How can I check whether a variable is defined in Node.js?

Question

I am working on a program in node.js which is actually js.

I have a variable :

var query = azure.TableQuery...

looks this line of the

Answer 1

For me, an expression like

if (typeof query !== 'undefined' && query !== null){
   // do stuff
}

is more complicated than I want for how often I want to use it. That is, testing if a variable is defined/null is something I do frequently. I want such a test to be simple. To resolve this, I first tried to define the above code as a function, but node just gives me a syntax error, telling me the parameter to the function call is undefined. Not useful! So, searching about and working on this bit, I found a solution. Not for everyone perhaps. My solution involves using Sweet.js to define a macro. Here's how I did it:

Here's the macro (filename: macro.sjs):

// I had to install sweet using:
// npm install --save-dev
// See: https://www.npmjs.com/package/sweetbuild
// Followed instructions from https://github.com/mozilla/sweet.js/wiki/node-loader

// Initially I just had "($x)" in the macro below. But this failed to match with 
// expressions such as "self.x. Adding the :expr qualifier cures things. See
// http://jlongster.com/Writing-Your-First-Sweet.js-Macro

macro isDefined {
  rule {
    ($x:expr)
  } => {
    (( typeof ($x) === 'undefined' || ($x) === null) ? false : true)
  }
}


// Seems the macros have to be exported
// https://github.com/mozilla/sweet.js/wiki/modules

export isDefined;

Here's an example of usage of the macro (in example.sjs):

function Foobar() {
    var self = this;

    self.x = 10;

    console.log(isDefined(y)); // false
    console.log(isDefined(self.x)); // true
}

module.exports = Foobar;

And here's the main node file:

var sweet = require('sweet.js');

// load all exported macros in `macros.sjs`
sweet.loadMacro('./macro.sjs');

// example.sjs uses macros that have been defined and exported in `macros.sjs`
var Foobar = require('./example.sjs');

var x = new Foobar();

A downside of this, aside from having to install Sweet, setup the macro, and load Sweet in your code, is that it can complicate error reporting in Node. It adds a second layer of parsing. Haven't worked with this much yet, so shall see how it goes first hand. I like Sweet though and I miss macros so will try to stick with it!