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Handling 'TypeError: how to read properties of undefined' when accessing deeply nested properties in async function

👀 Views: 49 đŸ’Ŧ Answers: 1 📅 Created: 2025-06-03
react async-await fetch JavaScript

I've searched everywhere and can't find a clear answer. I'm attempting to set up I need help solving I've searched everywhere and can't find a clear answer..... I'm working with a `TypeError: want to read properties of undefined` behavior when trying to access a deeply nested property of an object that's being fetched asynchronously in my React application. I'm using version 17.0.2 of React and fetching data from a REST API using the `fetch` API within an `async` function. Here's the code snippet where I think the scenario lies: ```javascript async function fetchData() { try { const response = await fetch('https://api.example.com/data'); const data = await response.json(); console.log(data.user.details.address.street); } catch (behavior) { console.behavior('behavior fetching data:', behavior); } } useEffect(() => { fetchData(); }, []); ``` When I run this code, I'm getting the behavior on the line where I'm trying to access `data.user.details.address.street`. I've checked the API response and it seems that sometimes the `user`, `details`, or even `address` properties might not be present. I attempted to add optional chaining to the line like this: ```javascript console.log(data.user?.details?.address?.street); ``` However, it still logs `undefined` when the properties are missing, which isn't what I want. I need to handle this scenario gracefully. I've also considered using a default value or a fallback, but I'm not sure how to implement it effectively without cluttering my code. How can I handle such cases where properties might not exist in the fetched data, ensuring my application doesn't crash with an behavior, but still allows me to manage the undefined values appropriately? This is part of a larger CLI tool I'm building. Has anyone else encountered this? This is part of a larger application I'm building. I'd really appreciate any guidance on this. I'm working in a Ubuntu 22.04 environment. This is for a mobile app running on Ubuntu 20.04. Any ideas how to fix this? For context: I'm using Javascript on Ubuntu 20.04. What are your experiences with this? I'm coming from a different tech stack and learning Javascript. The stack includes Javascript and several other technologies. Thanks for any help you can provide!