I am new to node.js and I am trying to access json on my node.js server from a post request so I can send it to an API and feed it back to my front-end js file. I can see the json object, but I can't seem to access it(ex: req.body.name) after reading some documentation/stackoverflow posts.

Here is my post route from my server.js file, and packages:

    var prettyjson = require('prettyjson');
    var express = require('express');
    var http = require('http');
    var cors = require('cors');
    var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
    var app = express();


    // create application/json parser 
    app.use(bodyParser.json());
    // create application/x-www-form-urlencoded parser 
    app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
        extended: true
    }));

    app.post('/', function(req, res) {

    var test = req.body; //If I req.body.name here, it will return undefined
    console.log(test);

    });

Here is my front end map.js file post function and data:

  var locations = [
  {name:'Le Thai', coords:{lat:36.168743, lng:-115.139866}},
  {name:'Atomic Liquors', coords:{lat:36.166782, lng:-115.13551}},
  {name:'The Griffin', coords:{lat:36.168785, lng:-115.140329}},
  {name:'Pizza Rock', coords:{lat:36.17182, lng:-115.142304}},
  {name:'Mob Museum', coords:{lat:36.172815,lng:-115.141242}},
  {name:'Joe Vicari’s Andiamo Italian Steakhouse', coords:{lat:36.169437, lng:-115.142903}},
  {name:'eat', coords:{lat:36.166535, lng:-115.139067}},
  {name:'Hugo’s Cellar', coords:{lat:36.169915, lng:-115.143861}},
  {name:'Therapy', coords:{lat:36.169041, lng:-115.139829}},
  {name:'Vegenation', coords:{lat:36.167401, lng:-115.139453}}

  ];
   //convert array to JSON 
   var jsonStr = JSON.stringify(locations);

   $.post('http://localhost:3000/', jsonStr, function(data){
     //empty for now

   },'json'); 

End goal: I want to be able to access my data like req.body.name. I tried using typeof on req.body, and it returns an object, however I can't seem to access this object. And I tried using JSON.parse, but realized req.body is already an object. I would like to serve this data to the Yelp API eventually.

Current output(per request) from console.log(req.body):

{ '{"name":"Le Thai","coords":{"lat":36.168743,"lng":-115.139866}},
{"name":"Atomic Liquors","coords":{"lat":36.166782,"lng":-115.13551}},
{"name":"The Griffin","coords":{"lat":36.168785,"lng":-115.140329}},
{"name":"Pizza Rock","coords":{"lat":36.17182,"lng":-115.142304}},
{"name":"Mob Museum","coords":{"lat":36.172815,"lng":-115.141242}},
{"name":"Joe Vicari’s Andiamo Italian Steakhouse","coords":
{"lat":36.169437,"lng":-115.142903}},{"name":"eat","coords":
{"lat":36.166535,"lng":-115.139067}},{"name":"Hugo’s Cellar","coords":
{"lat":36.169915,"lng":-115.143861}},{"name":"Therapy","coords":
{"lat":36.169041,"lng":-115.139829}},{"name":"Vegenation","coords":
{"lat":36.167401,"lng":-115.139453}}': '' }

I am new to node.js and I am trying to access json on my node.js server from a post request so I can send it to an API and feed it back to my front-end js file. I can see the json object, but I can't seem to access it(ex: req.body.name) after reading some documentation/stackoverflow posts.

Here is my post route from my server.js file, and packages:

    var prettyjson = require('prettyjson');
    var express = require('express');
    var http = require('http');
    var cors = require('cors');
    var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
    var app = express();


    // create application/json parser 
    app.use(bodyParser.json());
    // create application/x-www-form-urlencoded parser 
    app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
        extended: true
    }));

    app.post('/', function(req, res) {

    var test = req.body; //If I req.body.name here, it will return undefined
    console.log(test);

    });

Here is my front end map.js file post function and data:

  var locations = [
  {name:'Le Thai', coords:{lat:36.168743, lng:-115.139866}},
  {name:'Atomic Liquors', coords:{lat:36.166782, lng:-115.13551}},
  {name:'The Griffin', coords:{lat:36.168785, lng:-115.140329}},
  {name:'Pizza Rock', coords:{lat:36.17182, lng:-115.142304}},
  {name:'Mob Museum', coords:{lat:36.172815,lng:-115.141242}},
  {name:'Joe Vicari’s Andiamo Italian Steakhouse', coords:{lat:36.169437, lng:-115.142903}},
  {name:'eat', coords:{lat:36.166535, lng:-115.139067}},
  {name:'Hugo’s Cellar', coords:{lat:36.169915, lng:-115.143861}},
  {name:'Therapy', coords:{lat:36.169041, lng:-115.139829}},
  {name:'Vegenation', coords:{lat:36.167401, lng:-115.139453}}

  ];
   //convert array to JSON 
   var jsonStr = JSON.stringify(locations);

   $.post('http://localhost:3000/', jsonStr, function(data){
     //empty for now

   },'json'); 

End goal: I want to be able to access my data like req.body.name. I tried using typeof on req.body, and it returns an object, however I can't seem to access this object. And I tried using JSON.parse, but realized req.body is already an object. I would like to serve this data to the Yelp API eventually.

Current output(per request) from console.log(req.body):

{ '{"name":"Le Thai","coords":{"lat":36.168743,"lng":-115.139866}},
{"name":"Atomic Liquors","coords":{"lat":36.166782,"lng":-115.13551}},
{"name":"The Griffin","coords":{"lat":36.168785,"lng":-115.140329}},
{"name":"Pizza Rock","coords":{"lat":36.17182,"lng":-115.142304}},
{"name":"Mob Museum","coords":{"lat":36.172815,"lng":-115.141242}},
{"name":"Joe Vicari’s Andiamo Italian Steakhouse","coords":
{"lat":36.169437,"lng":-115.142903}},{"name":"eat","coords":
{"lat":36.166535,"lng":-115.139067}},{"name":"Hugo’s Cellar","coords":
{"lat":36.169915,"lng":-115.143861}},{"name":"Therapy","coords":
{"lat":36.169041,"lng":-115.139829}},{"name":"Vegenation","coords":
{"lat":36.167401,"lng":-115.139453}}': '' }

• javascript
• json
• node.js
• express

• req.body.locations[index].name? – Lyubomir Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 12:21
• @leo locations isn't part of the data :) – robertklep Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 12:22
• 1 Congrats on getting started! One of the first things you'll want to do is learn to use node-inspector or one of the other debuggers available for Node. That way, you can set a breakpoint on the req.body line and look around, expanding the values of variables and such. Using a debugger is like turning on the lights in a dark room. It's not an advanced skill, it's critical for beginners to learn it early. Enjoy! – T.J. Crowder Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 12:23
• 1 Side note: The dataType parameter on $.post isn't to tell the server what you're sending it, it's to tell jQuery what you're expecting back from the server. To tell the server what you're sending it (which is important), use $.ajax and the contentType option. – T.J. Crowder Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 12:26
• 1 Turns out my note about dataType above isn't a side note, it's central to the problem. Posted an answer. – T.J. Crowder Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 12:46

3 Answers 3

You're using an array, so it will not be:

req.body.name

but e.g.

req.body[0].name

You probably want to iterate over the array that you get with .forEach or a for loop etc.

The problem is you're not telling the server you're sending it JSON, so it's not getting parsed. Also, as rsp pointed out, to access the first name, you'd want req.body[0].name, not req.body.name.

The dataType parameter on $.post isn't to tell the server what you're sending it, it's to tell jQuery what you're expecting back from the server. To tell the server what you're sending it, use $.ajax and the contentType option:

$.ajax({
    url: 'http://localhost:3000/',
    type: "POST",
    contentType: "application/json",  // <====
    data: jsonStr,
    success: function(data){
     //empty for now
    }
});

Now, the body-parser module sees the content type on the request, and parses it for you. So for instance, if I change your server file to do this:

app.post('/', function(req, res) {
    req.body.forEach(function(entry, index) {
        console.log(index, entry.name)
    });
});

...then with the change above to the client code, I get this on the server console:

0 'Le Thai'
1 'Atomic Liquors'
2 'The Griffin'
3 'Pizza Rock'
4 'Mob Museum'
5 'Joe Vicari’s Andiamo Italian Steakhouse'
6 'eat'
7 'Hugo’s Cellar'
8 'Therapy'
9 'Vegenation'

For those getting an empty object in req.body

I had forgotten to set headers: {"Content-Type": "application/json"} in the request. Changing it solved the problem