Get binary response

Problem

You want to get a binary HTTP response from an HTTP request.

Solution

The HTTP Request node will return the body of a response in the msg.payload as a string by default. Change the Return configuration of this node to a binary buffer to return the response as a binary buffer in the msg.payload.

Example

Flow JSON

[{"id":"871ee927.0d69c8","type":"inject","z":"c9a81b70.8abed8","name":"","topic":"","payload":"","payloadType":"date","repeat":"","crontab":"","once":false,"x":240,"y":660,"wires":[["8ea4e52a.03d678"]]},{"id":"8ea4e52a.03d678","type":"http request","z":"c9a81b70.8abed8","name":"binary http request","method":"GET","ret":"bin","url":"https://app_name.herokuapp.com/binary","tls":"","x":410,"y":660,"wires":[["70309d0c.4dc504"]]},{"id":"70309d0c.4dc504","type":"debug","z":"c9a81b70.8abed8","name":"","active":true,"console":"false","complete":"false","x":590,"y":660,"wires":[]}]

We have modified the flow from the Set the URL of a Request URL recipe by changing the HTTP Request node Return configuration to a binary buffer. The Debug node will display the payload as a binary buffer such as:

[ 80, 75, 3, 4, 20, 0, 6, 0, 8, 0 … ]