What is the removeHeader() method in Node.js?

The response.removeHeader() is an inbuilt property of the HTTP module, which removes a header identified by a name that’s queued for implicit sending.

About the method

In this shot, we’ll learn how to remove the header from the HTTP request.

The method request.removeHeader() will be used to remove the header from the request.

Parameter

It takes only one parameter, that is the name of the header that the user wants to remove

Syntax

request.removeHeader(NAME);
  • NAME: - When we set the header, it takes a name with value. You need to pass that name here to remove the header from the request.

Code

See the following code to remove the header.

const http = require('http')
const port = 8080
const server = http.createServer((req,res)=>{
  res.end();
});
server.listen(port, () => {
  console.log(`Server running at port ${port}...\n\n`)
  var options = {
    port: 8080,
    host: '127.0.0.1',
  }; 
  
  var request = http.request(options);
  request.setHeader('Cookie', ['type=ninja', 'language=javascript']);
  let header1 = request.getHeader('Cookie'); 
  
  console.log("Before removing the header from the actual request:");
  console.log("header 1 = ",header1);
  request.removeHeader('Cookie');
  header1 = request.getHeader('Cookie');
  console.log("\n\nAfter removing the header from the actual request:");
  console.log("header 1 = ",header1);
  request.end();
})
setTimeout(()=>{
  server.close()
},2000)

Explanation

  • Line 11: We import the HTTP module.

  • Line 33: We define the port number of the server.

  • Line 55: We use http.createServer() to create a server and listen on port 8080.

  • Line 99: We listen to the server using server.listen()-, and after that, make the request to the callback function.

  • Line 1212: We define an object for making a request with options we want.

  • Line 1717: We make a HTTP request using http.request(). By default this is a get() request with parameters defined in the options.

  • Line 1919, We set the header of the request using request.setHeader().

  • Line 2020 and 2626: We get the header by passing the header name-, and storing it into a variable.

  • Line 2525: We use request.removeHeader(Name) with the name of the header we want to remove.

  • Line 2323 and 2929: We print the header value we got from lines 2020 and 2626, to check whether we have successfully removed the header or not.

  • Line 3030: request.end() is important, as it finishes the request. If we do not use end(), the request will be made, but the server will wait for the incoming data until end() is called.

  • Line 33−3533-35: We’ll use setTimeout() because Educative’s running server feature won’t stop until we stop it by calling server.close(). It will still give you the desired result but with an execution time out error. You don’t need to write this on your personal machine.

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