What is busboy?
The busboy npm package is a Node.js module for parsing incoming HTML form data, particularly file uploads. It is a stream-based parser that can handle multipart/form-data, which is primarily used for uploading files via HTTP.
What are busboy's main functionalities?
File Upload Parsing
This code sample demonstrates how to use busboy to parse file uploads from an HTML form. When a file is received, it logs the file details and the amount of data received.
const Busboy = require('busboy');
const http = require('http');
http.createServer((req, res) => {
if (req.method === 'POST') {
const busboy = new Busboy({ headers: req.headers });
busboy.on('file', (fieldname, file, filename, encoding, mimetype) => {
console.log(`File [${fieldname}]: filename: ${filename}, encoding: ${encoding}, mimetype: ${mimetype}`);
file.on('data', (data) => {
console.log(`File [${fieldname}] got ${data.length} bytes`);
}).on('end', () => {
console.log(`File [${fieldname}] Finished`);
});
});
busboy.on('finish', () => {
console.log('Done parsing form!');
res.writeHead(303, { Connection: 'close', Location: '/' });
res.end();
});
req.pipe(busboy);
} else {
res.writeHead(404);
res.end();
}
}).listen(8000, () => {
console.log('Server listening on port 8000');
});
Field Parsing
This code sample shows how to use busboy to parse non-file fields from an HTML form. It logs the name and value of each field received.
const Busboy = require('busboy');
const http = require('http');
http.createServer((req, res) => {
if (req.method === 'POST') {
const busboy = new Busboy({ headers: req.headers });
busboy.on('field', (fieldname, val, fieldnameTruncated, valTruncated, encoding, mimetype) => {
console.log(`Field [${fieldname}]: value: ${val}`);
});
busboy.on('finish', () => {
res.end('Done parsing form!');
});
req.pipe(busboy);
} else {
res.writeHead(404);
res.end();
}
}).listen(8000, () => {
console.log('Server listening on port 8000');
});
Other packages similar to busboy
formidable
Formidable is an npm package similar to busboy that is used for parsing form data, especially file uploads. It is also stream-based and can handle multipart/form-data. Compared to busboy, Formidable provides a higher-level abstraction and can also handle file uploads to disk, but it might be less efficient for large file uploads due to its buffering approach.
multiparty
Multiparty is another npm package for parsing multipart/form-data. Like busboy, it is stream-based and suitable for handling large file uploads. However, multiparty differs in its API and the way it handles parts of the form data, which may make it more suitable for certain use cases.
multer
Multer is a middleware for Express.js that handles multipart/form-data, which is primarily used for uploading files. It is built on top of busboy for maximum efficiency. Unlike busboy, which is a general-purpose stream parser, multer provides a set of convenient features specifically designed for Express applications.
Description
A node.js module for parsing incoming HTML form data.
Requirements
Install
npm install busboy
Examples
- Parsing (multipart) with default options:
var http = require('http'),
inspect = require('util').inspect;
var Busboy = require('busboy');
http.createServer(function(req, res) {
if (req.method === 'POST') {
var busboy = new Busboy({ headers: req.headers });
busboy.on('file', function(fieldname, file, filename, encoding) {
console.log('File [' + fieldname +']: filename: ' + filename + ', encoding: ' + encoding);
file.on('data', function(data) {
console.log('File [' + fieldname +'] got ' + data.length + ' bytes');
});
file.once('end', function() {
console.log('File [' + fieldname +'] Finished');
});
});
busboy.on('field', function(fieldname, val, valTruncated, keyTruncated) {
console.log('Field [' + fieldname + ']: value: ' + inspect(val));
});
busboy.once('end', function() {
console.log('Done parsing form!');
res.writeHead(303, { Connection: 'close', Location: '/' });
res.end();
});
req.pipe(busboy);
} else if (req.method === 'GET') {
res.writeHead(200, { Connection: 'close' });
res.end('<html><head></head><body>\
<form method="POST" enctype="multipart/form-data">\
<input type="text" name="textfield"><br />\
<input type="file" name="filefield"><br />\
<input type="submit">\
</form>\
</body>');
}
}).listen(8000, function() {
console.log('Listening for requests');
});
- Parsing
multipart/form-data
& saving files. Keep track of the point where the files are all properly saved to disk.
http.createServer(function(req, res) {
if (req.method === 'POST') {
var infiles = 0, outfiles = 0, done = false,
busboy = new Busboy({ headers: req.headers });
console.log('Start parsing form ...');
busboy.on('file', function(fieldname, file, filename, encoding) {
++infiles;
onFile(fieldname, file, filename, encoding, function() {
++outfiles;
if (done)
console.log(outfiles + '/' + infiles + ' parts written to disk');
if (done && infiles === outfiles) {
console.log('All parts written to disk');
res.writeHead(200, { 'Connection': 'close' });
res.end("That's all folks!");
}
});
});
busboy.once('end', function() {
console.log('Done parsing form!');
done = true;
});
req.pipe(busboy);
}
}).listen(8000, function() {
console.log('Listening for requests');
});
function onFile(fieldname, file, filename, encoding, next) {
var fstream = fs.createWriteStream(path.join(os.tmpDir(), path.basename(filename)));
file.once('end', function() {
console.log(fieldname + '(' + filename + ') EOF');
});
fstream.once('close', function() {
console.log(fieldname + '(' + filename + ') written to disk');
next();
});
console.log(fieldname + '(' + filename + ') start saving');
file.pipe(fstream);
}
- Parsing (urlencoded) with default options:
var http = require('http'),
inspect = require('util').inspect;
var Busboy = require('busboy');
http.createServer(function(req, res) {
if (req.method === 'POST') {
var busboy = new Busboy({ headers: req.headers });
busboy.on('file', function(fieldname, file, filename) {
console.log('File [' + fieldname +']: filename: ' + filename);
file.on('data', function(data) {
console.log('File [' + fieldname +'] got ' + data.length + ' bytes');
});
file.once('end', function() {
console.log('File [' + fieldname +'] Finished');
});
});
busboy.on('field', function(fieldname, val, valTruncated, keyTruncated) {
console.log('Field [' + fieldname + ']: value: ' + inspect(val));
});
busboy.once('end', function() {
console.log('Done parsing form!');
res.writeHead(303, { Connection: 'close', Location: '/' });
res.end();
});
req.pipe(busboy);
} else if (req.method === 'GET') {
res.writeHead(200, { Connection: 'close' });
res.end('<html><head></head><body>\
<form method="POST">\
<input type="text" name="textfield"><br />\
<select name="selectfield">\
<option value="1">1</option>\
<option value="10">10</option>\
<option value="100">100</option>\
<option value="9001">9001</option>\
</select><br />\
<input type="checkbox" name="checkfield">Node.js rules!<br />\
<input type="submit">\
</form>\
</body>');
}
}).listen(8000, function() {
console.log('Listening for requests');
});
API
Busboy is a WritableStream
Busboy (special) events
-
file(< string >fieldname, < ReadableStream >stream, < string >filename, < string >transferEncoding) - Emitted for each new file form field found. transferEncoding
contains the 'Content-Transfer-Encoding' value for the file stream.
-
field(< string >fieldname, < string >value, < boolean >valueTruncated, < boolean >fieldnameTruncated) - Emitted for each new non-file field found.
Note: The stream
passed in on the 'file' event will also emit a 'limit' event (no arguments) if the fileSize
limit is reached. If this happens, no more data will be available on the stream.
Busboy methods