Checks the parameters of a function with a specification that involves optional parameters.

checkParams.js

/**
 * Contains utility functions to be used in various places.
 */

var util = {};

/**
 * Checks the types and sanitizes arguments for functions with optional
 * parameters and default values.
 * 
 * @author Brad Swerdfeger
 * 
 * @param {Array}
 *            args The arguments array from within the function whose arguments
 *            are to be checked.
 * @param {Array}
 *            argFormat An object that specifies the format of the arguments for
 *            the function.
 * 
 * Given a specification such as: doSomething(callback, [failure], options)
 * 
 * where:
 * 
 * callback {function} : required. A function to call when doSomething finishes.
 * 
 * [failure] {function} : optional. A function to call when a failure occurs.
 * Default is function(){}. 
 * 
 * options {object} : required. An options parameter with the following properties: 
 *   url {string} : required. The url of something. Default is "http://www.google.com" 
 *   obj {object} : optional. An object with the following properties: 
 *     prop1 {string} : optional. A property. Default is "Hi".
 *     prop2 {int} : optional. A number. Default is 0.
 * 
 * in this case argFormat is:
 * 	[ {
 * 		name : 'callback',
 * 		type : 'function',
 * 		required : true
 * 	}, {
 * 		name : 'failure',
 * 		type : 'function',
 * 		required : false,
 * 		'default' : function() {
 * 		}
 * 	}, {
 * 		name : 'options',
 * 		type : 'object',
 * 		required : false,
 * 		'default' : { url : 'http://www.google.com' },
 * 		contents : {
 * 			url : {
 * 				type : 'string',
 * 				required : true
 * 			},
 * 			obj : {
 * 				type : 'object',
 * 				required : false,
 * 				'default' : {},
 * 				contents : {
 * 					prop1 : {
 * 						type : 'string',
 * 						required : false,
 * 						'default' : 'Hi'
 * 					},
 * 					prop2 : {
 * 						type : 'number',
 * 						required : false,
 * 						'default' : 0
 * 					}
 * 				}
 * 			}
 * 		}
 * 	} ]
 *  
 * 
 * @returns {Array} A sanitized and fully populated list of arguments. For
 *          instance, if the developer calls:
 * 
 * doSomething(function(r) { console.log(r) }, { url: 'http://mysite.com'})
 * 
 * the returned array will be:
 *  [ 
 *    function(r) { console.log(r) }, 
 *    function() {}, 
 *    { url : 'http://mysite.com', { prop1 : 'Hi', prop2 : 0} } 
 *  ]
 *  
 */
util.checkArguments = function(args, argFormat) {
	// before we do anything, if there are too many arguments provided, we fail.
	if (args.length > argFormat.length)
		throw new Error('Too many arguments provided. Provide at most '
				+ argFormat.length + '.');

	// now, check the number of arguments: count the number of required
	// arguments and
	// make sure we have at least that many.
	var reqCount = 0;
	// while we're doing that, we want to rearrange the possible parameters so
	// that the
	// required ones come first while maintaining order
	var requiredArgs = [];
	var optionalArgs = [];

	// keep track of the distribution of optional and required args
	var reqArray = [];

	for ( var i in argFormat) {
		if (argFormat[i].required) {
			reqCount++;
			requiredArgs.push(argFormat[i]);
			reqArray.push(1);
		} else {
			optionalArgs.push(argFormat[i]);
			reqArray.push(0);
		}
	}
	// if the wrong number of arguments is provided:
	if (args.length < reqCount)
		throw new Error('Did not provide all required parameters. There are '
				+ reqCount + '.');

	// create a new arguments array that is properly defaulted we will return
	// this at the end
	var newArgs = [];

	// figure out how many optional arguments are specified:
	var optionalAllowed = args.length - reqCount;

	// go through the arguments, using up optionals if we have them:
	var i = 0; // counts how many args we've used total;
	var j = 0; // counts how many of the user's args we've used
	while ((requiredArgs.length > 0) || (optionalArgs.length > 0)) {
		var required = reqArray[i];
		var thisArgFormat = {}; // the format of the argument that we're
		// checking
		if (required) {
			thisArgFormat = requiredArgs.shift();
		} else {
			thisArgFormat = optionalArgs.shift();
		}
		// if it's required, just use their arg
		if (thisArgFormat.required) {
			var theirArg = args[j];
			newArgs.push(theirArg);
			j++;
		} else {
			// if there are no optionals remaining, use the default
			if (optionalAllowed > 0) {
				optionalAllowed--;
				var theirArg = args[j];
				newArgs.push(theirArg);
				j++;
			} else {
				newArgs.push(thisArgFormat['default']);
			}
		}

		// check the type
		if (typeof newArgs[i] != thisArgFormat.type) {
			throw new Error('Invalid type for argument ' + thisArgFormat.name
					+ '.  Provided ' + typeof newArgs[i] + '. Should be '
					+ thisArgFormat.type);
		}

		// if it is an object, check its properties
		if ((typeof newArgs[i] == 'object')
				&& (thisArgFormat.contents !== undefined)) {
			newArgs[i] = util.checkObjectContents(newArgs[i],
					thisArgFormat.contents);
		}

		i++;
		if (i >= argFormat.length)
			break;
	}

	return newArgs;
};

/**
 * Checks the format and sanitizes an object based on a specification.
 * 
 * @author Brad Swerdfeger
 * 
 * @param {object} userObj The object supplied by the developer.
 * @param {object} objFormat The format specification of the object
 * 
 * @returns {object} The sanitized and fully populated object.
 * 
 * This function works recursively. You can see the usage for in the
 * above function for the arguments of type 'object'
 */
util.checkObjectContents = function(userObj, objFormat) {
	// go through each of the properties in objFormat, checking against the
	// user's
	var newObj = {}; // the return object with sanitized values
	for ( var prop in objFormat) {
		var thisPropFormat = objFormat[prop];
		// if the property is required and does not exist in the user's object,
		// throw an error.
		if ((thisPropFormat.required) && (userObj[prop] === undefined)) {
			throw new Error('Did not specify required property ' + prop
					+ ' with type ' + thisPropFormat.type + '.');
			// if it's optional and the user did not specify anything
		} else if (userObj[prop] === undefined) {
			newObj[prop] = thisPropFormat['default'];
		} else {
			// either it is required and given or it is optional and given, just
			// check the type.
			if (typeof userObj[prop] != thisPropFormat.type) {
				throw new Error('Invalid type for property ' + prop
						+ '.  Provided ' + typeof userObj[prop]
						+ '. Should be ' + thisPropFormat.type);
			}

			newObj[prop] = userObj[prop];
		}

		// if it's an object with contents specified, we need to check it as
		// well.
		if ((typeof newObj[prop] == 'object')
				&& (thisPropFormat.contents !== undefined)) {
			newObj[prop] = util.checkObjectContents(newObj[prop],
					thisPropFormat.contents);
		}
	}
	return newObj;
};