Obtain payload of post

Question

I've used jQuery to ajax post some data to a nodejs webserver. The webserver code receives the post but I don't know how to retrieve the payload, and the nodejs documentation web is just awful. I've tried dumping the request object to the debugger console but I can't see the data there. How do I access the payload of a post? The documentation says the request object is an instance of `http.IncomingMessage` and exposes a `data` event with the signature `function (chunk) { }` where chunk is either a string or a `Buffer`, but if you don't know where or how you're supposed to hook up to this event, or how to use a Buffer then this isn't terribly helpful. I notice that there is a second, more narrative manual hidden under "community" rather than the "docs" link. This is good. It is currently not available. This is not so good. I have been asked whether I'm using a framework or trying to do it "native". Ignorance prevents me from answering directly, so instead here is the code ``` var http…

Accepted Answer

Over at "//PROCESS POST HERE" add a `req.pipe(process.stdout);` it will output the post data to the console.

You can also pipe it to a file `req.pipe(fs.createWriteStream(MYFILE))` or even back out to the browser `req.pipe(res);`

See an example here: http://runnable.com/nodejs/UTlPMl-f2W1TAABS

You can also add your own handlers to the events, data, error and end

```
var body = '';

request.addListener('data', function(chunk){
  console.log('got a chunk');
  body += chunk;
});

request.addListener('error', function(error){
  console.error('got a error', error);
  next(err);
});

request.addListener('end', function(chunk){
  console.log('ended');
  if (chunk) {
    body += chunk;
  }
  console.log('full body', body);
  res.end('I have your data, thanks');
});
```

Oh and as to the 'native or module' question, you could use a module like express which will parse the body for you, and populate req.body with the result (skipping the addListener pain and even parsing formdata or json for you). See http://expressjs.com/api.html#req.body

Obtain payload of post

Solution

Problem