microsoft / microsoft/TypeScript

Polymorphic "this" for static members

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Description

When trying to implement a fairly basic, but polymorphic, active record style model system we run into issues with the type system not respecting this when used in conjunction with a constructor or template/generic.

I've posted before about this here, #5493, and #5492 appears to mention this behavior also.

And here is an SO post this that I made:
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/33443793/create-a-generic-factory-in-typescript-unsolved

I have recycled my example from #5493 into this ticket for further discussion. I wanted an open ticket representing the desire for such a thing and for discussion but the other two are closed.

Here is an example that outlines a model Factory which produces models. If you want to customize the BaseModel that comes back from the Factory you should be able to override it. However this fails because this cannot be used in a static member.

// Typically in a library
export interface InstanceConstructor<T extends BaseModel> {
    new(fac: Factory<T>): T;
}

export class Factory<T extends BaseModel> {
    constructor(private cls: InstanceConstructor<T>) {}

    get() {
        return new this.cls(this);
    }
}

export class BaseModel {
    // NOTE: Does not work....
    constructor(private fac: Factory<this>) {}

    refresh() {
        // get returns a new instance, but it should be of
        // type Model, not BaseModel.
        return this.fac.get();
    }
}

// Application Code
export class Model extends BaseModel {
    do() {
        return true;
    }
}

// Kinda sucks that Factory cannot infer the "Model" type
let f = new Factory<Model>(Model);
let a = f.get();

// b is inferred as any here.
let b = a.refresh();

Maybe this issue is silly and there is an easy workaround. I welcome comments regarding how such a pattern can be achieved.

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing the polymorphic this examples in this issue and the related issues #5493 and #5492. Determine the intended type-system semantics and an implementation and test plan; done should mean an agreed, type-safe result for the Factory/BaseModel example.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
typescript
Domain
compilers
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
20/100

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