Data is not passed from AngularJS controller to NodeJS server

Question

I am attempting to pass some values from my client-side AngularJS script to a server-side NodeJS script. I set up the POST request like so:

    $scope.addUser = function() {
        console.log($.param($scope.user));
        $http({
            method: 'POST',
            url: '/addUser',
            data: $.param($scope.user),
            headers: { 'Content-Type': 'application/x-www-form-urlencoded' }
        }).
        success( function(response) {
            console.log("success");
        }).
        error( function(response) {
            console.log("error");
        });

    };

The $scope.user variable is { name: "john", email: "doe" }, and evaluates to name=john&email=doe when passed through $.param($scope.user). I originally thought the problem was the content-type of the request, which was originally a JSON object. After reading about similar problems I changed the content-type to x-www-form-urlencoded, but still could not grab the data from the POST request.

Here is the server-side NodeJS script that is hit with the POST request:

app.post('/addUser', function(req, res) {
    console.log(req.params);
});

I know the server-side script is being reached, as I can print out data such as req.method, but attempting to print req.params results in just { }.

Why are my POST parameters not going through?

mscdex · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-23 21:43:35Z

1

Request bodies are not saved to req.params. You need to add a middleware to parse the request body for you. req.params is for key=value pairs supplied as part of the URL (e.g. POSTing to "/foo/bar?baz=bla" would result in req.params.baz === 'bla').

Some example solutions:

body-parser - parses only application/json and application/x-www-form-urlencoded request bodies.
formidable - parses application/json, application/x-www-form-urlencoded, and multipart/form-data. This is what was used in the body parser in Express 3. I'm not sure if there is an "official" Express middleware for it for Express 4.
busboy - parses application/x-www-form-urlencoded and multipart/form-data. It does not save files to disk itself, but instead presents files as readable streams. The API differs from formidable(/body parser from Express 3). There are a few Express middleware available for busboy:
- connect-busboy - a thin wrapper that merely sets up a Busboy instance on your req. You can set it to automatically start parsing the request, or you can pipe the request manually to req.busboy when you want to start.
- multer - provides an interface more similar to the Express 3 body parser middleware (with req.body and req.files set).
- reformed - a new module that provides a layer on top of Busboy to provide mechanisms similar to formidable (e.g. saving uploaded files to disk) but also other features such as field validation.

answered Apr 23, 2014 at 21:43

mscdex

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1 Comment

mattr Over a year ago

This led me to the right answer. I had to use connect.parseBody, as the express package doesn't come previously installed and I had trouble installing. Thanks!

Dalorzo · Accepted Answer · 2014-04-23 21:50:09Z

0

Since you are using express.js your POST fields are received as part of the body not the URL so you need use body instead of params:

app.post('/addUser', function(req, res) {
    console.log(req.body);//also possible req.body.name | req.body.email
});

How about trying a simpler POST something like this (for testing purposes only):

  $http.post('/addUser',{ "name": "john", "email": "doe" }).success(function(response) {
           console.log("success");
          }).error(function(err){
             console.log("failure")
          });

Please note that Params are used as URL parameters; something like this:

app.get('/addUser/:userID', function(req, res) {
        console.log(req.params.userID);
});

edited Apr 23, 2014 at 21:50

answered Apr 23, 2014 at 21:24

Dalorzo

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