Humanize Anything

Convert any value to a short, human-readable string

Features

Safely show user input values in messages and logs
Differentiates between null, undefined, and NaN
Includes the contents of small objects and arrays
Returns names of functions and classes — even async functions, generators, etc.
Keeps humanized value within your specified length limit

Installation

You can install Humanize Anything via npm.

npm install @jsdevtools/humanize-anything

Usage

`humanize(value, [options])`

Convert any value to a short, human-readable string. It will try to humanize the actual value, if it’s short enough; otherwise, it will humanize the type name.

value - The value to humanize
options - Optional options object

import humanize from "@jsdevtools/humanize-anything";

humanize(123);                       // '123'
humanize(NaN);                       // 'NaN'
humanize(null);                      // 'null'
humanize("Hello");                   // '"Hello"'  (with quotes)
humanize(/^regex$/);                 // '/^regex$/'
humanize({ x: 1, y: 2 });            // '{x, y}'
humanize([1, 2, 3, 4]);              // '[1,2,3,4]'
humanize(new RangeError());          // 'RangeError'

`humanize.values(values, [options])`

Returns a list of values as an oxford-comma separated string. Can be configured to use “and”, “or”, or a custom conjuction.

values - An array of values to humanize
options - Optional options object

import humanize from "@jsdevtools/humanize-anything";

humanize.values([1, 2, 3, 4, 5]);          // '1, 2, 3, 4, and 5'
humanize.values([NaN, null, undefined]);   // 'NaN, null, and undefined'
humanize.values([true, false]);            // 'true and false'
humanize.values(["Fred", "Wilma"]);        // '"Fred" and "Wilma"'  (with quotes)

`humanize.list(strings, [options])`

This is similar to humanize.values() above, but expects the values to already be strings. It doesn’t do any humanization logic. It just concatenates the strings into an oxford-comma separated list

strings - An array of strings to be joined into a list
options - Optional options object

import humanize from "@jsdevtools/humanize-anything";

humanize.list(["Fred", "Wilma"]);          // 'Fred and Wilma'
humanize.list(["one", "two", "three"]);    // 'one, two, and three'

`humanize.type(value)`

Returns the type name of the given value. This may be a primitive type or a class name.

import humanize from "@jsdevtools/humanize-anything";

humanize.type(123);                       // 'number'
humanize.type(NaN);                       // 'NaN'
humanize.type(null);                      // 'null'
humanize.type("Hello");                   // 'string'
humanize.type(/^regex$/);                 // 'RegExp'
humanize.type({ x: 1, y: 2 });            // 'Object'
humanize.type([1, 2, 3, 4]);              // 'Array'
humanize.type(new RangeError());          // 'RangeError'

`humanize.class(value)`

Returns the class name of the given value.

import humanize from "@jsdevtools/humanize-anything";

humanize.class(123);                       // 'Number'
humanize.class(NaN);                       // 'Number'
humanize.class(null);                      // 'Null'
humanize.class("Hello");                   // 'String'
humanize.class(/^regex$/);                 // 'RegExp'
humanize.class({ x: 1, y: 2 });            // 'Object'
humanize.class([1, 2, 3, 4]);              // 'Array'
humanize.class(new RangeError());          // 'RangeError'

`humanize.function(fn)`

Returns the name of the given function. This works with any type of function, including async, generators, classes, etc. If the function doesn’t have a name, then an empty string is returned.

import humanize from "@jsdevtools/humanize-anything";

humanize.function(function myFunction() {});                 // 'myFunction'
humanize.function(async function myAsyncFunction() {});      // 'myAsyncFunction'
humanize.function(function* myGenerator() {});               // 'myGenerator'
humanize.function(async function* myAsyncGenerator() {});    // 'myAsyncGenerator'
humanize.function(() => true);                               // ''
humanize.function(async () => true);                         // ''
humanize.function(class Foo {});                             // 'Foo'
humanize.function(Object);                                   // 'Object'
humanize.function(Object.toString);                          // 'toString'

Options

The humanize(), humanize.values(), and humanize.list() functions accept an optional options object. The object can have any of these properties:

Option	Type	Default	Description
`maxLength`	`number`	25	The maximum length of a humanized value before it is shortened or truncated
`capitalize`	`boolean`	false	Indicates whether the value string should be capitalized if applicable (e.g. “Number” instead of “number”).
`article`	`boolean`	false	Indicates whether the value string should be prefixed with an article if applicable (e.g. “an object” instead of “object”).
`conjunction`	`string` or `false`	“and”	The string used to join a list of values when calling `humanize.values()` or `humanize.list()`. This is usually either “and” or “or”. Setting it to `false` will omit the conjunction.

Contributing

Contributions, enhancements, and bug-fixes are welcome! Open an issue on GitHub and submit a pull request.

Building

To build the project locally on your computer:

Clone this repo
git clone https://github.com/JS-DevTools/humanize-anything.git
Install dependencies
npm install
Build the code
npm run build
Run the tests
npm test

License

Humanize Anything is 100% free and open-source, under the MIT license. Use it however you want.

This package is Treeware. If you use it in production, then we ask that you buy the world a tree to thank us for our work. By contributing to the Treeware forest you’ll be creating employment for local families and restoring wildlife habitats.

Big Thanks To

Thanks to these awesome companies for their support of Open Source developers ❤