Error: The argument 'path' must be a string or Uint8Array without null bytes

Question

Trying to get a site using Express.js I'm working to display a pdf on the site. Attempting to use fs and path to get it showing, and I'm really really having trouble as it seems the the path callbacks I am using are being used incorrectly, hence I'm getting an error. Frankly, this code is written up through parsing through dozens of SO posts so I'm struggling to see why I'm receiving this error message (The argument 'path' must be a string or Uint8Array without null bytes).

I've tried changing the fs.readfileSync to fs.statSync. Prior to using path, I had the link set up with fs alone however the code was lengthy as I was struggling to get a relative path sorted out when linking to the pdf in fs.

const express = require("express"),
      fs      = require("fs"),
      path    = require("path");

const router = express.Router();

router.get("/bob", (req,res)=> {
    var filePath = path.join(__dirname, "..", "views", "files", "bob.pdf");
    var fileString = fs.readFileSync(filePath, "utf-8");
    fs.readFile(fileString , (err,data) => {
        if(err){
            console.log(err);
        } else {
            res.contentType("application/pdf");
            res.send(data); 
        }
    });
});

I expect the code to encode the pdf and display it, however I am getting the error message: "The argument 'path' must be a string or Uint8Array without null bytes. Received '%PDF-1.7....'."

`fileString` is the data already in the file. you don't need to reread the file — Daniel A. White, Jul 24 '19 at 17:13
@DanielA.White Lol thanks for the help - this stuff really went over my head, solution was easier than I had anticipated. Just wanted your input as to if this would be the best way to approach the solution: I removed the fileString = line, and added filePath into the callback. The code ran fine. — brownmamba, Jul 24 '19 at 17:21
@DanielA.White Also, would this approach with fs and path be appropriate for a mobile-responsive website and where would I go from here in terms of making it responsive? — brownmamba, Jul 24 '19 at 17:27
this has nothing to do with responsive layouts. That’s css — Daniel A. White, Jul 24 '19 at 17:30
@DanielA.White Yea, got that. I get it's unrelated but in general, would you have any insight as to how I could target the pdf using css? — brownmamba, Jul 24 '19 at 17:32
@DanielA.White But could it be used to make the container the pdf is in responsive? If so, how could I target it? If not, how could I make it the page responsive? — brownmamba, Jul 24 '19 at 17:38
@DanielA.White That's alright, thank you for help and have a great day. — brownmamba, Jul 24 '19 at 17:44

Error: The argument 'path' must be a string or Uint8Array without null bytes

0 Answers0