entityJS

what is

entityJS is data modeling framework for JSON.

usage

1. simple sample

JSON

{
  "name":"hika",
  "age":18
}

Model Simple value model using value series function.

class Member extends Entity{
  name = stringValue();
  age = numberValue();
}

Use

const member = new Member();
member.parse({
  "name":"hika",
  "age":18
});

//or

const member = (new Member()).parse({
  "name":"hika",
  "age":18
});

//------------------
console.log(member.name); //hika
console.log(member.age); //18

2. array and object

using List, Map series Function

class Remember extends Entity{
  friends = stringList();
  lotto = numberMap();
}

const remember = (new Remember).parse({
  "friends":["hika", "easy"],
  "lotto":{"num1":1, "num2":2, "num3":3, "num4":4, "num5":5, "num6":6}
});

3. composited strcuture

using entity, entityList, entityMap

class Partner extends Entity{
  name = stringValue();
}
class Member extends Entity{
  name = stringValue();
  age = numberValue();
  partners = entityList(Partner);
}
const member = (new Member).parse({
    name:"hika",
    age:18,
    partners:[
        {name:"jidolstar"},
        {name:"easy"}
    ]
});

4. default value

If there is a default value, the parsing will pass even if there is no corresponding property in the json. Therefore, you can think of the default value as a kind of optional field declaration for parsing.

class Member extends Entity{
  name = stringValue().default("hika");
  age = numberValue();
}

const member = (new Member).parse({ //There is no name field in json
  age:18
}); // but parsing ok!

member.name == "hika"
member.age == 18

5. validator

Validation can be set precisely for each field, and it is applied when directly entering a value in a property or parsing from json.

class Member extends Entity{

  name = stringValue()
           .default("hika")
           .validation(name=> 3 < name.length && name.length < 20); //4 ~ 19 characters
           
  age = numberValue().validation(age=> 9 < age && age < 20); //teenager
}

const member = (new Member).parse({
  name:"ted", //invalid
  age:9 //invalid
}); // throw exception

const member = (new Member).parse({
  name:"teds", //valid
  age:12 //valid
}); //parsing ok

6. decorator

Without changing the value of the actual field, you can do extra work when you get it with get.

class Member extends Entity{
  name = stringValue()
           .default("hika")
           .validation(name=> 3 < name.length && name.length < 20)
           .decorator(name=>"**" + name + "**"); //set decorator
           
  age = numberValue().validation(age=> 9 < age && age < 20);
}

const member = (new Member).parse({
  name:"hika",
  age:12
});

member.name == "**hika**" //decorated!

7. union type

In practice, json is often in the form of a or b. In particular, it is common for a and b to have shared fields. To handle this, define the abstract type of a and b to define a common field, and define a and b by inheriting it. This is called a union type.

//backend developers
{
  "name":"hika",
  "age":18,
  "part":"backend",
  "languages":["java", "kotlin"],
  "framework":"spring",
  "database":"mysql"
}
//frontend developers
{
  "name":"hika",
  "age":18,
  "part":"frontend",
  "languages":["js", "ts"],
  "view":"react",
  "state":"redux"
}

In the example above, the developers has 'name', 'age', and 'languages' as shared fields. However, backend developers have 'framework' and 'database', and front-end developers have 'view' and 'state'. This can be effectively modeled as follows.

1 'part' is determined as an enum.

const PART = new Enum("backend", "frontend");

2 Collect the shared fields to define the abstract type 'Developer'.

class Developer extends Entity{
  name = stringValue();
  age = numberValue();
  part = enumValue(PART);
  languages = stringList();
}

3 Define 'Backend' and 'Frontend' by extending 'Developer'.

class Backend extends Developer{
  framework = stringValue();
  database = stringValue();
}
class Frontend extends Developer{
  view = stringValue();
  state = stringValue();
}

4 Declare Union.

Entity.union(Developer, Backend, Frontend)

• The first parameter becomes an abstract type, followed by concrete classes. According to the order of concrete classes, it is judged first when parsing.

5 Parsing through static method of abstract class.

const dev1 = Developer.parse({
  "name":"hika",
  "age":18,
  "part":"backend",
  "languages":["java", "kotlin"],
  "framework":"spring",
  "database":"mysql"
});

dev1 instanceof Backend == true

const dev2 = Developer.parse({
  "name":"hika",
  "age":18,
  "part":"frontend",
  "languages":["js", "ts"],
  "view":"react",
  "state":"redux"
});

dev2 instanceof Frontend == true

A cleaner implementation is possible because it can branch through exact type matching without understanding the shape of json based on the value or existence of a specific field.

//other system - field level branch
if(entity.field === undefined)
if(entity.field === specialValue)

//entityJS - type level branch
switch(true){
  case entity instanceof Frontend:{
    ...
  }
  case entity instanceof Backend:{
    ...
  }
}

addtional content

• NPM https://www.npmjs.com/package/@entityjs/entityjs

Blog Post(Korean)

• entityJS 1
• entityJS 2
• entityJS 3

license

MIT