.. | ||
lib | ||
index.d.ts | ||
License | ||
package.json | ||
Readme.md |
Form-Data
A library to create readable "multipart/form-data"
streams. Can be used to submit forms and file uploads to other web
applications.
The API of this library is inspired by the XMLHttpRequest-2 FormData Interface.
Install
npm install --save form-data
Usage
In this example we are constructing a form with 3 fields that contain a string, a buffer and a file stream.
var FormData = require('form-data');
var fs = require('fs');
var form = new FormData();
.append('my_field', 'my value');
form.append('my_buffer', new Buffer(10));
form.append('my_file', fs.createReadStream('/foo/bar.jpg')); form
Also you can use http-response stream:
var FormData = require('form-data');
var http = require('http');
var form = new FormData();
.request('http://nodejs.org/images/logo.png', function(response) {
http.append('my_field', 'my value');
form.append('my_buffer', new Buffer(10));
form.append('my_logo', response);
form; })
Or @mikeal’s request stream:
var FormData = require('form-data');
var request = require('request');
var form = new FormData();
.append('my_field', 'my value');
form.append('my_buffer', new Buffer(10));
form.append('my_logo', request('http://nodejs.org/images/logo.png')); form
In order to submit this form to a web application, call
submit(url, [callback])
method:
.submit('http://example.org/', function(err, res) {
form// res – response object (http.IncomingMessage) //
.resume();
res; })
For more advanced request manipulations submit()
method
returns http.ClientRequest
object, or you can choose from
one of the alternative submission methods.
Custom options
You can provide custom options, such as maxDataSize
:
var FormData = require('form-data');
var form = new FormData({ maxDataSize: 20971520 });
.append('my_field', 'my value');
form.append('my_buffer', /* something big */); form
List of available options could be found in combined-stream
Alternative submission methods
You can use node’s http client interface:
var http = require('http');
var request = http.request({
method: 'post',
host: 'example.org',
path: '/upload',
headers: form.getHeaders()
;
})
.pipe(request);
form
.on('response', function(res) {
requestconsole.log(res.statusCode);
; })
Or if you would prefer the 'Content-Length'
header to be
set for you:
.submit('example.org/upload', function(err, res) {
formconsole.log(res.statusCode);
; })
To use custom headers and pre-known length in parts:
var CRLF = '\r\n';
var form = new FormData();
var options = {
header: CRLF + '--' + form.getBoundary() + CRLF + 'X-Custom-Header: 123' + CRLF + CRLF,
knownLength: 1
;
}
.append('my_buffer', buffer, options);
form
.submit('http://example.com/', function(err, res) {
formif (err) throw err;
console.log('Done');
; })
Form-Data can recognize and fetch all the required information from
common types of streams (fs.readStream
,
http.response
and mikeal's request
), for some
other types of streams you’d need to provide “file”-related information
manually:
.stream(function(err, stdout, stderr) {
someModuleif (err) throw err;
var form = new FormData();
.append('file', stdout, {
formfilename: 'unicycle.jpg', // ... or:
filepath: 'photos/toys/unicycle.jpg',
contentType: 'image/jpeg',
knownLength: 19806
;
})
.submit('http://example.com/', function(err, res) {
formif (err) throw err;
console.log('Done');
;
}); })
The filepath
property overrides filename
and may contain a relative path. This is typically used when uploading
multiple
files from a directory.
For edge cases, like POST request to URL with query string or to pass
HTTP auth credentials, object can be passed to
form.submit()
as first parameter:
.submit({
formhost: 'example.com',
path: '/probably.php?extra=params',
auth: 'username:password'
, function(err, res) {
}console.log(res.statusCode);
; })
In case you need to also send custom HTTP headers with the POST
request, you can use the headers
key in first parameter of
form.submit()
:
.submit({
formhost: 'example.com',
path: '/surelynot.php',
headers: {'x-test-header': 'test-header-value'}
, function(err, res) {
}console.log(res.statusCode);
; })
Methods
- Void append( String field, Mixed value [, Mixed options] ).
- Headers getHeaders( [Headers userHeaders] )
- String getBoundary()
- Buffer getBuffer()
- Integer getLengthSync()
- Integer getLength( function callback )
- Boolean hasKnownLength()
- Request submit( params, function callback )
- String toString()
Void append( String field, Mixed value [, Mixed options] )
Append data to the form. You can submit about any format (string, integer, boolean, buffer, etc.). However, Arrays are not supported and need to be turned into strings by the user.
var form = new FormData();
.append( 'my_string', 'my value' );
form.append( 'my_integer', 1 );
form.append( 'my_boolean', true );
form.append( 'my_buffer', new Buffer(10) );
form.append( 'my_array_as_json', JSON.stringify( ['bird','cute'] ) ) form
You may provide a string for options, or an object.
// Set filename by providing a string for options
.append( 'my_file', fs.createReadStream('/foo/bar.jpg'), 'bar.jpg' );
form
// provide an object.
.append( 'my_file', fs.createReadStream('/foo/bar.jpg'), {filename: 'bar.jpg', contentType: 'image/jpeg', knownLength: 19806} ); form
Headers getHeaders( [Headers userHeaders] )
This method adds the correct content-type
header to the
provided array of userHeaders
.
String getBoundary()
Return the boundary of the formData. A boundary consists of 26
-
followed by 24 numbers for example:
--------------------------515890814546601021194782
Note: The boundary must be unique and may not appear in the data.
Buffer getBuffer()
Return the full formdata request package, as a Buffer. You can insert this Buffer in e.g. Axios to send multipart data.
var form = new FormData();
.append( 'my_buffer', Buffer.from([0x4a,0x42,0x20,0x52,0x6f,0x63,0x6b,0x73]) );
form.append( 'my_file', fs.readFileSync('/foo/bar.jpg') );
form
.post( 'https://example.com/path/to/api',
axios.getBuffer(),
form.getHeaders()
form )
Note: Because the output is of type Buffer, you can only append types that are accepted by Buffer: string, Buffer, ArrayBuffer, Array, or Array-like Object. A ReadStream for example will result in an error.
Integer getLengthSync()
Same as getLength
but synchronous.
Note: getLengthSync doesn’t calculate streams length.
Integer getLength( function callback )
Returns the Content-Length
async. The callback is used
to handle errors and continue once the length has been calculated
this.getLength(function(err, length) {
if (err) {
this._error(err);
return;
}
// add content length
.setHeader('Content-Length', length);
request
...
.bind(this)); }
Boolean hasKnownLength()
Checks if the length of added values is known.
Request submit( params, function callback )
Submit the form to a web application.
var form = new FormData();
.append( 'my_string', 'Hello World' );
form
.submit( 'http://example.com/', function(err, res) {
form// res – response object (http.IncomingMessage) //
.resume();
res; } )
String toString()
Returns the form data as a string. Don’t use this if you are sending
files or buffers, use getBuffer()
instead.
Integration with other libraries
Request
Form submission using request:
var formData = {
my_field: 'my_value',
my_file: fs.createReadStream(__dirname + '/unicycle.jpg'),
;
}
.post({url:'http://service.com/upload', formData: formData}, function(err, httpResponse, body) {
requestif (err) {
return console.error('upload failed:', err);
}console.log('Upload successful! Server responded with:', body);
; })
For more details see request readme.
node-fetch
You can also submit a form using node-fetch:
var form = new FormData();
.append('a', 1);
form
fetch('http://example.com', { method: 'POST', body: form })
.then(function(res) {
return res.json();
.then(function(json) {
})console.log(json);
; })
axios
In Node.js you can post a file using axios:
const form = new FormData();
const stream = fs.createReadStream(PATH_TO_FILE);
.append('image', stream);
form
// In Node.js environment you need to set boundary in the header field 'Content-Type' by calling method `getHeaders`
const formHeaders = form.getHeaders();
.post('http://example.com', form, {
axiosheaders: {
...formHeaders,
,
}
}).then(response => response)
.catch(error => error)
Notes
getLengthSync()
method DOESN’T calculate length for streams, useknownLength
options as workaround.- Starting version
2.x
FormData has dropped support fornode@0.10.x
. - Starting version
3.x
FormData has dropped support fornode@4.x
.
License
Form-Data is released under the MIT license.