save image data coming from a request using node js - node.js

Question

I am new to node js.
I wrote a server using node js which will read the request data and save that data into an image file.(Because the data coming is image data itself.)
The node js script I wrote is :
const http = require('http');
const fs = require('fs');
const server = http.createServer();
server.on('request', function(request, respond) {
var body = '';
filePath = '1.jpg';
request.on('data', function(data) {
body += data;
});
request.on('end', function (){
fs.appendFile(filePath, body, function() {
respond.end();
});
});
});
server.listen(8080);
And from the terminal on same machine , I fired a curl command to send the image :
curl -X POST --data #tmp.jpg 127.0.0.1:8080
The tmp.jpg is opening perfectly on my machine.
But 1.jpg (created by node js) is not opening.
What can be the problem ?
Any help would be highly appreciated.

Answer 1

The issue lies with your usage of curl. To send binary data, use the --data-binary flag instead:
curl -X POST --data-binary #image.jpg 127.0.0.1:8080
Also, you need to use writeFile instead of appendFile. The latter will add each request's data to the same file, which wil not be readable as image.
Furthermore, when processing binary data I find it easier to use buffers instead of string. The request processing would look like this:
server.on('request', function(req, respond) {
filePath = '1.jpg';
var chunks = []
req.on('data', d => {
chunks.push(d)
})
req.on('end', function (){
var data = Buffer.concat(chunks)
fs.writeFile(filePath, data, function() {
respond.end();
});
});
});