TypeScript making erroneous assumptions about property values post-setting

My TypeScript object has a boolean property that causes some confusion. When I update the object's value to false, TypeScript seems to believe it will remain false indefinitely (at least within the scope), even though it can be modified:

const obj = { prop: true }; // Type is { prop: boolean }

obj.prop = false; // Type now { prop: false }

function setPropToTrue(object: { prop: boolean }) {
    object.prop = true;
}

setPropToTrue(obj);

if (obj.prop == true) { // ← tsc: "This condition will always return false"
    console.log("Object property is true!");
}

The TypeScript compiler assumes that the if statement will never evaluate as true because when the object's property was set to false, it interprets the type of the property as false.

While it is possible to cast obj.prop back to a boolean in the if statement to resolve the issue, this approach may not be optimal. Ideally, TypeScript would not automatically assume that an object's property remains unchanged after the initial assignment.

Answer №1

It seems difficult to provide TypeScript with a type hint for potential property modifications in your specific implementation.

In the case of a singleton object, it may be more appropriate to have a setter function within the object itself and keep the property private by using a class (playground example):

class MyObject {
    private _property: boolean = false;
 
    setObjectPropertyTrue(){
      this._property = true;
    }

    getProperty(){
      return this._property
    }

    setProperty(value: boolean){
      this._property = value;
    }
}

const myObject: MyObject = new MyObject();

// myObject._property = false; // Property '_property' is private and only accessible within class 'MyObject'

myObject.setProperty(false)

myObject.setObjectPropertyTrue()

if (myObject.getProperty() == true) { // no error
  console.log("Object property is true!");
}

It's worth noting that I chose not to use the set and get keywords due to encountering the same error as demonstrated in this playground example. This behavior of TypeScript feels somewhat unusual and potentially warrants further investigation or discussion through a GitHub issue.


Simpler Approach for Regular Objects

If dealing with a non-singleton object, opting for a more functional approach by returning a new object might suffice (playground example):

function setObjectPropertyTrue(p_object: typeof object) {    
    return { 
        ...p_object,
        property: true
    }
}

object = setObjectPropertyTrue(object);

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