Upload multiple images to Node.js server using Mongoose

Question

I try to submit images to my server.

In the Objective-C part, I append the image data to the HTTP body, using "form-data" with "name" and "filename". Below is the relevant snippet. I'm pretty sure other parts should be correct. Please focus on the line with the "Content-Disposition" if necessary:

...
// Append image data to body data
NSMutableData *bodyData = [NSMutableData data];
int i = 1;
for (NSData *imgData in allImgData) {
    [bodyData appendData:[[NSString stringWithFormat:@"--%@\r\n", boundaryConstant] dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
    [bodyData appendData:[[NSString stringWithFormat:@"Content-Disposition: form-data; name=\"photoToUpload[]\"; filename=\"%@%d.png\"\r\n", fileParamConstant, i] dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
    [bodyData appendData:[@"Content-Type: image/png\r\n\r\n" dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
    [bodyData appendData:imgData];
    [bodyData appendData:[[NSString stringWithFormat:@"\r\n"] dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
    i++;
}
// Append one last boundary
[bodyData appendData:[[NSString stringWithFormat:@"--%@--\r\n", boundaryConstant] dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding]];
// setting the body of the post to the reqeust
[urlRequest setHTTPBody:bodyData];
...

Problem

However, after searching several posts online, I'm still not so sure how I should handle the server part with nodejs using mongoose. Based on my Objective-C part, should I get the image from "req.body" or "req.files"? So I think my problem also lies in understanding the HTTP request, especially related to the "Content-Disposition" part above.

Below is my current nodejs code:

 // on routes that end in /users/competitorAnalysisPhotoData
// ----------------------------------------------------
router.route('/users/competitorAnalysisPhotoData/:userName')

// update the user info (accessed at PUT http://localhost:8080/api/users/competitorAnalysisPhotoData)
    .put(function(req, res) {

        // use our user model to find the user we want
        User.findOne({ userName: req.params.userName}, function(err, user) {

            if (err)
                res.send(err);
            console.log('Got the user in "Put"!');

            // update the photos -- Version 1
            user.competitorAnalysis.push({
                photo1: req.body.photo1,
                photo2: req.body.photo2,
                photo3: req.body.photo3,
                photo4: req.body.photo4
            });
            console.log('req.body.photo1: %s', req.body.photo1);
            console.log('Save the photo data for competitorAnalysisPhotoData!');

            // update the photos -- Version 2
            user.competitorAnalysis.photo1.data = fs.readFileSync(req.files.photo1.path)
            user.competitorAnalysis.photo1.contentType = 'image/png';
            user.competitorAnalysis.photo2.data = fs.readFileSync(req.files.photo2.path)
            user.competitorAnalysis.photo2.contentType = 'image/png';
            user.competitorAnalysis.photo3.data = fs.readFileSync(req.files.photo3.path)
            user.competitorAnalysis.photo3.contentType = 'image/png';
            user.competitorAnalysis.photo4.data = fs.readFileSync(req.files.photo4.path)
            user.competitorAnalysis.photo4.contentType = 'image/png';
            console.log('req.files.photo1.path: %s', req.files.photo1.path);
            console.log('Save the photo data for competitorAnalysisPhotoData!');

            // save the user
            user.save(function(err) {
                if (err)
                    res.send(err);
                res.json({ message: 'User updated!' });
            });

        });

It will be great if I can get some suggestions on how I should deal with the server-side properly.

Tracker1 · Accepted Answer · 2016-08-25 15:57:27Z

1

Use GridFS, or local file system to store the file, and then have a reference to that file in your mongoose model. If you know the image/file will be a safe size (well under 16MB + the rest of the model), you can store it as a Blob (ByteArray) in your model.

answered Aug 25, 2016 at 15:57

Tracker1

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