Narrow typeof x === 'object' to Record<string | number | symbol, unknown> | null | unknown[]
See original GitHub issueSearch Terms
typeof object narrow record
Suggestion
When narrowing a variable with typeof x === 'object'
, narrow to Record<string | number | symbol, unknown> | null | unknown[]
instead of object | null
.
Use Cases
When testing to see if something is an object, you almost always are starting out with unknown
or similarly near-top level type and trying to narrow down to a lower “useful” type. When you use the typeof x === 'object'
narrowing operation, currently TypeScript over narrows to the extremely constrained {} | null
type. This suggestion would change that behavior to narrow down to the much wider Record<string | number | symbol, unknown> | null | unknown[]
, which the user can then choose to narrow more if they like, or they can choose to work with it as-is.
Examples
declare const apple: unknown
if (typeof apple !== 'object') throw new Error() // actual: object | null; desired: Record<string|number|symbol, unknown> | null | unknown[]
// uncomment this line and comment out the lines above to see desired behavior
// declare const apple: Record<string|number|symbol, unknown> | null | unknown[]
if (apple === null) throw new Error() // actual: object; desired: Record<string|number|symbol, unknown> | unknown[]
if (Array.isArray(apple)) throw new Error() // actual: object; desired: Record<string|number|symbol, unknown>
for (const key in apple) {
// Element implicitly has an 'any' type because expression of type 'string' can't be used to index type '{}'.
// No index signature with a parameter of type 'string' was found on type '{}'.
apple[key] // actual: error; desired: unknown
}
Checklist
My suggestion meets these guidelines:
- This wouldn’t be a breaking change in existing TypeScript/JavaScript code
- This wouldn’t change the runtime behavior of existing JavaScript code
- This could be implemented without emitting different JS based on the types of the expressions
- This isn’t a runtime feature (e.g. library functionality, non-ECMAScript syntax with JavaScript output, etc.)
- This feature would agree with the rest of TypeScript’s Design Goals.
Issue Analytics
- State:
- Created 3 years ago
- Reactions:36
- Comments:8 (4 by maintainers)
Top GitHub Comments
The great thing about users is that they write code you’d never expect.
Anyway one example would be
IsArray<typeof something_narrowed_to_object>
isfalse
today, the proposed change would make ittrue | false
@MicahZoltu You should update the title to: “Narrow
typeof x === 'object'
toRecord<string | number | symbol, unknown> | null | unknown[]
”