post request not taking in data - express js and mongo - node.js

Question

I am using this code:
app.post("/users", function(req, res) {
db.collection(USERS_COLLECTION).insertOne(req.body , function(err, doc) {
if (err) {
handleError(res, err.message, "Failed to create new user.");
} else {
res.status(201).json(req.body);
}
});
});
and I am trying putting in this request: localhost:8080/users?firstName=foo&lastName=bar
but when I try the post request in postman it returns just an id and doesn't insert the params in the database.
{
"_id": "584f04eb141faa7df7fc4059"
}
how do I fix this so that it returns the data or do I need to create a schema first and check against it? If I could be pointed in the right direction that would be great

Answer 1

You're correct in that you need a schema!
If there were no schema in a database, you essentially would have a bucket full of (potentially) mismatched JSON objects. Thus, it would be tedious to ensure that your keys match up to their expected values.
If you're new to Mongo, I'd recommend checking out Mongoose ODM. It helps when trying to understand the structure and quirks of a NoSQL DB.

Answer 2

ok.. So I created a Schema
var mongoose = require('mongoose');
// user schema
var usersSchema = mongoose.Schema({
firstName: String,
lastName : String,
email : String
});
mongoose.model('users', usersSchema);
and the post request code looks like this:
var express = require("express");
var path = require("path");
var bodyParser = require("body-parser");
var mongodb = require("mongodb");
var ObjectID = mongodb.ObjectID;
var USERS_COLLECTION = "users";
var mongoURL = "the url is here";
var user = require("./Models/User");
var mongoose = require('mongoose');
var app = express();
app.use(express.static(__dirname + "/public"));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
extended: true
}));
mongoose.connect(mongoURL);
// USERS API ROUTES BELOW
// Generic error handler used by all endpoints.
function handleError(res, reason, message, code) {
console.log("ERROR: " + reason);
res.status(code || 500).json({"error": message});
}
/* "/USERS"
* POST: creates a new user
*/
app.post("/users", function(req, res) {
var firstName = req.params.firstName;
var lastName = req.params.lastName;
var email = req.params.email;
//call the create function for our database
mongoose.model('users').create({
firstName : firstName,
lastName : lastName,
email : email
}, function (err, user) {
if (err) {
res.send("There was a problem adding the information to the database.");
} else {
//User has been created
console.log('POST creating new users: ' + user + firstName);
res.format({
//JSON response will show the newly created user
json: function(){
res.json(user);
}
});
}
})
});
though the issue is that when I send a http post request :
localhost:8080/users?firstName=foo&lastName=bar&email=foobar#gmail.com
req.body.firstName = undefined and req.params.firstName = undefined how do I get it to properly read in the values? When I put static strings in the place of req.body... it works perfect.
this is what returns in json currently:
{
"__v": 0,
"_id": "5851567048018fa141543f53"
}

Answer 3

21 things matter the most on this problem
you do not implement a body-parser
here you can install it by: npm I body-parser
app.use(express.json());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({extended:true}));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
add content type in postman if you use postman to send API
Content-Type: application/JSON