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3: <head>
4: <title>The XMLHttpRequest Object</title>
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1.58 avankest 20: <!--<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/W3C-WD">-->
1.1 avankest 21: </head>
22: <body>
23: <div class="head">
24: <p><a href="http://www.w3.org/"><img height="48" width="72" alt="W3C" src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_home"></a></p>
1.12 avankest 25:
1.10 avankest 26: <h1 class="head">The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h1>
1.12 avankest 27:
1.53 avankest 28: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="pagesubtitle">Editor's draft<!--W3C Working Draft--> [DATE: 3 August 2002]</h2>
1.12 avankest 29:
1.1 avankest 30: <dl>
1.10 avankest 31: <dt>This Version:</dt>
1.24 avankest 32:
1.47 avankest 33: <dd><a href="[VERSION]/">http://www.w3.org/TR/[YEAR]/WD-XMLHttpRequest-[CDATE]/</a></dd>
1.14 avankest 34:
1.10 avankest 35: <dt>Latest Version:</dt>
1.24 avankest 36:
1.1 avankest 37: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest/">http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest/</a></dd>
1.14 avankest 38:
1.10 avankest 39: <dt>Previous Versions:</dt>
1.24 avankest 40:
1.58 avankest 41: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070227/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070227/</a></dd>
42:
1.22 avankest 43: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060927/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060927/</a></dd>
1.24 avankest 44:
1.1 avankest 45: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060619/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060619/</a></dd>
1.24 avankest 46:
1.1 avankest 47: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/</a></dd>
1.14 avankest 48:
1.1 avankest 49: <dt>Editor:</dt>
1.24 avankest 50:
1.1 avankest 51: <dd><a href="http://annevankesteren.nl/">Anne van Kesteren</a>
52: (<a href="http://www.opera.com/">Opera Software ASA</a>)
53: <<a href="mailto:annevk@opera.com">annevk@opera.com</a>></dd>
54: </dl>
1.14 avankest 55:
1.1 avankest 56: <p class="copyright"><a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Copyright">Copyright</a>
1.51 avankest 57: © 2007
58: <a href="http://www.w3.org/"><acronym title="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</acronym></a><sup>®</sup>
59: (<a href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/"><acronym title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology">MIT</acronym></a>,
60: <a href="http://www.ercim.org/"><acronym title="European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics">ERCIM</acronym></a>,
61: <a href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/">Keio</a>), All Rights Reserved. W3C
62: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Legal_Disclaimer">liability</a>,
63: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#W3C_Trademarks">trademark</a>
64: and
65: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-documents">document
66: use</a> rules apply.</p>
1.1 avankest 67: </div>
1.12 avankest 68:
1.1 avankest 69: <hr>
1.12 avankest 70:
1.1 avankest 71: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="specabstract">Abstract</h2>
1.10 avankest 72:
1.22 avankest 73: <p>The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object specification defines an
74: <abbr title="Application Programming Interface">API</abbr> that provides
75: scripted client functionality for transferring data between a client and a
76: server.</p>
1.12 avankest 77:
1.1 avankest 78: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="sotd">Status of this Document</h2>
1.12 avankest 79:
1.1 avankest 80: <p><em>This section describes the status of this document at the time of its
1.36 avankest 81: publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current
82: W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be
83: found in the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/">W3C technical reports index</a>
84: at http://www.w3.org/TR/.</em></p>
85:
1.63 avankest 86: <!-- change back to Last Call -->
87: <p>This is the [DATE: 3 August 2002] <strong>Editor's</strong> Working
1.54 avankest 88: Draft of The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object specification.
1.47 avankest 89: Please send comments to
90: <a href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a>
91: (<a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapi/">archived</a>)
92: with either <samp>[XHR]</samp> or <samp title="">[XMLHttpRequest]</samp> at
1.63 avankest 93: the start of the subject line<!-- by 2 April 2007-->.</p>
1.51 avankest 94:
1.47 avankest 95: <p>This document is produced by the
96: <a href="http://www.w3.org/2006/webapi/">Web API Working Group</a>, part of
97: the <a href="http://www.w3.org/2006/rwc/Activity">Rich Web Clients
98: Activity</a> in the W3C <a href="http://www.w3.org/Interaction/">Interaction
1.51 avankest 99: Domain</a>. Changes made to this document can be found in the
1.47 avankest 100: <a href="http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/Overview.html">W3C
101: public CVS server</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 102:
1.1 avankest 103: <p>Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C
1.36 avankest 104: Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or
105: obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this
106: document as other than work in progress.</p>
1.12 avankest 107:
1.1 avankest 108: <p>This document was produced by a group operating under the
1.36 avankest 109: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/">5 February
1.52 avankest 110: 2004 W3C Patent Policy</a>. W3C maintains a
1.36 avankest 111: <a rel="disclosure" href="http://www.w3.org/2004/01/pp-impl/38482/status">public
112: list of any patent disclosures</a> made in connection with the deliverables
113: of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent.
114: An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual
115: believes contains
116: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#def-essential">Essential
117: Claim(s)</a> must disclose the information in accordance with
118: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#sec-Disclosure">section
119: 6 of the W3C Patent Policy</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 120:
1.1 avankest 121: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="toc">Table of Contents</h2>
1.21 avankest 122:
1.1 avankest 123: <!--toc-->
1.12 avankest 124:
1.1 avankest 125: <h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2>
1.12 avankest 126:
1.1 avankest 127: <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em></p>
1.12 avankest 128:
1.33 avankest 129: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object implements an interface exposed by
130: a scripting engine that allows scripts to perform HTTP client functionality,
1.22 avankest 131: such as submitting form data or loading data from a server.</p>
1.24 avankest 132:
1.1 avankest 133: <p>The name of the object is <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> for compatibility
1.22 avankest 134: with the web, though each component of this name is potentially misleading.
1.39 avankest 135: First, the object supports any text based format, including XML. Second, it
136: can be used to make requests over both HTTP and HTTPS (some implementations
137: support protocols in addition to HTTP and HTTPS, but that functionality is
138: not covered by this specification). Finally, it supports "requests" in a
139: broad sense of the term as it pertains to HTTP; namely all activity involved
140: with HTTP requests or responses for the defined HTTP methods.</p>
1.12 avankest 141:
1.1 avankest 142: <h3 id="examples">Examples of Usage</h3>
1.12 avankest 143:
1.1 avankest 144: <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em></p>
1.12 avankest 145:
1.37 avankest 146: <p>Some [<cite><span>ECMAScript</span></cite>] examples
1.32 avankest 147: are listed in the specification. In addition, you can find some below.</p>
1.14 avankest 148:
149: <div class="example">
150: <p>Some simple code to do something with data from an XML document fetched
1.22 avankest 151: over the network:</p>
1.16 avankest 152:
1.58 avankest 153: <pre><code>function test(data) {
1.14 avankest 154: // taking care of data
155: }
156:
157: function handler() {
158: if(this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {
159: // so far so good
160: if(this.responseXML != null && this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data)
161: // success!
162: test(this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data);
163: else
164: test(null);
165: } else if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status != 200) {
166: // fetched the wrong page or network error...
167: test(null);
168: }
169: }
1.12 avankest 170:
1.14 avankest 171: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
172: client.onreadystatechange = handler;
173: client.open("GET", "test.xml");
1.58 avankest 174: client.send();</code></pre>
1.16 avankest 175:
1.56 avankest 176: <p>If you just want to log a message to the server:</p>
1.16 avankest 177:
1.58 avankest 178: <pre><code>function log(message) {
1.14 avankest 179: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.56 avankest 180: client.open("POST", "/log");
1.57 avankest 181: client.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "text/plain;charset=UTF-8");
1.14 avankest 182: client.send(message);
1.58 avankest 183: }</code></pre>
1.16 avankest 184:
1.14 avankest 185: <p>Or if you want to check the status of a document on the server:</p>
1.16 avankest 186:
1.58 avankest 187: <pre><code>function fetchStatus(address) {
1.14 avankest 188: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
189: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
190: // in case of network errors this might not give reliable results
191: if(this.readyState == 4)
192: returnStatus(this.status);
193: }
194: client.open("HEAD", address);
195: client.send();
1.58 avankest 196: }</code></pre>
1.14 avankest 197: </div>
1.12 avankest 198:
1.1 avankest 199: <h3 id="conformance">Conformance</h3>
1.12 avankest 200:
1.27 avankest 201: <p>Everything in this specification is normative except for diagrams,
202: examples, notes and sections marked non-normative.</p>
1.12 avankest 203:
1.1 avankest 204: <p>The key words <em class="ct">must</em>, <em class="ct">must not</em>,
1.74 avankest 205: <em class="ct">should</em> and <em class="ct">may</em> in this document are
206: to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.
207: [<cite><span>RFC2119</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 208:
1.1 avankest 209: <p>This specification defines the following classes of products:</p>
1.12 avankest 210:
1.1 avankest 211: <dl>
1.74 avankest 212: <dt><dfn id="conforming-user-agent">Conforming user agent</dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 213:
1.74 avankest 214: <dd>
215: <p>A user agent <em class="ct">must</em> behave as described in this
1.106 avankest 216: specification in order to be considered conformant.</p>
1.95 avankest 217:
1.94 avankest 218: <p>If the user agent does not support XML (including support for
219: namespaces) the <span>XML response entity body</span>
220: <em class="ct">must</em> (always) be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.74 avankest 221:
1.75 avankest 222: <p>User agents <em class="ct">may</em> optimize any algorithm given in
223: this specification, so long as the end result is indistinguishable from
224: the result that would be obtained by the specification's algorithms. (The
225: algorithms in this specification are generally written with more concern
226: for clarity than efficiency.)</p>
1.95 avankest 227:
228: <p class="note">This specification uses both the terms "conforming user
229: agent(s)" and "user agent(s)" to refer to this product class.</p>
1.74 avankest 230: </dd>
1.94 avankest 231:
232: <dt><dfn id="conforming-xml-user-agent">Conforming XML user agent</dfn></dt>
233:
234: <dd><p>A user agent that is a <span>conforming user agent</span> and also
235: supports XML (including support for namespaces).</p></dd>
1.1 avankest 236: </dl>
1.32 avankest 237:
1.30 avankest 238: <h4 id="dependencies">Dependencies</h4>
1.33 avankest 239:
1.29 avankest 240: <p>This specification relies on several underlying specifications.</p>
241: <dl>
242: <dt>DOM</dt>
1.33 avankest 243:
1.29 avankest 244: <dd>
1.95 avankest 245: <p><span title="Conforming user agent">Conforming user agents</span>
246: <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of DOM Events and DOM Core,
247: because this specification uses some of the features defined in those
248: specifications. [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]
249: [<cite><span>DOM3Core</span></cite>]</p>
250:
251: <p>It <em class="ct">must</em> also support some version of the Window
252: Object because some of the functionality in this specification relies on
253: it. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 254: </dd>
255:
256: <dt>HTTP</dt>
1.33 avankest 257:
1.29 avankest 258: <dd>
1.95 avankest 259: <p><span title="Conforming user agent">Conforming user agents</span>
260: <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of the HTTP protocol. The
261: user agent <em class="ct">should</em> support any HTTP method that matches
262: the <span><code>Method</code> production</span> and
263: <em class="ct">must</em> at least support the following methods:</p>
1.58 avankest 264:
265: <ul>
266: <li><code>GET</code></li>
267: <li><code>POST</code></li>
268: <li><code>HEAD</code></li>
269: <li><code>PUT</code></li>
270: <li><code>DELETE</code></li>
271: <li><code>OPTIONS</code></li>
272: </ul>
273:
274: <p>Other requirements regarding HTTP are made throughout the
1.39 avankest 275: specification. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 276: </dd>
1.41 avankest 277:
278: <dt>XML</dt>
279:
1.95 avankest 280: <dd><p><span title="Conforming XML user agent">Conforming XML user
281: agents</span> <em class="ct">must</em> support XML (including support for
282: namespaces). [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>]
283: [<cite><span>XMLNS</span></cite>]</p></dd>
1.29 avankest 284: </dl>
1.12 avankest 285:
1.80 avankest 286: <h4 id="terminology">Terminology</h4>
1.12 avankest 287:
1.80 avankest 288: <p>There is a <dfn id="case-insensitive-match">case-insensitive match</dfn>
1.101 avankest 289: of strings <var>s1</var> and <var>s2</var> if after uppercasing both strings
1.100 avankest 290: (by mapping a-z to A-Z) they are identical.</p>
1.80 avankest 291:
292: <h4 id="extensibility">Extensibility</h4>
1.12 avankest 293:
1.81 avankest 294: <p>Extensions of the API defined by this specification are <em>strongly
1.22 avankest 295: discouraged</em>. User agents, Working Groups and other interested parties
1.33 avankest 296: should discuss extensions on a relevant public forum, preferably
1.22 avankest 297: <a href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 298:
299: <h2 id="xmlhttprequest">The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h2>
300:
1.58 avankest 301: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be used by scripts to
1.22 avankest 302: programmatically connect to their originating server via HTTP.</p>
1.12 avankest 303:
1.1 avankest 304: <p>Objects implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface
1.22 avankest 305: <em class="ct">must</em> also implement the <code>EventTarget</code>
1.58 avankest 306: interface. [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 307:
1.58 avankest 308: <p>Objects implementing the <code title="">Window</code> interface
309: <em class="ct">must</em> provide an <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code>
310: constructor. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 311:
1.1 avankest 312: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 313: <p>In ECMAScript this can be used as follows:</p>
314: <!-- [<cite><span>ECMAScript</span></cite>] -->
315:
316: <pre><code>var client = new XMLHttpRequest();</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 317: </div>
1.12 avankest 318:
1.58 avankest 319: <p>When the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code> constructor is invoked a
320: persistent pointer to the associated <code title="">Window</code> object
321: <em class="ct">must</em> be stored on the newly created object. This is the
1.25 avankest 322: <dfn title="Window pointer" id="window-pointer"><code>Window</code>
1.58 avankest 323: pointer</dfn>. The associated <code title="">Window</code> object is the one
324: of which the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> constructor was
325: invoked. This <span title="Window pointer">pointer</span>
1.25 avankest 326: <em class="ct">must</em> persist even if the browsing context in which the
1.37 avankest 327: <code title="">Window</code> is located is destroyed (by removing it from a
328: parent browsing context, for instance).</p>
1.25 avankest 329:
1.37 avankest 330: <p>The term browsing context is defined by the <cite>Window Object
331: 1.0</cite> specification. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.27 avankest 332:
333: <!-- XXX if the document object changes in the browsing context you get an
1.33 avankest 334: exception in some implementations. -->
1.27 avankest 335:
1.58 avankest 336: <div class="example">
1.65 avankest 337: <p>If <var><code>win</code></var> is a <code title="">Window</code> object
338: <var><code>client</code></var> will have a pointer to
339: <var><code>win</code></var> in the following example:</p>
1.58 avankest 340:
1.65 avankest 341: <pre><code>var client = new win.XMLHttpRequest()</code></pre>
1.58 avankest 342: </div>
1.12 avankest 343:
1.58 avankest 344: <pre class="idl">interface <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</dfn> {
345: // event handler
1.70 avankest 346: attribute EventListener <span>onreadystatechange</span>;
1.58 avankest 347:
348: // state
1.71 avankest 349: const unsigned short <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span> = 0;
1.58 avankest 350: const unsigned short <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> = 1;
351: const unsigned short <span title="SENT state">SENT</span> = 2;
1.86 avankest 352: const unsigned short <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> = 3;
1.79 avankest 353: const unsigned short <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> = 4;
1.70 avankest 354: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>readyState</span>;
1.58 avankest 355:
356: // request
1.70 avankest 357: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>);
358: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>);
359: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>, in DOMString <var>user</var>);
360: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>, in DOMString <var>user</var>, in DOMString <var>password</var>);
361: void <span>setRequestHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>, in DOMString <var>value</var>);
362: void <span>send</span>();
363: void <span>send</span>(in DOMString <var>data</var>);
364: void <span>send</span>(in Document <var>data</var>);
365: void <span>abort</span>();
1.58 avankest 366:
367: // response
1.70 avankest 368: DOMString <span>getAllResponseHeaders</span>();
369: DOMString <span>getResponseHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>);
370: readonly attribute DOMString <span>responseText</span>;
371: readonly attribute Document <span>responseXML</span>;
372: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>status</span>;
373: readonly attribute DOMString <span>statusText</span>;
1.1 avankest 374: };</pre>
1.8 avankest 375:
1.58 avankest 376: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be in five states:
1.71 avankest 377: <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>,
1.58 avankest 378: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>, <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>,
1.86 avankest 379: <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> and
1.79 avankest 380: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>. The current state is exposed through
381: the <code>readyState</code> attribute. The method definitions below define
382: when a state transition takes place.</p>
1.58 avankest 383:
384: <p>When constructed, the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object
1.71 avankest 385: <em class="ct">must</em> be in the UNSENT state. This state is represented
386: by the <dfn id="unsent" title="UNSENT state"><code>UNSENT</code></dfn>
1.58 avankest 387: constant, whose value is <code>0</code>.</p>
388:
389: <p>The OPEN state is the state of the object when the <code>open()</code>
1.92 avankest 390: method has been successfully invoked. During this state request headers can
1.58 avankest 391: be set using <code>setRequestHeader()</code> and the request can be made
392: using <code>send()</code>. This state is represented by the
393: <dfn id="open" title="OPEN state"><code>OPEN</code></dfn> constant, whose
394: value is <code>1</code>.</p>
395:
1.87 avankest 396: <p>During the OPEN state there is a <dfn id="send-flag"><code>send()</code>
1.104 avankest 397: flag</dfn> which can be either "true" or "false". The initial value of the
398: <code title="">send()</code> flag is "false".</p>
1.87 avankest 399:
1.58 avankest 400: <p>The SENT state is the state of the object when the user agent
401: successfully acknowledged the request. This state is represented by the
402: <dfn id="sent" title="SENT state"><code>SENT</code></dfn> constant, whose
403: value is <code>2</code>.</p>
404:
1.86 avankest 405: <p>The LOADING state is the state of the object when all HTTP headers have
1.58 avankest 406: been received. The object typically remains in this state until the complete
407: message body (if any) has been received. This state is represented by the
1.86 avankest 408: <dfn id="loading" title="LOADING state"><code>LOADING</code></dfn> constant,
409: whose value is <code>3</code>.</p>
1.58 avankest 410:
1.79 avankest 411: <p>The DONE state is the state of the object when either the data transfer
1.58 avankest 412: has been completed or something went wrong during the transfer (infinite
413: redirects for instance). This state is represented by the
1.79 avankest 414: <dfn id="done" title="DONE state"><code>DONE</code></dfn> constant, whose
415: value is <code>4</code>.</p>
1.90 avankest 416:
1.88 avankest 417: <p>The <dfn id="response-entity-body">response entity body</dfn> is the
418: fragment of the <span>entity body</span> received so far (LOADING state) or
419: the complete entity body (DONE state). If there is no entity body the
420: response entity body is "null".</p>
421:
422: <p>The <dfn id="text-response-entity-body">text response entity body</dfn>
1.107 avankest 423: is either a <code>DOMString</code> representing the <span>response entity
424: body</span> or <code>null</code>. The value of the text response entity body
425: <em class="ct">must</em> be determined by running the following
426: algorithm:</p>
1.90 avankest 427:
1.88 avankest 428: <ol>
1.107 avankest 429: <li><p>If the response entity body is "null" return <code>null</code> and
430: terminate these steps.</p>
1.90 avankest 431:
432: <li><p>Let <var>charset</var> be UTF-8.</p></li>
433:
434: <li><p>If there is no <code>Content-Type</code> header or there is a
435: <code>Content-Type</code> header which contains a MIME type that is
1.91 avankest 436: <code>text/xml</code>, <code>application/xml</code>, <code>text/xsl</code>
437: or ends in <code title="">+xml</code> (ignoring any parameters) use the
438: rules set forth in the XML specification to determine the character
439: encoding. Let <var>charset</var> be the determined character
440: encoding.</p></li>
1.90 avankest 441:
442: <li><p>If the <code>Content-Type</code> MIME type contains a
443: <code>charset</code> parameter let <var>charset</var> be the value of that
444: parameter.</p></li>
445:
1.107 avankest 446: <li><p>Return the result of decoding the response entity body using
447: <var>charset</var>. Or, if that fails, return <code>null</code>.</p></li>
1.88 avankest 448: </ol>
1.90 avankest 449:
1.88 avankest 450: <p>The <dfn id="xml-response-entity-body">XML response entity body</dfn> is
1.107 avankest 451: either a <code>Document</code> representing the <span>response entity
452: body</span> or <code>null</code> and is determined by running the following
453: algorithm (the return value is its value):</p>
1.90 avankest 454:
1.88 avankest 455: <ol>
1.107 avankest 456: <li><p>If the response entity body is "null" terminate these steps and
457: return <code>null</code>.</p></li>
1.88 avankest 458:
1.103 avankest 459: <li><p>If a <code>Content-Type</code> is present and it does not contain a
460: MIME type (ignoring any parameters) that is <code>text/xml</code>,
1.91 avankest 461: <code>application/xml</code>, <code>text/xsl</code> or ends in
1.96 avankest 462: <code title="">+xml</code> terminate these steps and return
1.99 avankest 463: <code>null</code>. (Do not terminate these steps if there is no
464: <code>Content-Type</code> header at all.)</p></li>
1.88 avankest 465:
1.107 avankest 466: <li><p>Parse the response entity body following the rules from the XML
467: specifications. Let the result be <var>parsed document</var>. If this fails
468: (unsupported character encoding, namespace well-formedness error et cetera)
469: terminate these steps return <code>null</code>.
1.96 avankest 470: [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>] [<cite><span>XMLNS</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.88 avankest 471:
1.96 avankest 472: <li><p>Return an object implementing the <code>Document</code>
1.88 avankest 473: interface representing the <var>parsed document</var>.</p></li>
474: </ol>
1.58 avankest 475:
1.5 avankest 476: <dl>
1.39 avankest 477: <dt><dfn id="dfn-onreadystatechange"><code>onreadystatechange</code></dfn>
478: of type <code>EventListener</code></dt>
1.12 avankest 479:
1.1 avankest 480: <dd>
481: <p>An attribute that takes an <code>EventListener</code> as value that
1.58 avankest 482: <em class="ct">must</em> be invoked along with any other appropriate event
483: listeners that are registered on this object when a
1.87 avankest 484: <code>readystatechange</code> event is dispatched on it during the
485: bubbling phase. Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be
486: <code>null</code>.</p>
1.1 avankest 487: </dd>
1.12 avankest 488:
1.1 avankest 489: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystate"><code>readyState</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 490: <code>unsigned short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 491:
1.1 avankest 492: <dd>
1.58 avankest 493: <p>The attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be the value of the constant
494: corresponding to the object's current state.</p>
1.1 avankest 495: </dd>
1.12 avankest 496:
1.14 avankest 497: <dt><dfn id="dfn-open" title="open"><code>open(<var>method</var>,
1.22 avankest 498: <var>url</var>, <var>async</var>, <var>user</var>,
499: <var>password</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 500:
1.1 avankest 501: <dd>
1.58 avankest 502: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
1.96 avankest 503: following steps (unless otherwise indicated):</p>
1.58 avankest 504:
505: <ol>
1.97 avankest 506: <li><p>If the <var>method</var> argument does not match the
1.58 avankest 507: <dfn><code>Method</code> production</dfn> defined in section 5.1.1 of RFC
1.98 avankest 508: 2616 raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.
1.58 avankest 509: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
510:
511: <li><p>If the given <var>method</var> is not supported for security
512: reasons the user agent <em class="ct">should</em> raise a
1.98 avankest 513: <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 514:
515: <li><p>Let <var>stored method</var> be <var>method</var>.</p></li>
516:
1.80 avankest 517: <li><p>If <var>method</var>
518: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span>
519: <code>GET</code>, <code>POST</code>, <code>HEAD</code>, <code>PUT</code>,
1.96 avankest 520: <code>DELETE</code> or <code>OPTIONS</code> convert it to its uppercase
521: equivalent (by mapping a-z to A-Z) and let <var>stored method</var> be
522: the result.</p></li>
1.68 avankest 523: <!-- WebKit (and supposedly Firefox) also uppercase: CONNECT, COPY,
524: INDEX, LOCK, M-POST, MKCOL, MOVE, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, TRACE and UNLOCK.
525: Not sure if TRACE and CONNECT are worth it though. They raise a
526: SECURITY_ERR exception anyway... -->
1.58 avankest 527:
528: <li><p>Drop the fragment identifier (if any) from <var>url</var> and let
529: <var>stored url</var> be the result of that operation.</p></li>
530:
1.96 avankest 531: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> is a relative reference resolve it using
532: the current value of the <code>baseURI</code> attribute of the
533: <code>Document</code> object currently associated with the
534: <span><code>Window</code> pointer</span>. If this fails raise a
1.98 avankest 535: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 536:
1.101 avankest 537: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> contains an unsupported scheme raise a
538: <code>NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR</code> and terminate these steps.</p></li>
539:
1.58 avankest 540: <li><p>If the <code>"user:password"</code> format in the
541: <code>userinfo</code> production defined in section 3.2.1 of RFC 3986 is
542: not supported for the relevant scheme and <var>stored url</var> contains
1.98 avankest 543: this format raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and terminate these steps.
1.69 avankest 544: [<cite><span>RFC3986</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.58 avankest 545:
546: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> contains the <code>"user:password"</code>
547: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part and <var>stored
548: password</var> be the password part.</p></li>
549:
550: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> just contains the <code>"user"</code>
551: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part.</p></li>
552:
1.69 avankest 553: <li>
554: <p>If <var>stored url</var> is non same-origin the user agent
555: <em class="ct">should</em> raise a <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception
1.98 avankest 556: and terminate these steps.</p>
1.69 avankest 557: <p class="note">This specification does not define what constitutes as
1.102 avankest 558: non same-origin. It is expected that what constiutes as non same-origin
559: will be defined before this specification eventually reaches the W3C
560: Recommendation status by way of referencing a specification that defines
561: it.<!-- XXX reference HTML5? --></p>
1.69 avankest 562: </li>
1.58 avankest 563:
564: <li><p>Let <var>async</var> be the value of the <var>async</var> argument
1.102 avankest 565: or <code>true</code> if it was omitted.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 566:
567: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
1.96 avankest 568: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme raise
1.98 avankest 569: a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 570:
1.58 avankest 571: <li>
572: <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is not
573: <code>null</code> let <var>stored user</var> be <var>user</var> encoded
574: using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication scheme or
575: UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p>
1.14 avankest 576:
1.58 avankest 577: <p class="note">This step overrides any user that may have been set by
578: the <var>url</var> argument.</p>
579: </li>
1.16 avankest 580:
1.58 avankest 581: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is
582: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored user</var>.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 583:
1.58 avankest 584: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
1.96 avankest 585: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme raise
1.98 avankest 586: a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 587:
588: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is not
589: <code>null</code> let <var>stored password</var> be <var>password</var>
590: encoded using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication
591: scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p></li>
592:
593: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is
594: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored password</var>.</p></li>
595:
1.108 avankest 596: <li><p><span title="abort send()">Abort the <code>send()</code>
597: algorithm</span>, set <span>response entity body</span> to "null" and
598: reset the list of request headers.<p></li>
1.58 avankest 599:
1.108 avankest 600: <li><p>The user agent <em class="ct">should</em> cancel any network
601: activity for which the object is responsible.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 602: <!-- we can hardly require it... -->
603:
604: <li><p>Switch the object to the <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>
1.105 avankest 605: state, set the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> to "false" and then
1.104 avankest 606: synchronously dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the
607: object and return the method call.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 608: </ol>
1.14 avankest 609:
1.19 avankest 610: <p class="note">A future version or extension of this specification will
1.33 avankest 611: most likely define a way of doing cross-site requests.</p>
1.1 avankest 612: </dd>
1.12 avankest 613:
1.14 avankest 614: <dt><dfn id="dfn-setrequestheader" title="setrequestheader"><code>setRequestHeader(<var>header</var>,
1.22 avankest 615: <var>value</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 616:
1.5 avankest 617: <dd>
1.45 avankest 618: <p>Each request has a list of request headers with associated values. This
619: method can be used to manipulate those values and set new request
620: headers.</p>
621:
1.58 avankest 622: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
1.96 avankest 623: following steps (unless otherwise indicated):</p>
1.14 avankest 624:
1.58 avankest 625: <ol>
626: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
1.96 avankest 627: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> raise an
1.98 avankest 628: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
629: steps.</p></li>
1.96 avankest 630:
631: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is "true" raise an
1.98 avankest 632: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
633: steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 634:
1.97 avankest 635: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument does not match the
1.22 avankest 636: <dfn><code>field-name</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.96 avankest 637: of RFC 2616 or is <code>null</code> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
1.98 avankest 638: exception and terminate these steps.
1.96 avankest 639: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
640:
1.98 avankest 641: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument is <code>null</code> terminate
642: these steps. (Do not raise an exception.)</li>
1.70 avankest 643: <!-- undefined is to be treated as null here... -->
1.79 avankest 644:
1.97 avankest 645: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument does not match the
1.22 avankest 646: <dfn><code>field-value</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.98 avankest 647: of RFC 2616 raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and terminate these steps.
1.58 avankest 648: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.14 avankest 649:
1.32 avankest 650: <li>
1.58 avankest 651: <p>For security reasons these steps <em class="ct">should</em> be
1.98 avankest 652: terminated if the <var>header</var> argument
1.80 avankest 653: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span>
654: one of the following headers:</p>
1.58 avankest 655:
1.32 avankest 656: <ul>
657: <li><code>Accept-Charset</code></li>
658: <li><code>Accept-Encoding</code></li>
1.68 avankest 659: <li><code>Connection</code></li>
1.32 avankest 660: <li><code>Content-Length</code></li>
1.68 avankest 661: <li><code>Content-Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
662: <li><code>Date</code></li>
1.32 avankest 663: <li><code>Expect</code></li>
664: <li><code>Host</code></li>
665: <li><code>Keep-Alive</code></li>
666: <li><code>Referer</code></li>
667: <li><code>TE</code></li>
668: <li><code>Trailer</code></li>
669: <li><code>Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
670: <li><code>Upgrade</code></li>
1.68 avankest 671: <li><code>Via</code></li>
1.32 avankest 672: </ul>
673: </li>
1.5 avankest 674:
1.58 avankest 675: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is not in the list of request
1.96 avankest 676: headers append the <var>header</var> with its associated <var>value</var>
1.98 avankest 677: to the list and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 678:
679: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is in the list of request
1.96 avankest 680: headers either use multiple headers, combine the values or use a
681: combination of those (section 4.2, RFC 2616).
682: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
683: <!-- XXX it seems UAs always combine the values -->
1.58 avankest 684: </ol>
1.45 avankest 685:
686: <p class="note">See also the <code>send()</code> method regarding user
1.71 avankest 687: agent header handling for caching, authentication, proxies, and
688: cookies.</p>
1.14 avankest 689:
690: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 691: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.14 avankest 692: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
693: client.open('GET', 'demo.cgi');
694: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'one');
695: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'two');
696: client.send();
697:
698: // ...would result in the following header being sent:
699: ...
700: X-Test: one, two
1.58 avankest 701: ...</code></pre>
1.14 avankest 702: </div>
1.5 avankest 703: </dd>
1.12 avankest 704:
1.14 avankest 705: <dt><dfn id="dfn-send" title="send"><code>send(<var>data</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 706: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 707:
1.17 avankest 708: <dd>
1.58 avankest 709: <p>The <code>send()</code> method initiates the request and its optional
1.106 avankest 710: argument provides the <span>entity body</span>. Authors are strongly
711: encouraged to ensure that they have specified the
712: <code>Content-Type</code> header via <code>setRequestHeader()</code>
713: before invoking <code>send()</code> with a non-<code>null</code>
714: <var>data</var> argument.</p>
1.58 avankest 715:
716: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
1.108 avankest 717: following steps (unless otherwise noted). Note that this algorithm might
1.109 ! avankest 718: get aborted if the <code>open()</code> or <code>abort()</code> is invoked.
! 719: When the
! 720: <dfn title="abort send()" id="abort-send-algorithm"><code>send()</code>
1.108 avankest 721: algorithm is aborted</dfn> the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> stop
722: the algorithm after finishing the step it is on.</p>
723:
724: <p class="note">The following algorithm can not be aborted through script
725: when <var>async</var> is <code>false</code>. It can only be aborted when
726: <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> and only after the method call has
727: returned.</p>
1.58 avankest 728:
729: <ol>
730: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
1.96 avankest 731: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> raise an
1.98 avankest 732: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
733: steps.</p></li>
1.96 avankest 734:
735: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is "true" raise an
1.98 avankest 736: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
737: steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 738:
1.102 avankest 739: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> set the
1.103 avankest 740: <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> to "true".</p></li>
741:
1.58 avankest 742: <li>
743: <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has not been omitted and is not
1.96 avankest 744: <code>null</code> use it for the <dfn id="dfn-entity-body">entity
745: body</dfn> as defined by section 7.2 of RFC 2616 observing the following
746: rules: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.58 avankest 747:
748: <dl>
749: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>DOMString</code></dt>
750:
1.96 avankest 751: <dd><p>Encode <var>data</var> using UTF-8 for transmission.</p></dd>
1.58 avankest 752:
753: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>Document</code>
754:
755: <dd>
1.96 avankest 756: <p>Serialize <var>data</var> into a namespace well-formed XML document
757: and encoded using the encoding given by
758: <code><var>data</var>.xmlEncoding</code>, if specified, or UTF-8
759: otherwise. Or, if this fails because the <code>Document</code>
760: cannot be serialized act as if <var>data</var> is
761: <code>null</code>.</p>
762:
763: <p>If no <code>Content-Type</code> header is in the list of request
764: headers append it to the list of request headers with a value of
765: <code>application/xml</code>.</p>
1.58 avankest 766:
767: <p class="note">Subsequent changes to the <code>Document</code> have
768: no effect on what is submitted.</p>
769: </dd>
770:
771: <dt><var>data</var> is not a <code>DOMString</code> or
772: <code>Document</code></dt>
773:
1.96 avankest 774: <dd><p>Use the stringification mechanisms of the host language on
775: <var>data</var> and treat the result as if <var>data</var> is a
776: <code>DOMString</code>. Or, if this fails, act as if <var>data</var> is
777: <code>null</code>.</p></dd>
1.58 avankest 778: </dl>
779:
780: <p>If the data argument has been omitted or is <code>null</code> no
1.96 avankest 781: entity body is used in the request.</p>
1.58 avankest 782: </li>
783:
1.71 avankest 784: <li><p>Make a request to <var>stored url</var>, using HTTP method
785: <var>stored method</var>, user <var>stored user</var> (if provided) and
786: password <var>stored password</var> (if provided), taking into account
787: the entity body, list of request headers and the rules listed directly
788: after this set of steps.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 789:
1.67 avankest 790: <li>
1.96 avankest 791: <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the
792: object.</p>
1.67 avankest 793:
1.96 avankest 794: <p class="note">The state of the object does not change. The event is
795: dispatched for historical reasons.</p>
1.67 avankest 796: </li>
797:
1.102 avankest 798: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> return the
1.98 avankest 799: <code>send()</code> method call. (Do not terminate the steps in the
800: algorithm though.)</p></li>
1.58 avankest 801:
1.82 avankest 802: <li><p>If the request has been successfully acknowledged synchronously
1.104 avankest 803: switch the state to <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>, set the
804: <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> to "false" and then synchronously
805: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 806:
1.101 avankest 807: <li><p>If all HTTP headers have been received, immediately before
1.82 avankest 808: receiving the message body (if any), synchronously switch the state to
1.96 avankest 809: <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> and then synchronously
810: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 811:
812: <li>
813: <p>If the response is an HTTP redirect (status code <code>301</code>,
1.96 avankest 814: <code>302</code>, <code>303</code> or <code>307</code>), transparently
815: follow it (unless it violates security, infinite loop precautions or the
816: scheme is not supported).</p>
1.60 avankest 817:
1.58 avankest 818: <p class="note">HTTP places requirements on the user agent regarding the
819: preservation of the request method and entity body during redirects, and
820: also requires users to be notified of certain kinds of automatic
821: redirections.</p>
822: <!-- Arguably HTTP should be fixed for the latter case. No browser
823: follows that as far as I know. -->
824: </li>
1.60 avankest 825:
1.58 avankest 826: <li>
1.96 avankest 827: <p>If something goes wrong (infinite loop, network errors) run the
828: following set of steps:</p>
1.60 avankest 829:
1.58 avankest 830: <ol>
1.96 avankest 831: <li><p>Set <span>response entity body</span> to "null" and reset the
1.89 avankest 832: list of request headers.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 833:
1.82 avankest 834: <li><p>Synchronously switch the state to
1.79 avankest 835: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 836:
1.96 avankest 837: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> raise a
1.99 avankest 838: <code>NETWORK_ERR</code> exception and terminate the overall
839: algorithm.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 840:
1.58 avankest 841: <li><p>Synchronously dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on
842: the object.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 843:
1.98 avankest 844: <li><p>Terminate the overall algorithm.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 845: </ol>
1.60 avankest 846:
1.82 avankest 847: <p class="note">It is likely that a future version of the
848: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object will dispatch an <code>error</code>
849: event here as well.</p>
1.58 avankest 850: </li>
851:
1.82 avankest 852: <li><p>When the request has successfully completed loading, synchronously
1.96 avankest 853: switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> and then
854: synchronously dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the
855: object and return the method call in case of <var>async</var> being
856: <code>false</code>.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 857: </ol>
1.14 avankest 858:
1.91 avankest 859: <p>If the user agent allows the user to configure a proxy it
1.22 avankest 860: <em class="ct">should</em> modify the request appropriately;
1.42 avankest 861: <abbr title="in other words">i.e.</abbr>, connect to the proxy host
862: instead of the origin server, modify the <code>Request-Line</code> and
863: send <code>Proxy-Authorization</code> headers as specified.</p>
1.12 avankest 864:
1.42 avankest 865: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP Authentication it
1.22 avankest 866: <em class="ct">should</em> consider requests originating from this object
1.42 avankest 867: to be part of the protection space that includes the accessed URIs and
868: send <code>Authorization</code> headers and handle <code>401
1.72 avankest 869: Unauthorised</code> requests appropriately. If authentication fails, user
1.42 avankest 870: agents <em class="ct">should</em> prompt the users for credentials.
871: [<cite><span>RFC2617</span></cite>]</p>
872:
1.57 avankest 873: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP State Management it
1.42 avankest 874: <em class="ct">should</em> persist, discard and send cookies (as received
875: in the <code>Set-Cookie</code> and <code>Set-Cookie2</code> response
876: headers, and sent in the <code>Cookie</code> header) as applicable.
877: [<cite><span>RFC2965</span></cite>]</p>
878:
879: <p>If the user agent implements a HTTP cache it <em class="ct">should</em>
880: respect <code>Cache-Control</code> request headers set by the script
881: (<abbr title="for example">e.g.</abbr>, <code>Cache-Control:
882: no-cache</code> bypasses the cache). It <em class="ct">must not</em> send
883: <code>Cache-Control</code> or <code>Pragma</code> request headers
884: automatically unless the user explicitly requests such behaviour
885: (<abbr>e.g.</abbr>, by (force-)reloading the page). <code>304 Not
1.22 avankest 886: Modified</code> responses that are a result of a user agent generated
887: conditional request <em class="ct">must</em> be presented as <code>200
1.57 avankest 888: OK</code> responses with the appropriate content. The user agent
1.39 avankest 889: <em class="ct">must</em> allow scripts to override automatic cache
1.22 avankest 890: validation by setting request headers (e.g., <code>If-None-Match</code>,
1.42 avankest 891: <code>If-Modified-Since</code>), in which case <code>304 Not
892: Modified</code> responses <em class="ct">must</em> be passed through.
893: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 894:
1.8 avankest 895: <p>If the user agent implements server-driven content-negotiation
1.42 avankest 896: it <em class="ct">should</em> set <code>Accept-Language</code>,
1.22 avankest 897: <code>Accept-Encoding</code> and <code>Accept-Charset</code> headers as
898: appropriate; it <em class="ct">must not</em> automatically set the
899: <code>Accept</code> header. Responses to such requests
1.40 avankest 900: <em class="ct">must</em> have the content-codings automatically
1.42 avankest 901: decoded. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.8 avankest 902: </dd>
1.12 avankest 903:
1.14 avankest 904: <dt><dfn id="dfn-abort"><code>abort()</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 905:
1.5 avankest 906: <dd>
1.60 avankest 907: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
1.96 avankest 908: steps (unless otherwise noted):</p>
1.60 avankest 909:
910: <ol>
1.108 avankest 911: <li><p><span title="abort send()">Abort the <code>send()</code>
912: algorithm</span>, set the <span>response entity body</span> to "null",
913: set the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> to "false" and remove any
1.104 avankest 914: registered request headers.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 915:
1.108 avankest 916: <li><p>The user agent <em class="ct">should</em> cancel any network
917: activity for which the object is responsible.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 918:
1.83 avankest 919: <li>
1.85 avankest 920: <p>If the state is <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>,
1.83 avankest 921: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> and the <span><code>send()</code>
1.87 avankest 922: flag</span> is "false", or <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> go to
923: the next step.</p>
1.85 avankest 924:
1.96 avankest 925: <p>Otherwise, switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>
926: and synchronously dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the
927: object.</p>
1.83 avankest 928: </li>
1.67 avankest 929:
1.60 avankest 930: <li>
1.97 avankest 931: <p>Switch the state to <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>. (Do not
1.71 avankest 932: dispatch the <code>readystatechange</code> event.)</p>
1.60 avankest 933:
1.82 avankest 934: <p class="note">It is likely that a future version of the
935: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object will dispatch an
936: <code title="">abort</code> event here as well.</p>
1.60 avankest 937: </li>
938: </ol>
1.5 avankest 939: </dd>
1.12 avankest 940:
1.14 avankest 941: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getallresponseheaders"><code>getAllResponseHeaders()</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 942: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 943:
1.5 avankest 944: <dd>
1.60 avankest 945: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
1.58 avankest 946: the following steps:</p>
947:
948: <ol>
1.86 avankest 949: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> or
1.96 avankest 950: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> raise an
1.98 avankest 951: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
952: steps.</p></li>
1.96 avankest 953:
954: <li><p>Return all the HTTP headers, as a single string, with each header
955: line separated by a U+000D CR U+000A LF pair excluding the status
956: line.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 957: </ol>
1.24 avankest 958:
1.5 avankest 959: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 960: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.5 avankest 961: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 962: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 963: client.send();
1.12 avankest 964: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 965: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.12 avankest 966: print(this.getAllResponseHeaders());
967: }
968: }
1.5 avankest 969:
970: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
971: Date: 2004年10月24日 04:58:38 GMT
972: Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix)
973: Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
974: Connection: Keep-Alive
975: Transfer-Encoding: chunked
1.58 avankest 976: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.5 avankest 977: </div>
978: </dd>
1.12 avankest 979:
1.18 avankest 980: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getresponseheader" title="getresponseheader"><code>getResponseHeader(<var>header</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 981: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 982:
1.1 avankest 983: <dd>
1.58 avankest 984: <p>When the method is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
985: the following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 986:
1.58 avankest 987: <ol>
1.86 avankest 988: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> or
1.96 avankest 989: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> raise an
1.98 avankest 990: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
991: steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 992:
1.97 avankest 993: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument does not match the
1.96 avankest 994: <span><code>field-name</code> production</span> raise a
1.98 avankest 995: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 996:
1.80 avankest 997: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument
998: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span>
1.96 avankest 999: multiple HTTP headers for the last request sent return the values of
1000: these headers as a single concatenated string separated from each other
1.98 avankest 1001: by an U+002C COMMA followed by an U+0020 SPACE and terminate these
1.96 avankest 1002: steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1003:
1.80 avankest 1004: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument
1005: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span> a
1.96 avankest 1006: single HTTP header for the last request sent return the value of that
1.98 avankest 1007: header and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1008:
1.96 avankest 1009: <li><p>Return <code>null</code>.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1010: </ol>
1.12 avankest 1011:
1.1 avankest 1012: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 1013: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.1 avankest 1014: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 1015: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 1016: client.send();
1.12 avankest 1017: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 1018: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.14 avankest 1019: print(client.getResponseHeader("Content-Type"));
1.12 avankest 1020: }
1021: }
1.1 avankest 1022:
1.5 avankest 1023: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.58 avankest 1024: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 1025: </div>
1.5 avankest 1026: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1027:
1.5 avankest 1028: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsetext"><code>responseText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1029: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1030:
1.5 avankest 1031: <dd>
1.88 avankest 1032: <p>On getting, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
1033: steps:</p>
1034:
1035: <ol>
1036: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> or
1.96 avankest 1037: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> raise an
1.98 avankest 1038: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
1039: steps.</p></li>
1.12 avankest 1040:
1.88 avankest 1041: <li><p>Return the <span>text response entity body</span>.</p></li>
1042: </ol>
1.5 avankest 1043: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1044:
1.5 avankest 1045: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsexml"><code>responseXML</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1046: <code>Document</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1047:
1.8 avankest 1048: <dd>
1.75 avankest 1049: <p>On getting, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
1050: steps:</p>
1.79 avankest 1051:
1.75 avankest 1052: <ol>
1.96 avankest 1053: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> raise an
1.98 avankest 1054: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
1055: steps.</p></li>
1.75 avankest 1056:
1.88 avankest 1057: <li><p>Return the <span>XML response entity body</span>.</p></li>
1.75 avankest 1058: </ol>
1.5 avankest 1059: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1060:
1.22 avankest 1061: <dt><dfn id="dfn-status"><code>status</code></dfn> of type <code>unsigned
1062: short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1063:
1.5 avankest 1064: <dd>
1.72 avankest 1065: <p>On getting, if available, it <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP
1066: status code sent by the server (typically <code>200</code> for a
1067: successful request). Otherwise, if not available, the user agent
1068: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1069: exception.</p>
1.12 avankest 1070: </dd>
1071:
1.5 avankest 1072: <dt><dfn id="dfn-statustext"><code>statusText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1073: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1074:
1.5 avankest 1075: <dd>
1.72 avankest 1076: <p>On getting, if available, it <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP
1077: status text sent by the server (appears after the status code). Otherwise,
1078: if not available, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an
1079: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
1.1 avankest 1080: </dd>
1081: </dl>
1.12 avankest 1082:
1.31 avankest 1083: <h3 id="events">Events for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1084: Object</h3>
1.12 avankest 1085:
1.1 avankest 1086: <p>These sections describe the various events that can be dispatched on the
1.22 avankest 1087: object implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface. For this
1088: version of the specification only one event is defined.</p>
1.12 avankest 1089:
1.1 avankest 1090: <dl>
1091: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystatechange"><code>readystatechange</code></dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 1092:
1.72 avankest 1093: <dd>When the user agent dispatches a <code title="">readystatechange</code>
1094: event (as indicated above) it <em class="ct">must not</em> bubble,
1095: <em class="ct">must not</em> be cancelable and <em class="ct">must</em>
1096: implement the <code>Event</code> interface. Its <code>namespaceURI</code>
1097: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.
1098: [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</dd>
1.1 avankest 1099: </dl>
1.32 avankest 1100:
1.31 avankest 1101: <h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1102: Object</h3>
1103:
1.32 avankest 1104: <pre class="idl">exception <dfn>XMLHttpRequestException</dfn> {
1.31 avankest 1105: unsigned short code;
1106: };
1107: const unsigned short <span>NETWORK_ERR</span> = 101;</pre>
1108:
1.33 avankest 1109: <p>The <dfn id="network-err"><code>NETWORK_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1110: thrown when a network error occurs in synchronous requests. See the section
1111: on <code>send()</code> for more details.</p>
1.11 avankest 1112:
1.29 avankest 1113: <h2 class="no-num" id="notcovered">Not in this Specification</h2>
1114:
1115: <p><em>This section is non normative.</em></p>
1116:
1.72 avankest 1117: <p>This specification does not include the following features which are
1118: being considered for a future version of this specification:</p>
1.29 avankest 1119:
1120: <ul>
1121: <li><code>load</code> event and <code>onload</code> attribute;</li>
1122: <li><code>error</code> event and <code>onerror</code> attribute;</li>
1123: <li><code>progress</code> event and <code>onprogress</code> attribute;</li>
1124: <li><code title="">abort</code> event and <code>onabort</code> attribute;</li>
1125: <li>Timers have been suggested, perhaps an <code>ontimeout</code>
1126: attribute;</li>
1127: <li>Property to disable following redirects;</li>
1.30 avankest 1128: <li><code title="">responseXML</code> for <code>text/html</code>
1129: documents;</li>
1.40 avankest 1130: <li>Cross-site <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>;</li>
1.87 avankest 1131: <li><code>responseBody</code> to deal with byte streams;</li>
1132: <li><code>getRequestHeader()</code> and
1133: <code>removeRequestHeader()</code>.</li>
1.29 avankest 1134: </ul>
1135:
1.1 avankest 1136: <h2 class="no-num" id="bibref">References</h2>
1.11 avankest 1137:
1.6 avankest 1138: <dl>
1.37 avankest 1139: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3">DOM3Core</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1140:
1.11 avankest 1141: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core">Document Object
1.92 avankest 1142: Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a></cite>, A. Le Hors, P. Le
1143: Hégaret, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne, editors. World
1144: Wide Web Consortium, April 2004.</dd>
1.11 avankest 1145:
1.37 avankest 1146: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3EV">DOM3Events</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1147:
1.92 avankest 1148: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Events/">Document
1149: Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification</a></cite>, Björn Höhrmann,
1150: editor. World Wide Web Consortium, April 2006.</dd>
1.11 avankest 1151:
1.37 avankest 1152: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-ecmascript">ECMAScript</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1153:
1.92 avankest 1154: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm">ECMAScript
1155: Language Specification</a></cite>, Third Edition. ECMA, December 1999.</dd>
1.14 avankest 1156:
1.37 avankest 1157: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2046">RFC2046</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1158:
1.19 avankest 1159: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2046">Multipurpose Internet Mail
1.92 avankest 1160: Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types</a></cite>, N. Freed, N.
1161: Borenstein, editors. IETF, November 1996.</dd>
1.14 avankest 1162:
1.37 avankest 1163: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2119">RFC2119</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1164:
1.92 avankest 1165: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119">RFC 2119: Key words for use
1166: in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels</a></cite>, S. Bradner. IETF, March
1167: 1997.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1168:
1.37 avankest 1169: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2616">RFC2616</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1170:
1.11 avankest 1171: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer Protocol
1.92 avankest 1172: -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H. Frystyk, L.
1173: Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF, June 1999.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1174:
1.37 avankest 1175: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2617">RFC2617</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1176:
1.11 avankest 1177: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617">HTTP Authentication: Basic
1.92 avankest 1178: and Digest Access Authentication</a></cite>, P. Hallam-Baker, J.
1179: Hostetler, S. Lawrence, P. Leach, A. Luotonen, L. Stewart, editors. IETF,
1180: June 1999.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1181:
1.37 avankest 1182: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2965">RFC2965</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1183:
1.19 avankest 1184: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965">HTTP State Management
1.92 avankest 1185: Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, October
1186: 2000.</dd>
1.19 avankest 1187:
1.37 avankest 1188: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc3986">RFC3986</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1189:
1.11 avankest 1190: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986">Uniform Resource Identifier
1.92 avankest 1191: (URI): Generic Syntax</a></cite>, T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter,
1192: editors. IETF, January 2005.</dd>
1.28 avankest 1193:
1.92 avankest 1194: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-window">Window</dfn>]</dt>
1.28 avankest 1195:
1.92 avankest 1196: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/Window/">Window Object
1197: 1.0</a></cite>, I. Davis, M. Stachowiak, editors. W3C, April 2006.</dd>
1.41 avankest 1198:
1.92 avankest 1199: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xml">XML</dfn>]</dt>
1.41 avankest 1200:
1.92 avankest 1201: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/">Extensible Markup Language
1202: (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, J. Paoli, C.
1203: Sperberg-McQueen, E. Maler, F. Yergeau. W3C, September 2006.</dd>
1.41 avankest 1204:
1.92 avankest 1205: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xmlns">XMLNS</dfn>]</dt>
1.41 avankest 1206:
1.92 avankest 1207: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/">Namespaces in XML
1208: (Second Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, D. Hollander, A. Layman, R. Tobin.
1209: W3C, August 2006.</dd>
1.1 avankest 1210: </dl>
1.11 avankest 1211:
1.1 avankest 1212: <h2 class="no-num" id="acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</h2>
1.11 avankest 1213:
1.1 avankest 1214: <p><em>This section is non-normative</em></p>
1.12 avankest 1215:
1.7 avankest 1216: <p>The editor would like to thank to the following people who have contributed
1.33 avankest 1217: to this specification (ordered by first name):</p>
1.12 avankest 1218:
1.1 avankest 1219: <ul>
1.22 avankest 1220: <li>Alex Hopmann</li>
1.7 avankest 1221: <li>Alex Vincent</li>
1.15 avankest 1222: <li>Alexey Proskuryakov</li>
1.1 avankest 1223: <li>Asbjørn Ulsberg</li>
1224: <li>Boris Zbarsky</li>
1225: <li>Björn Höhrmann</li>
1226: <li>Cameron McCormack</li>
1227: <li>Christophe Jolif</li>
1228: <li>Charles McCathieNevile</li>
1.54 avankest 1229: <li>Dan Winship</li>
1.72 avankest 1230: <li>David Håsäther</li>
1.1 avankest 1231: <li>Dean Jackson</li>
1232: <li>Doug Schepers</li>
1233: <li>Douglas Livingstone</li>
1234: <li>Gorm Haug Eriksen</li>
1235: <li>Hallvord R. M. Steen</li>
1236: <li>Håkon Wium Lie</li>
1237: <li>Ian Davis</li>
1238: <li>Ian Hickson</li>
1239: <li>Ivan Herman</li>
1240: <li>Jens Lindström</li>
1241: <li>Jim Deegan</li>
1242: <li>Jim Ley</li>
1243: <li>Jonas Sicking</li>
1244: <li>Julian Reschke</li>
1245: <li>Karl Dubost</li>
1246: <li>Maciej Stachowiak</li>
1.7 avankest 1247: <li>Magnus Kristiansen</li>
1.1 avankest 1248: <li>Marc Hadley</li>
1.53 avankest 1249: <li>Marcos Caceres</li>
1.87 avankest 1250: <li>Mark Baker</li>
1.1 avankest 1251: <li>Mark Nottingham</li>
1.92 avankest 1252: <li>Mohamed Zergaoui</li>
1.1 avankest 1253: <li>Pawel Glowacki</li>
1254: <li>Robin Berjon</li>
1255: <li>Ruud Steltenpool</li>
1.33 avankest 1256: <li>Simon Pieters</li>
1.1 avankest 1257: </ul>
1.12 avankest 1258:
1.1 avankest 1259: <p>Special thanks to the Microsoft employees who first implemented the
1.22 avankest 1260: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface, which was first widely deployed by the
1261: Windows Internet Explorer browser.</p>
1.12 avankest 1262:
1.54 avankest 1263: <p>Special thanks also to the WHATWG for drafting an initial version of this
1.22 avankest 1264: specification in their Web Applications 1.0 document.</p>
1.12 avankest 1265:
1.1 avankest 1266: <p>Thanks also to all those who have helped to improve this specification by
1.22 avankest 1267: sending suggestions and corrections. (Please, keep bugging us with your
1268: issues!)</p>
1.1 avankest 1269: </body>
1270: </html>
1.92 avankest 1271:
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