How should TypeBox types be used with TS type predicates?

[nivekh]

If I have a TS type predicate function which is meant to generically perform a TypeBox typecheck, e.g... (minimal example)

function handleGet(requestBody: unknown){
    const GetSchema = Type.Object(
       { id: Type.Integer() }, 
       { additionalProperties: false, title: 'GetSchema' }
    );
    type GetSchema = Static<typeof GetSchema>
    
    if(ValidateBody(GetSchema, requestBody)){
       // perform get action
    } else {
       // log validation error
    }
}

function ValidateBody(schema: TSchema, body: unknown): body is Static<typeof schema>{
    Value.Default(schema, body);
    const typechecker = TypeCompiler.Compile(schema);
    if (typechecker.Check(body)){
        return true;
    }
    return false;
}

...the final type that ends up getting 'confirmed' by the predicate is unknown.

Is there a better way to write this sort of "generic type predicate" function in tandem with TypeBox?

[sinclairzx81]

@nivekh Hi,

You can achieve this by using generic arguments on ValidateBody. I've added a couple of extra value function calls if you're interested. Additionally, I've updated Compile to Check (as this will be more performant than compiling each time)

import { Value } from '@sinclair/typebox/value'
import { Type, Static, TSchema } from '@sinclair/typebox'

function ValidateBody<T extends TSchema>(schema: T, body: unknown): body is Static<T> {
  // note: you can optionally process the value with additional value
  // operations. Default, Convert and Clean are very common.
  const defaulted = Value.Default(schema, body)
  const converted = Value.Convert(schema, defaulted)
  const cleaned = Value.Clean(schema, converted)

  // note: you should use Value.Check instead of compiling the schema
  // for each check. This will be more performant as compilation is
  // very expensive.
  return Value.Check(schema, cleaned)
}


const R = ValidateBody(Type.String(), null) // body is string

If you want to keep Compile, it's recommended to use a closure to hold onto the compiled schematics. The following updates the above to use the TypeCompiler + Function closure.

import { Value } from '@sinclair/typebox/value'
import { TypeCompiler } from '@sinclair/typebox/compiler'
import { Type, Static, TSchema } from '@sinclair/typebox'

function CompileSchema<T extends TSchema>(schema: T) {
  const check = TypeCompiler.Compile(schema)
  return (body: unknown): body is Static<T> => {
    const defaulted = Value.Default(schema, body)
    const converted = Value.Convert(schema, defaulted)
    const cleaned = Value.Clean(schema, converted)
    return check.Check(cleaned)
  }
}

const ValidateBody = CompileSchema(Type.String())

const R = ValidateBody(null) // (body: unknown) => body is string

Hope this helps
S

[nivekh]

I can't thank you enough for the detailed reply, that helps a ton! I came close to the generic setup you've demonstrated when I was experimenting, but I'm still learning new things about TypeScript, so I was kind of approaching it backwards, I think.

I actually had a caching setup for the compiled validators which I didn't include for clarity's sake, but I'll have to play around with Value.Check instead and see if it doesn't beat the comp-and-cache approach (as I imagine it might?)

Thanks again, you've been a huge help!