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typescripttypescript-generics

How to create a type excluding instance methods from a class in typescript?


Given a class, containing both properties and methods, I'd like to derive a type that just contains its properties.

For example, if I define a class as follow:

class MyObject {

  constructor(public prop1: string, public prop2: number) {}

  instanceMethod() { ... }
}

I'd like to have a type, say MyObjectConstructor that would be like this:

type MyObjectConstructor = {
  prop1: string;
  prop2: number;
}

I know I can use the built-in type Pick and manually select the keys I want by name, but I don't want to have to repeat the keys all over, and have to change them every time I add new properties to my class.

Is there a way to define a generic type ConstructorType<T>that only returns the properties of a class in typescript ?


Solution

  • I've found a way to exclude all properties that match a given type, thanks to this article: https://medium.com/dailyjs/typescript-create-a-condition-based-subset-types-9d902cea5b8c

    I made a few adaptations, but here is the details:

    // 1 Transform the type to flag all the undesired keys as 'never'
    type FlagExcludedType<Base, Type> = { [Key in keyof Base]: Base[Key] extends Type ? never : Key };
        
    // 2 Get the keys that are not flagged as 'never'
    type AllowedNames<Base, Type> = FlagExcludedType<Base, Type>[keyof Base];
        
    // 3 Use this with a simple Pick to get the right interface, excluding the undesired type
    type OmitType<Base, Type> = Pick<Base, AllowedNames<Base, Type>>;
        
    // 4 Exclude the Function type to only get properties
    type ConstructorType<T> = OmitType<T, Function>;
    

    Try It

    There might be a simpler way, I've tried playing with ConstructorParameters and defining a constructor signature but without results.

    Update

    Found an equivalent while browsing the typescript documentation here: https://www.typescriptlang.org/docs/handbook/release-notes/typescript-2-8.html#distributive-conditional-types

    type NonFunctionPropertyNames<T> = {
      [K in keyof T]: T[K] extends Function ? never : K;
    }[keyof T];
    type NonFunctionProperties<T> = Pick<T, NonFunctionPropertyNames<T>>;
    

    It's a bit less verbose since the omitted type is not generic, but it's the same idea.