React Hooks and Axios Image Upload with Multer - node.js

Question

I am trying to add the ability to upload an image and then update a user object with that image path. When I upload the image using Insomnia client and send the request, I am able to successfully add the image and path to MongoDB. NodeJS user route below:
const express = require ("express");
const router = express.Router();
const bcrypt = require("bcryptjs");
const jwt = require("jsonwebtoken");
const Users = require("../models/users");
const auth = require("../middleware/auth");
const multer = require('multer');
const storage = multer.diskStorage({
destination: function(req, file, cb) {
cb(null, './uploads/');
},
filename: function(req, file, cb){
cb(null, file.originalname);
}
});
const fileFilter = (req, file, cb) => {
// reject a file
if (file.mimetype === 'image/jpeg' || file.mimetype === 'image/png' || file.mimetype == "image/jpg") {
cb(null, true);
} else {
cb(null, false);
return cb(new Error('Only .png, .jpg and .jpeg format allowed!'));
}
};
const upload = multer({storage: storage, limits: {
fileSize: 1024 * 1024 * 5
},
fileFilter: fileFilter
});
// REQUEST TO FIND USER BY ID AND ADD A PROFILE PICTURE
router.put('/update/:id', upload.single('userImage'), (req, res) => {
Users.findById(req.params.id)
.then(user => {
user.userImage = req.file.path || user.userImage,
user
.save()
.then(() => res.json("The User is UPDATED succesfully!"))
.catch(err => res.status(400).json(`Error: ${err}`));
})
.catch(err => res.status(500).json(`Error: ${err}`));
console.log(req.body);
console.log(req.file);
});
However, when I test the code on the client I receive the following 500 error: ""Error: TypeError: Cannot read property 'path' of undefined." I am using React Hooks and Axios, code below:
import React, { useState, useContext } from 'react';
import Exit from '../cancel.svg';
import Modal from 'react-modal';
import { useForm } from "react-hook-form";
import axios from 'axios';
import UserContext from "../context/UserContext";
import { useHistory } from "react-router-dom";
Modal.setAppElement('#root');
const ProfilePicture = () => {
const [modalIsOpen, setModalIsOpen]= useState (true);
const { register, handleSubmit } = useForm ();
const [userImage, setUserImage] = useState();
const onSubmit = (data) => console.log(data);
const { userData } = useContext(UserContext);
const history = useHistory();
const changeOnClick = e => {
const users = {
userImage
};
console.log(users);
axios
.put(`http://localhost:5000/users/update/${userData.user.id}`, users)
.then(res => console.log(res.body))
.catch(err => {
console.log(err);
});
history.push("/Landing")
}
return(
<Modal isOpen={modalIsOpen} onRequestClose={() => setModalIsOpen(false)} className='finishBorder'>
<div className='border-bottom-two'>
<img onClick= {() => setModalIsOpen(false)} className='newexitButton'src={Exit} alt='X' />
<span className='lastThing'>One last thing! Add a profile picture</span>
</div>
<form onSubmit={handleSubmit(changeOnClick)} encType="multipart/form-data" >
<div>
<span className="dot"></span>
<input onChange={e => setUserImage(e.target.value)} ref = {register} type='file' name='userImage' className='picUploader'/>
{/* <button>submit</button> */}
</div>
<div>
<button type='submit' className='doneButton'>Done</button>
<div>
<span className='laterTwo'>I'll do this later</span>
</div>
</div>
</form>
</Modal>
)
}
export default ProfilePicture;
Appreciate the help!

Answer 1

What you are sending from the client is a "fakepath", not a file. To access the file from the input use:
setUserImage(e.target.files[0])
Also, I think multer only works with multipart/form-data, so you should check that, but is as easy as:
const formData = new FormData();
formData.append([image name], [image file]);
axios.post(`http://localhost:5000/users/update/${userData.user.id}`, formData, {
headers: { "Content-Type": "multipart/form-data" }})