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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:
86: <p>This is the [DATE: 3 August 2002] <strong>Last Call</strong> Working
1.54 avankest 87: Draft of The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object specification.
1.47 avankest 88: Please send comments to
89: <a href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a>
90: (<a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapi/">archived</a>)
91: with either <samp>[XHR]</samp> or <samp title="">[XMLHttpRequest]</samp> at
92: the start of the subject line by 2 April 2007.</p>
1.51 avankest 93:
1.47 avankest 94: <p>This document is produced by the
95: <a href="http://www.w3.org/2006/webapi/">Web API Working Group</a>, part of
96: the <a href="http://www.w3.org/2006/rwc/Activity">Rich Web Clients
97: Activity</a> in the W3C <a href="http://www.w3.org/Interaction/">Interaction
1.51 avankest 98: Domain</a>. Changes made to this document can be found in the
1.47 avankest 99: <a href="http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/Overview.html">W3C
100: public CVS server</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 101:
1.1 avankest 102: <p>Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C
1.36 avankest 103: Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or
104: obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this
105: document as other than work in progress.</p>
1.12 avankest 106:
1.1 avankest 107: <p>This document was produced by a group operating under the
1.36 avankest 108: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/">5 February
1.52 avankest 109: 2004 W3C Patent Policy</a>. W3C maintains a
1.36 avankest 110: <a rel="disclosure" href="http://www.w3.org/2004/01/pp-impl/38482/status">public
111: list of any patent disclosures</a> made in connection with the deliverables
112: of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent.
113: An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual
114: believes contains
115: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#def-essential">Essential
116: Claim(s)</a> must disclose the information in accordance with
117: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#sec-Disclosure">section
118: 6 of the W3C Patent Policy</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 119:
1.1 avankest 120: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="toc">Table of Contents</h2>
1.21 avankest 121:
1.1 avankest 122: <!--toc-->
1.12 avankest 123:
1.1 avankest 124: <h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2>
1.12 avankest 125:
1.1 avankest 126: <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em></p>
1.12 avankest 127:
1.33 avankest 128: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object implements an interface exposed by
129: a scripting engine that allows scripts to perform HTTP client functionality,
1.22 avankest 130: such as submitting form data or loading data from a server.</p>
1.24 avankest 131:
1.1 avankest 132: <p>The name of the object is <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> for compatibility
1.22 avankest 133: with the web, though each component of this name is potentially misleading.
1.39 avankest 134: First, the object supports any text based format, including XML. Second, it
135: can be used to make requests over both HTTP and HTTPS (some implementations
136: support protocols in addition to HTTP and HTTPS, but that functionality is
137: not covered by this specification). Finally, it supports "requests" in a
138: broad sense of the term as it pertains to HTTP; namely all activity involved
139: with HTTP requests or responses for the defined HTTP methods.</p>
1.12 avankest 140:
1.1 avankest 141: <h3 id="examples">Examples of Usage</h3>
1.12 avankest 142:
1.1 avankest 143: <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em></p>
1.12 avankest 144:
1.37 avankest 145: <p>Some [<cite><span>ECMAScript</span></cite>] examples
1.32 avankest 146: are listed in the specification. In addition, you can find some below.</p>
1.14 avankest 147:
148: <div class="example">
149: <p>Some simple code to do something with data from an XML document fetched
1.22 avankest 150: over the network:</p>
1.16 avankest 151:
1.58 avankest 152: <pre><code>function test(data) {
1.14 avankest 153: // taking care of data
154: }
155:
156: function handler() {
157: if(this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {
158: // so far so good
159: if(this.responseXML != null && this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data)
160: // success!
161: test(this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data);
162: else
163: test(null);
164: } else if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status != 200) {
165: // fetched the wrong page or network error...
166: test(null);
167: }
168: }
1.12 avankest 169:
1.14 avankest 170: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
171: client.onreadystatechange = handler;
172: client.open("GET", "test.xml");
1.58 avankest 173: client.send();</code></pre>
1.16 avankest 174:
1.56 avankest 175: <p>If you just want to log a message to the server:</p>
1.16 avankest 176:
1.58 avankest 177: <pre><code>function log(message) {
1.14 avankest 178: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.56 avankest 179: client.open("POST", "/log");
1.57 avankest 180: client.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "text/plain;charset=UTF-8");
1.14 avankest 181: client.send(message);
1.58 avankest 182: }</code></pre>
1.16 avankest 183:
1.14 avankest 184: <p>Or if you want to check the status of a document on the server:</p>
1.16 avankest 185:
1.58 avankest 186: <pre><code>function fetchStatus(address) {
1.14 avankest 187: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
188: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
189: // in case of network errors this might not give reliable results
190: if(this.readyState == 4)
191: returnStatus(this.status);
192: }
193: client.open("HEAD", address);
194: client.send();
1.58 avankest 195: }</code></pre>
1.14 avankest 196: </div>
1.12 avankest 197:
1.1 avankest 198: <h3 id="conformance">Conformance</h3>
1.12 avankest 199:
1.27 avankest 200: <p>Everything in this specification is normative except for diagrams,
201: examples, notes and sections marked non-normative.</p>
1.12 avankest 202:
1.1 avankest 203: <p>The key words <em class="ct">must</em>, <em class="ct">must not</em>,
1.22 avankest 204: <em class="ct">required</em>, <em class="ct">shall</em>, <em class="ct">shall
205: not</em>, <em class="ct">should</em>, <em class="ct">should not</em>,
206: <em class="ct">recommended</em>, <em class="ct">may</em> and
207: <em class="ct">optional</em> in this document are to be interpreted as
1.37 avankest 208: described in RFC 2119 [<cite><span>RFC2119</span></cite>].</p>
1.12 avankest 209:
1.1 avankest 210: <p>This specification defines the following classes of products:</p>
1.12 avankest 211:
1.1 avankest 212: <dl>
213: <dt><dfn>conforming implementation</dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 214:
1.50 avankest 215: <dd>A user agent <em class="ct">must</em> behave as described in this
216: specification in order to be considered conformant even when faced with
1.39 avankest 217: non-conforming scripts.</dd>
1.24 avankest 218:
1.39 avankest 219: <dt><dfn>conforming script</dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 220:
1.54 avankest 221: <dd>A script <em class="ct">must</em> satisfy the constraints and
222: conditions described by this specification in order to be conformant.</dd>
1.1 avankest 223: </dl>
1.32 avankest 224:
1.30 avankest 225: <h4 id="dependencies">Dependencies</h4>
1.33 avankest 226:
1.29 avankest 227: <p>This specification relies on several underlying specifications.</p>
228: <dl>
229: <dt>DOM</dt>
1.33 avankest 230:
1.29 avankest 231: <dd>
232: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of DOM
1.37 avankest 233: Events because this specification uses some of the features defined in
234: that specification. [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</p>
1.39 avankest 235:
1.37 avankest 236: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of DOM
237: Core because this specification uses some of the features defined in that
238: specification. [<cite><span>DOM3Core</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 239:
240: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of the
1.37 avankest 241: Window Object because some of the functionality in this specification
242: relies on it. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 243: </dd>
244:
245: <dt>HTTP</dt>
1.33 avankest 246:
1.29 avankest 247: <dd>
1.39 avankest 248: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of the
1.58 avankest 249: HTTP protocol. The user agent <em class="ct">should</em> support any HTTP
250: method that matches the <span><code>Method</code> production</span> and
251: <em class="ct">must</em> at least support the following list of
252: methods:</p>
253:
254: <ul>
255: <li><code>GET</code></li>
256: <li><code>POST</code></li>
257: <li><code>HEAD</code></li>
258: <li><code>PUT</code></li>
259: <li><code>DELETE</code></li>
260: <li><code>OPTIONS</code></li>
261: </ul>
262:
263: <p>Other requirements regarding HTTP are made throughout the
1.39 avankest 264: specification. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 265: </dd>
1.41 avankest 266:
267: <dt>XML</dt>
268:
269: <dd>
270: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">may</em> support some version of XML. If
271: they don't support some version of XML <code>responseXML</code>
272: <em class="ct">must</em> always be <code>null</code>.
273: [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>] [<cite><span>XMLNS</span></cite>]</p>
274: </dd>
1.29 avankest 275: </dl>
1.12 avankest 276:
1.1 avankest 277: <h3 id="extensibility">Extensibility</h3>
1.12 avankest 278:
279: <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em></p>
280:
1.25 avankest 281: <p>Extensions of the APIs defined by this specification are <em>strongly
1.22 avankest 282: discouraged</em>. User agents, Working Groups and other interested parties
1.33 avankest 283: should discuss extensions on a relevant public forum, preferably
1.22 avankest 284: <a href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 285:
286: <h2 id="xmlhttprequest">The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h2>
287:
1.58 avankest 288: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be used by scripts to
1.22 avankest 289: programmatically connect to their originating server via HTTP.</p>
1.12 avankest 290:
1.1 avankest 291: <p>Objects implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface
1.22 avankest 292: <em class="ct">must</em> also implement the <code>EventTarget</code>
1.58 avankest 293: interface. [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 294:
1.58 avankest 295: <p>Objects implementing the <code title="">Window</code> interface
296: <em class="ct">must</em> provide an <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code>
297: constructor. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 298:
1.1 avankest 299: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 300: <p>In ECMAScript this can be used as follows:</p>
301: <!-- [<cite><span>ECMAScript</span></cite>] -->
302:
303: <pre><code>var client = new XMLHttpRequest();</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 304: </div>
1.12 avankest 305:
1.58 avankest 306: <p>When the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code> constructor is invoked a
307: persistent pointer to the associated <code title="">Window</code> object
308: <em class="ct">must</em> be stored on the newly created object. This is the
1.25 avankest 309: <dfn title="Window pointer" id="window-pointer"><code>Window</code>
1.58 avankest 310: pointer</dfn>. The associated <code title="">Window</code> object is the one
311: of which the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> constructor was
312: invoked. This <span title="Window pointer">pointer</span>
1.25 avankest 313: <em class="ct">must</em> persist even if the browsing context in which the
1.37 avankest 314: <code title="">Window</code> is located is destroyed (by removing it from a
315: parent browsing context, for instance).</p>
1.25 avankest 316:
1.37 avankest 317: <p>The term browsing context is defined by the <cite>Window Object
318: 1.0</cite> specification. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.27 avankest 319:
320: <!-- XXX if the document object changes in the browsing context you get an
1.33 avankest 321: exception in some implementations. -->
1.27 avankest 322:
1.58 avankest 323: <div class="example">
324: <p>If <var><code>x</code></var> is a <code>Window</code> object
325: <var><code>y</code></var> will have a pointer to <var><code>x</code></var>
326: in the following example:</p>
327:
328: <pre><code>var y = new x.XMLHttpRequest()</code></pre>
329: </div>
1.12 avankest 330:
1.58 avankest 331: <pre class="idl">interface <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</dfn> {
332: // event handler
333: attribute EventListener <span>onreadystatechange</span>;
334:
335: // state
336: const unsigned short <span title="UNINITIALIZED state">UNINITIALIZED</span> = 0;
337: const unsigned short <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> = 1;
338: const unsigned short <span title="SENT state">SENT</span> = 2;
339: const unsigned short <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> = 3;
340: const unsigned short <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span> = 4;
1.1 avankest 341: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>readyState</span>;
1.58 avankest 342:
343: // request
1.12 avankest 344: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>);
345: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>);
346: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>, in DOMString <var>user</var>);
347: 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>);
1.3 avankest 348: void <span>setRequestHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>, in DOMString <var>value</var>);
1.1 avankest 349: void <span>send</span>();
1.3 avankest 350: void <span>send</span>(in DOMString <var>data</var>);
351: void <span>send</span>(in Document <var>data</var>);
1.1 avankest 352: void <span>abort</span>();
1.58 avankest 353:
354: // response
1.1 avankest 355: DOMString <span>getAllResponseHeaders</span>();
1.3 avankest 356: DOMString <span>getResponseHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>);
1.7 avankest 357: readonly attribute DOMString <span>responseText</span>;
358: readonly attribute Document <span>responseXML</span>;
359: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>status</span>;
360: readonly attribute DOMString <span>statusText</span>;
1.1 avankest 361: };</pre>
1.8 avankest 362:
1.58 avankest 363: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be in five states:
364: <span title="UNINITIALIZED state">UNINITIALIZED</span>,
365: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>, <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>,
366: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> and
367: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>. The current state is exposed
368: through the <code>readyState</code> attribute. The method definitions below
369: define when exactly a state transition takes place.</p>
370:
371: <p>When constructed, the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object
372: <em class="ct">must</em> be in the UNINITIALIZED state. This state is
373: represented by the
374: <dfn id="uninitialized" title="UNINITIALIZED state"><code>UNINITIALIZED</code></dfn>
375: constant, whose value is <code>0</code>.</p>
376:
377: <p>The OPEN state is the state of the object when the <code>open()</code>
378: method has been successfully invoked. During this state reqeust headers can
379: be set using <code>setRequestHeader()</code> and the request can be made
380: using <code>send()</code>. This state is represented by the
381: <dfn id="open" title="OPEN state"><code>OPEN</code></dfn> constant, whose
382: value is <code>1</code>.</p>
383:
384: <p>The SENT state is the state of the object when the user agent
385: successfully acknowledged the request. This state is represented by the
386: <dfn id="sent" title="SENT state"><code>SENT</code></dfn> constant, whose
387: value is <code>2</code>.</p>
388:
389: <p>The RECEIVING state is the state of the object when all HTTP headers have
390: been received. The object typically remains in this state until the complete
391: message body (if any) has been received. This state is represented by the
392: <dfn id="receiving" title="RECEIVING state"><code>RECEIVING</code></dfn>
393: constant, whose value is <code>3</code>.</p>
394:
395: <p>The LOADED state is the state of the object when either the data transfer
396: has been completed or something went wrong during the transfer (infinite
397: redirects for instance). This state is represented by the
398: <dfn id="loaded" title="LOADED state"><code>LOADED</code></dfn> constant,
399: whose value is <code>4</code>.</p>
400:
1.5 avankest 401: <dl>
1.12 avankest 402:
1.39 avankest 403: <dt><dfn id="dfn-onreadystatechange"><code>onreadystatechange</code></dfn>
404: of type <code>EventListener</code></dt>
1.12 avankest 405:
1.1 avankest 406: <dd>
407: <p>An attribute that takes an <code>EventListener</code> as value that
1.58 avankest 408: <em class="ct">must</em> be invoked along with any other appropriate event
409: listeners that are registered on this object when a
410: <code>readystatechange</code> event is dispatched on it. Its initial value
411: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.1 avankest 412: </dd>
1.12 avankest 413:
1.1 avankest 414: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystate"><code>readyState</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 415: <code>unsigned short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 416:
1.1 avankest 417: <dd>
1.58 avankest 418: <p>The attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be the value of the constant
419: corresponding to the object's current state.</p>
1.1 avankest 420: </dd>
1.12 avankest 421:
1.14 avankest 422: <dt><dfn id="dfn-open" title="open"><code>open(<var>method</var>,
1.22 avankest 423: <var>url</var>, <var>async</var>, <var>user</var>,
424: <var>password</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 425:
1.1 avankest 426: <dd>
1.58 avankest 427: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
428: following steps:</p>
429:
430: <ol>
431: <li><p>If the <var>method</var> argument doesn't match the
432: <dfn><code>Method</code> production</dfn> defined in section 5.1.1 of RFC
433: 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
434: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.
435: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
436:
437: <li><p>If the given <var>method</var> is not supported for security
438: reasons the user agent <em class="ct">should</em> raise a
439: <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
440:
441: <li><p>Let <var>stored method</var> be <var>method</var>.</p></li>
442:
443: <li><p>If <var>method</var> case-insensitively matches <code>GET</code>,
444: <code>POST</code>, <code>HEAD</code>, <code>PUT</code>,
445: <code>DELETE</code> or <code>OPTIONS</code> the user agent
446: <em class="ct">must</em> use convert it to its uppercase equivalent and
447: let <var>stored method</var> be the result.</p></li>
448:
449: <li><p>Drop the fragment identifier (if any) from <var>url</var> and let
450: <var>stored url</var> be the result of that operation.</p></li>
451:
452: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> is a relative reference it
453: <em class="ct">must</em> be resolved using the current value of the
454: <code>baseURI</code> attribute of the <code>Document</code> object
455: currently associated with the <span><code>Window</code> pointer</span>.
456: If this fails the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
457: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
458:
459: <li><p>If the <code>"user:password"</code> format in the
460: <code>userinfo</code> production defined in section 3.2.1 of RFC 3986 is
461: not supported for the relevant scheme and <var>stored url</var> contains
462: this format the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> throw a
463: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>. [<cite><span>RFC3986</span></cite>]</p></li>
464:
465: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> contains the <code>"user:password"</code>
466: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part and <var>stored
467: password</var> be the password part.</p></li>
468:
469: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> just contains the <code>"user"</code>
470: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part.</p></li>
471:
472: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> is non same-origin the user agent
473: <em class="ct">should</em> raise a <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception
474: and abort these steps. This specification does not define what
475: constitutes as non same-origin.<!-- reference HTML5? --></p></li>
476:
477: <li><p>Let <var>async</var> be the value of the <var>async</var> argument
478: or <code>false</code> if it was omitted.</p></li>
479:
480: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
481: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
482: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
483: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 484:
1.58 avankest 485: <li>
486: <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is not
487: <code>null</code> let <var>stored user</var> be <var>user</var> encoded
488: using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication scheme or
489: UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p>
1.14 avankest 490:
1.58 avankest 491: <p class="note">This step overrides any user that may have been set by
492: the <var>url</var> argument.</p>
493: </li>
1.16 avankest 494:
1.58 avankest 495: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is
496: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored user</var>.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 497:
1.58 avankest 498: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
499: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
500: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
501: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
502:
503: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is not
504: <code>null</code> let <var>stored password</var> be <var>password</var>
505: encoded using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication
506: scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p></li>
507:
508: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is
509: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored password</var>.</p></li>
510:
511: <li><p>Set <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
512: <code>status</code> and <code>statusText</code> to their initial
513: values and reset the list of request headers.<p></li>
514:
1.60 avankest 515: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
516: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 517: <!-- we can hardly require it... -->
518:
519: <li><p>Switch the object to the <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>
520: state; the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously
521: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort
522: these steps (returning the method call).</p></li>
523: </ol>
1.14 avankest 524:
1.19 avankest 525: <p class="note">A future version or extension of this specification will
1.33 avankest 526: most likely define a way of doing cross-site requests.</p>
1.1 avankest 527: </dd>
1.12 avankest 528:
1.14 avankest 529: <dt><dfn id="dfn-setrequestheader" title="setrequestheader"><code>setRequestHeader(<var>header</var>,
1.22 avankest 530: <var>value</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 531:
1.5 avankest 532: <dd>
1.45 avankest 533: <p>Each request has a list of request headers with associated values. This
534: method can be used to manipulate those values and set new request
535: headers.</p>
536:
1.58 avankest 537: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
538: following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 539:
1.58 avankest 540: <ol>
541: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
542: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
543: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
544: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
545:
546: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is set the user agent
547: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
548: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 549:
1.58 avankest 550: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 551: <dfn><code>field-name</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.58 avankest 552: of RFC 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
553: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
554: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.14 avankest 555:
1.58 avankest 556: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 557: <dfn><code>field-value</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.58 avankest 558: of RFC 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
559: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
560: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.14 avankest 561:
1.32 avankest 562: <li>
1.58 avankest 563: <p>For security reasons these steps <em class="ct">should</em> be
564: aborted if the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches one
565: of the following headers:</p>
566:
1.32 avankest 567: <ul>
568: <li><code>Accept-Charset</code></li>
569: <li><code>Accept-Encoding</code></li>
570: <li><code>Content-Length</code></li>
571: <li><code>Expect</code></li>
572: <li><code>Date</code></li>
573: <li><code>Host</code></li>
574: <li><code>Keep-Alive</code></li>
575: <li><code>Referer</code></li>
576: <li><code>TE</code></li>
577: <li><code>Trailer</code></li>
578: <li><code>Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
579: <li><code>Upgrade</code></li>
580: </ul>
581: </li>
1.58 avankest 582: <!-- XXX or should this throw an exception? -->
1.5 avankest 583:
1.59 avankest 584: <!--
1.58 avankest 585: <li>
586: <p class="issue">This part is only supported by Opera it seems. It might
587: be better to kill it.</p>
1.32 avankest 588:
1.58 avankest 589: <p>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches one of
590: the following headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> set the
591: value of that HTTP header to <var>value</var> and abort these steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 592:
1.58 avankest 593: <ul>
594: <li><code>Apply-To-Redirect-Ref</code></li>
595: <li><code>Authorization</code></li>
596: <li><code>C-Ext</code></li>
597: <li><code>Content-Base</code></li>
598: <li><code>Content-Location</code></li>
599: <li><code>Content-MD5</code></li>
600: <li><code>Content-Range</code></li>
601: <li><code>Content-Type</code></li>
602: <li><code>Content-Version</code></li>
603: <li><code>Cookie</code></li>
604: <li><code>Cookie2</code></li>
605: <li><code>Delta-Base</code></li>
606: <li><code>Depth</code></li>
607: <li><code>Destination</code></li>
608: <li><code>ETag</code></li>
609: <li><code>Ext</code></li>
610: <li><code>From</code></li>
611: <li><code>If</code></li>
612: <li><code>If-Modified-Since</code></li>
613: <li><code>If-Range</code></li>
614: <li><code>If-Unmodified-Since</code></li>
615: <li><code>Label</code></li>
616: <li><code>Lock-Token</code></li>
617: <li><code>Max-Forwards</code></li>
618: <li><code>MIME-Version</code></li>
619: <li><code>Ordering-Type</code></li>
620: <li><code>Overwrite</code></li>
621: <li><code>Proxy-Authorization</code></li>
622: <li><code>Redirect-Ref</code></li>
623: <li><code>SOAPAction</code></li>
624: <li><code>Status-URI</code></li>
625: <li><code>Timeout</code></li>
626: </ul>
627: </li>
1.59 avankest 628: -->
1.44 avankest 629:
1.58 avankest 630: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is not in the list of request
631: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> append the
632: <var>header</var> with its associated <var>value</var> to the list and
633: abort these steps.</p></li>
634:
635: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is in the list of request
636: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> either use multiple
637: headers, combine the values or use a combination of those (section 4.2,
638: RFC 2616) and abort these steps.
639: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
640: </ol>
1.45 avankest 641:
642: <p class="note">See also the <code>send()</code> method regarding user
643: agent header handling for caching, authentication, proxies, and cookies.</p>
1.14 avankest 644:
645: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 646: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.14 avankest 647: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
648: client.open('GET', 'demo.cgi');
649: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'one');
650: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'two');
651: client.send();
652:
653: // ...would result in the following header being sent:
654: ...
655: X-Test: one, two
1.58 avankest 656: ...</code></pre>
1.14 avankest 657: </div>
658:
1.13 avankest 659: <p>The list of request headers <em class="ct">must</em> be reset when the
1.22 avankest 660: <code>open()</code> method is invoked.</p>
1.5 avankest 661: </dd>
1.12 avankest 662:
1.14 avankest 663: <dt><dfn id="dfn-send" title="send"><code>send(<var>data</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 664: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 665:
1.17 avankest 666: <dd>
1.58 avankest 667: <p>The <code>send()</code> method initiates the request and its optional
668: argument <em class="ct">may</em> be used by scripts to provide the entity
669: body. When the argument is provided scripts <em class="ct">should</em>
670: ensure that they have specified (before invoking <code>send()</code>) the
1.60 avankest 671: <code>Content-Type</code> header via <code>setRequestHeader()</code>.</p>
1.58 avankest 672:
673: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
674: following steps:</p>
675:
676: <ol>
677: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
678: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
679: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
680: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
681:
682: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is set the user agent
683: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
684: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
685:
686: <li>
687: <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has not been omitted and is not
688: <code>null</code> it <em class="ct">must</em> be used for the
689: <dfn id="dfn-entity-body">entity body</dfn> as defined by section 7.2 of
690: RFC 2616. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>].</p>
691:
692: <dl>
693: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>DOMString</code></dt>
694:
695: <dd><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be encoded as UTF-8 for
696: transmission.</dd>
697:
698: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>Document</code>
699:
700: <dd>
701: <p><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be serialized into a
702: namespace well-formed XML document and encoded using the encoding
703: given by <code><var>data</var>.xmlEncoding</code>, if specified, or
704: UTF-8 otherwise. If this fails because the <code>Document</code>
705: cannot be serialized the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> act as if
706: <var>data</var> was <code>null</code>.</p>
707:
708: <p>If no <code>Content-Type</code> header has been set by the script
709: the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> set append it to the list of
710: request headers with a value of <code>application/xml</code>.</p>
711:
712: <p class="note">Subsequent changes to the <code>Document</code> have
713: no effect on what is submitted.</p>
714: </dd>
715:
716: <dt><var>data</var> is not a <code>DOMString</code> or
717: <code>Document</code></dt>
718:
719: <dd>The stringification mechanisms of the host language
720: <em class="ct">must</em> be used on <var>data</var> and the result
721: <em class="ct">must</em> be treated as if <var>data</var> is a
722: <code>DOMString</code>.</dd>
723: </dl>
724:
725: <p>If the data argument has been omitted or is <code>null</code> no
726: entity body <em class="ct">must</em> be used in the request.</p>
727: </li>
728:
729: <li><p>Make a request to <var>stored url</var> using
730: <var>stored method</var>, <var>stored user</var> (if provided) and
731: <var>stored password</var> (if provided) taking into account the entity
732: body, list of request headers and the rules listed directly after this
733: set of steps.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 734:
1.58 avankest 735: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> the user agent
736: <em class="ct">must</em> set the <dfn><code>send()</code> flag</dfn>,
737: directly unset it when the state changes and return the
738: <code>send()</code> method call. (Don't abort the steps in the algorithm
739: though.)</p></li>
740:
741: <li><p>If the request has been successfully acknowledged switch the
742: state to <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>; the user agent
743: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
744: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
745: <!-- only do this for async = true? -->
746:
747: <li><p>If all HTTP headers have been receieved, immediately before
748: receiving the message body (if any), switch the state to
749: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span>; the user agent
750: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
751: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
752: <!-- only do this for async = true? -->
753:
754: <li>
755: <p>If the response is an HTTP redirect (status code <code>301</code>,
756: <code>302</code>, <code>303</code> or <code>307</code>), then it
757: <em class="ct">must</em> be transparently followed (unless it violates
758: security, infinite loop precautions or the scheme isn't supported).</p>
1.60 avankest 759:
1.58 avankest 760: <p class="note">HTTP places requirements on the user agent regarding the
761: preservation of the request method and entity body during redirects, and
762: also requires users to be notified of certain kinds of automatic
763: redirections.</p>
764: <!-- Arguably HTTP should be fixed for the latter case. No browser
765: follows that as far as I know. -->
766: </li>
1.60 avankest 767:
1.58 avankest 768: <li>
769: <p>If something goes wrong (infinite loop, network errors) the user
770: agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the following set of steps:</p>
1.60 avankest 771:
1.58 avankest 772: <ol>
773: <li><p>Set <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
774: <code>status</code> and <code>statusText</code> to their initial
775: values and reset the list of request headers.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 776:
1.58 avankest 777: <li><p>Switch the state to
778: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 779:
1.58 avankest 780: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> the user agent
781: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>NETWORK_ERR</code> exception.
782: (Don't abort these steps.)</p></li>
1.60 avankest 783:
1.58 avankest 784: <li><p>Synchronously dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on
785: the object.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 786:
1.58 avankest 787: <li><p>Abort the overall algorithm.</p></li>
788: </ol>
1.60 avankest 789:
1.58 avankest 790: <p class="note">In future versions of this specification the user agent
791: will be required to dispatch an <code>error</code> event if the above
792: occurs.</p>
793: </li>
794:
795: <li><p>When the request has successfully completed loading, switch the
796: state to <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>; the user agent
797: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
798: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort these
799: steps (and return the method call in case of <var>async</var> being
800: <code>false</code>).</p></li>
801: </ol>
1.14 avankest 802:
1.8 avankest 803: <p>If the user agent allows the specification of a proxy it
1.22 avankest 804: <em class="ct">should</em> modify the request appropriately;
1.42 avankest 805: <abbr title="in other words">i.e.</abbr>, connect to the proxy host
806: instead of the origin server, modify the <code>Request-Line</code> and
807: send <code>Proxy-Authorization</code> headers as specified.</p>
1.12 avankest 808:
1.42 avankest 809: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP Authentication it
1.22 avankest 810: <em class="ct">should</em> consider requests originating from this object
1.42 avankest 811: to be part of the protection space that includes the accessed URIs and
812: send <code>Authorization</code> headers and handle <code>401
813: Unauthorised</code> requests appropriately. if authentication fails, user
814: agents <em class="ct">should</em> prompt the users for credentials.
815: [<cite><span>RFC2617</span></cite>]</p>
816:
1.57 avankest 817: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP State Management it
1.42 avankest 818: <em class="ct">should</em> persist, discard and send cookies (as received
819: in the <code>Set-Cookie</code> and <code>Set-Cookie2</code> response
820: headers, and sent in the <code>Cookie</code> header) as applicable.
821: [<cite><span>RFC2965</span></cite>]</p>
822:
823: <p>If the user agent implements a HTTP cache it <em class="ct">should</em>
824: respect <code>Cache-Control</code> request headers set by the script
825: (<abbr title="for example">e.g.</abbr>, <code>Cache-Control:
826: no-cache</code> bypasses the cache). It <em class="ct">must not</em> send
827: <code>Cache-Control</code> or <code>Pragma</code> request headers
828: automatically unless the user explicitly requests such behaviour
829: (<abbr>e.g.</abbr>, by (force-)reloading the page). <code>304 Not
1.22 avankest 830: Modified</code> responses that are a result of a user agent generated
831: conditional request <em class="ct">must</em> be presented as <code>200
1.57 avankest 832: OK</code> responses with the appropriate content. The user agent
1.39 avankest 833: <em class="ct">must</em> allow scripts to override automatic cache
1.22 avankest 834: validation by setting request headers (e.g., <code>If-None-Match</code>,
1.42 avankest 835: <code>If-Modified-Since</code>), in which case <code>304 Not
836: Modified</code> responses <em class="ct">must</em> be passed through.
837: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 838:
1.8 avankest 839: <p>If the user agent implements server-driven content-negotiation
1.42 avankest 840: it <em class="ct">should</em> set <code>Accept-Language</code>,
1.22 avankest 841: <code>Accept-Encoding</code> and <code>Accept-Charset</code> headers as
842: appropriate; it <em class="ct">must not</em> automatically set the
843: <code>Accept</code> header. Responses to such requests
1.40 avankest 844: <em class="ct">must</em> have the content-codings automatically
1.42 avankest 845: decoded. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.8 avankest 846: </dd>
1.12 avankest 847:
1.14 avankest 848: <dt><dfn id="dfn-abort"><code>abort()</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 849:
1.5 avankest 850: <dd>
1.60 avankest 851: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
852: steps:</p>
853:
854: <ol>
855: <li><p>Set the <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
856: <code>status</code> and <code>responseText</code> attributes to their
857: initial value as well as removing any registered request
858: headers.</p></li>
859:
860: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
861: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
862:
863: <li>
864: <p>Switch the state to
865: <span title="UNINITIALIZED state">UNINITIALIZED</span>. (Don't dispatch
866: the <code>readystatechange</code> event.)</p>
867:
868: <p class="note">It's likely that a future version of the
869: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> will dispatch an <code title="">abort</code>
870: event here.</p>
871: </li>
872: </ol>
1.5 avankest 873: </dd>
1.12 avankest 874:
1.14 avankest 875: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getallresponseheaders"><code>getAllResponseHeaders()</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 876: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 877:
1.5 avankest 878: <dd>
1.60 avankest 879: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
1.58 avankest 880: the following steps:</p>
881:
882: <ol>
883: <li>If the state is not <span title="receiving state">receiving</span> or
884: <span title="loaded state">loaded</span> the user agent
885: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
886: exception and abort these steps.</li>
887:
888: <li>The user agent <em class="ct">must</em> return all the HTTP headers,
889: as a single string, with each header line separated by a U+000D CR U+000A
890: LF pair excluding the status line.</li>
891: </ol>
1.24 avankest 892:
1.5 avankest 893: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 894: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.5 avankest 895: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 896: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 897: client.send();
1.12 avankest 898: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 899: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.12 avankest 900: print(this.getAllResponseHeaders());
901: }
902: }
1.5 avankest 903:
904: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
905: Date: 2004年10月24日 04:58:38 GMT
906: Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix)
907: Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
908: Connection: Keep-Alive
909: Transfer-Encoding: chunked
1.58 avankest 910: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.5 avankest 911: </div>
912: </dd>
1.12 avankest 913:
1.18 avankest 914: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getresponseheader" title="getresponseheader"><code>getResponseHeader(<var>header</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 915: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 916:
1.1 avankest 917: <dd>
1.58 avankest 918: <p>When the method is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
919: the following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 920:
1.58 avankest 921: <ol>
922: <li>If the state is not <span title="receiving state">receiving</span> or
923: <span title="loaded state">loaded</span> the user agent
924: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
925: exception and abort these steps.</li>
926:
927: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
928: <span><code>field-name</code> production</span> the user agent
929: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
930: abort these steps.</li>
931:
932: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches multiple
933: HTTP headers for the last request sent the user agent
934: <em class="ct">must</em> return the values of these headers as a single
935: concatenated string separated from each other by an U+OO2C COMMA followed
936: by an U+0020 SPACE and abort these steps.</li>
937:
938: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches a single
939: HTTP header for the last request sent the user agent
940: <em class="ct">must</em> return the value of that header and abort these
941: steps.</li>
942:
943: <li>The method <em class="ct">must</em> return <code>null</code>.</li>
944: </ol>
1.12 avankest 945:
1.1 avankest 946: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 947: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.1 avankest 948: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 949: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 950: client.send();
1.12 avankest 951: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 952: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.14 avankest 953: print(client.getResponseHeader("Content-Type"));
1.12 avankest 954: }
955: }
1.1 avankest 956:
1.5 avankest 957: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.58 avankest 958: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 959: </div>
1.5 avankest 960: </dd>
1.12 avankest 961:
1.5 avankest 962: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsetext"><code>responseText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 963: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 964:
1.5 avankest 965: <dd>
1.25 avankest 966: <p>If the state is not <span title="receiving state">receiving</span> or
967: <span title="loaded state">loaded</span>, the user agent
1.40 avankest 968: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
969: exception. Otherwise, if there's no <span>entity body</span> this
970: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>. If there is, it
971: <em class="ct">must</em> be the fragment of the <span>entity body</span>
972: received so far (when the state is
973: <span title="receiving state">receiving</span>) or the complete
974: <span>entity body</span> (when the state is
975: <span title="loaded state">loaded</span>), interpreted as a stream of
976: characters.</p>
1.12 avankest 977:
1.50 avankest 978: <p>If the response includes a MIME type understood by the user agent the
979: characters <em class="ct">must</em> be decoded following the relevant MIME
980: type specification. If the user agent cannot derive a character stream in
981: accord with the media type specification, <code>responseText</code>
982: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 983:
1.40 avankest 984: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be the
985: <code>null</code>.</p>
1.5 avankest 986: </dd>
1.12 avankest 987:
1.5 avankest 988: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsexml"><code>responseXML</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 989: <code>Document</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 990:
1.8 avankest 991: <dd>
1.40 avankest 992: <p>If the state is not <span title="loaded state">loaded</span>, user
993: agents <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
994: exception. Otherwise, if there's no <span>entity body</span> this
995: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>. If there is, and
996: the <code>Content-Type</code> header contains a media type (ignoring any
997: parameters) that is either <code>text/xml</code>,
1.61 avankest 998: <code>application/xml</code>, or ends in <code title="">+xml</code>, it
1.22 avankest 999: <em class="ct">must</em> be an object that implements the
1000: <code>Document</code> interface representing the parsed document. If
1001: <code>Content-Type</code> did not contain such a media type, or if the
1.45 avankest 1002: document could not be parsed (due to an XML namespace well-formedness
1003: error or unsupported character encoding, for instance), it
1004: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 1005:
1.8 avankest 1006: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.5 avankest 1007: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1008:
1.22 avankest 1009: <dt><dfn id="dfn-status"><code>status</code></dfn> of type <code>unsigned
1010: short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1011:
1.5 avankest 1012: <dd>
1013: <p>If the <code>status</code> attribute is not available an
1.40 avankest 1014: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception <em class="ct">must</em> be
1015: raised. It <em class="ct">must</em> be available when the state is
1.25 avankest 1016: <span title="receiving state">receiving</span> or
1017: <span title="loaded state">loaded</span>. When available, it
1018: <em class="ct">must</em> represent the HTTP status code (typically
1.39 avankest 1019: <code>200</code> for a successful request).</p>
1.27 avankest 1020:
1.8 avankest 1021: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>0</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 1022: </dd>
1023:
1.5 avankest 1024: <dt><dfn id="dfn-statustext"><code>statusText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1025: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1026:
1.5 avankest 1027: <dd>
1028: <p>If the <code>statusText</code> attribute is not available an
1.40 avankest 1029: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception <em class="ct">must</em> be
1030: raised. It <em class="ct">must</em> be available when the state is
1.25 avankest 1031: <span title="receiving state">receiving</span> or
1032: <span title="loaded state">loaded</span>). When available, it
1033: <em class="ct">must</em> represent the HTTP status text sent by the server
1034: (appears after the status code).</p>
1.21 avankest 1035:
1.8 avankest 1036: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be the empty string.</p>
1.1 avankest 1037: </dd>
1038: </dl>
1.12 avankest 1039:
1.54 avankest 1040: <!--
1.1 avankest 1041: <p>HTTP requests sent from multiple different <code>XMLHttpRequest</code>
1.40 avankest 1042: objects in succession <em class="ct">should</em> use a shared HTTP
1043: connection.</p>
1.54 avankest 1044: -->
1.12 avankest 1045:
1.31 avankest 1046: <h3 id="events">Events for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1047: Object</h3>
1.12 avankest 1048:
1.1 avankest 1049: <p>These sections describe the various events that can be dispatched on the
1.22 avankest 1050: object implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface. For this
1051: version of the specification only one event is defined.</p>
1.12 avankest 1052:
1.1 avankest 1053: <dl>
1054: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystatechange"><code>readystatechange</code></dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 1055:
1.62 ! avankest 1056: <dd>The <code title="">readystatechange</code> event is dispatched as
! 1057: indicated in the detailed algorithms above. The event <em class="ct">must
! 1058: not</em> bubble, <em class="ct">must not</em> be cancelable and
! 1059: <em class="ct">must</em> implement the <code>Event</code> interface. The
! 1060: event has no namespace (<code>Event.namespaceURI</code> is
1.40 avankest 1061: <code>null</code>). [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</dd>
1.1 avankest 1062: </dl>
1.32 avankest 1063:
1.31 avankest 1064: <h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1065: Object</h3>
1066:
1.32 avankest 1067: <pre class="idl">exception <dfn>XMLHttpRequestException</dfn> {
1.31 avankest 1068: unsigned short code;
1069: };
1070: const unsigned short <span>NETWORK_ERR</span> = 101;</pre>
1071:
1.33 avankest 1072: <p>The <dfn id="network-err"><code>NETWORK_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1073: thrown when a network error occurs in synchronous requests. See the section
1074: on <code>send()</code> for more details.</p>
1.11 avankest 1075:
1.29 avankest 1076: <h2 class="no-num" id="notcovered">Not in this Specification</h2>
1077:
1078: <p><em>This section is non normative.</em></p>
1079:
1.44 avankest 1080: <p>This specification does not include the following features that may or
1081: may not be implemented by user agents:</p>
1.29 avankest 1082:
1083: <ul>
1084: <li><code>load</code> event and <code>onload</code> attribute;</li>
1085: <li><code>error</code> event and <code>onerror</code> attribute;</li>
1086: <li><code>progress</code> event and <code>onprogress</code> attribute;</li>
1087: <li><code title="">abort</code> event and <code>onabort</code> attribute;</li>
1088: <li>Timers have been suggested, perhaps an <code>ontimeout</code>
1089: attribute;</li>
1090: <li>Property to disable following redirects;</li>
1.30 avankest 1091: <li><code title="">responseXML</code> for <code>text/html</code>
1092: documents;</li>
1.40 avankest 1093: <li>Cross-site <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>;</li>
1094: <li>Deal with byte streams;</li>
1095: <li><code>getRequestHeader</code> and
1096: <code>removeRequestHeader</code>.</li>
1.29 avankest 1097: </ul>
1098:
1.1 avankest 1099: <h2 class="no-num" id="bibref">References</h2>
1.11 avankest 1100:
1.6 avankest 1101: <dl>
1.37 avankest 1102: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3">DOM3Core</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1103:
1.11 avankest 1104: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core">Document Object
1105: Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a></cite>, A. Le Hors, P. Le
1106: Hégaret, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne, editors.
1107: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2004.</dd>
1108:
1.37 avankest 1109: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3EV">DOM3Events</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1110:
1.1 avankest 1111: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Events/">Document Object
1.11 avankest 1112: Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification</a></cite>, Björn Höhrmann, editor.
1113: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2006.</dd>
1114:
1.37 avankest 1115: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-ecmascript">ECMAScript</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1116:
1.14 avankest 1117: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm">ECMAScript
1118: Language Specification</a></cite>, Third Edition. ECMA, December 1999.</dd>
1119:
1.37 avankest 1120: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2046">RFC2046</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1121:
1.19 avankest 1122: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2046">Multipurpose Internet Mail
1123: Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types</a></cite>, N. Freed, N. Borenstein,
1124: editors. IETF, November 1996.</dd>
1.14 avankest 1125:
1.37 avankest 1126: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2119">RFC2119</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1127:
1.11 avankest 1128: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119">RFC 2119: Key words
1129: for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels</a></cite>, S. Bradner.
1130: IETF, March 1997.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1131:
1.37 avankest 1132: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2616">RFC2616</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1133:
1.11 avankest 1134: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer Protocol
1135: -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H. Frystyk, L.
1136: Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF, June 1999</dd>
1.12 avankest 1137:
1.37 avankest 1138: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2617">RFC2617</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1139:
1.11 avankest 1140: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617">HTTP Authentication: Basic
1.14 avankest 1141: and Digest Access Authentication</a></cite>, ...</dd>
1.12 avankest 1142:
1.37 avankest 1143: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2965">RFC2965</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1144:
1.19 avankest 1145: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965">HTTP State Management
1146: Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, October
1147: 2000.</dd>
1148:
1.37 avankest 1149: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc3986">RFC3986</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1150:
1.11 avankest 1151: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986">Uniform Resource Identifier
1152: (URI): Generic Syntax</a></cite>, T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter,
1153: editors. IETF, January 2005.</dd>
1.28 avankest 1154:
1.37 avankest 1155: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-window">Window</dfn>]</dt>
1.28 avankest 1156:
1157: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/Window/">Window Object
1158: 1.0</a></cite>, I. Davis, M. Stachowiak, editors. W3C, April 2006.</dd>
1.41 avankest 1159:
1160: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xml">XML</dfn>]</dt>
1161:
1162: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/">Extensible
1163: Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, J. Paoli,
1164: C. Sperberg-McQueen, E. Maler, F. Yergeau. W3C, September 2006.</dd>
1165:
1166: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xmlns">XMLNS</dfn>]</dt>
1167:
1168: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/">Namespaces in
1169: XML (Second Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, D. Hollander, A. Layman, R.
1170: Tobin. W3C, August 2006.</dd>
1.1 avankest 1171: </dl>
1.11 avankest 1172:
1.1 avankest 1173: <h2 class="no-num" id="acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</h2>
1.11 avankest 1174:
1.1 avankest 1175: <p><em>This section is non-normative</em></p>
1.12 avankest 1176:
1.7 avankest 1177: <p>The editor would like to thank to the following people who have contributed
1.33 avankest 1178: to this specification (ordered by first name):</p>
1.12 avankest 1179:
1.1 avankest 1180: <ul>
1.22 avankest 1181: <li>Alex Hopmann</li>
1.7 avankest 1182: <li>Alex Vincent</li>
1.15 avankest 1183: <li>Alexey Proskuryakov</li>
1.1 avankest 1184: <li>Asbjørn Ulsberg</li>
1185: <li>Boris Zbarsky</li>
1186: <li>Björn Höhrmann</li>
1187: <li>Cameron McCormack</li>
1188: <li>Christophe Jolif</li>
1189: <li>Charles McCathieNevile</li>
1.54 avankest 1190: <li>Dan Winship</li>
1.1 avankest 1191: <li>Dean Jackson</li>
1192: <li>Doug Schepers</li>
1193: <li>Douglas Livingstone</li>
1194: <li>Gorm Haug Eriksen</li>
1195: <li>Hallvord R. M. Steen</li>
1196: <li>Håkon Wium Lie</li>
1197: <li>Ian Davis</li>
1198: <li>Ian Hickson</li>
1199: <li>Ivan Herman</li>
1200: <li>Jens Lindström</li>
1201: <li>Jim Deegan</li>
1202: <li>Jim Ley</li>
1203: <li>Jonas Sicking</li>
1204: <li>Julian Reschke</li>
1205: <li>Karl Dubost</li>
1206: <li>Maciej Stachowiak</li>
1.7 avankest 1207: <li>Magnus Kristiansen</li>
1.1 avankest 1208: <li>Marc Hadley</li>
1.53 avankest 1209: <li>Marcos Caceres</li>
1.1 avankest 1210: <li>Mark Nottingham</li>
1211: <li>Pawel Glowacki</li>
1212: <li>Robin Berjon</li>
1213: <li>Ruud Steltenpool</li>
1.33 avankest 1214: <li>Simon Pieters</li>
1.1 avankest 1215: </ul>
1.12 avankest 1216:
1.1 avankest 1217: <p>Special thanks to the Microsoft employees who first implemented the
1.22 avankest 1218: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface, which was first widely deployed by the
1219: Windows Internet Explorer browser.</p>
1.12 avankest 1220:
1.54 avankest 1221: <p>Special thanks also to the WHATWG for drafting an initial version of this
1.22 avankest 1222: specification in their Web Applications 1.0 document.</p>
1.12 avankest 1223:
1.1 avankest 1224: <p>Thanks also to all those who have helped to improve this specification by
1.22 avankest 1225: sending suggestions and corrections. (Please, keep bugging us with your
1226: issues!)</p>
1.1 avankest 1227: </body>
1228: </html>
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