super-resolve

Install

npm install --save super-resolve

super-resolve will work in browsers (with browserify, webpack, or rollup), and node. For browsers you might need a Promise polyfill/ponyfill. See how to use a Promise polyfill/ponyfill below.

Usage

import superResolve from 'super-resolve';
const log = v=>console.log(v);

superResolve(p({
    value1: 1,
    value2: 2
})).then(log);

superResolve({
    value1: p(1),
    value2: p(2),
    obj: {
        value3: p(3), value4: p(4)
    }
}).then(log);

let obj = {one: p(1)};
obj.that = obj;
superResolve(obj).then(console.log.bind(console));

function p(value){
    //Mock asynchronous data retrieval.
    return new Promise(res=>{
        setTimeout(()=>{
            res(value);
        }, 20);
    });
}

Explanation

super-resolve takes a value, and returns a promise.

Any value passed to super-resolve is traversed, and all promise values are resolved.

For instance if you pass an object that has properties with waiting promises those promises will resolved before super-resolve resolves to the object you passed in.

In simpler terms:

let myObject = {value: Promise.resolve('a value')};

superResolve(myObject)
.then(myObject=>{
    //myObject = {value: "a value"}
});

In that last example the property value resolves to the string 'a value' before superResolve resolves to myObject.

Any other properties which includes nested object(s) properties would also be resolved before myObject returns. Like:

let myObject = {
    value: Promise.resolve('a value'),
    nested: {
        prop: Promise.resolve('a nested value')
    }
};

superResolve(myObject)
.then(myObject=>{
    //myObject = {value: "a value", nested: {prop: "a nested value"}}
});

Yes really.

About

I like it when values just look like values don't you?

For some usages this library could be overkill. When you want to grab data from a lot of different data sources in a very tight time interval this library could be very useful.

Note that some values might not work correctly. The type checking mechanism in super-resolve has been tuned to work with almost all possible javascript types. Some native types might trip up super-resolve. Typically you won't have to worry about this since most data returned from a promise will be JSON compatible.

The best possible values to pass to super-resolve:

• JSON compatible objects
• Arrays
• Numbers, strings, dates, and other javascript objects.
• Objects you define

Values that might cause super-resolve to fail:

• DOM nodes
• Other host objects

API

superResolve(value, PromiseConstructor) -> promise

The value parameter can be any value except undefined. What ever you pass to value if it is a promise, or has promises it will all be resolved. If promises are found by superResolve, or not found the return value will still be what you expect.

superResolve will not resolve promises on the prototype. Promises on the prototype would be odd anyway.

PromiseConstructor should be a custom polyfill/ponyfill from a library that implements the Promises/A+ spec (e.g. Bluebird).

superResolve.promise

superResolve.promise is a static property that equals null. Set this to a promise constructor to change the custom promise implementation instead of using the PromiseConstructor parameter of superResolve().

Why?

Someone probably would have made it anyway. Several months before the first code was written for super-resolve I was planning on making making something like it. I can predict some usages for this library. As a parameter consumer for other libraries, or as a helper for complex applications that are data heavy. Both are things I plan to use it for.

Happy coding!