Body is not getting parsed in GET method - node.js

I am using mockoon for API simulation. I created 2 routes there with method GET and its body contains(responds with) JSON object. I noticed that my express app is not able to parse one of the routes. But the route that has JSON object in body which contains ARRAY is getting parsed. I tested both routes with Express(by console.log) and in chrome browser(I have JSON formatter extension) and it is behaving the same meaning response that does not contain ARRAY is not getting parsed but the response with array is getting parsed(behaving normally). Let me show the screenshots:
Express(by console.log):
With array:
Without array:
Chrome(JSON Formatter extension):
With array(extension is able to parse):
Without array(extension is not able to parse):
I tried adding Header(Content-Type: application/json) to the route in mockoon. But still, I am not aware of what is going on here. Someone please explain
The express code:
const iabs_client = await axios.get(
"http://localhost:3001/iabs-client
);
Here is the route created in Mockoon(without array inside JSON):
P.S mockoon is a program that creates endpoints in localhost, useful for API simulation when developing front-end without having backend yet

The trailing comma after "something" is not valid JSON. Edit your Mockoon body to remove the comma and it should work.

Related

What happens if I do not use body parser or express.json()?

I am new to the whole backend stuff I understood that both bodyparser and express.json() will parse the incoming request(body from the client) into the request object.
But what happens if I do not parse the incoming request from the client ?
without middleware parsing your requests, your req.body will not be populated. You will then need to manually go research on the req variable and find out how to get the values you want.
Your bodyParser acts as an interpreter, transforming http request, in to an easily accessible format base on your needs.
You may read more on HTTP request here ( You can even write your own http server )
https://nodejs.org/api/http.html#http_class_http_incomingmessage
You will just lose the data, and request.body field will be empty.
Though the data is still sent to you, so it is transferred to the server, but you have not processed it so you won't have access to the data.
You can parse it yourself, by the way. The request is a Readable stream, so you can listen data and end events to collect and then parse the data.
You shall receive what you asked for in scenarios where you do not convert the data you get the raw data that looks somewhat like this username=scott&password=secret&website=stackabuse.com, Now this ain't that bad but you will manually have to filter out which is params, what is a query and inside of those 2 where is the data..
unless it is a project requirement all that heavy lifting is taken care of by express and you get a nicely formatted object looking like this
{
username: 'scott',
password: 'secret',
website: 'stackabuse.com'
}
For Situation where you DO need to use the raw data express gives you a convenient way of accessing that as well all you need to do is use this line of code
express.raw( [options] ) along with express.json( [options] )

Acces JSON Object in google cloud functions

i'm trying to parse a response in a google cloud function.
The text response is:
{"data":{"Object_Create":{"id":107}}} and stored in var body.
i convert it this way:
var obj= JSON.parse(body)
Then i try to access the object:
var Object_Create= obj.data.Object_Create
and works.
The problem is when i try to get the id field with:
var id= obj.data.Object_Create.id
because it returns ReferenceError: id is not defined
I tried the same code from an online JS editor and it's working without any problems so it seems related to the cloud platform.
Did someone experienced the same problem?
There is no need to parse that response, as it is a Javascript object, which means there is no extra processing necessary.
If you do try to parse it, it should throw a syntax error
SyntaxError: Unexpected token o in JSON at position 1
you can just access it by
console.log(body.data.Object_Create.id)
I imagine you actually want to use that key however, so you could
const { Object_Create } = body.data
console.log(Object_Create.id)

Bodyparser behavior after second question mark

I wrote a simple API which will return request.query as a response.
The behavior is little different than what I am expecting.
redirectto -- I am getting the only name as part of response redirectto param.
id -- I am getting an array in response.
Why is this behaviour?
Query parameters that contain reserved characters should be URL encoded or they will fail to parse correctly.
The properly encoded URL should look something like this:
http://localhost:8082/redirect?requesttype=click&id=79992&redirectto=http%3A%2F%2Flocalhost%3A8081%2Fredirect%3Fname%3Djohn%26id%3D123

Get wrong parameter from get method in nodejs

I'm trying to send get method request and want to pass value in URL.
Like my api look like
app.get('/api/getlocation/:customerName', customer.getlocation);
For call this I wrote in postman
localhost:8080/api/getlocation/:customerName=kumbhani
For test
var customerName = req.params.customerName;
console.log('name', customerName); // =kumbhani
It returns name with = sign - I want only kumbhani
The colon character in the path in Express has a special meaning: whatever you put in the URL after getLocation/ will be put in req.params.customerName.
This means in Postman, you should actually call this URL:
localhost:8080/api/getlocation/kumbhani
→ See related question.

Is it ok to work directly on the data in req.body?

I'm working on an app in Node/Express/Jade.
I have a GET route which render a form. When the user submit this, a POST route is handling the request. I use bodyParser, which populate the req.body.
I then sanitize, validate and generate new data directly in the req.body:
// Shorthand variable
var doc = req.body;
// Sanitise and transform user input
doc.company = sanitize( doc.company ).trim();
doc.contact_person = sanitize( doc.contact_person ).trim();
...
// Validate user input
validator.check( doc.company, 'Some error message' ).notEmpty();
validator.check( doc.contact_person, 'Another error message' ).notEmpty();
...
// Generate new object data
doc.slug = sanitize( doc.company ).toSlug();
...
Question: is if there are any special reason for me not to edit the data directly in the req.body? Should I instead making a new "doc" object from the data in req.body, and in that new object sanitize, validate and add the new generated data.
It's fine to edit data in req.body. The only thing you should be aware of is that the next route or middleware will get a modified version of req.body.
So, you may create a single route/middleware to sanitize and transform your req.body and then use transformed results in multiple routes.
You can definitely modify it. For example, the express.json middleware parses raw body data into JSON for the rest of the middleware chain.
It's best to use a copy if your intention isn't to alter data for the rest of the chain, even if it won't interfere with correct operation. It prevents sometimes hard-to-debug errors that might crop up in later development.

Resources