Is it possible to specify that a string should match an interface property name in TypeScript?
You can use a function to assert the variable is never by the end of the if statements and keyof T
to get a union of keys:
function assertNever(v: never): never {
throw new Error("Should never happen!");
}
function defaultValue(propName:keyof Account) {
if (propName === 'email') return '';
if (propName === 'enabled') return true;
assertNever(propName);
}
Playground Link
You can also improve the caller experience by making the function generic, but this will mean some type assertions in the implementation.
function defaultValue<K extends keyof Account>(propName:K): Account[K] {
if (propName === 'email') return '' as Account[K];
if (propName === 'enabled') return true as Account[K];
assertNever(propName);
}
let email = defaultValue('email') // string
let enabled = defaultValue('enabled') // boolean
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You can do this by adding a more specific string type to the propName
parameter. Then, use a switch statement to have smart type inference that you are correctly returning a value that matches the return type for each possible branch in the function.
interface Account {
email: string;
enabled: boolean;
shouldError: boolean;
}
function defaultValue(propName: keyof Account): Account[keyof Account] { // shows error for not always returning value
switch (propName) {
case "email":
return "";
case "enabled":
return true;
// uncomment this code to fix the error
// case "shouldError":
// return true;
}
}
TypeScript Playground Link