MORX. A simple util for validation and parameter transformation

How to use

Install morx

npm install morx

Basic Usage

var morx = require('morx');
var spec = morx.spec() //Begin spec-ing parameters
           .build('id', 'required:true, map:user_id')
           .build('username', 'required:true')
           .end(); //End parameter spec-ing

//Call validation
var validated = morx.validate({id:23, username:'demio9009'}, spec);
console.log(validated);
/*
{
    no_errors:true,
    error_messages:"",
    params:{
        'user_id':23,
        'username':'demio9009'
    },
    excluded_params:{},
    failed_params:[]
}
*/

Using validators and filters

var morx = require('morx');
var spec = morx.spec() //Begin spec-ing parameters
           .build('id', 'required:true, validators:isInt, map:user_id')
           .build('username', 'required:true, validators:isAlphanumeric.isAscii, filters:toUpper')
           .end(); //End parameter spec-ing

//Call validation
var validated = morx.validate({id:23, username:'demio9009'}, spec);
console.log(validated);
/*
{
    no_errors:true,
    error_messages:"",
    params:{
        'user_id':23,
        'username':'DEMIO9009'
    },
    failed_params:[]
}
*/

Spec-ing with morx

spec = {
    'paramTovalidate':ValidationExtractionAndTransformationRules
}

paramToValidate - The key / name of the parameter to apply the ObjectValidationRequirements to. E.g. id , username e.t.c. If you passing an array as your Parameter source, valid values for paramToValidate include 0,1 e.t.c.

ValidationExtractionAndTransformationRules - Key/value pair of a list of rules to use for validating, extracting and transforming paramToValidate as found in the parameter source. It has the following properties:

• required : (boolean True or False) indicates whether or not paramToValidate is required. Internally morx checks to see if paramToValidate is undefined or ""
• map : If present, indicates the key paramToValidate should be returned with. Without map, id will be returned as id. With map (map:user_id), id will be returned as user_id (see example under basic usage)
• validators: A dot separated list of validators to apply to paramToValidate. Internally, morx uses the validator package on npm to validate parameter values. A list of supported validators can be found here.
• filters : A dot separated list of filters / sanitizers to apply to paramToValidate. All filters with the exception of toUpper and toLower are the same as those provided by the validator package. A list can be found here.
• not_param : A boolean value indicated wether the paramToValidate should be returned as part of the extracted params. Useful for cases when a parm is required but not needed for functional operations.

Parameter specs can be created either using object literals or morx's inbuilt spec-er:

var paramSpec = morx.spec() //Begin spec-ing parameters
    .build('id', 'required:true, map:user_id')
    .build('username', 'required:true')
    .end(); //End parameter spec-ing
/*
paramSpec is the same as the object literal:
{
    id:{
        required:true,
        map:'user_id'
    },
    username:{
        required:true,
    }
}
*/

validating with morx

The morx validator takes three arguments, the first two are required.
var validated = morx.validate(ParameterSource, ParameterSpec, validationOptions)

• ParameterSource - The object / array source to validate the ParameterSpec against i.e The parameters defined in the spec will be looked up in the parameter source. In a function, the arguments array-like object is a valid parameter source. In a web app / api, the req.body, req.params, req.query objects are all valid parameter sources. (When using arguments, an interesting usecase could be to use the map spec property to transform arguments passed to a function into an object)
• ParameterSpec - The spec definition with which to validate and extract values from the parameter source. See specing with morx for a more detailed explanation. The spec also precludes needless parameters from filtering into your apps. In cases of APIs / web projects where req.body / req.query could contain a number of properties, spec-ing ensures only what's needed by a function / service / endpoint is extracted
• ValidationOptions - The options that define the way morx handles validation success or faliure. By default, morx will not fail until all parameters defined in the spec requirements have been checked - even if one of the requirements of a spec is not met. It will return all failed params as well as error messages. With ValidationOptions we can fine-tune this behavior. There are three main properties:
  • fail_on_first_error - If this is set to true, morx will fail (i.e return to the calling function) at the first occurence of a validation error
  • throw_error - If this is set to true, instead of returning a well formed object, morx will throw an error with the validation error messages
  • throw_error_on_first_fail - Similar to fail_on_first_error but instead of returning, an error with the validation error message is thrown.

Auto-test generation with morx-cha

To use morx with morx-cha, the additional spec properties are required

• eg - Example value for the parameter
• eg_specialcase - Example special case value for the parameter, e.g. eg_invalid_email or eg_exists e.t.c. This is yet to be implemented

See example here