An unconventional approach to conducting runtime checks on Typescript objects

I've been working on a server application that receives input data in the form of JavaScript objects. My main task is to validate whether these data meet certain requirements, such as:

  • having all required fields specified by an interface
  • ensuring that these fields are of specific types
  • verifying that the object contains only the listed fields and nothing else

In my quest to achieve this goal, I have come across two libraries that have proved to be incredibly helpful:

These libraries are runtypes and io-ts

For instance, using runtypes, I am able to define runtime types like so:

const PropSchema = Record({
    uid: String,
    name: String,
    timestamp: Number
});

Furthermore, I can create a static type based on PropSchema:

type PropSchemaInterface = Static<typeof PropSchema>;

From now on, I can utilize it as if it were an interface, and TypeScript will flag any invalid objects:

let props: PropSchemaInterface = { 
    uid: "31293-a7aa216982678",
    name: 4,
    timestamp: (new Date()).valueOf()
}

I can also check if an object satisfies PropSchema:

PropSchema.check(props); // returns true

However,

PropSchema.check({
    uid: "12"
});

results in an error because the provided object lacks the 'name' and 'timestamp' properties. While this validation is helpful, what I truly need is a way to ensure that the input object contains only the fields defined in PropSchema, without any additional keys. Unfortunately, I haven't found a library that can handle this particular requirement.

Is there a method to validate objects according to my specifications? Runtypes has proven to be an invaluable tool for both runtime and compile-time validation using a single descriptor - PropSchema. However, I'm struggling with verifying invalid object members. IO-TS offers similar capabilities, but I have yet to explore its full potential.

Answer №1

The creator of runtypes offers a comprehensive insight into why superfluous types are permitted while "exact" types are not currently supported in their response to this particular issue.

If you delve into the depths of that problem (as of my writing on 2021-01-12), you will notice a pending pull request poised to introduce this functionality. Once implemented, utilizing it would resolve your predicament and prove to be the most effective solution.

In the interim, were I in your shoes, I would recommend adding a secondary validation process for your objects by manually inspecting them to ensure no extra properties exist. It may be cumbersome, but it serves as a temporary workaround until the pull request is merged.

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