express crashes if req.file is undefined - express

Question

when making a post request to an express api without an attached file in the request, the api crashes and provides the TypeError: Cannot read properties of undefined (reading 'filename') error. However i would like to make it so the api does not crash when a post request is made without an attached image. any ideas ?
express code :
const storage = multer.diskStorage({
destination: (req, res, cb) => {
cb(null, dir)
},
filename: (req, file, cb) => {
cb(null, Date.now() + file.originalname)
}
})
const upload = multer({
storage: storage
})
router.get('/', async (req, res) => {
try {
const members = await Member.find();
res.json(members);
} catch (err) {
res.status(500).json({ message: err.message });
}
})
router.get('/:id', getMember, async (req, res) => {
res.json(res.member)
})
router.post('/', upload.single('image'), async (req, res) =>{
const member = new Member({
name: req.body.name,
occupation: req.body.occupation,
bio: req.body.bio,
join: req.body.join,
image: req.file.filename
})
try {
const newMember = await member.save()
res.status(201).json(newMember)
} catch (err) {
res.status(400).json({ message: err.message });
}
})
nextjs code to actually send the file:
const submitHandler = (e) => {
e.preventDefault()
const formDatas = new FormData()
formDatas.append('name', name)
formDatas.append('occupation', occupation)
formDatas.append('bio', paragraph)
formDatas.append('join', date)
formDatas.append('image', img)
console.log(formDatas)
axios
.post(api + '/members', formDatas)
.then(res => console.log(res))
.catch(err => console.log(err))
}

Answer 1

Error occurred because you're trying to access object of undefined variable req.file;
You can make changes according to your need
1 If you don't want to accept request without any file
router.post('/', upload.single('image'), async (req, res) => {
if (!req.file) { //or you can check if(req.file===undefiend)
return res.status(400).json({ message: 'Please attach a file' });
}
const member = new Member({
name: req.body.name,
occupation: req.body.occupation,
bio: req.body.bio,
join: req.body.join,
image: req.file.filename
})
try {
const newMember = await member.save()
res.status(201).json(newMember)
} catch (err) {
res.status(400).json({ message: err.message });
}
})
2 If you want to store null/empty string (in case of no file upload)
router.post('/', upload.single('image'), async (req, res) => {
const member = new Member({
name: req.body.name,
occupation: req.body.occupation,
bio: req.body.bio,
join: req.body.join,
image: req.file!==undefined ? req.file.filename : null
})
try {
const newMember = await member.save()
res.status(201).json(newMember)
} catch (err) {
res.status(400).json({ message: err.message });
}
})

Answer 2

Change as shown below
const member = new Member({
name: req.body.name,
occupation: req.body.occupation,
bio: req.body.bio,
join: req.body.join,
image: req.file.filename ? req.file.filename : ""
})
This should stop crashing but until I see the whole code wont know how you are handling error