Predicates

A predicate is a functional wrapper around a schema that returns a boolean instead of throwing an error. This is a simple mechanism for providing a better developer experience when handling control flow.

To create a predicate, import the createPredicate() function, wrap an existing schema, and assign to a variable.

import { createPredicate, string } from 'optimal';
const urlSchema = string()    .notEmpty()    .match(/^https?:\/\//);
const isUrl = createPredicate(urlSchema);

This newly assigned variable is a function that can be executed to validate a provided value. If there are no validation errors, true is returned, otherwise false is returned.

if (isUrl(value)) {    // Do something with the URL}

Null and undefined handling

Unlike schemas, a predicate will always return false for null and undefined values, regardless of the schema's nullable and undefinable states. We do this because a predicate ensures a truthy value, which is the most common use case and expectation.

Let's take the previous example, and demonstrate this with nullability.

const urlSchema = string()    .notEmpty()    .match(/^https?:\/\//)    .nullable();
const isUrl = createPredicate(urlSchema);
// Will always returns false, since null can never be a URLif (isUrl(null)) {}

If for some reason you need to accept null and undefined values, handle them explicitly outside of the predicate.

if (value === null || isUrl(value)) {    // Handle both cases}