

$cond:

Sometimes we need to validate some cases depending on some other cases existance.

let schema = new Validall({
  type: { $enum: ['company', 'professional', 'student'] },
  contacts: {
    email: { $is: 'email' },
    mobile: { $type: 'string', $is: 'number' }
    // address is required only when type is 'company'
    address: {
      $type: 'string',
      $cond: [
        { $if: { $props: { type: { $equals: 'company' } } }, $then: { $required: true } },
        { $else: { $default: '' } }
      ]
    }
  }
});

Note: $if operator always has the root scope whereas then and else are local scoped.

We can simplify condition using $name and alias operators, more on that later on.

Referencial Operators:

$ref: string

Validall schemas can reference other schemas for reusability.

new Validall('Contacts', {
  email: { $type: 'string', $is: 'email' },
  mobile: { $type: 'string', $is: 'number' }
  address: { $type: 'string' }
});

let schema = new Validall({
  name: { $type: 'string', $is: 'name' },
  contacts: { $ref: 'Contacts' }
});

Notes:

  • Referencing undefined schema will throw an error on instantiation level.
  • Validators cannot reference each other, otherwise with throw an error on instantiation level as well.

We can get our named validators at any time to use them indivdualy in other places as follows:

new Validall('Contacts', {
  email: { $type: 'string', $is: 'email' },
  mobile: { $type: 'string', $is: 'number' }
  address: { $type: 'string' }
});

// somewhere else
let vContacts = Validall.Get('Contacts');

vContacts.validate({
  // some input
});

$name & $alias:

Using conditions can make schemas very complex to read and with lots of repeated validation segments.

Validall provides the abiity to store validation state for each block or segment, so we can reference it in condition or logical operators later.

let schema = new Validall({
  name: { $type: 'string', $is: 'name' },
  // can be done in two ways ----------------------------------------
  type: { $or: [{ $equals: 'company', $name: 'company' }, { $equals: 'individual', $name: 'individual' }],
  // or
  type: { 
    $enum: ['company', 'individual'], $name: [
      // we can assign the first elment with a string to reference the whole block, however it would be useless in this current expample
      { $equals: 'company', as: 'company' },
      { $equals: 'individual', as: 'individual' }
    ] 
  }
  // ----------------------------------------
  contacts: {
    $props: {
      email: { $is: 'email' },
      mobile: { $is: 'number' },
      address: {
        $cond: [{ $if: 'company', $then: { $required: true } }, { $else: { $default: '' } }],
      }
    }
  }
});

$alias operator reference the $name operator explicitly, to make it usable with other operators or validations.

So the previous condition can be written in another way:

{
  // ...
  contancts: {
    $props: {
      email: { $is: 'email' },
      mobile: { $is: 'number' },
      address: { $xor: [{ $alias: 'individual' }, { $required: true }]}
    }
  }
}

Modifiers Operators:

$to: toOptions[]

We can modify the input data in some ways using $to or $cast operators

{
  username: { $type: 'string', $to: ['trim', 'lowercase'] }
}

to supports the following options:

  • lowercase: lowercase all the characters in a string.
  • uppercase: capitalize all the characters in a string.
  • capitalizeFirst: capitalize only the first character in a string.
  • capitalizeFirstAll: capitalize the first character in each string separated by a space.
  • trim: trim white space from the start and the end of a string and any repeated space in the middle.
  • path: cleans a path from duplicated or repeated slashes also remove any end slashes and any unnecessary '../' in the middle of the path.

$cast:

Changes the type of the current input.

{
  active: { $cast: 'boolean' }
}

$cast operator supports the follwing options:

  • number: can be casted from strings and booleans.
  • string: can be casted from numbers, booleans, dates, regexp, and functions, however objects and arrays will be converted to json string.
  • boolean: can be casted from any value.
  • date: can be casted from numbers and strings.
  • regexp: can bes casted from number, strings and booleans.
  • array: can be casted from any single value.

Note that $cast operator detects whether $is operator is a sibling, that will help in some cases, for instance:

{
  // when the input is a string date $cast will try to convert string in a normal way as Number(value) or +value
  date: { $cast: 'number' },

  // when providing $is: 'date', $cast will change behavior to new Date(value).getTime()
  date: { $cast: 'number' $is: 'date' }
}

Logging

Validall provides the options to log messages for debuging purpose.
Validall uses default console utility class for logging, to change that we can use SetLogger static method of Validall.

const PROD = process.env.NODE_ENV === 'production

// the second argument used to disable logging for production builds  
Validall.SetLogger(customLogger, PROD);

Logger must implements core logging methods to be accepted: debug, log, info, warn, error;

To use the log utility Validall provides the $log operator to do the job.

const schema = new Validall({
  name: { $type: 'string', $requred: true, $message: 'nameRequired', $log: 'input: {{input}}' }
});

schema.validate(someObject);

// console output
// Validall debug:
// input: some value
// inputPath: name

The default log mode is debug to change that we use the $logMode operator passing the required mode as string.

const schema = new Validall({
  name: { $type: 'string', $requred: true, $message: 'nameRequired', $log: ['input], $logMode: 'info' }
})

schema.validate(someObject);

// console output
// Validall info:
// input: some value
// inputPath: name

The following are the values that can be logged in each validation block:

'currentInput' | 'input' | 'schema' | 'localPath' | 'inputPath' | 'parentOperator' | 'negateMode' | 'aliasStates'

Please if any bugs found, create an issue in github.

Thank you.