TypeError: Cannot read property 'Digits' of undefined in twilio when gathering user input from call

Question

I have used the code from Gather User Input via Keypad (DTMF Tones) in Node.js twilio documentation for getting user input from the call.

    app.post('/voice', (request, response) => {
       const twiml = new VoiceResponse();

       function gather() {
         const gatherNode = twiml.gather({ numDigits: 1 });
         gatherNode.say('For sales, press 1. For support, press 2.');
         twiml.redirect('/voice');
       }
       if (request.body.Digits) {
         switch (request.body.Digits) {
         case '1':
           twiml.say('You selected sales. Good for you!');
           break;
         case '2':
           twiml.say('You need support. We will help!');
           break;
         default:
           twiml.say("Sorry, I don't understand that choice.").pause();
           gather();
           break;
        }
      } else {
    gather();
   }

  response.type('text/xml');
  response.send(twiml.toString());
  });

When i call to my twilio number i'm getting error like "TypeError: Cannot read property 'Digits' of undefined" at the if statement.I want to get what number user enters during the call.Thanks in advance!!

Answer 1

It seems like your initial request have no body propery. Try added a check to your if statement:

if (request.body && request.body.Digits) {
  // switch / case
} else {
  gather();
}

Answer 2

Log the value of request and inspect those properties, Comment out everything below: if(request.body.Digits)

And then run this in its place:

console.log(request)

Because the error is telling you that body isn't defined in that object. Otherwise if it is there the incapsulate the switch statement in this

if(request.body)
{
//Switch statement
}

Answer 3

I was just having the same issue. Adding these two lines fixed it for me:

const urlencoded = require('body-parser').urlencoded;
app.use(urlencoded({ extended: false }));

They were in the Twilio documentation as well. I'm a bit of a newbie at Node, so I'm not sure why the code breaks without them. According to the comment Twilio provided, // Parse incoming POST params with Express middleware