Validation & Parsing

Validate user input, parse notation into structured options, and convert between formats. All functions on this page are exported from @randsum/notation. Three validation functions — isDiceNotation, notation, and validateNotation — are also re-exported from @randsum/roller for convenience. Everything else requires @randsum/notation directly.

Validation

`isDiceNotation(value)`

Type guard that returns true if the string is valid dice notation. Use this for quick checks before passing input to roll().

import { isDiceNotation } from '@randsum/notation'

isDiceNotation('4d6L')   // true — typed as DiceNotation
isDiceNotation('2d6+3')  // true
isDiceNotation('hello')  // false
isDiceNotation('4dX')    // false — non-numeric sides

`validateNotation(notation)`

Returns a detailed result object with either the parsed structure or an error:

import { validateNotation } from '@randsum/notation'

const valid = validateNotation('4d6L')
// { valid: true, notation: ['4d6L'], options: [{ sides: 6, quantity: 4, ... }] }

const invalid = validateNotation('4dX')
// { valid: false, error: { message: '...', argument: '4dX' } }

Use this instead of isDiceNotation() when you need to show error messages to the user.

`suggestNotationFix(notation)`

Suggests a corrected version of invalid notation. Returns undefined if no suggestion is available.

import { suggestNotationFix } from '@randsum/notation'

suggestNotationFix('d6')      // '1d6'  — missing quantity
suggestNotationFix('4 d 6')   // '4d6'  — extra whitespace
suggestNotationFix('46')      // '4d6'  — missing 'd' separator
suggestNotationFix('xyz')     // undefined — no suggestion

Combine with validateNotation() for a complete user-facing validation flow:

import { validateNotation, suggestNotationFix } from '@randsum/notation'

function validateUserInput(input: string) {
const result = validateNotation(input)
if (result.valid) return { ok: true, notation: result.notation }

const suggestion = suggestNotationFix(input)
return {
  ok: false,
  error: result.error,
  suggestion // may be undefined
}
}

`notation(value)`

Assert that a string is valid notation or throw NotationParseError. Returns the input narrowed to the DiceNotation type. The thrown error includes a suggestion property when a fix can be inferred.

import { notation } from '@randsum/notation'

const n = notation('4d6L')  // returns '4d6L' as DiceNotation
notation('bad')             // throws NotationParseError

Parsing

`notationToOptions(notation)`

Parse a notation string into an array of ParsedNotationOptions objects — one per dice group in the expression:

import { isDiceNotation, notationToOptions } from '@randsum/notation'

if (isDiceNotation('4d6R{1}L+2')) {
const options = notationToOptions('4d6R{1}L+2')
// [
//   {
//     sides: 6,
//     quantity: 4,
//     modifiers: {
//       reroll: { exact: [1] },
//       drop: { lowest: 1 },
//       plus: 2
//     }
//   }
// ]
}

Transformation

`optionsToNotation(options)`

Convert a RollOptions object back into a notation string:

import { optionsToNotation } from '@randsum/notation'

optionsToNotation({ sides: 6, quantity: 4, modifiers: { drop: { lowest: 1 } } })
// '4d6L'

`optionsToDescription(options)`

Generate a human-readable description of the roll. Returns an array of description strings:

import { optionsToDescription } from '@randsum/notation'

optionsToDescription({ sides: 6, quantity: 4, modifiers: { drop: { lowest: 1 } } })
// ['Roll 4 6-sided dice', 'Drop lowest']

`modifiersToNotation(modifiers)` / `modifiersToDescription(modifiers)`

Convert just the modifier portion. modifiersToNotation returns a single string; modifiersToDescription returns an array of description strings:

import { modifiersToNotation, modifiersToDescription } from '@randsum/notation'

modifiersToNotation({ drop: { lowest: 1 }, plus: 3 })
// 'L+3'

modifiersToDescription({ drop: { lowest: 1 }, plus: 3 })
// ['Drop lowest', 'Add 3']

Tokenization

`tokenize(notation)`

Parse a notation string into typed tokens for syntax highlighting or UI display. Each token includes its position, type, and a human-readable description.

import { tokenize } from '@randsum/notation'

const tokens = tokenize('4d6L+2')
// [
//   { text: '4d6', type: 'core', start: 0, end: 3, description: '4 six-sided dice' },
//   { text: 'L',   type: 'dropLowest', start: 3, end: 4, description: 'Drop lowest 1' },
//   { text: '+2',  type: 'plus', start: 4, end: 6, description: 'Plus 2' }
// ]

Token types: core, dropLowest, dropHighest, keepHighest, keepLowest, reroll, explode, compound, penetrate, cap, replace, unique, countSuccesses, dropCondition, plus, minus, multiply, multiplyTotal, unknown.

Common validation issues

Input	Valid?	Issue
`'4dX'`	No	Non-numeric sides
`'roll(4d6)'`	No	Unsupported wrapper syntax
`'d6'`	No	Missing quantity — `suggestNotationFix` returns `'1d6'`
`' 4d6'`	Yes	Leading/trailing whitespace is trimmed automatically
`'4d6l'`	Yes	Lowercase modifiers are accepted
`'4d6L'`	Yes	Standard drop-lowest

If isDiceNotation() returns false for input that looks valid, call suggestNotationFix() to see if the library can auto-correct the issue.

Validation & Parsing

Validation

isDiceNotation(value)

validateNotation(notation)

suggestNotationFix(notation)

notation(value)