Node.js convert XML to JSON and return it to Frontend

Question

I am trying to convert xml data to JSON in order to return it to my Angular app. I've been able to get data but I'm not sure how to convert and return to Angular. I am using xml2js parser plugin to convert xml.

node.js

router.get('/courselist',  (req, res, next) => {
request("http://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-daily.xml", function(error, response, body) {
    console.log(body);
    parser(body, function (err, result) {
       res.json(response);
    });
});

After parsing the output is like this:

{"gesmes:Envelope": {
    "$": {
        "xmlns:gesmes": "http://www.gesmes.org/xml/2002-08-01",
        "xmlns": "http://www.ecb.int/vocabulary/2002-08-01/eurofxref"
    },
    "gesmes:subject": [
        "Reference rates"
    ],
    "gesmes:Sender": [
        {
            "gesmes:name": [
                "European Central Bank"
            ]
        }
    ],
    "Cube": [
        {
            "Cube": [
                {
                    "$": {
                        "time": "2017-09-21"
                    },
                    "Cube": [
                        {
                            "$": {
                                "currency": "USD",
                                "rate": "1.1905"
                            }
                        },
                        ....
                        {
                            "$": {
                                "currency": "JPY",
                                "rate": "133.86"
                            }
                        },

                    ]
                }
            ]
        }
    ]
}
}

Angular service

getCourseList() {
    return this._http.get('./api/course-list').map(
      (res: Response) => res.json()
    ).catch(this.handleError);
}

When I call the endpoint in Postman I can see parsed output, but in Angular I am getting error as I am not returning JSON object.

Unexpected token < in JSON at position 0

I've been looking around SO for a solution but not been able to find any which would suit me. Can you please advise what am I doing wrong as I am beginner with Node.js

Have you inspected the response to make sure it's actually returning JSON? — Ben Fortune
– Ben Fortune, Commented Sep 22, 2017 at 10:46
It doesn't return JSON, I tried to JSON.parse(result) in parser but still no effect — mxr7350
– mxr7350, Commented Sep 22, 2017 at 10:49

Mukesh Sharma · Accepted Answer · 2017-09-22 10:59:43Z

2

You angular service is calling './api/course-list' which is not a valid url. And, probably you have configured your server to return index.html page for even 404 page. That's why your angular client might be getting html page, and throwing the error while parsing it into `

Hope this._http.get('/api/course-list') fixes the issue.

answered Sep 22, 2017 at 10:59

Mukesh Sharma

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5 Comments

mxr7350 Over a year ago

I have proxy setup which replaces .api with proper path. I am definitely calling endpoint properly as I have other endpoints which work. The problem is with data I am sending back to the angular

Mukesh Sharma Over a year ago

Check Chrome Debugger Console's Network tab to see the response you get from backend. Unexpected token < in JSON at position 0 clearly says that the response starts with <, and it is possible in case of html/xml. Since you have verified the api in Postman, the only possibility left is related to angular-client only.

mxr7350 Over a year ago

I am getting response Status Code:200 OK, content type is not ok content-type:text/html; charset=UTF-8

Mukesh Sharma Over a year ago

And, check the content as well. It should not be json.

mxr7350 Over a year ago

Found solution, part of the problem was the path as in Node.js I had /courselist and in angular it was /course-list.But I still needed to make more tweaks. Thanks for your help!

mxr7350 · Accepted Answer · 2021-12-20 21:11:54Z

2

I managed to find a solution I changed parsing to be response.body instead of body and it formatted XML properly. Additionally paths in node.js and angular were not same.

router.get('/course-list',  (req, res, next) => {
    request("http://www.ecb.europa.eu/stats/eurofxref/eurofxref-daily.xml", function(error, response, body) {
        var parsedBody;
        var doneParsing = false;
        parser(response.body, function (err, result) {
            parsedBody = result;
            doneParsing = true;
        });
        if (doneParsing === true) {
            response.body = parsedBody;
        }
        res.json(response);
    });
});

edited Dec 20, 2021 at 21:11

answered Sep 22, 2017 at 11:54

mxr7350

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