Issue with Express middleware (interacting with MongoDB) - POST method's req.body not erasing white space and returning unusable object error

Question

I am having an issue with using Express' req.body (using MongoDB in this app)

This is not an error with the routes - GET method works fine, and POST method works if I don't hava Validation requirement. The issue happens when I use the POST route's req.body. I have been at this for hours.. please help

Here is my server.js

const express = require('express');
const app = express()
const mongoose = require('mongoose');
const http = require('http').createServer(app);
const io = require('socket.io')(http);

const groups = require('./routes/api/groups')

// Middleware
app.use(express.urlencoded({extended: true}));


// DB config
const dbURL = require("./config/keys").mongoURI;

// Connect to mongoDB
mongoose.connect(dbURL, {useNewUrlParser: true, useUnifiedTopology: true})
    .then(console.log("MongoDB connected..."))
    .catch(err => console.log(err)) 


// Use Routes ** THIS LEADS TO THE SECOND CODE **
app.use('/api/groups', groups)

const port = process.env.PORT || 3500

app.listen(port, ()=> console.log(`Server is listening at port ${port}`))

group.js to handle all group routes

const express = require('express');
const router = express.Router();

const Group = require('../../models/Group')

router.get('/', (req, res) => {
    Group.find()
        // sort by date descending
        .sort({ date: -1})
        .then(groups => res.json(groups))    
})

router.post('/', (req, res) => {
    console.log(req.body)
    const newGroup = new Group({
        name: req.body.name,
    })
    newGroup.save( err => {
        if (err) {
            console.error(err)
        } else {
            console.log("saved!")   
        }
    })
})

The Group Schema

const mongoose = require("mongoose");

let groupSchema = new mongoose.Schema({
    name: {
        type: String,
        required: true
    },
},{
    timestamps: true
})

module.exports = mongoose.model("group", groupSchema)

I used Postman to send a POST request:

{
   "name": "Hello!"
}

and I receive this on console: from console.log(req.body) - second set of codes in router.post:

{ '{\n\t"name": "Hello!"\n}': '' }

I thought that express' middleware (which now includes body-parser) is supposed to remove whitespace. The validation error is a result of its inability to access the "name" key.

I appreciate your time and help!

Answer 1

Attach body-parser correctly:

const bodyParser = require('body-parser');

app.use(bodyParser.urlencoded({extended: true})); // content-type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

app.use(bodyParser.json()); // content-type: application/json