unable to parse csv to json using Baby Parse

Question

I am trying to use baby parse (branch off of Papa Parse) to take a csv file and parse the data to Json. The csv file I am testing is very straight forward:

Column1,Column2,Column3
1,2,3
3,2,1

So far I am successfully loading the file using ng-file-upload to load the csv file via the browser.

I am now trying to use baby parse to take this file and convert the data to JSON.

Below is what I have so far:

The controller

// Watch for a csv file being uploaded.
$scope.$watch(function() {
    return $scope.file
    }, function(){
        $scope.upload($scope.file);
});

$scope.upload = function(file){
            if(file){
                Upload.upload({
                    url: 'api/admin/uploadCsv',
                    method: 'POST',
                    data: {userId: $scope.user._id},
                    file: file
                }).progress(function(evt){
                    console.log("firing");
                }).success(function(data){

                }).error(function(error){
                    console.log(error);
                })
            }
        };

On file upload the upload function is called and calls the server controller. The file uploaded is passed to the upload function which I am then attempting to pass to the parse method.

module.exports.uploadCsv = function(req, res){
    var file = req.files.file;
    var userId = req.body.userId;

    parsed = babyparse.parse(file.path, babyParseConfig);
    console.log("data is " + (JSON.stringify(parsed.data)));
    ...

The console.log outputs the following:

data is {"data":[],"errors":[],"meta":{"delimiter":",","linebreak":"\n","aborted":false,"truncated":false,"fields":["..\\App\\uploads\\565b8feecddbb1e41b7aa839test.csv"]}}

I can not understand why data:[] is empty given what the csv file looks like.

Are you sure that the contents of `file.path` on the server is the CSV file? What do you get if you read `file.path` and log its contents? — Joost Vunderink, Jan 17 '16 at 19:47

score 0 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 10:27

Using the answer provided here (how to give file name a input in baby parser), I have got the parser working. Below is what I ended up with:

   var uploadcontent = fs.readFileSync(targetPath, { encoding: 'binary' });
   var parsed = babyparse.parse(uploadcontent);
   console.log((JSON.stringify(parsed)));

Note that uploadContent is the path to the directory which I am saving the file to rather than the file itself.

The above outputs the following

{"data":[["Column1","Column2","Column3"],["1","2","3"],["3","2","1"]],"errors":[],"meta":{"delimiter":",","linebreak":"\r\n","aborted":false,"truncated":false}}

The above can be refined to something like console.log((JSON.stringify(parsed.data))); to get just data.

unable to parse csv to json using Baby Parse

1 Answers1