JSON object gets received as undefined in node.js post?

Question

I have a centOS server running a node.js http server (see code below) I'm trying to pass json from the command line: using

curl -X POST -H "application/json" -d '{"val1":"hello","val2":"my","val3":"world"}' localhost:3000/app1/webServ1

Here is the code for node.js:

    var http = require('http'),
    express = require('express'),
    path = require('path'),
    lower = require('./lower.js');



var app = express();
app.set('port', process.env.PORT || 3000);
app.set('views', path.join(__dirname, 'views'));
app.set('view engine', 'jade');

app.use(express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'public')));


app.get('/', function (req, res)
{
    res.send('<html><body><h1>Hello World</h1></body></html>');
});

app.post('/:appName?/:webServ?', function (req,res) {

    var appName  = String(req.params.appName);
    var category = String(req.params.category);
    var webServ  = String(req.params.webServ);

    if ( (appName  == 'app1') && (webServ == 'webServ1') )
    {

        console.log("in webserv1 post");


         var address = req.body;
         console.log("Got request: " + JSON.stringify(address));

        console.log(address);  

        console.log(address.val1);
        console.log(address.val2);
        console.log(address.val3); 

       res.end();

    }
});

Why do I keep getting the following error when I execute the CURL command stated above:

Got request: undefined
undefined
undefined
TypeError: Cannot read property 'val1' of undefined

have you used bodyparser in your code. like var app = express().use(express.bodyParser()); — Mritunjay
– Mritunjay, Commented Jul 7, 2014 at 4:07

Mritunjay · Accepted Answer · 2014-07-07 05:28:05Z

3

Two things you have to fix in your problem

1) Express doesn't parse request body by default. You'll have to use middle-wares for that.

require body-parser

var bodyParser = require('body-parser');

add these lines after or before your app.use line

app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded());

If you are getting some warning of deprecated urlencoded try this

app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ 
   extended: true 
}));

2) In your CURL request you haven't specified the Content-Type attribute in your -H option

should be like following

 curl -X POST -H "Content-Type:application/json" -d '{"val1":"hello","val2":"my","val3":"world"}' localhost:3000/app1/webServ1

edited Jul 7, 2014 at 5:28

answered Jul 7, 2014 at 4:18

Mritunjay

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2 Comments

JoeTavarez Over a year ago

I added body-parser to my node modules and when I ran the program I got: I got a warning stating: body-parser deprecated urlencoded: explicitly specify "extended: true" for extended parsing

Mritunjay Over a year ago

@ConfusedDeer, you have added the last two lines also.

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