useful-util

useful functions i never really know where to put

Installation

Install with component(1):

$ component install muigui/useful-util

Install with npm:

$ npm install useful-util

API

bless( namespace:String[, context:Object] ):Object

Creates an Object representation of the passed namespace String and returns it.

If a context Object is given, the Object tree created will be added to the context Object, otherwise it will be added to the global namespace.

NOTE: If any existing Objects with the same name already exist, they will NOT be replaced and any child Objects will be appended to them.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

// util.ENV == 'browser'
    util.bless( 'foo.bar' );       // creates => global.foo.bar

// you can now do:
    foo.bar.Something = function() {};

    util.bless( 'foo.bar', util );   // creates => util.foo.bar

    var bar = util.bless( 'foo.bar' );

    bar === foo.bar              // returns => true

IMPORTANT: When using util.bless within a commonjs module: if you want your namespace Object to be assigned to the correct module.exports, then you should always pass the module instance as the context (ctx) of your namespace.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

// util.ENV == 'commonjs'

// inside my_commonjs_module.js
    util.bless( 'foo.bar', module );            // creates => module.exports.foo.bar

// you can now do:
    module.exports.foo.bar.Something = function() {};

// if you want to include "exports" in your namespace, you can do so by placing a carat (^) at the start of the String
    util.bless( '^exports.foo.bar', module ); // creates => module.exports.foo.bar

// otherwise, you will end up creating an extra exports Object, e.g:
    util.bless( 'exports.foo.bar', module ); // creates => module.exports.exports.foo.bar

// alternatively, you can also do:
    util.bless( 'foo.bar', module.exports ); // creates => module.exports.foo.bar

coerce( item:Mixed ):Mixed

Attempts to coerce primitive values "trapped" in Strings, into their real types.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    util.coerce( 'false' );       // returns false

    util.coerce( 'null' );        // returns null

    util.coerce( 'true' );        // returns true

    util.coerce( 'undefined' );   // returns undefined

    util.coerce( 'NaN' );         // returns NaN

    util.coerce( '0001' );        // returns 1

    util.coerce( '0012' );        // returns 12

    util.coerce( '0123' );        // returns 123

    util.coerce( '123.4' );       // returns 123.4

    util.coerce( '123.45' );      // returns 123.45

    util.coerce( '123.456' );     // returns 123.456

    util.coerce( '123.456.789' ); // returns "123.456.789"

copy( target:Object, source:Object[, no_overwrite:Boolean] ):Object

Copies the properties – accessible via Object.keys – from the source Object to the target Object and returns the target Object.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    var foo = { one : 1, two : 2, three : 3 },
        bar = util.copy( {}, foo );

    bar          // returns => { "one" : 1, "two" : 2, "three" : 3 }

    foo === bar  // returns => false

    util.copy( foo, { three : 3.3, four : 4 }, true ); // returns => { "one" : 1, "two" : 2, "three" : 3, "four" : 4 }

empty( value:Mixed ):Boolean

Returns true if the passed value does not exist (see exist below), is an empty Array, Object, String or any other enumerable type.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    util.empty( undefined );    // returns => true

    util.empty( null );         // returns => true

    util.empty( '' );           // returns => true

    util.empty( [] );           // returns => true

    util.empty( {} );           // returns => true

    util.empty( ' ' );          // returns => false

    util.empty( [1] );          // returns => false

    util.empty( { 0 : null } ); // returns => false

exists( value:Mixed ):Boolean

Returns false if the passed value is undefined , NaN or null, returns true otherwise.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    util.exists( undefined ); // returns => false

    util.exists( NaN );       // returns => false

    util.exists( null );      // returns => false

    util.exists( 0 );         // returns => true

    util.exists( false );     // returns => true

    util.exists( {} );        // returns => true

format( tpl:String, arg1:String[, arg2:String, ..., argN:String] ):String

Replaces the – zero indexed – numeric tokens in the String with the passed parameters.

If a token does not have a value, an empty String is used in its place.

NOTE: format calls interpolate internally.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    util.format( '{0} {1} {2} {3}', 'lorem', 'ipsum', 'dolor' ) // returns => "lorem ipsum dolor "

interpolate( tpl:String, dictionary:String[]|String{}[, pattern:RegExp] ):String

Replaces the tokens in the String with the values of the corresponding properties from the passed dictionary Object.

Also accepts an optional second parameter allowing you to define your own token matching pattern.

If a token does not have a value, an empty String is used in its place.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    util.interpolate( '{one} {two} {three} {four}', { one : 'lorem', two : 'ipsum', three : 'dolor' } ) // returns => "lorem ipsum dolor "

guid():String

Generates a guid/uuid, the code for this was adapted from this gist.

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

	util.guid(); // returns something like => "286cb768-df10-4466-aabf-f5cb4ba406a2"

id( item:Mixed[, prefix:String] ):String

Returns the id property of the passed item – item can be an Object, HTMLElement, "JavaScript Class" instance, etc...

If an id does not exist on the passed item, the item is assigned an auto-generated id and the value is returned.

If a prefix is supplied then it is used as the prefix for the id – if not anon is used as the prefix.

An internal counter that is automatically incremented is appended to the end of the prefix and is separated from the prefix by a hyphen.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    var foo = { id   : 'foo' },
       bar = { name : 'bar' },
       yum = { nam  : 'yum' };

    util.id( foo );         // returns => "foo"

    util.id( bar );         // returns => "anon-1000"

    util.id( yum, 'yum' );  // returns => "yum-1001"

iter( item:Mixed ):Boolean

Returns true if the passed item can be iterated over.

k( item:Mixed ):Mixed

A Function which returns the the first parameter passed to it.

Example

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    util.k( true );            // returns => true

    util.k( 'foo' );           // returns => "foo"

    util.k( { foo : 'bar' } ); // returns => { "foo" : "bar" }

len( item:Mixed ):Number

Tries the returns the length property of the passed item.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    util.len( { one : 1, two : 2, three : 3 } ); // returns => 3

    util.len( [1, 2, 3] );                       // returns => 3

    util.len( 'foobar' );                        // returns => 6

    util.len( { one : 1, two : 2, three : 3 } ) === Object.keys( { one : 1, two : 2, three : 3 } ).length
    // returns => true

merge( target:Array|Object, source:Array|Object ):Boolean

Performs a "deep copy" of all the properties in source to target, so that target does not reference any child Arrays and/ or Objects that belong to source.

noop():void

An empty Function that returns nothing.

range( begin:Number|String, end:Number|String ):Array

Returns an Array starting at begin where each value is incremented by 1 until end is reached.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    util.range(  1,   10 );  // returns => [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]
    util.range( 20, 1000 );  // returns => [20, 21, 22, ..., 1000]

    util.range( 'A', 'z' );  // returns => ['A', 'B', 'C', ..., 'x', 'y', 'z']
    util.range( 'α', 'ω' ); // returns => ['α', 'β', 'γ', ..., 'χ', 'ψ', 'ω']

NOTE: Only the first character will be incremented in a String range.

remove( item:Array, value_or_index1:Number|Mixed|Number[]|Mixed[][, value_or_index2:Number|Mixed, ..., value_or_indexN:Number|Mixed] ):item

remove( item:Object, property1:String|String[][, property2:String, ..., propertyN:String] ):item

Removes items from the passed Array or Object and returns the passed Array or Object.

If removing items from an Array, you can either pass the index of the item you want to remove or the item itself. If removing items from an Object, you simply pass the key of the item you want to remove.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    var foo_arr = ['one', 'two', 'three'],
       foo_obj = { one : 1, two : 2, three : 3 };

    util.remove( foo_arr, 'one', 'three' );   // returns => ['two']

    util.remove( foo_arr, ['one', 'three'] ); // same as above

    util.remove( foo_arr, 0, 2 );             // same as above

    util.remove( foo_arr, [0, 2] );           // same as above

    util.remove( foo_obj, 'one', 'three' );   // returns => { two : 2 }

    util.remove( foo_obj, ['one', 'three'] ); // same as above

update( target:Array|Object, source:Array|Object ):Boolean

Performs a "deep copy" of all the properties in source that are not already contained in target, so that target does not reference any child Arrays and/ or Objects that belong to source.

This works similarly to util.merge except that existing properties are not overwritten.

value( object:Object, path:String ):Mixed

Returns the property value at the specified path in an Object.

Example:

	var util = require( 'useful-util' );

    var data = { one : { two : { three : true, four : [1, 2, 3, 4] } } };

    util.value( data, 'one' );            // returns => { two : { three : true, four : [1, 2, 3, 4] } }

    util.value( data, 'one.two' );        // returns => { three : true, four : [1, 2, 3, 4] }

    util.value( data, 'one.two.three' );  // returns => { three : true }

    util.value( data, 'one.two.four' );   // returns => [1, 2, 3, 4]

    util.value( data, 'one.two.four.2' ); // returns => 3

License

(The MIT License)

Copyright (c) 2011 christos "constantology" constandinou http://muigui.com

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the 'Software'), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED 'AS IS', WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.