Troubleshooting the issue of undefined Req.body in POST requests in Node.js using Express 4.x

Question

Troubleshooting the issue of undefined Req.body in POST requests in Node.js using Express 4.x

Using a middleware called body-parser, I encoded the form values to access them in the req.body object. However, when debugging my code, I noticed that req.body is undefined. Here is the snippet of my code:

var express = require('express');
var app = express();
var bodyParser = require('body-parser');
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: false }));

Listening for Post requests

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

            // Express attaches the form-encoded values into body
            var categoryName = req.body.categoryName;
        });

HTML Form

<form action="/newCategory" role="form" method="post" class="form-inline">
    <input type="text" name="categoryName" placeholder="Category name" class="form-control" />
    <input type="submit" value="New Category" class="btn btn-primary" />
</form>

node.js express

Answer 1

Answer №1

Recently encountered a similar problem, but managed to fix it by reordering my code to map routes after configuring urlencoded middleware. Now I can access req.body in the POST requests.

app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));

// Map routes
var controllers = require("./controllers");
controllers.init(app);

Answer 2

Recently encountered a similar problem, but managed to fix it by reordering my code to map routes after configuring urlencoded middleware. Now I can access req.body in the POST requests.

app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));

// Map routes
var controllers = require("./controllers");
controllers.init(app);

Answer 3

Answer №2

My issue was resolved with this solution

const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const expressApp = express();
expressApp.use(bodyParser.urlencoded());
expressApp.use(bodyParser.json());

I hope this information proves to be helpful for others

Answer 4

My issue was resolved with this solution

const bodyParser = require('body-parser');
const expressApp = express();
expressApp.use(bodyParser.urlencoded());
expressApp.use(bodyParser.json());

I hope this information proves to be helpful for others

Answer 5

Answer №3

It's crucial to follow a specific order in setting up the server. Typically, the router should be declared at the end before launching the server.

var express            = require("express");
var bodyParser         = require("body-parser");
var morgan             = require("morgan");
var db              = require("./db.js");

var app                = express();

To illustrate:

app.set("port", process.env.PORT || 3000);

//app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
app.use(morgan('dev') ); // Log every request to console
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
    extended: true
}));

app.use(bodyParser.json());

The most crucial step is AFTER INCLUDING ROUTES:

var routes = require('./routes/routes');
routes(app);   //routes shall use Express

Finally, start the server

app.listen(app.get("port"), function () { console.log("Express server listening on port " + app.get("port")); });

Following this sequence consistently will ensure smooth operation. It may not seem obvious at first, but after encountering issues multiple times, the importance of this order becomes clear.

Answer 6

It's crucial to follow a specific order in setting up the server. Typically, the router should be declared at the end before launching the server.

var express            = require("express");
var bodyParser         = require("body-parser");
var morgan             = require("morgan");
var db              = require("./db.js");

var app                = express();

To illustrate:

app.set("port", process.env.PORT || 3000);

//app.use(express.static(__dirname + '/public'));
app.use(morgan('dev') ); // Log every request to console
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
    extended: true
}));

app.use(bodyParser.json());

The most crucial step is AFTER INCLUDING ROUTES:

var routes = require('./routes/routes');
routes(app);   //routes shall use Express

Finally, start the server

app.listen(app.get("port"), function () { console.log("Express server listening on port " + app.get("port")); });

Following this sequence consistently will ensure smooth operation. It may not seem obvious at first, but after encountering issues multiple times, the importance of this order becomes clear.

Answer 7

Answer №4

If you are utilizing urlencoded with { extended:false }, the req.body will provide the raw, unparsed string from the form as categoryName=test. This means that req.body.categoryName will be undefined.

To resolve this issue, switch to passing true to allow parsing of the form data using the qs module.

app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
    extended: true
}));

Answer 8

If you are utilizing urlencoded with { extended:false }, the req.body will provide the raw, unparsed string from the form as categoryName=test. This means that req.body.categoryName will be undefined.

To resolve this issue, switch to passing true to allow parsing of the form data using the qs module.

app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({
    extended: true
}));

Answer 9

Answer №5

In order to properly parse the body and urls with the body-parser module, it is essential to ensure that it is invoked before making any requests to "req.body..."

const bodyParser = require("body-parser");
///////At this point, req.body will return undefined
// Setting extended: false ensures only strings are parsed (not images/videos..etc)
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({extended: false});
///////req.body is now accessible (the module below relies on req.body)
app.use("/", module);
app.post('/newCategory', function (req,res) {
     var categoryName = req.body.categoryName;
});

Answer 10

In order to properly parse the body and urls with the body-parser module, it is essential to ensure that it is invoked before making any requests to "req.body..."

const bodyParser = require("body-parser");
///////At this point, req.body will return undefined
// Setting extended: false ensures only strings are parsed (not images/videos..etc)
app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({extended: false});
///////req.body is now accessible (the module below relies on req.body)
app.use("/", module);
app.post('/newCategory', function (req,res) {
     var categoryName = req.body.categoryName;
});

Answer 11

Answer №6

In my current practice, I implement the following code snippet:

const application = express();
application.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
application.use(express.json());

However, it is important to confirm whether POSTMAN is causing any issues.

Answer 12

In my current practice, I implement the following code snippet:

const application = express();
application.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({ extended: true }));
application.use(express.json());

However, it is important to confirm whether POSTMAN is causing any issues.

Troubleshooting the issue of undefined Req.body in POST requests in Node.js using Express 4.x

Answer №1

Answer №2

Answer №3

Answer №4

Answer №5

Answer №6

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