Node.js HTML response body - html

Question

I am using the below code to post some JSON data to a url and in response I am getting a HTML page.
var request = require('request');
request.post({
url: "URL OF A WEBSITE",
headers: {
"Content-Type": "application/json"
},
body: {
my_json_obj
},
json:true
}, function(error, response, body){
console.log(error);
console.log(JSON.stringify(response));
console.log(body);
});
This code works fine I am getting a HTML page in the body tag.
I want to load that HTML page in the browser. How should I do that, I know this is a very basic question but I am very new to node.js someone please help me?

Answer 1

Follow the Express "Hello World" example and use your request call in the route handler:
/*jslint node:true, esversion:6*/
"use strict";
const request = require("request"),
express = require("express"),
app = express();
let my_json_obj = {},
URL_OF_WEBSITE = "http://www.google.com";
app.get("/", function (req, res) {
request.post({
url: URL_OF_WEBSITE,
headers: {
"Content-Type": "application/json"
},
body: {
my_json_obj
},
json: true
}, function (error, response, body) {
if (error) {
console.log(error);
return res.sendStatus(404);
}
console.log(JSON.stringify(response));
console.log(body);
res.send(body);
});
});
app.listen(3000, function () {
console.log("Example app listening on port 3000!");
});
node.js does have its own way to make a server, but for the sake of brevity and ease I just recommend using Express.

Answer 2

Are you using Express js? It would make things a lot easier when working with Node js apps.
Look into Express routing:
https://medium.com/javascript-scene/introduction-to-node-express-90c431f9e6fd
You can create an Express boilerplate in the terminal by using the command:
express yourappname
you can then put your html/css/js files inside the express-app -> 'public' folder that you just generated.
After that you create routes inside your app.js by doing something like:
// exampledomain.com/
// Loading the file index.html when user navigates to '/'
app.get('/', function(req, res){
res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + '/public/index.html'));
});
// or
// exampledomain.com/getFileURL
// POST request (from your ajax) to '/getFileURL'
// which will then load the about.html file into the browser
app.post('/getFileURL', function(req, res){
// Do more JSON/data handling & Node js stuff here then
// send something back
res.sendFile(path.join(__dirname + '/public/about.html'));
});
There're many more useful functions with Express js, but I think Routing is what you need right now.
p.s. Very useful tools to look into when working with Node js:
Postman (Testing ajax/express/Nodejs routes and responses)
Nodemon (Starting Nodejs server automatically on save)