@softeq/data-types

@softeq/data-types library introduces DataType concept, centralize and promotes work with similar primitive data.

Description

Developers often work with data like prices, percents, email strings, zip codes, dates (in different formats), etc.

Let's consider price. Price has associated behavior which should be the same in all application.
For example

• have locale-dependent formatting, like 1,234.87 (1,234 dollars and 87 cents)
• have the same constraints, like to be positive and less than 1,000,000

Formatting is important not only for displaying, but also for parsing of user input.

Besides price application can work with another data

• percents
• hours
• days
• email strings
• zip codes
• phone numbers
• dates in different formats
• etc

We can say that each element of this list define logical data type having associated

• formatting and parsing
• set of constraints
• and may be some other options

@softeq/data-types library introduces DataType concept that covers all set of operations for specific logical type.

DataType

This way DataType defines the following operations

• format to transform value to string according to the locale
• parse to transform string to value according to the locale
• validate to validate value if it satisfies set of constraints
• validateFormat to validate string if it can be converted to a value according to the locale
• equals to check whether two values are equal
• compare to check order of two values relative to each other

Embedded DataTypes

@softeq/data-types has the following embedded types:

• NumberType for numbers
• DateTimeType for Dates
• TextType for strings

Each of these types has own set of options (constraints, formats, violation messages, etc). To construct specific type developer can use one of available factory functions: numberType, dateTimeType, textType. Each factory function accepts DataTypeDefinition that describe options for corresponding type.

NumberType

The simplest NumberType

const SimplestNumberType = numberType();

More complex NumberType

const PriceType = numberType({
  format: {
    minimumFractionDigits: 2,
    maximumFractionDigits: 2,
  },
  constraints: {
    min: 0,
    max: 1000000,
  },
});

Here we have defined NumberType type which

• formats number with 2 digits in fractional part (formatting options, like grouping and number separators are defined by @softeq/mls implementation)
• validates that value >= 0
• validates that value <= 1000000

All possible options for numberType factory described on API page.

format

format transforms number to localized text number according to the provided format settings. PriceType always formats numbers with 2 fractional digits.

PriceType.format(1234.22);
// > 1,234.22
PriceType.format(1234);
// > 1,234.00
PriceType.format(1234.789);
// > 1,234.79

parse

parse allows to parse localized text number to number. For example in en-US locale

PriceType.parse('1,234.22').value
// > 1234.22

and in ru-RU locale

PriceType.parse('1 234,22').value
// > 1234.22

When text to be parsed has wrong format parse returns errors

PriceType.parse('1;234.22').errors
// > { $numberFormat: { value: '1;234.22' } }

validateFormat

validateFormat allows to check if text can be parsed to number. If format is right validateFormat returns undefined.

PriceType.validateFormat('1,234.22')
// > undefined

otherwise validateFormat returns set of errors

PriceType.validateFormat('1;234.22')
// > { $numberFormat: { value: '1;234.22' } }

validate

validate checks if number satisfies set of defined constraints. If value is valid, validate returns undefined

PriceType.validate(100);
// > undefined

otherwise validate returns set of errors

PriceType.validate(-100);
// > { min: { min: 0, includeMin: true, actual: -100 } }

equals

equals compares if two values are equal or not

PriceType.equals(1, 2);
// > false

compare

equals compares order of values relative to each other

PriceType.compare(1, 2);
// > -1

messages

To provide message support this library relies on @softeq/mls contract. Thus, this is a responsibility of @softeq/mls implementation to provide format and source of messages.

Developer can define violation messages for validations associated with the type

const PriceType = numberType({
  format: {
    minimumFractionDigits: 2,
    maximumFractionDigits: 2,
  },
  constraints: {
    min: 0,
    max: 1000000,
  },
  messages: {
    // format of MLS record depends on @softeq/mls contract implementation
    min: 'msg_number_min',
  },
});

Note! Format of record defined under messages.min field depends on @softeq/mls implementation.

When developer calls validate method violation message is returned under $message field of violation

PriceType.validate(-100)
// > {
// >   min: {
// >     min: 0,
// >     includeMin: true,
// >     actual: -100,
// >     $message: { key: 'msg_number_min', params: { ... } }
// >   }
// > }

Note! Format of message returned under $message field depends on @softeq/mls implementation.

DateTimeType

The simplest DateTimeType

const SimplestDateType = dateTimeType({
  format: 'shortDate'
});

More complex DateTimeType

const PayDateType = dateTimeType({
  format: 'shortDatetime',
  constraints: {
    min: new Date(2000, 0, 1),
    max: new Date(),
  },
});

Here we have defined NumberType type which

• formats Date according to the shortDatetime format (format is defined by @softeq/mls implementation)
• validates that Date >= 2000 year
• validates that Date <= current date

All possible options for dateTimeType factory described on API page.

DateTimeType provides the same operations as NumberType

PayDateType.format(new Date(2010, 1, 12, 3, 4));
// > 2/12/2010 3:04 am

PayDateType.parse('2/12/2010 3:04 am').value;
// > new Date(2010, 1, 12, 3, 4)

PayDateType.parse('2.12.2010 3:04 am')
// > { value: new Date('invalid date'), errors: { $dateFormat: { value: '2.12.2010 3:04 am' } } )

PayDateType.validateFormat('2/12/2010 3:04 am')
// > undefined

PayDateType.validateFormat('2.12.2010 3:04 am')
// > { $dateFormat: { value: '2.12.2010 3:04 am' } }

PayDateType.validate(new Date(2010, 1, 12, 3, 4))
// > undefined

PayDateType.validate(new Date(1999, 1, 12, 3, 4))
// > {
// >   min: {
// >     min: new Date(2000, 0, 1),
// >     includeMin: true,
// >     actual: new Date(1999, 1, 12, 3, 4),
// >   }
// > }

PayDateType.validate(new Date('invalid date'))
// > {
// >   $dateInvalid: {
// >     value: new Date('invalid date')
// >   }
// > }

PayDateType.equals(new Date(2010, 1, 12, 3, 4), new Date(1999, 1, 12, 3, 4));
// > false

PayDateType.compare(new Date(2010, 1, 12, 3, 4), new Date(1999, 1, 12, 3, 4));
// > 1

TextType

The simplest TextType

const SimplestTextType = textType();

More complex TextType

const EmailType = textType({
  constraints: {
    maxLength: 64,
    pattern: /^[a-zA-Z0-9]+@[a-zA-Z0-9]+\.[a-zA-Z0-9]+$/,
  },
});

Here we have defined EmailType type which

• validates that length of string <= 64
• validates that string satisfies provided pattern

All possible options for textType factory described on API page.

TextType provides the same operations as NumberType

EmailType.format('[email protected]') // just returns passed string
// > 'abc'

EmailType.parse('[email protected]').value // just returns passed string
// > 'abc'

EmailType.validateFormat('[email protected]') // always returns undefined
// > undefined

EmailType.validate('[email protected]')
// > undefined

EmailType.validate('abc')
// > {
// >   pattern: {
// >     requiredPattern: /[a-zA-Z0-9]+@[a-zA-Z0-9]+\.[a-zA-Z0-9]+/,
// >     actualValue: 'abc',
// >   }
// > }

EmailType.validate(new Date('invalid date'))
// > {
// >   $dateInvalid: {
// >     value: new Date('invalid date')
// >   }
// > }

EmailType.equals('abc', 'def');
// > false

PayDateType.compare('abc', 'def');
// > -1

Initialization of types

Actually, before DataType can be used it should be initialized. While initialization

• DataType binds to specific locale and takes specific locale settings (for example, NumberType takes number format for en-US or ru-RU locale)
• DataType can be complemented by some library-specific properties (as @softeq/angular-masked-data-types library does)

There is no common way to initialize DataType system, because it depends on specific environment. For example, look at @softeq/angular-data-types for details.

For full list of supported environments, look at the bottom of this page

Custom type constraints

Developer can associate custom constraints with any DataType.

For example, in the following example we constraint numbers to multiples of 3.

const MultipleNumberType = numberType({
  constraints: {
    multiple: 3
  },
  validators: {
    multiple: (multiple) => (value) => { // here multiple gets value = 3 from constraint defined above
      if ((value % multiple) === 0) {
        return undefined; // return undefined when constraint is satisfied
      } else {
        return { multiple, actual: value }; // return object with error parameters when constraint is not satisfied
      }
    }
  },
});

Consider this code in more details.
To use custom constraint we have to define validator factory

validators: {
  multiple: (multiple) => /* validator function */
}

and constraint

constraints: {
  multiple: 3
}

When constraint is defined, validator factory creates validator for the the given constraint

(multiple /* multiple = 3 */) => (value) => /* violation error */

Validator is a function that accepts a value and returns an error (any object) if constraint is not satisfied, or undefined otherwise

(value) => { // here multiple gets value = 3 from constraint defined above
  if ((value % multiple) === 0) {
    return undefined; // return undefined when constraint is satisfied
  } else {
    return { multiple, actual: value }; // return object with error parameters when constraint is not satisfied
  }
}

MultipleNumberType can be used as any other NumberType

MultipleNumberType.validate(3)
// > undefined

// if constraint is not satisfied validator returns errors
// where object returned by validator is placed under the corresponding constraint name
MultipleNumberType.validate(4)
// > {
// >   multiple: { multiple: 3, actual: 4 }
// > }

Developer can also provide message for custom constraints. Format of MLS record depends on @softeq/mls contract implementation

const MultipleNumberType = numberType({
  constraints: {
    multiple: 3
  },
  validators: {
    multiple: (multiple) => (value) => { // here multiple gets value = 3 from constraint defined above
      if ((value % multiple) === 0) {
        return undefined; // return undefined when constraint is satisfied
      } else {
        return { multiple, actual: value }; // return object with error parameters when constraint is not satisfied
      }
    }
  },
  messages: {
    // format of MLS record depends on @softeq/mls contract implementation
    multiple: 'msg_number_multiple',
  }
});

// if constraint is not satisfied validator returns errors
// where object returned by validator is placed under the corresponding constraint name.
// If message is defined for constraint, $message field is merged to the error object
MultipleNumberType.validate(4)
// > {
// >   multiple: {
// >     multiple: 3,
// >     actual: 4,
// >     $message: { key: 'msg_number_multiple', params: { ... } }
// >   }
// > }

Type specialization

DataTypes can be inherited. It can be useful when types have common set of messages, constraints or format settings.

For example, take a look at the following example

const BaseMultipleNumberType = numberType({
  validators: {
    multiple: (multiple) => (value) => {
      if ((value % multiple) === 0) {
        return undefined; // return undefined when constraint is satisfied
      } else {
        return { multiple, actual: value }; // return object with error parameters when constraint is not satisfied
      }
    }
  },
});

Here, we define BaseMultipleNumberType type similar to the type defined in the previous section. Unlike type defined in the previous section (MultipleNumberType), this type defines only validator for custom constraint, but does not define any constraint.

We can define subtypes of this type to validate whether number is multiple of 3 or 4.

const MultipleOf3NumberType = numberType(BaseMultipleNumberType, {
  constraints: {
    multiple: 3,
  }
});

const MultipleOf4NumberType = numberType(BaseMultipleNumberType, {
  constraints: {
    multiple: 4,
  }
});

and use these types

MultipleOf3NumberType.validate(4)
// > {
// >   multiple: { multiple: 3, actual: 4 }
// > }

MultipleOf4NumberType.validate(4)
// > undefined

All type options are inherited when you specialize type. This allows to define common messages, constraints and format settings.

Create custom DataType

Embedded types may not cover all developer needs. For example, if developer uses moment dates in application it will be hard to use such date with DateTimeType and take benefits from @soteq/data-types library.

But actually DateTimeType is just a simple implementation of DataType interface. Developer can write own DataType for moment dates the same way as it does for DateTimeType, NumberType and TextType. Look at implementation of these types to get more details.

This section does not detail how to write custom DataType, but keywords are createDataType function and AbstractBaseType class. It is encouraged to provide factory functions to create custom data types, the same way as it does for embedded types (numberType, dateTimeType and textType).

Supported environments

• for Angular use @softeq/angular-data-types