body-parser does not work, req.body is undefined [duplicate] - express

Question

I can't seem to recover the form-data of a post request sent to my Node.js server. I've put below the server code and the post request (sent using postman in chrome):
Post request
POST /api/login HTTP/1.1
Host: localhost:8080
Cache-Control: no-cache
----WebKitFormBoundaryE19zNvXGzXaLvS5C
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="userName"
jem
----WebKitFormBoundaryE19zNvXGzXaLvS5C
NodeJS server code
var express = require('express'); // call express
var app = express(); // define our app using express
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(bodyParser());
app.all('/*', function(req, res, next) {
res.header('Access-Control-Allow-Origin', '*');
res.header('Access-Control-Allow-Headers', 'Content-Type,accept,access_token,X-Requested-With');
next();
});
var port = process.env.PORT || 8080; // set our port
var router = express.Router(); // get an instance of the express Router
router.get('/', function(req, res) {
res.json({ message: 'I am groot!' });
});
// Login
router.route('/login')
.post(function(req, res){
console.log('Auth request recieved');
// Get the user name
var user = req.body.userName;
var aToken = getToken(user);
res.json({
'token':'a_token'
});
});
app.use('/api', router);
app.listen(port);
The login method tries to obtain the req.body.userName, however, req.body is always empty.
I've seen other cases on SO describing such behavior but none of the related answers did apply here.
Thanks for helping out.

Answer 1

In general, an express app needs to specify the appropriate body-parser middleware in order for req.body to contain the body.
[EDITED]
If you required parsing of url-encoded (non-multipart) form data, as well as JSON, try adding:
// Put this statement near the top of your module
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
// Put these statements before you define any routes.
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded());
app.use(bodyParser.json());
First, you'll need to add body-parser to the dependencies property of your package.json, and then perform a npm update.
To handle multi-part form data, the bodyParser.urlencoded() body parser will not work. See the suggested modules here for parsing multipart bodies.

Answer 2

I followed this
https://www.tutorialspoint.com/expressjs/expressjs_form_data.htm
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
var multer = require('multer');
var forms = multer();
// apply them
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(forms.array());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
// how to use
router.post('/', function(req, res) {
console.log(req.body);
console.log('received the widget request');
});

Answer 3

To handle multipart/form-data request that support file upload, you need to use multer module. npm link for multer middleware

Answer 4

For Json: Use body-parser.
app.use(bodyParser.json())
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({extended: true}))
(you should Also send Content-Type: application/json in request header)
For Normal Form, Or multipart form (form with files), Use body-parser + multer.
app.use(bodyParser.json())
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({extended: true}))
app.use(multer().array())
(You should NOT send Content-Type: application/json in this case. you should send nothing, or Content-Type: multipart/form-data if you have files in form.
in postman you should not send Content-Type: multipart/form-data manually. otherwise you'll get an error (Boundary not found). (it will add this automatically.).)

Answer 5

Make sure to put in this order:
bodyParser.json() first.
app.use(bodyParser.json());
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));

Answer 6

Make sure you are not sing enctype as multipart/form-data, body parser does not support it.
use below line before you define any route.
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded());
app.use(bodyParser.json());