Express JS send array of files and json as response

Question

I am trying to send back to the client an array of files, and a few more properties which are in json format as one response when a route is hit. I am relatively new to Node and Express but I have not found anyway to handle this. I know (and have successfully tried) sending one file back to the client. The kind of response I want to send back should look like this

res.send([
          {
            name:'Floral dresses',
            date_added:'2016-10-11 06:52:39',
            designer:'Victoria',
            cover_photo: path.join(__dirname, '/images', '/clothes', '/cloth1.jpg'),
            photos: [
              path.join(__dirname, '/images', '/clothes', '/cloth1.jpg'),
              path.join(__dirname, '/images', '/clothes', '/cloth2.jpg'),
              path.join(__dirname, '/images', '/clothes', '/cloth3.jpg')
            ]
          },
          {
            name:'Vintage Dresses',
            date_added:'2016-02-08 18:12:09',
            designer:'Victoria',
            cover_photo: path.join(__dirname, '/images', '/clothes', '/cloth1.jpg'),
            photos: [
              path.join(__dirname, '/images', '/clothes', '/cloth1.jpg'),
              path.join(__dirname, '/images', '/clothes', '/cloth2.jpg'),
              path.join(__dirname, '/images', '/clothes', '/cloth3.jpg')
            ]
          }
        ];

cover_photo and photos are images saved on the file system.

How can I achieve this in Node JS?

JSON isn't meant to transfer binary data. You'd have to encode it with Base64 or something, and the JSON will become large. Can't you offer the client URL's that point to the image files, so they can be retrieved with separate HTTP requests? — robertklep
– robertklep, Commented Sep 3, 2016 at 17:16
@robertklep I know json cannot be used to send binary data, what I meant was that the other properties(except the files) are in json format. Your suggestions are good, any tutorials I can look at? — Dennis Wanyonyi
– Dennis Wanyonyi, Commented Sep 3, 2016 at 17:22
if it is just an image, then u can convert to base64 and send inside the json — Iceman
– Iceman, Commented Sep 3, 2016 at 17:25

robertklep · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-03 17:38:45Z

4

Since JSON isn't great to transfer (a lot of) binary data, I would suggest returning URL's to the image files, and having them served by Express.

Taking your directory setup, you'd add a static file handler:

app.use('/images', express.static(path.join(__dirname, 'images')));

For your JSON, the easiest then would be to pass the paths (relative to the website's root) to the image files, so the client can download them (or build a full URL and serve them in HTML).

For instance:

cover_photo: '/images/clothes/cloth1.jpg'

answered Sep 3, 2016 at 17:38

robertklep

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6 Comments

Dennis Wanyonyi Over a year ago

I have a question, my router is on a folder routes, I want to set a mount point static. Should I hard code the path to the folder containing the images like this "/static/clothes/cloth1.jpg" or should I use path.join like this path.join(__dirname, '../static/clothes', 'cloth.jpg') ?

robertklep Over a year ago

Best to use path.join().

Dennis Wanyonyi Over a year ago

path.join prints the fully qualified file starting from the home folder in ubuntu instead of the parent directory of the executing script

robertklep Over a year ago

@DennisWanyonyi sorry, I thought you meant for the configuration of express.static(). If you mean the paths to use in the JSON, they should be /static/clothes/... (basically, replace images in my answer by static).

Dennis Wanyonyi Over a year ago

Should I assign the path like this cover_photo: /static/clothes/cloth1.jpg and then in my html use is like this <img src="{{ image.cover_letter }}" />? where image is the variable I use in the ng-repeat statement?

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