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---
title: Formatters API
permalink: /docs/formatters-api/
---
<!-- Generated by documentation.js. Update this documentation by updating the source code. -->
### Table of Contents
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- [Usage ](#usage )
- [Types ](#types )
- [formatter ](#formatter )
- [Included formatters ](#included-formatters )
- [formatText ](#formattext )
- [formatJSON ](#formatjson )
- [formatJSONP ](#formatjsonp )
- [formatBinary ](#formatbinary )
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## Usage
Restify comes bundled with a selection of useful formatters that prepare your
responses for being sent over the wire, but you are free to include your own!
``` js
function formatGraphQL ( req , res , body ) {
var data = body ;
/* Do a thing to data */
res . setHeader ( 'Content-Length' , Buffer . byteLength ( data ) ) ;
return data ;
}
var server = restify . createServer ( {
formatters : {
'application/graphql' : formatGraphQL
}
} ) ;
// Your application now supports content-type 'application/graphql'
```
## Types
### formatter
Format a response for being sent over the wire
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Type: [Function ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Statements/function )
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**Parameters **
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- `req` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** the request object (not used)
- `res` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** the response object
- `body` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** response body to format
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Returns * * [String ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String )** formatted response data
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## Included formatters
restify comes pre-loaded with a standard set of formatters for common
use cases.
### formatText
Formats the body to 'text' by invoking a toString() on the body if it
exists. If it doesn't, then the response is a zero-length string.
**Parameters **
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- `req` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** the request object (not used)
- `res` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** the response object
- `body` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** response body. If it has a toString() method this
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will be used to make the string representation
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Returns * * [String ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String )** data
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### formatJSON
JSON formatter. Will look for a toJson() method on the body. If one does not
exist then a JSON.stringify will be attempted.
**Parameters **
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- `req` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** the request object (not used)
- `res` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** the response object
- `body` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** response body
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Returns * * [String ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String )** data
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### formatJSONP
JSONP formatter. like JSON, but with a callback invocation.
Unicode escapes line and paragraph separators.
**Parameters **
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- `req` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** the request object
- `res` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** the response object
- `body` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** response body
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Returns * * [String ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/String )** data
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### formatBinary
Binary formatter.
**Parameters **
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- `req` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** the request object
- `res` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** the response object
- `body` * * [Object ](https://developer.mozilla.org/docs/Web/JavaScript/Reference/Global_Objects/Object )** response body
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Returns * * [Buffer ](https://nodejs.org/api/buffer.html )** body
