Javascript & Node.js - make a JSON request

Question

in this Question I read that in node.js you can distinguish between html requests and json requests like so:

app.get('/route', function (req, res) {
    if (req.is('json')) res.json(data);
    else if (req.is('html')) res.render('view', {});
    else ...
});

now my question is how do you make a request that is interpreted as json in node server?
cause I tried with $.ajax and $.getJson and typed in the browser and all were html requests.
this is my request

$.ajax({ type: 'GET', url: "/test", dataType:"json", success: function(data){log(data)}})

Have you set datatype = json in your ajax call?

mico
– mico

2015-07-04 11:07:48 +00:00
Commented Jul 4, 2015 at 11:07 — mico
– mico, Commented Jul 4, 2015 at 11:07
yes I have but didn't make any difference

Mohsen Shakiba
– Mohsen Shakiba

2015-07-04 11:11:18 +00:00
Commented Jul 4, 2015 at 11:11 — Mohsen Shakiba
– Mohsen Shakiba, Commented Jul 4, 2015 at 11:11

James · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-04 12:09:56Z

3

The req.is method checks the incoming request type by inspecting the Content-Type header therefore you need to make sure this header is set in the request before it's sent up e.g.

$.ajax({
    type: 'GET',
    url: '/route',
    contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
    ....
});

However, the Content-Type header is used to determine the format of the request body, not the response. It's recommended you use the Accept header instead to inform the server of what type of format is appropriate for the response e.g.

app.get('/route', function (req, res) {
    if (req.accepts('html')) {
        res.render('view', {});
    } else if (req.accepts('json')) {
        res.json(data);
    } else {
        ...
    }
});

Then on the client, you don't need to worry about the Content-header but rather the Accept header, and jQuery already provides a handy little method for that

$.getJSON('/route', function(data) {
    ...
});

edited Jul 4, 2015 at 12:09

answered Jul 4, 2015 at 11:55

James

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2 Comments

Mohsen Shakiba Over a year ago

thanks that did work, but when I enter the url in the broswer(not $.ajax) it still accepts the request as json, isn't this supposed to be html?

James Over a year ago

@user3425760 what you'll probably find is the browser is telling the server it can accept both JSON & HTML responses. You can update your get method to prioritise HTML over JSON, I've updated my answer to demonstrate this.

Abhinav · Accepted Answer · 2015-07-04 11:30:22Z

1

Try setting the contentType parameter

$.ajax({
    type: 'GET',
    url: 'your_url',
    data: {
        test: "test"
    },
    contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
    dataType: "json",
    ....
});

EDIT:

You can use the request Module all you have to do is

var request = require('request');

var options = {
  uri: 'your_server_side_url',
  method: 'POST',
  json: {
    "data": "some_data"
  }
};

request(options, function (error, response, body) {
  if (!error && response.statusCode == 200) {
    console.log(body.id) // Print the shortened url.
  }
});

Check out that github link. May be that module will make your life easier

edited Jul 4, 2015 at 11:30

answered Jul 4, 2015 at 11:12

Abhinav

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5 Comments

Mohsen Shakiba Over a year ago

I don't need the result in the client, I check how the server is seeing the request.

Abhinav Over a year ago

first you have to make sure that the ajax request is correctly sent to the server

Mohsen Shakiba Over a year ago

the request is sent to server fine, cause I can log the request.

Mohsen Shakiba Over a year ago

I'm not getting any error, the request should be in type of "json" but it's always in type of "html" even with the contentType and everything.

Mohsen Shakiba Over a year ago

your answer wan't what I was looking for, but you get a vote up anyway

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