The TsReflect compiler is a modified version of the TypeScript 1.4 compiler that emits JSON declaration files containing type information for your TypeScript source files. The JSON declaration files are similar to the .d.ts declaration files that TypeScript generates. However, the JSON format allows for easier loading of type information at runtime. Additionally, the compiler leverages JsDoc comments to add custom annotations to TypeScript. See the Custom Annotations section below for more information.
On the Node platform, JSON declaration files may be consumed using the tsreflect module.
NOTE! Currently, there are not any plans to support any version of TypeScript beyond 1.4. If in the future the TypeScript compiler supports an extensible emitter, this project will be picked up again.
Installation
The TsReflect Compiler can be installed using the Node Package Manager (npm):
npm install tsreflect-compiler
Usage
node lib/tsreflect-compiler.js hello.tsExample Output
Below is an example of a simple global class declaration for a Calculator class containing a single method add.
For more example output, take a look at the JSON declaration file generated for lib.core.d.ts.
{
"declares": [
{
"kind": "class",
"name": "Calculator",
"members": [
{
"kind": "method",
"name": "add",
"parameters": [
{
"name": "x",
"type": "number"
},
{
"name": "y",
"type": "number"
}
],
"returns": "number"
}
]
}
]
}
Custom Annotations
The TsReflect Compiler leverages JsDoc comments to add custom annotations to TypeScript. Similar to java annotations or C# attributes custom annotations allow for metadata to be added to TypeScript source code and then included in the JSON declaration files that the TsReflect Compiler generates.
Custom annotation work alongside standard JsDoc annotations. The TsReflect compiler will ignore all standard JsDoc
annotations. The tsreflect.config.json
file in the lib/ directory contains a list of ignored annotations. This list can be modified to suite your needs.
For example, custom annotations can be used to add JPA-style annotations to classes for an ORM:
/**
* An entity for a Customer.
* @entity
* @table "customers"
*/
class Customer {
/** @id */
id: number;
/**
* The name of the customer.
* @column name: "customer_name", length: 255
*/
name: string;
}
The above TypeScript generates the following JSON declaration output:
{
"declares": [
{
"kind": "class",
"name": "Customer",
"description": "An entity for a Customer.",
"annotations": [
{
"name": "entity",
"value": true
},
{
"name": "table",
"value": "customers"
}
],
"members": [
{
"kind": "field",
"name": "id",
"type": "number",
"annotations": [
{
"name": "id",
"value": true
}
]
},
{
"kind": "field",
"name": "name",
"type": "string",
"description": "The name of the customer.",
"annotations": [
{
"name": "column",
"value": {
"name": "customer_name",
"length": 255
}
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
Grunt Plug-in
There is a Grunt plug-in available for the TsReflect compiler to allow for generating JSON declaration files as part of a Grunt build process. See the grunt-tsreflect project.
Gulp Plug-in
There is a Gulp plug-in available for the TsReflect compiler to allow for generating JSON declaration files as part of a Gulp build process. See the gulp-tsreflect project.
CommonJS Module
The TsReflect compiler can be included as a CommonJS module in a NodeJS application. A typescript declaration file
tsreflect-compiler.d.ts is included in the lib directory. Below is an example of executing
the compiler from a TypeScript program.
/// <reference path="./lib/tsreflect-compiler.d.ts" />
import compiler = require("tsreflect-compiler");
var options = {
outDir: 'build/'
}
var diagnostics = compiler.compile("./hello.ts", options);
Executing the code above will generate a file called hello.d.json in the build directory. Any errors will be returned as an array and
assigned to the diagnostics variable.
Documentation
compile(filenames, options, host)
Compile specified TypeScript files to generate JSON declaration files. Returns an array of diagnostic information if any errors occur.
Parameters
- filenames
string[]- The files to compile. - options
CompilerOptions- The compiler options to use. - host
CompilerHost- Optional. The compiler host to use.
Returns: Diagnostic[]
CompilerOptions Interface
Compiler options.
noLibnoCheckoutoutDirsuppressImplicitAnyIndexErrorsnoImplicitAnyremoveCommentslibPathremoveAccessorsremoveAnnotationsremovePrivatesremoveTypesOnPrivatesignoreAnnotation
noLib
If true, the default library is not automatically added to the compile list.
Type: boolean
noCheck
If true, type checks are not run. This marginally improves compile time. Only use this option if your TypeScript already compiles correctly.
Type: boolean
out
Specifies a single file to compile all TypeScript to. This is ignored for external modules.
Type: string
outDir
Specifies the output directory.
Type: string
suppressImplicitAnyIndexErrors
Suppress errors that are raised when the index operator is used on an object that does not have an index defined on it's type.
Type: boolean
noImplicitAny
Warn on expressions and declarations with an implied any type
Type: boolean
removeComments
If true, JsDoc description is not included in output. Default is false.
Type: boolean
libPath
Path to the lib.d.json file relative to compiler javascript source.
Type: string
removeAccessors
Do not emit property accessor declarations.
Type: boolean
removeAnnotations
Do not emit custom annotations in output.
Type: boolean
removePrivates
Do not emit private class member declarations.
Type: boolean
removeTypesOnPrivates
Do not emit type information for private class members.
Type: boolean
ignoreAnnotation
Controls whether or not annotations with a given name are ignored.
CompilerHost Interface
The compiler host. Allows for control over the interaction of compiler with the file system.
readFile(filename, onError)
Reads a file synchronously.
Parameters
- filename
string- The full path to the file. - onError - Callback called synchronously to indicate if an error occurred when reading the file. Passed a single argument containing the error message as a string.
Returns: string
writeFile(filename, data, writeByteOrderMark, onError)
Writes a file synchronously.
Parameters
- filename
string- The full path to the file. - data
string- The data to write. - writeByteOrderMark
boolean- Indicates if the byte order mark should be written. - onError - Callback called synchronously to indicate if an error occurred when writing the file. Passed a single argument containing the error message as a string.
Returns: void
Diagnostic Interface
Diagnostic information.
filename
The name of that file that contains the error.
Type: string
line
The line number of the error.
Type: number
character
The character offset of the error.
Type: number
messageText
The error message text.
Type: string
category
The category of the error.
Type: DiagnosticCategory
code
The error code.
Type: number
DiagnosticCategory Enumeration
Enumeration describing type of Diagnostic.
- Warning
- Error
- Message