JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync()) returning a buffer - string of numbers

Question

I'm using a simple Node.js to pull information from a valid jsonfile (checked with JSLint), but the code i'm using doesn't return the expected value:

        squadJSON = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./squads/squad' + whichSquad + '.json'));     

and it returns:

{ type: 'Buffer', data:  [ 123,  10,  32,  32,  34,  97,  99,  ... 548 more items ] } 

Any reason as to why this happens?

Answer 1

fs.readFileSync() returns a Buffer if you don't specify an encoding.

https://nodejs.org/api/fs.html#fs_fs_readfilesync_path_options

So, tell fs.readFileSync() what encoding to use:

squadJSON = JSON.parse(fs.readFileSync('./squads/squad' + whichSquad + '.json', 'utf8'));