enforce consistent spacing between keys and values in object literal properties (key-spacing)

The --fix option on the command line can automatically fix some of the problems reported by this rule.

This rule enforces spacing around the colon in object literal properties. It can verify each property individually, or it can ensure horizontal alignment of adjacent properties in an object literal.

Rule Details

This rule enforces consistent spacing between keys and values in object literal properties. In the case of long lines, it is acceptable to add a new line wherever whitespace is allowed.

Options

This rule has an object option:

• "beforeColon": false (default) | true
  • false: disallows spaces between the key and the colon in object literals.
  • true: requires at least one space between the key and the colon in object literals.
• "afterColon": true (default) | false
  • true: requires at least one space between the colon and the value in object literals.
  • false: disallows spaces between the colon and the value in object literals.
• "mode": "strict" (default) | "minimum"
  • "strict": enforces exactly one space before or after colons in object literals.
  • "minimum": enforces one or more spaces before or after colons in object literals.
• "align": "value" | "colon"
  • "value": enforces horizontal alignment of values in object literals.
  • "colon" enforces horizontal alignment of both colons and values in object literals.
• "align" with an object value allows for fine-grained spacing when values are being aligned in object literals.
• "singleLine" specifies a spacing style for single-line object literals.
• "multiLine" specifies a spacing style for multi-line object literals.

Please note that you can either use the top-level options or the grouped options (singleLine and multiLine) but not both.

beforeColon

Examples of incorrect code for this rule with the default { "beforeColon": false } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "beforeColon": false }]*/

var obj = { "foo" : 42 };

Examples of correct code for this rule with the default { "beforeColon": false } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "beforeColon": false }]*/

var obj = { "foo": 42 };

Examples of incorrect code for this rule with the { "beforeColon": true } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "beforeColon": true }]*/

var obj = { "foo": 42 };

Examples of correct code for this rule with the { "beforeColon": true } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "beforeColon": true }]*/

var obj = { "foo" : 42 };

afterColon

Examples of incorrect code for this rule with the default { "afterColon": true } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "afterColon": true }]*/

var obj = { "foo":42 };

Examples of correct code for this rule with the default { "afterColon": true } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "afterColon": true }]*/

var obj = { "foo": 42 };

Examples of incorrect code for this rule with the { "afterColon": false } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "afterColon": false }]*/

var obj = { "foo": 42 };

Examples of correct code for this rule with the { "afterColon": false } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "afterColon": false }]*/

var obj = { "foo":42 };

mode

Examples of incorrect code for this rule with the default { "mode": "strict" } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "mode": "strict" }]*/

call({
    foobar: 42,
    bat:    2 * 2
});

Examples of correct code for this rule with the default { "mode": "strict" } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "mode": "strict" }]*/

call({
    foobar: 42,
    bat: 2 * 2
});

Examples of correct code for this rule with the { "mode": "minimum" } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "mode": "minimum" }]*/

call({
    foobar: 42,
    bat:    2 * 2
});

align

Examples of incorrect code for this rule with the { "align": "value" } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "align": "value" }]*/

var obj = {
    a: value,
    bcde:  42,
    fg :   foo()
};

Examples of correct code for this rule with the { "align": "value" } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "align": "value" }]*/

var obj = {
    a:    value,
    bcde: 42,

    fg: foo(),
    h:  function() {
        return this.a;
    },
    ijkl: 'Non-consecutive lines form a new group'
};

var obj = { a: "foo", longPropertyName: "bar" };

Examples of incorrect code for this rule with the { "align": "colon" } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "align": "colon" }]*/

call({
    foobar: 42,
    bat:    2 * 2
});

Examples of correct code for this rule with the { "align": "colon" } option:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", { "align": "colon" }]*/

call({
    foobar: 42,
    bat   : 2 * 2
});

align

The align option can take additional configuration through the beforeColon, afterColon, mode, and on options.

If align is defined as an object, but not all of the parameters are provided, undefined parameters will default to the following:

// Defaults
align: {
    "beforeColon": false,
    "afterColon": true,
    "on": "colon",
    "mode": "strict"
}

Examples of correct code for this rule with sample { "align": { } } options:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", {
    "align": {
        "beforeColon": true,
        "afterColon": true,
        "on": "colon"
    }
}]*/

var obj = {
    "one"   : 1,
    "seven" : 7
}

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", {
    "align": {
        "beforeColon": false,
        "afterColon": false,
        "on": "value"
    }
}]*/

var obj = {
    "one":  1,
    "seven":7
}

align and multiLine

The multiLine and align options can differ, which allows for fine-tuned control over the key-spacing of your files. align will not inherit from multiLine if align is configured as an object.

multiLine is used any time an object literal spans multiple lines. The align configuration is used when there is a group of properties in the same object. For example:

var myObj = {
  key1: 1, // uses multiLine

  key2: 2, // uses align (when defined)
  key3: 3, // uses align (when defined)

  key4: 4 // uses multiLine
}

Examples of incorrect code for this rule with sample { "align": { }, "multiLine": { } } options:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", {
    "multiLine": {
        "beforeColon": false,
        "afterColon":true
    },
    "align": {
        "beforeColon": true,
        "afterColon": true,
        "on": "colon"
    }
}]*/

var obj = {
    "myObjectFunction": function() {
        // Do something
    },
    "one"             : 1,
    "seven"           : 7
}

Examples of correct code for this rule with sample { "align": { }, "multiLine": { } } options:

/*eslint key-spacing: ["error", {
    "multiLine": {
        "beforeColon": false,
        "afterColon": true

    },
    "align": {
        "beforeColon": true,
        "afterColon": true,
        "on": "colon"
    }
}]*/

var obj = {
    "myObjectFunction": function() {
        // Do something
        //
    }, // These are two separate groups, so no alignment between `myObjectFuction` and `one`
    "one"   : 1,
    "seven" : 7 // `one` and `seven` are in their own group, and therefore aligned
}

singleLine and multiLine

Examples of correct code for this rule with sample { "singleLine": { }, "multiLine": { } } options:

/*eslint "key-spacing": [2, {
    "singleLine": {
        "beforeColon": false,
        "afterColon": true
    },
    "multiLine": {
        "beforeColon": true,
        "afterColon": true,
        "align": "colon"
    }
}]*/
var obj = { one: 1, "two": 2, three: 3 };
var obj2 = {
    "two" : 2,
    three : 3
};

When Not To Use It

If you have another convention for property spacing that might not be consistent with the available options, or if you want to permit multiple styles concurrently you can safely disable this rule.

Version

This rule was introduced in ESLint 0.9.0.

Resources

• Rule source
• Documentation source