Annotation of 2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/Overview.src.html, revision 1.63
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3: <head>
4: <title>The XMLHttpRequest Object</title>
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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>,
1.22 avankest 205: <em class="ct">required</em>, <em class="ct">shall</em>, <em class="ct">shall
206: not</em>, <em class="ct">should</em>, <em class="ct">should not</em>,
207: <em class="ct">recommended</em>, <em class="ct">may</em> and
208: <em class="ct">optional</em> in this document are to be interpreted as
1.37 avankest 209: described in RFC 2119 [<cite><span>RFC2119</span></cite>].</p>
1.12 avankest 210:
1.1 avankest 211: <p>This specification defines the following classes of products:</p>
1.12 avankest 212:
1.1 avankest 213: <dl>
214: <dt><dfn>conforming implementation</dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 215:
1.50 avankest 216: <dd>A user agent <em class="ct">must</em> behave as described in this
217: specification in order to be considered conformant even when faced with
1.39 avankest 218: non-conforming scripts.</dd>
1.24 avankest 219:
1.39 avankest 220: <dt><dfn>conforming script</dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 221:
1.54 avankest 222: <dd>A script <em class="ct">must</em> satisfy the constraints and
223: conditions described by this specification in order to be conformant.</dd>
1.1 avankest 224: </dl>
1.32 avankest 225:
1.30 avankest 226: <h4 id="dependencies">Dependencies</h4>
1.33 avankest 227:
1.29 avankest 228: <p>This specification relies on several underlying specifications.</p>
229: <dl>
230: <dt>DOM</dt>
1.33 avankest 231:
1.29 avankest 232: <dd>
233: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of DOM
1.37 avankest 234: Events because this specification uses some of the features defined in
235: that specification. [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</p>
1.39 avankest 236:
1.37 avankest 237: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of DOM
238: Core because this specification uses some of the features defined in that
239: specification. [<cite><span>DOM3Core</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 240:
241: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of the
1.37 avankest 242: Window Object because some of the functionality in this specification
243: relies on it. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 244: </dd>
245:
246: <dt>HTTP</dt>
1.33 avankest 247:
1.29 avankest 248: <dd>
1.39 avankest 249: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of the
1.58 avankest 250: HTTP protocol. The user agent <em class="ct">should</em> support any HTTP
251: method that matches the <span><code>Method</code> production</span> and
252: <em class="ct">must</em> at least support the following list of
253: methods:</p>
254:
255: <ul>
256: <li><code>GET</code></li>
257: <li><code>POST</code></li>
258: <li><code>HEAD</code></li>
259: <li><code>PUT</code></li>
260: <li><code>DELETE</code></li>
261: <li><code>OPTIONS</code></li>
262: </ul>
263:
264: <p>Other requirements regarding HTTP are made throughout the
1.39 avankest 265: specification. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 266: </dd>
1.41 avankest 267:
268: <dt>XML</dt>
269:
270: <dd>
271: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">may</em> support some version of XML. If
272: they don't support some version of XML <code>responseXML</code>
273: <em class="ct">must</em> always be <code>null</code>.
274: [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>] [<cite><span>XMLNS</span></cite>]</p>
275: </dd>
1.29 avankest 276: </dl>
1.12 avankest 277:
1.1 avankest 278: <h3 id="extensibility">Extensibility</h3>
1.12 avankest 279:
280: <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em></p>
281:
1.25 avankest 282: <p>Extensions of the APIs defined by this specification are <em>strongly
1.22 avankest 283: discouraged</em>. User agents, Working Groups and other interested parties
1.33 avankest 284: should discuss extensions on a relevant public forum, preferably
1.22 avankest 285: <a href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 286:
287: <h2 id="xmlhttprequest">The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h2>
288:
1.58 avankest 289: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be used by scripts to
1.22 avankest 290: programmatically connect to their originating server via HTTP.</p>
1.12 avankest 291:
1.1 avankest 292: <p>Objects implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface
1.22 avankest 293: <em class="ct">must</em> also implement the <code>EventTarget</code>
1.58 avankest 294: interface. [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 295:
1.58 avankest 296: <p>Objects implementing the <code title="">Window</code> interface
297: <em class="ct">must</em> provide an <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code>
298: constructor. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 299:
1.1 avankest 300: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 301: <p>In ECMAScript this can be used as follows:</p>
302: <!-- [<cite><span>ECMAScript</span></cite>] -->
303:
304: <pre><code>var client = new XMLHttpRequest();</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 305: </div>
1.12 avankest 306:
1.58 avankest 307: <p>When the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code> constructor is invoked a
308: persistent pointer to the associated <code title="">Window</code> object
309: <em class="ct">must</em> be stored on the newly created object. This is the
1.25 avankest 310: <dfn title="Window pointer" id="window-pointer"><code>Window</code>
1.58 avankest 311: pointer</dfn>. The associated <code title="">Window</code> object is the one
312: of which the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> constructor was
313: invoked. This <span title="Window pointer">pointer</span>
1.25 avankest 314: <em class="ct">must</em> persist even if the browsing context in which the
1.37 avankest 315: <code title="">Window</code> is located is destroyed (by removing it from a
316: parent browsing context, for instance).</p>
1.25 avankest 317:
1.37 avankest 318: <p>The term browsing context is defined by the <cite>Window Object
319: 1.0</cite> specification. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.27 avankest 320:
321: <!-- XXX if the document object changes in the browsing context you get an
1.33 avankest 322: exception in some implementations. -->
1.27 avankest 323:
1.58 avankest 324: <div class="example">
325: <p>If <var><code>x</code></var> is a <code>Window</code> object
326: <var><code>y</code></var> will have a pointer to <var><code>x</code></var>
327: in the following example:</p>
328:
329: <pre><code>var y = new x.XMLHttpRequest()</code></pre>
330: </div>
1.12 avankest 331:
1.58 avankest 332: <pre class="idl">interface <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</dfn> {
333: // event handler
334: attribute EventListener <span>onreadystatechange</span>;
335:
336: // state
337: const unsigned short <span title="UNINITIALIZED state">UNINITIALIZED</span> = 0;
338: const unsigned short <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> = 1;
339: const unsigned short <span title="SENT state">SENT</span> = 2;
340: const unsigned short <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> = 3;
341: const unsigned short <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span> = 4;
1.1 avankest 342: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>readyState</span>;
1.58 avankest 343:
344: // request
1.12 avankest 345: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>);
346: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</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>);
348: 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 349: void <span>setRequestHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>, in DOMString <var>value</var>);
1.1 avankest 350: void <span>send</span>();
1.3 avankest 351: void <span>send</span>(in DOMString <var>data</var>);
352: void <span>send</span>(in Document <var>data</var>);
1.1 avankest 353: void <span>abort</span>();
1.58 avankest 354:
355: // response
1.1 avankest 356: DOMString <span>getAllResponseHeaders</span>();
1.3 avankest 357: DOMString <span>getResponseHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>);
1.7 avankest 358: readonly attribute DOMString <span>responseText</span>;
359: readonly attribute Document <span>responseXML</span>;
360: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>status</span>;
361: readonly attribute DOMString <span>statusText</span>;
1.1 avankest 362: };</pre>
1.8 avankest 363:
1.58 avankest 364: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be in five states:
365: <span title="UNINITIALIZED state">UNINITIALIZED</span>,
366: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>, <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>,
367: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> and
368: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>. The current state is exposed
369: through the <code>readyState</code> attribute. The method definitions below
1.63 ! avankest 370: define when a state transition takes place.</p>
1.58 avankest 371:
372: <p>When constructed, the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object
373: <em class="ct">must</em> be in the UNINITIALIZED state. This state is
374: represented by the
375: <dfn id="uninitialized" title="UNINITIALIZED state"><code>UNINITIALIZED</code></dfn>
376: constant, whose value is <code>0</code>.</p>
377:
378: <p>The OPEN state is the state of the object when the <code>open()</code>
379: method has been successfully invoked. During this state reqeust headers can
380: be set using <code>setRequestHeader()</code> and the request can be made
381: using <code>send()</code>. This state is represented by the
382: <dfn id="open" title="OPEN state"><code>OPEN</code></dfn> constant, whose
383: value is <code>1</code>.</p>
384:
385: <p>The SENT state is the state of the object when the user agent
386: successfully acknowledged the request. This state is represented by the
387: <dfn id="sent" title="SENT state"><code>SENT</code></dfn> constant, whose
388: value is <code>2</code>.</p>
389:
390: <p>The RECEIVING state is the state of the object when all HTTP headers have
391: been received. The object typically remains in this state until the complete
392: message body (if any) has been received. This state is represented by the
393: <dfn id="receiving" title="RECEIVING state"><code>RECEIVING</code></dfn>
394: constant, whose value is <code>3</code>.</p>
395:
396: <p>The LOADED state is the state of the object when either the data transfer
397: has been completed or something went wrong during the transfer (infinite
398: redirects for instance). This state is represented by the
399: <dfn id="loaded" title="LOADED state"><code>LOADED</code></dfn> constant,
400: whose value is <code>4</code>.</p>
401:
1.5 avankest 402: <dl>
1.12 avankest 403:
1.39 avankest 404: <dt><dfn id="dfn-onreadystatechange"><code>onreadystatechange</code></dfn>
405: of type <code>EventListener</code></dt>
1.12 avankest 406:
1.1 avankest 407: <dd>
408: <p>An attribute that takes an <code>EventListener</code> as value that
1.58 avankest 409: <em class="ct">must</em> be invoked along with any other appropriate event
410: listeners that are registered on this object when a
411: <code>readystatechange</code> event is dispatched on it. Its initial value
412: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.1 avankest 413: </dd>
1.12 avankest 414:
1.1 avankest 415: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystate"><code>readyState</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 416: <code>unsigned short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 417:
1.1 avankest 418: <dd>
1.58 avankest 419: <p>The attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be the value of the constant
420: corresponding to the object's current state.</p>
1.1 avankest 421: </dd>
1.12 avankest 422:
1.14 avankest 423: <dt><dfn id="dfn-open" title="open"><code>open(<var>method</var>,
1.22 avankest 424: <var>url</var>, <var>async</var>, <var>user</var>,
425: <var>password</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 426:
1.1 avankest 427: <dd>
1.58 avankest 428: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
429: following steps:</p>
430:
431: <ol>
432: <li><p>If the <var>method</var> argument doesn't match the
433: <dfn><code>Method</code> production</dfn> defined in section 5.1.1 of RFC
434: 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
435: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.
436: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
437:
438: <li><p>If the given <var>method</var> is not supported for security
439: reasons the user agent <em class="ct">should</em> raise a
440: <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
441:
442: <li><p>Let <var>stored method</var> be <var>method</var>.</p></li>
443:
444: <li><p>If <var>method</var> case-insensitively matches <code>GET</code>,
445: <code>POST</code>, <code>HEAD</code>, <code>PUT</code>,
446: <code>DELETE</code> or <code>OPTIONS</code> the user agent
447: <em class="ct">must</em> use convert it to its uppercase equivalent and
448: let <var>stored method</var> be the result.</p></li>
449:
450: <li><p>Drop the fragment identifier (if any) from <var>url</var> and let
451: <var>stored url</var> be the result of that operation.</p></li>
452:
453: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> is a relative reference it
454: <em class="ct">must</em> be resolved using the current value of the
455: <code>baseURI</code> attribute of the <code>Document</code> object
456: currently associated with the <span><code>Window</code> pointer</span>.
457: If this fails the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
458: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
459:
460: <li><p>If the <code>"user:password"</code> format in the
461: <code>userinfo</code> production defined in section 3.2.1 of RFC 3986 is
462: not supported for the relevant scheme and <var>stored url</var> contains
463: this format the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> throw a
464: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>. [<cite><span>RFC3986</span></cite>]</p></li>
465:
466: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> contains the <code>"user:password"</code>
467: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part and <var>stored
468: password</var> be the password part.</p></li>
469:
470: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> just contains the <code>"user"</code>
471: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part.</p></li>
472:
473: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> is non same-origin the user agent
474: <em class="ct">should</em> raise a <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception
475: and abort these steps. This specification does not define what
476: constitutes as non same-origin.<!-- reference HTML5? --></p></li>
477:
478: <li><p>Let <var>async</var> be the value of the <var>async</var> argument
479: or <code>false</code> if it was omitted.</p></li>
480:
481: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
482: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
483: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
484: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 485:
1.58 avankest 486: <li>
487: <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is not
488: <code>null</code> let <var>stored user</var> be <var>user</var> encoded
489: using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication scheme or
490: UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p>
1.14 avankest 491:
1.58 avankest 492: <p class="note">This step overrides any user that may have been set by
493: the <var>url</var> argument.</p>
494: </li>
1.16 avankest 495:
1.58 avankest 496: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is
497: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored user</var>.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 498:
1.58 avankest 499: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
500: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
501: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
502: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
503:
504: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is not
505: <code>null</code> let <var>stored password</var> be <var>password</var>
506: encoded using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication
507: scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p></li>
508:
509: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is
510: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored password</var>.</p></li>
511:
512: <li><p>Set <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
513: <code>status</code> and <code>statusText</code> to their initial
514: values and reset the list of request headers.<p></li>
515:
1.60 avankest 516: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
517: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 518: <!-- we can hardly require it... -->
519:
520: <li><p>Switch the object to the <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>
521: state; the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously
522: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort
523: these steps (returning the method call).</p></li>
524: </ol>
1.14 avankest 525:
1.19 avankest 526: <p class="note">A future version or extension of this specification will
1.33 avankest 527: most likely define a way of doing cross-site requests.</p>
1.1 avankest 528: </dd>
1.12 avankest 529:
1.14 avankest 530: <dt><dfn id="dfn-setrequestheader" title="setrequestheader"><code>setRequestHeader(<var>header</var>,
1.22 avankest 531: <var>value</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 532:
1.5 avankest 533: <dd>
1.45 avankest 534: <p>Each request has a list of request headers with associated values. This
535: method can be used to manipulate those values and set new request
536: headers.</p>
537:
1.58 avankest 538: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
539: following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 540:
1.58 avankest 541: <ol>
542: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
543: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
544: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
545: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
546:
547: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is set the user agent
548: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
549: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 550:
1.58 avankest 551: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 552: <dfn><code>field-name</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.58 avankest 553: of RFC 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
554: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
555: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.14 avankest 556:
1.58 avankest 557: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 558: <dfn><code>field-value</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.58 avankest 559: of RFC 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
560: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
561: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.14 avankest 562:
1.32 avankest 563: <li>
1.58 avankest 564: <p>For security reasons these steps <em class="ct">should</em> be
565: aborted if the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches one
566: of the following headers:</p>
567:
1.32 avankest 568: <ul>
569: <li><code>Accept-Charset</code></li>
570: <li><code>Accept-Encoding</code></li>
571: <li><code>Content-Length</code></li>
572: <li><code>Expect</code></li>
573: <li><code>Date</code></li>
574: <li><code>Host</code></li>
575: <li><code>Keep-Alive</code></li>
576: <li><code>Referer</code></li>
577: <li><code>TE</code></li>
578: <li><code>Trailer</code></li>
579: <li><code>Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
580: <li><code>Upgrade</code></li>
581: </ul>
582: </li>
1.58 avankest 583: <!-- XXX or should this throw an exception? -->
1.5 avankest 584:
1.59 avankest 585: <!--
1.58 avankest 586: <li>
587: <p class="issue">This part is only supported by Opera it seems. It might
588: be better to kill it.</p>
1.32 avankest 589:
1.58 avankest 590: <p>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches one of
591: the following headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> set the
592: value of that HTTP header to <var>value</var> and abort these steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 593:
1.58 avankest 594: <ul>
595: <li><code>Apply-To-Redirect-Ref</code></li>
596: <li><code>Authorization</code></li>
597: <li><code>C-Ext</code></li>
598: <li><code>Content-Base</code></li>
599: <li><code>Content-Location</code></li>
600: <li><code>Content-MD5</code></li>
601: <li><code>Content-Range</code></li>
602: <li><code>Content-Type</code></li>
603: <li><code>Content-Version</code></li>
604: <li><code>Cookie</code></li>
605: <li><code>Cookie2</code></li>
606: <li><code>Delta-Base</code></li>
607: <li><code>Depth</code></li>
608: <li><code>Destination</code></li>
609: <li><code>ETag</code></li>
610: <li><code>Ext</code></li>
611: <li><code>From</code></li>
612: <li><code>If</code></li>
613: <li><code>If-Modified-Since</code></li>
614: <li><code>If-Range</code></li>
615: <li><code>If-Unmodified-Since</code></li>
616: <li><code>Label</code></li>
617: <li><code>Lock-Token</code></li>
618: <li><code>Max-Forwards</code></li>
619: <li><code>MIME-Version</code></li>
620: <li><code>Ordering-Type</code></li>
621: <li><code>Overwrite</code></li>
622: <li><code>Proxy-Authorization</code></li>
623: <li><code>Redirect-Ref</code></li>
624: <li><code>SOAPAction</code></li>
625: <li><code>Status-URI</code></li>
626: <li><code>Timeout</code></li>
627: </ul>
628: </li>
1.59 avankest 629: -->
1.44 avankest 630:
1.58 avankest 631: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is not in the list of request
632: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> append the
633: <var>header</var> with its associated <var>value</var> to the list and
634: abort these steps.</p></li>
635:
636: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is in the list of request
637: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> either use multiple
638: headers, combine the values or use a combination of those (section 4.2,
639: RFC 2616) and abort these steps.
640: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
641: </ol>
1.45 avankest 642:
643: <p class="note">See also the <code>send()</code> method regarding user
644: agent header handling for caching, authentication, proxies, and cookies.</p>
1.14 avankest 645:
646: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 647: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.14 avankest 648: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
649: client.open('GET', 'demo.cgi');
650: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'one');
651: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'two');
652: client.send();
653:
654: // ...would result in the following header being sent:
655: ...
656: X-Test: one, two
1.58 avankest 657: ...</code></pre>
1.14 avankest 658: </div>
659:
1.13 avankest 660: <p>The list of request headers <em class="ct">must</em> be reset when the
1.22 avankest 661: <code>open()</code> method is invoked.</p>
1.5 avankest 662: </dd>
1.12 avankest 663:
1.14 avankest 664: <dt><dfn id="dfn-send" title="send"><code>send(<var>data</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 665: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 666:
1.17 avankest 667: <dd>
1.58 avankest 668: <p>The <code>send()</code> method initiates the request and its optional
669: argument <em class="ct">may</em> be used by scripts to provide the entity
670: body. When the argument is provided scripts <em class="ct">should</em>
671: ensure that they have specified (before invoking <code>send()</code>) the
1.60 avankest 672: <code>Content-Type</code> header via <code>setRequestHeader()</code>.</p>
1.58 avankest 673:
674: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
675: following steps:</p>
676:
677: <ol>
678: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
679: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
680: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
681: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
682:
683: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is set the user agent
684: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
685: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
686:
687: <li>
688: <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has not been omitted and is not
689: <code>null</code> it <em class="ct">must</em> be used for the
690: <dfn id="dfn-entity-body">entity body</dfn> as defined by section 7.2 of
691: RFC 2616. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>].</p>
692:
693: <dl>
694: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>DOMString</code></dt>
695:
696: <dd><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be encoded as UTF-8 for
697: transmission.</dd>
698:
699: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>Document</code>
700:
701: <dd>
702: <p><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be serialized into a
703: namespace well-formed XML document and encoded using the encoding
704: given by <code><var>data</var>.xmlEncoding</code>, if specified, or
705: UTF-8 otherwise. If this fails because the <code>Document</code>
706: cannot be serialized the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> act as if
707: <var>data</var> was <code>null</code>.</p>
708:
709: <p>If no <code>Content-Type</code> header has been set by the script
710: the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> set append it to the list of
711: request headers with a value of <code>application/xml</code>.</p>
712:
713: <p class="note">Subsequent changes to the <code>Document</code> have
714: no effect on what is submitted.</p>
715: </dd>
716:
717: <dt><var>data</var> is not a <code>DOMString</code> or
718: <code>Document</code></dt>
719:
720: <dd>The stringification mechanisms of the host language
721: <em class="ct">must</em> be used on <var>data</var> and the result
722: <em class="ct">must</em> be treated as if <var>data</var> is a
723: <code>DOMString</code>.</dd>
724: </dl>
725:
726: <p>If the data argument has been omitted or is <code>null</code> no
727: entity body <em class="ct">must</em> be used in the request.</p>
728: </li>
729:
730: <li><p>Make a request to <var>stored url</var> using
731: <var>stored method</var>, <var>stored user</var> (if provided) and
732: <var>stored password</var> (if provided) taking into account the entity
733: body, list of request headers and the rules listed directly after this
734: set of steps.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 735:
1.58 avankest 736: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> the user agent
737: <em class="ct">must</em> set the <dfn><code>send()</code> flag</dfn>,
738: directly unset it when the state changes and return the
739: <code>send()</code> method call. (Don't abort the steps in the algorithm
740: though.)</p></li>
741:
742: <li><p>If the request has been successfully acknowledged switch the
743: state to <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>; the user agent
744: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
745: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
746: <!-- only do this for async = true? -->
747:
748: <li><p>If all HTTP headers have been receieved, immediately before
749: receiving the message body (if any), switch the state to
750: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span>; the user agent
751: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
752: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
753: <!-- only do this for async = true? -->
754:
755: <li>
756: <p>If the response is an HTTP redirect (status code <code>301</code>,
757: <code>302</code>, <code>303</code> or <code>307</code>), then it
758: <em class="ct">must</em> be transparently followed (unless it violates
759: security, infinite loop precautions or the scheme isn't supported).</p>
1.60 avankest 760:
1.58 avankest 761: <p class="note">HTTP places requirements on the user agent regarding the
762: preservation of the request method and entity body during redirects, and
763: also requires users to be notified of certain kinds of automatic
764: redirections.</p>
765: <!-- Arguably HTTP should be fixed for the latter case. No browser
766: follows that as far as I know. -->
767: </li>
1.60 avankest 768:
1.58 avankest 769: <li>
770: <p>If something goes wrong (infinite loop, network errors) the user
771: agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the following set of steps:</p>
1.60 avankest 772:
1.58 avankest 773: <ol>
774: <li><p>Set <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
775: <code>status</code> and <code>statusText</code> to their initial
776: values and reset the list of request headers.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 777:
1.58 avankest 778: <li><p>Switch the state to
779: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 780:
1.58 avankest 781: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> the user agent
782: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>NETWORK_ERR</code> exception.
783: (Don't abort these steps.)</p></li>
1.60 avankest 784:
1.58 avankest 785: <li><p>Synchronously dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on
786: the object.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 787:
1.58 avankest 788: <li><p>Abort the overall algorithm.</p></li>
789: </ol>
1.60 avankest 790:
1.58 avankest 791: <p class="note">In future versions of this specification the user agent
792: will be required to dispatch an <code>error</code> event if the above
793: occurs.</p>
794: </li>
795:
796: <li><p>When the request has successfully completed loading, switch the
797: state to <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>; the user agent
798: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
799: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort these
800: steps (and return the method call in case of <var>async</var> being
801: <code>false</code>).</p></li>
802: </ol>
1.14 avankest 803:
1.8 avankest 804: <p>If the user agent allows the specification of a proxy it
1.22 avankest 805: <em class="ct">should</em> modify the request appropriately;
1.42 avankest 806: <abbr title="in other words">i.e.</abbr>, connect to the proxy host
807: instead of the origin server, modify the <code>Request-Line</code> and
808: send <code>Proxy-Authorization</code> headers as specified.</p>
1.12 avankest 809:
1.42 avankest 810: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP Authentication it
1.22 avankest 811: <em class="ct">should</em> consider requests originating from this object
1.42 avankest 812: to be part of the protection space that includes the accessed URIs and
813: send <code>Authorization</code> headers and handle <code>401
814: Unauthorised</code> requests appropriately. if authentication fails, user
815: agents <em class="ct">should</em> prompt the users for credentials.
816: [<cite><span>RFC2617</span></cite>]</p>
817:
1.57 avankest 818: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP State Management it
1.42 avankest 819: <em class="ct">should</em> persist, discard and send cookies (as received
820: in the <code>Set-Cookie</code> and <code>Set-Cookie2</code> response
821: headers, and sent in the <code>Cookie</code> header) as applicable.
822: [<cite><span>RFC2965</span></cite>]</p>
823:
824: <p>If the user agent implements a HTTP cache it <em class="ct">should</em>
825: respect <code>Cache-Control</code> request headers set by the script
826: (<abbr title="for example">e.g.</abbr>, <code>Cache-Control:
827: no-cache</code> bypasses the cache). It <em class="ct">must not</em> send
828: <code>Cache-Control</code> or <code>Pragma</code> request headers
829: automatically unless the user explicitly requests such behaviour
830: (<abbr>e.g.</abbr>, by (force-)reloading the page). <code>304 Not
1.22 avankest 831: Modified</code> responses that are a result of a user agent generated
832: conditional request <em class="ct">must</em> be presented as <code>200
1.57 avankest 833: OK</code> responses with the appropriate content. The user agent
1.39 avankest 834: <em class="ct">must</em> allow scripts to override automatic cache
1.22 avankest 835: validation by setting request headers (e.g., <code>If-None-Match</code>,
1.42 avankest 836: <code>If-Modified-Since</code>), in which case <code>304 Not
837: Modified</code> responses <em class="ct">must</em> be passed through.
838: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 839:
1.8 avankest 840: <p>If the user agent implements server-driven content-negotiation
1.42 avankest 841: it <em class="ct">should</em> set <code>Accept-Language</code>,
1.22 avankest 842: <code>Accept-Encoding</code> and <code>Accept-Charset</code> headers as
843: appropriate; it <em class="ct">must not</em> automatically set the
844: <code>Accept</code> header. Responses to such requests
1.40 avankest 845: <em class="ct">must</em> have the content-codings automatically
1.42 avankest 846: decoded. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.8 avankest 847: </dd>
1.12 avankest 848:
1.14 avankest 849: <dt><dfn id="dfn-abort"><code>abort()</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 850:
1.5 avankest 851: <dd>
1.60 avankest 852: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
853: steps:</p>
854:
855: <ol>
856: <li><p>Set the <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
857: <code>status</code> and <code>responseText</code> attributes to their
858: initial value as well as removing any registered request
859: headers.</p></li>
860:
861: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
862: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
863:
864: <li>
865: <p>Switch the state to
866: <span title="UNINITIALIZED state">UNINITIALIZED</span>. (Don't dispatch
867: the <code>readystatechange</code> event.)</p>
868:
869: <p class="note">It's likely that a future version of the
870: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> will dispatch an <code title="">abort</code>
871: event here.</p>
872: </li>
873: </ol>
1.5 avankest 874: </dd>
1.12 avankest 875:
1.14 avankest 876: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getallresponseheaders"><code>getAllResponseHeaders()</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 877: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 878:
1.5 avankest 879: <dd>
1.60 avankest 880: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
1.58 avankest 881: the following steps:</p>
882:
883: <ol>
1.63 ! avankest 884: <li>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
! 885: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 886: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
887: exception and abort these steps.</li>
888:
889: <li>The user agent <em class="ct">must</em> return all the HTTP headers,
890: as a single string, with each header line separated by a U+000D CR U+000A
891: LF pair excluding the status line.</li>
892: </ol>
1.24 avankest 893:
1.5 avankest 894: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 895: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.5 avankest 896: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 897: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 898: client.send();
1.12 avankest 899: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 900: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.12 avankest 901: print(this.getAllResponseHeaders());
902: }
903: }
1.5 avankest 904:
905: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
906: Date: 2004年10月24日 04:58:38 GMT
907: Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix)
908: Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
909: Connection: Keep-Alive
910: Transfer-Encoding: chunked
1.58 avankest 911: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.5 avankest 912: </div>
913: </dd>
1.12 avankest 914:
1.18 avankest 915: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getresponseheader" title="getresponseheader"><code>getResponseHeader(<var>header</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 916: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 917:
1.1 avankest 918: <dd>
1.58 avankest 919: <p>When the method is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
920: the following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 921:
1.58 avankest 922: <ol>
1.63 ! avankest 923: <li>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
! 924: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 925: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
926: exception and abort these steps.</li>
927:
928: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
929: <span><code>field-name</code> production</span> the user agent
930: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
931: abort these steps.</li>
932:
933: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches multiple
934: HTTP headers for the last request sent the user agent
935: <em class="ct">must</em> return the values of these headers as a single
936: concatenated string separated from each other by an U+OO2C COMMA followed
937: by an U+0020 SPACE and abort these steps.</li>
938:
939: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches a single
940: HTTP header for the last request sent the user agent
941: <em class="ct">must</em> return the value of that header and abort these
942: steps.</li>
943:
944: <li>The method <em class="ct">must</em> return <code>null</code>.</li>
945: </ol>
1.12 avankest 946:
1.1 avankest 947: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 948: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.1 avankest 949: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 950: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 951: client.send();
1.12 avankest 952: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 953: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.14 avankest 954: print(client.getResponseHeader("Content-Type"));
1.12 avankest 955: }
956: }
1.1 avankest 957:
1.5 avankest 958: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.58 avankest 959: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 960: </div>
1.5 avankest 961: </dd>
1.12 avankest 962:
1.5 avankest 963: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsetext"><code>responseText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 964: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 965:
1.5 avankest 966: <dd>
1.63 ! avankest 967: <p>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
! 968: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>, the user agent
1.40 avankest 969: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
970: exception. Otherwise, if there's no <span>entity body</span> this
971: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>. If there is, it
972: <em class="ct">must</em> be the fragment of the <span>entity body</span>
973: received so far (when the state is
1.63 ! avankest 974: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span>) or the complete
1.40 avankest 975: <span>entity body</span> (when the state is
1.63 ! avankest 976: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>), interpreted as a stream of
1.40 avankest 977: characters.</p>
1.12 avankest 978:
1.50 avankest 979: <p>If the response includes a MIME type understood by the user agent the
980: characters <em class="ct">must</em> be decoded following the relevant MIME
981: type specification. If the user agent cannot derive a character stream in
982: accord with the media type specification, <code>responseText</code>
983: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 984:
1.40 avankest 985: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be the
986: <code>null</code>.</p>
1.5 avankest 987: </dd>
1.12 avankest 988:
1.5 avankest 989: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsexml"><code>responseXML</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 990: <code>Document</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 991:
1.8 avankest 992: <dd>
1.63 ! avankest 993: <p>If the state is not <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>, user
1.40 avankest 994: agents <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
995: exception. Otherwise, if there's no <span>entity body</span> this
996: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>. If there is, and
997: the <code>Content-Type</code> header contains a media type (ignoring any
998: parameters) that is either <code>text/xml</code>,
1.61 avankest 999: <code>application/xml</code>, or ends in <code title="">+xml</code>, it
1.22 avankest 1000: <em class="ct">must</em> be an object that implements the
1001: <code>Document</code> interface representing the parsed document. If
1002: <code>Content-Type</code> did not contain such a media type, or if the
1.45 avankest 1003: document could not be parsed (due to an XML namespace well-formedness
1004: error or unsupported character encoding, for instance), it
1005: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 1006:
1.8 avankest 1007: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.5 avankest 1008: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1009:
1.22 avankest 1010: <dt><dfn id="dfn-status"><code>status</code></dfn> of type <code>unsigned
1011: short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1012:
1.5 avankest 1013: <dd>
1014: <p>If the <code>status</code> attribute is not available an
1.40 avankest 1015: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception <em class="ct">must</em> be
1016: raised. It <em class="ct">must</em> be available when the state is
1.63 ! avankest 1017: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
! 1018: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>. When available, it
1.25 avankest 1019: <em class="ct">must</em> represent the HTTP status code (typically
1.39 avankest 1020: <code>200</code> for a successful request).</p>
1.27 avankest 1021:
1.8 avankest 1022: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>0</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 1023: </dd>
1024:
1.5 avankest 1025: <dt><dfn id="dfn-statustext"><code>statusText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1026: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1027:
1.5 avankest 1028: <dd>
1029: <p>If the <code>statusText</code> attribute is not available an
1.40 avankest 1030: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception <em class="ct">must</em> be
1031: raised. It <em class="ct">must</em> be available when the state is
1.63 ! avankest 1032: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
! 1033: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>). When available, it
1.25 avankest 1034: <em class="ct">must</em> represent the HTTP status text sent by the server
1035: (appears after the status code).</p>
1.21 avankest 1036:
1.8 avankest 1037: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be the empty string.</p>
1.1 avankest 1038: </dd>
1039: </dl>
1.12 avankest 1040:
1.54 avankest 1041: <!--
1.1 avankest 1042: <p>HTTP requests sent from multiple different <code>XMLHttpRequest</code>
1.40 avankest 1043: objects in succession <em class="ct">should</em> use a shared HTTP
1044: connection.</p>
1.54 avankest 1045: -->
1.12 avankest 1046:
1.31 avankest 1047: <h3 id="events">Events for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1048: Object</h3>
1.12 avankest 1049:
1.1 avankest 1050: <p>These sections describe the various events that can be dispatched on the
1.22 avankest 1051: object implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface. For this
1052: version of the specification only one event is defined.</p>
1.12 avankest 1053:
1.1 avankest 1054: <dl>
1055: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystatechange"><code>readystatechange</code></dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 1056:
1.62 avankest 1057: <dd>The <code title="">readystatechange</code> event is dispatched as
1058: indicated in the detailed algorithms above. The event <em class="ct">must
1059: not</em> bubble, <em class="ct">must not</em> be cancelable and
1060: <em class="ct">must</em> implement the <code>Event</code> interface. The
1061: event has no namespace (<code>Event.namespaceURI</code> is
1.40 avankest 1062: <code>null</code>). [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</dd>
1.1 avankest 1063: </dl>
1.32 avankest 1064:
1.31 avankest 1065: <h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1066: Object</h3>
1067:
1.32 avankest 1068: <pre class="idl">exception <dfn>XMLHttpRequestException</dfn> {
1.31 avankest 1069: unsigned short code;
1070: };
1071: const unsigned short <span>NETWORK_ERR</span> = 101;</pre>
1072:
1.33 avankest 1073: <p>The <dfn id="network-err"><code>NETWORK_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1074: thrown when a network error occurs in synchronous requests. See the section
1075: on <code>send()</code> for more details.</p>
1.11 avankest 1076:
1.29 avankest 1077: <h2 class="no-num" id="notcovered">Not in this Specification</h2>
1078:
1079: <p><em>This section is non normative.</em></p>
1080:
1.44 avankest 1081: <p>This specification does not include the following features that may or
1082: may not be implemented by user agents:</p>
1.29 avankest 1083:
1084: <ul>
1085: <li><code>load</code> event and <code>onload</code> attribute;</li>
1086: <li><code>error</code> event and <code>onerror</code> attribute;</li>
1087: <li><code>progress</code> event and <code>onprogress</code> attribute;</li>
1088: <li><code title="">abort</code> event and <code>onabort</code> attribute;</li>
1089: <li>Timers have been suggested, perhaps an <code>ontimeout</code>
1090: attribute;</li>
1091: <li>Property to disable following redirects;</li>
1.30 avankest 1092: <li><code title="">responseXML</code> for <code>text/html</code>
1093: documents;</li>
1.40 avankest 1094: <li>Cross-site <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>;</li>
1095: <li>Deal with byte streams;</li>
1096: <li><code>getRequestHeader</code> and
1097: <code>removeRequestHeader</code>.</li>
1.29 avankest 1098: </ul>
1099:
1.1 avankest 1100: <h2 class="no-num" id="bibref">References</h2>
1.11 avankest 1101:
1.6 avankest 1102: <dl>
1.37 avankest 1103: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3">DOM3Core</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1104:
1.11 avankest 1105: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core">Document Object
1106: Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a></cite>, A. Le Hors, P. Le
1107: Hégaret, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne, editors.
1108: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2004.</dd>
1109:
1.37 avankest 1110: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3EV">DOM3Events</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1111:
1.1 avankest 1112: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Events/">Document Object
1.11 avankest 1113: Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification</a></cite>, Björn Höhrmann, editor.
1114: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2006.</dd>
1115:
1.37 avankest 1116: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-ecmascript">ECMAScript</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1117:
1.14 avankest 1118: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm">ECMAScript
1119: Language Specification</a></cite>, Third Edition. ECMA, December 1999.</dd>
1120:
1.37 avankest 1121: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2046">RFC2046</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1122:
1.19 avankest 1123: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2046">Multipurpose Internet Mail
1124: Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types</a></cite>, N. Freed, N. Borenstein,
1125: editors. IETF, November 1996.</dd>
1.14 avankest 1126:
1.37 avankest 1127: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2119">RFC2119</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1128:
1.11 avankest 1129: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119">RFC 2119: Key words
1130: for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels</a></cite>, S. Bradner.
1131: IETF, March 1997.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1132:
1.37 avankest 1133: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2616">RFC2616</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1134:
1.11 avankest 1135: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer Protocol
1136: -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H. Frystyk, L.
1137: Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF, June 1999</dd>
1.12 avankest 1138:
1.37 avankest 1139: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2617">RFC2617</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1140:
1.11 avankest 1141: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617">HTTP Authentication: Basic
1.14 avankest 1142: and Digest Access Authentication</a></cite>, ...</dd>
1.12 avankest 1143:
1.37 avankest 1144: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2965">RFC2965</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1145:
1.19 avankest 1146: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965">HTTP State Management
1147: Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, October
1148: 2000.</dd>
1149:
1.37 avankest 1150: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc3986">RFC3986</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1151:
1.11 avankest 1152: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986">Uniform Resource Identifier
1153: (URI): Generic Syntax</a></cite>, T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter,
1154: editors. IETF, January 2005.</dd>
1.28 avankest 1155:
1.37 avankest 1156: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-window">Window</dfn>]</dt>
1.28 avankest 1157:
1158: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/Window/">Window Object
1159: 1.0</a></cite>, I. Davis, M. Stachowiak, editors. W3C, April 2006.</dd>
1.41 avankest 1160:
1161: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xml">XML</dfn>]</dt>
1162:
1163: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/">Extensible
1164: Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, J. Paoli,
1165: C. Sperberg-McQueen, E. Maler, F. Yergeau. W3C, September 2006.</dd>
1166:
1167: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xmlns">XMLNS</dfn>]</dt>
1168:
1169: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/">Namespaces in
1170: XML (Second Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, D. Hollander, A. Layman, R.
1171: Tobin. W3C, August 2006.</dd>
1.1 avankest 1172: </dl>
1.11 avankest 1173:
1.1 avankest 1174: <h2 class="no-num" id="acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</h2>
1.11 avankest 1175:
1.1 avankest 1176: <p><em>This section is non-normative</em></p>
1.12 avankest 1177:
1.7 avankest 1178: <p>The editor would like to thank to the following people who have contributed
1.33 avankest 1179: to this specification (ordered by first name):</p>
1.12 avankest 1180:
1.1 avankest 1181: <ul>
1.22 avankest 1182: <li>Alex Hopmann</li>
1.7 avankest 1183: <li>Alex Vincent</li>
1.15 avankest 1184: <li>Alexey Proskuryakov</li>
1.1 avankest 1185: <li>Asbjørn Ulsberg</li>
1186: <li>Boris Zbarsky</li>
1187: <li>Björn Höhrmann</li>
1188: <li>Cameron McCormack</li>
1189: <li>Christophe Jolif</li>
1190: <li>Charles McCathieNevile</li>
1.54 avankest 1191: <li>Dan Winship</li>
1.1 avankest 1192: <li>Dean Jackson</li>
1193: <li>Doug Schepers</li>
1194: <li>Douglas Livingstone</li>
1195: <li>Gorm Haug Eriksen</li>
1196: <li>Hallvord R. M. Steen</li>
1197: <li>Håkon Wium Lie</li>
1198: <li>Ian Davis</li>
1199: <li>Ian Hickson</li>
1200: <li>Ivan Herman</li>
1201: <li>Jens Lindström</li>
1202: <li>Jim Deegan</li>
1203: <li>Jim Ley</li>
1204: <li>Jonas Sicking</li>
1205: <li>Julian Reschke</li>
1206: <li>Karl Dubost</li>
1207: <li>Maciej Stachowiak</li>
1.7 avankest 1208: <li>Magnus Kristiansen</li>
1.1 avankest 1209: <li>Marc Hadley</li>
1.53 avankest 1210: <li>Marcos Caceres</li>
1.1 avankest 1211: <li>Mark Nottingham</li>
1212: <li>Pawel Glowacki</li>
1213: <li>Robin Berjon</li>
1214: <li>Ruud Steltenpool</li>
1.33 avankest 1215: <li>Simon Pieters</li>
1.1 avankest 1216: </ul>
1.12 avankest 1217:
1.1 avankest 1218: <p>Special thanks to the Microsoft employees who first implemented the
1.22 avankest 1219: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface, which was first widely deployed by the
1220: Windows Internet Explorer browser.</p>
1.12 avankest 1221:
1.54 avankest 1222: <p>Special thanks also to the WHATWG for drafting an initial version of this
1.22 avankest 1223: specification in their Web Applications 1.0 document.</p>
1.12 avankest 1224:
1.1 avankest 1225: <p>Thanks also to all those who have helped to improve this specification by
1.22 avankest 1226: sending suggestions and corrections. (Please, keep bugging us with your
1227: issues!)</p>
1.1 avankest 1228: </body>
1229: </html>
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