Returning data from Axios API

I am trying to use a Node.JS application to make and receive API requests. It does a get request to another server using Axios with data it receives from an API call it receives. The second snippet is when the script returns the data from the call in. It will actually take it and write to the console, but it won't send it back in the second API.

function axiosTest() {
    axios.get(url)
        .then(function (response) {
            console.log(response.data);
            // I need this data here ^^
            return response.data;
        })
        .catch(function (error) {
            console.log(error);
        });
}

...

axiosTestResult = axiosTest(); 
response.json({message: "Request received!", data: axiosTestResult});

I'm aware this is wrong, I'm just trying to find a way to make it work. The only way I can seem to get data out of it is through console.log, which isn't helpful in my situation.

Solution 1:

The issue is that the original axiosTest() function isn't returning the promise. Here's an extended explanation for clarity:

function axiosTest() {
    // create a promise for the axios request
    const promise = axios.get(url)

    // using .then, create a new promise which extracts the data
    const dataPromise = promise.then((response) => response.data)

    // return it
    return dataPromise
}

// now we can use that data from the outside!
axiosTest()
    .then(data => {
        response.json({ message: 'Request received!', data })
    })
    .catch(err => console.log(err))

The function can be written more succinctly:

function axiosTest() {
    return axios.get(url).then(response => response.data)
}

Or with async/await:

async function axiosTest() {
    const response = await axios.get(url)
    return response.data
}

• Guide on using promises
• Info on async functions

Solution 2:

I know this post is old. But i have seen several attempts of guys trying to answer using async and await but getting it wrong. This should clear it up for any new references

async function axiosTest() {
      try {
        const {data:response} = await axios.get(url) //use data destructuring to get data from the promise object
        return response
      }

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

Solution 3:

you can populate the data you want with a simple callback function, let's say we have a list named lst that we want to populate, we have a function that pupulates pupulates list,

const lst = [];  
const populateData = (data) => {lst.push(data)} 

now we can pass the callback function to the function which is making the axios call and we can pupulate the list when we get data from response.

now we make our function that makes the request and pass populateData as a callback function.

function axiosTest (populateData) {
        axios.get(url)
       .then(function(response){
               populateData(response.data);
        })
        .catch(function(error){
               console.log(error);
         });
}   

Solution 4:

axiosTest() is firing asynchronously and not being waited for.

A then() function needs to be hooked up afterwards in order to capture the response variable (axiosTestData).

See Promise for more info.

See Async to level up.

// Dummy Url.
const url = 'https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts/1'

// Axios Test.
const axiosTest = axios.get

// Axios Test Data.
axiosTest(url).then(function(axiosTestResult) {
  console.log('response.JSON:', {
    message: 'Request received',
    data: axiosTestResult.data
  })
})

<script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/axios/0.18.0/axios.js"></script>