How to return string or text value from API httpclient method in angular

The HttpClient module in Angular is used to send HTTP requests to an backend API and fetch data. The HttpClient methods by default return an Observable that emits the response data. 

While using HttpClient, api response will be expected to be in JSON format in most of the cases, and HttpClient will call JSON.parse() before it reaches subscription. Unless you explicitly state that it is not a JSON. 

To return a string or text value from an API HttpClient method in Angular, can follow below steps:

Import the necessary modules: 

First, ensure that you have imported the required modules in your component file. This includes importing the HttpClient module from @angular/common/http.

import { HttpClient } from '@angular/common/http';

Inject the HttpClient: 

In your component's constructor, inject the HttpClient module.

constructor(private http: HttpClient) { }

Make the API request:

Use the http.get() method of the HttpClient module to make the API request and receive the response.

getDataFromAPI() { return this.http.get<string>('api-url'); }

In the example above, api-url should be replaced with the actual URL of your API.

Handle the response:

In your component, you can subscribe to the returned Observable from the API request and handle the response.

handleResponse() { this.getDataFromAPI().subscribe( (response: string) => { console.log(response); // Handle the response here }, (error) => { console.error(error); // Handle any errors } ); }

In the subscribe() method, you can access the returned string value from the API response and perform any necessary actions with it.

However, you can return the string or text value directly from an API request using the toPromise() method and convert the observable to a promise. 

Here's an example:

Create a method to make the API request and return the string value:

public async getTextFromAPI(): Promise<string> { try { const response = await this.http.get('api-url').toPromise(); return response as string; } catch (error) { // Handle error if needed console.error(error); throw error; } }

You can then call this method from your component or any other service:

public async someMethod(): Promise<void> {

try { const textValue = await this.getTextFromAPI(); console.log(textValue); } catch (error) { // Handle error if needed console.error(error); } }

In the above example, the getTextFromAPI() method makes a GET request to your API URL and converts the response to a string. The method returns a promise, allowing you to use the await keyword when calling it. By using await, you can wait for the promise to resolve and retrieve the string value directly.

Please note that when using the toPromise() method, you need to handle any errors that may occur during the HTTP request. The try-catch block in the getTextFromAPI() method is an example of error handling, but you can modify it to suit your specific needs.

If you want to specify the response type as text when making an API request using HttpClient in Angular, you can do so by passing the responseType: 'text' option.

Create a method to make the API request and return the text value:

public getTextValue(): Observable<string> { return this.http.get('api-url', { responseType: 'text' });

}

In your component, call the getTextValue() method and subscribe to the returned Observable to retrieve the text value:

this.getTextValue().subscribe(response => { console.log(response); // The text value returned from the API });

In the getTextValue() method, the responseType option is set to 'text' to indicate that the expected response type is a string or text. This ensures that the response is interpreted as text rather than JSON or any other data type.

That's it! By following these steps, you should be able to return a string or text value from an API HttpClient method in Angular.