How to Get data from fs readFile

Question

var content;
fs.readFile('./Index.html', function read(err, data) {
    if (err) {
        throw err;
    }
    content = data;
});
console.log(content);

what is the reason of Logs undefined? Any help?

Answer 1

Hello @kartik,

The function you have defined is an asynchronous callback. It doesn't execute right away, rather it executes when the file loading has completed. When you call readFile, control is returned immediately and the next line of code is executed. So when you call console.log, your callback has not yet been invoked, and this content has not yet been set. 

Example:

const fs = require('fs');
// First I want to read the file
fs.readFile('./Index.html', function read(err, data) {
    if (err) {
        throw err;
    }
    const content = data;

    // Invoke the next step here however you like
    console.log(content);   // Put all of the code here (not the best solution)
    processFile(content);   // Or put the next step in a function and invoke it
});

function processFile(content) {
    console.log(content);
}

Hope it helps!!

Thanks!!