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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>
1.64 avankest 271: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">should</em> support some version of XML.
272: If they don't support some version of XML <code>responseXML</code>
1.41 avankest 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">
1.65 avankest 325: <p>If <var><code>win</code></var> is a <code title="">Window</code> object
326: <var><code>client</code></var> will have a pointer to
327: <var><code>win</code></var> in the following example:</p>
1.58 avankest 328:
1.65 avankest 329: <pre><code>var client = new win.XMLHttpRequest()</code></pre>
1.58 avankest 330: </div>
1.12 avankest 331:
1.58 avankest 332: <pre class="idl">interface <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</dfn> {
333: // event handler
1.70 ! avankest 334: attribute EventListener <span>onreadystatechange</span>;
1.58 avankest 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;
1.70 ! avankest 342: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>readyState</span>;
1.58 avankest 343:
344: // request
1.70 ! 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>);
! 349: void <span>setRequestHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>, in DOMString <var>value</var>);
! 350: void <span>send</span>();
! 351: void <span>send</span>(in DOMString <var>data</var>);
! 352: void <span>send</span>(in Document <var>data</var>);
! 353: void <span>abort</span>();
1.58 avankest 354:
355: // response
1.70 ! avankest 356: DOMString <span>getAllResponseHeaders</span>();
! 357: DOMString <span>getResponseHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>);
! 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>
1.68 avankest 449: <!-- WebKit (and supposedly Firefox) also uppercase: CONNECT, COPY,
450: INDEX, LOCK, M-POST, MKCOL, MOVE, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, TRACE and UNLOCK.
451: Not sure if TRACE and CONNECT are worth it though. They raise a
452: SECURITY_ERR exception anyway... -->
1.58 avankest 453:
454: <li><p>Drop the fragment identifier (if any) from <var>url</var> and let
455: <var>stored url</var> be the result of that operation.</p></li>
456:
457: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> is a relative reference it
458: <em class="ct">must</em> be resolved using the current value of the
459: <code>baseURI</code> attribute of the <code>Document</code> object
460: currently associated with the <span><code>Window</code> pointer</span>.
461: If this fails the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
462: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
463:
464: <li><p>If the <code>"user:password"</code> format in the
465: <code>userinfo</code> production defined in section 3.2.1 of RFC 3986 is
466: not supported for the relevant scheme and <var>stored url</var> contains
467: this format the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> throw a
1.69 avankest 468: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
469: [<cite><span>RFC3986</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.58 avankest 470:
471: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> contains the <code>"user:password"</code>
472: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part and <var>stored
473: password</var> be the password part.</p></li>
474:
475: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> just contains the <code>"user"</code>
476: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part.</p></li>
477:
1.69 avankest 478: <li>
479: <p>If <var>stored url</var> is non same-origin the user agent
480: <em class="ct">should</em> raise a <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception
481: and abort these steps.</p>
482: <p class="note">This specification does not define what constitutes as
483: non same-origin.<!-- reference HTML5? --></p>
484: </li>
1.58 avankest 485:
486: <li><p>Let <var>async</var> be the value of the <var>async</var> argument
487: or <code>false</code> if it was omitted.</p></li>
488:
489: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
490: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
491: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
492: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 493:
1.58 avankest 494: <li>
495: <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is not
496: <code>null</code> let <var>stored user</var> be <var>user</var> encoded
497: using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication scheme or
498: UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p>
1.14 avankest 499:
1.58 avankest 500: <p class="note">This step overrides any user that may have been set by
501: the <var>url</var> argument.</p>
502: </li>
1.16 avankest 503:
1.58 avankest 504: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is
505: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored user</var>.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 506:
1.58 avankest 507: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
508: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
509: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
510: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
511:
512: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is not
513: <code>null</code> let <var>stored password</var> be <var>password</var>
514: encoded using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication
515: scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p></li>
516:
517: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is
518: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored password</var>.</p></li>
519:
520: <li><p>Set <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
521: <code>status</code> and <code>statusText</code> to their initial
522: values and reset the list of request headers.<p></li>
523:
1.60 avankest 524: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
525: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 526: <!-- we can hardly require it... -->
527:
528: <li><p>Switch the object to the <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>
529: state; the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously
530: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort
531: these steps (returning the method call).</p></li>
532: </ol>
1.14 avankest 533:
1.19 avankest 534: <p class="note">A future version or extension of this specification will
1.33 avankest 535: most likely define a way of doing cross-site requests.</p>
1.1 avankest 536: </dd>
1.12 avankest 537:
1.14 avankest 538: <dt><dfn id="dfn-setrequestheader" title="setrequestheader"><code>setRequestHeader(<var>header</var>,
1.22 avankest 539: <var>value</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 540:
1.5 avankest 541: <dd>
1.45 avankest 542: <p>Each request has a list of request headers with associated values. This
543: method can be used to manipulate those values and set new request
544: headers.</p>
545:
1.58 avankest 546: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
547: following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 548:
1.58 avankest 549: <ol>
550: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
551: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
552: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
553: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
554:
555: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is set the user agent
556: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
557: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 558:
1.58 avankest 559: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 560: <dfn><code>field-name</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.70 ! avankest 561: of RFC 2616 or is <code>null</code> the user agent
! 562: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these
! 563: steps. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
! 564:
! 565: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument is <code>null</code> the user
! 566: agent <em class="ct">must</em> abort these steps. (Don't raise an
! 567: exception.)</li>
! 568: <!-- undefined is to be treated as null here... -->
! 569:
1.58 avankest 570: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 571: <dfn><code>field-value</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.58 avankest 572: of RFC 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
573: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
574: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.14 avankest 575:
1.32 avankest 576: <li>
1.58 avankest 577: <p>For security reasons these steps <em class="ct">should</em> be
578: aborted if the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches one
579: of the following headers:</p>
580:
1.32 avankest 581: <ul>
582: <li><code>Accept-Charset</code></li>
583: <li><code>Accept-Encoding</code></li>
1.68 avankest 584: <li><code>Connection</code></li>
1.32 avankest 585: <li><code>Content-Length</code></li>
1.68 avankest 586: <li><code>Content-Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
587: <li><code>Date</code></li>
1.32 avankest 588: <li><code>Expect</code></li>
589: <li><code>Host</code></li>
590: <li><code>Keep-Alive</code></li>
591: <li><code>Referer</code></li>
592: <li><code>TE</code></li>
593: <li><code>Trailer</code></li>
594: <li><code>Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
595: <li><code>Upgrade</code></li>
1.68 avankest 596: <li><code>Via</code></li>
1.32 avankest 597: </ul>
598: </li>
1.5 avankest 599:
1.59 avankest 600: <!--
1.58 avankest 601: <li>
602: <p>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches one of
603: the following headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> set the
604: value of that HTTP header to <var>value</var> and abort these steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 605:
1.58 avankest 606: <ul>
607: <li><code>Apply-To-Redirect-Ref</code></li>
608: <li><code>Authorization</code></li>
609: <li><code>C-Ext</code></li>
610: <li><code>Content-Base</code></li>
611: <li><code>Content-Location</code></li>
612: <li><code>Content-MD5</code></li>
613: <li><code>Content-Range</code></li>
614: <li><code>Content-Type</code></li>
615: <li><code>Content-Version</code></li>
616: <li><code>Cookie</code></li>
617: <li><code>Cookie2</code></li>
618: <li><code>Delta-Base</code></li>
619: <li><code>Depth</code></li>
620: <li><code>Destination</code></li>
621: <li><code>ETag</code></li>
622: <li><code>Ext</code></li>
623: <li><code>From</code></li>
624: <li><code>If</code></li>
625: <li><code>If-Modified-Since</code></li>
626: <li><code>If-Range</code></li>
627: <li><code>If-Unmodified-Since</code></li>
628: <li><code>Label</code></li>
629: <li><code>Lock-Token</code></li>
630: <li><code>Max-Forwards</code></li>
631: <li><code>MIME-Version</code></li>
632: <li><code>Ordering-Type</code></li>
633: <li><code>Overwrite</code></li>
634: <li><code>Proxy-Authorization</code></li>
635: <li><code>Redirect-Ref</code></li>
636: <li><code>SOAPAction</code></li>
637: <li><code>Status-URI</code></li>
638: <li><code>Timeout</code></li>
639: </ul>
640: </li>
1.59 avankest 641: -->
1.44 avankest 642:
1.58 avankest 643: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is not in the list of request
644: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> append the
645: <var>header</var> with its associated <var>value</var> to the list and
646: abort these steps.</p></li>
647:
648: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is in the list of request
649: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> either use multiple
650: headers, combine the values or use a combination of those (section 4.2,
1.66 avankest 651: RFC 2616). [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.58 avankest 652: </ol>
1.45 avankest 653:
654: <p class="note">See also the <code>send()</code> method regarding user
655: agent header handling for caching, authentication, proxies, and cookies.</p>
1.14 avankest 656:
657: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 658: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.14 avankest 659: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
660: client.open('GET', 'demo.cgi');
661: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'one');
662: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'two');
663: client.send();
664:
665: // ...would result in the following header being sent:
666: ...
667: X-Test: one, two
1.58 avankest 668: ...</code></pre>
1.14 avankest 669: </div>
670:
1.13 avankest 671: <p>The list of request headers <em class="ct">must</em> be reset when the
1.22 avankest 672: <code>open()</code> method is invoked.</p>
1.5 avankest 673: </dd>
1.12 avankest 674:
1.14 avankest 675: <dt><dfn id="dfn-send" title="send"><code>send(<var>data</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 676: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 677:
1.17 avankest 678: <dd>
1.58 avankest 679: <p>The <code>send()</code> method initiates the request and its optional
680: argument <em class="ct">may</em> be used by scripts to provide the entity
681: body. When the argument is provided scripts <em class="ct">should</em>
682: ensure that they have specified (before invoking <code>send()</code>) the
1.60 avankest 683: <code>Content-Type</code> header via <code>setRequestHeader()</code>.</p>
1.58 avankest 684:
685: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
686: following steps:</p>
687:
688: <ol>
689: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
690: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
691: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
692: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
693:
694: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is set the user agent
695: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
696: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
697:
698: <li>
699: <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has not been omitted and is not
700: <code>null</code> it <em class="ct">must</em> be used for the
701: <dfn id="dfn-entity-body">entity body</dfn> as defined by section 7.2 of
702: RFC 2616. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>].</p>
703:
704: <dl>
705: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>DOMString</code></dt>
706:
707: <dd><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be encoded as UTF-8 for
708: transmission.</dd>
709:
710: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>Document</code>
711:
712: <dd>
713: <p><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be serialized into a
714: namespace well-formed XML document and encoded using the encoding
715: given by <code><var>data</var>.xmlEncoding</code>, if specified, or
716: UTF-8 otherwise. If this fails because the <code>Document</code>
717: cannot be serialized the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> act as if
718: <var>data</var> was <code>null</code>.</p>
719:
720: <p>If no <code>Content-Type</code> header has been set by the script
721: the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> set append it to the list of
722: request headers with a value of <code>application/xml</code>.</p>
723:
724: <p class="note">Subsequent changes to the <code>Document</code> have
725: no effect on what is submitted.</p>
726: </dd>
727:
728: <dt><var>data</var> is not a <code>DOMString</code> or
729: <code>Document</code></dt>
730:
731: <dd>The stringification mechanisms of the host language
732: <em class="ct">must</em> be used on <var>data</var> and the result
733: <em class="ct">must</em> be treated as if <var>data</var> is a
734: <code>DOMString</code>.</dd>
735: </dl>
736:
737: <p>If the data argument has been omitted or is <code>null</code> no
738: entity body <em class="ct">must</em> be used in the request.</p>
739: </li>
740:
741: <li><p>Make a request to <var>stored url</var> using
742: <var>stored method</var>, <var>stored user</var> (if provided) and
743: <var>stored password</var> (if provided) taking into account the entity
744: body, list of request headers and the rules listed directly after this
745: set of steps.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 746:
1.67 avankest 747: <li>
748: <p>The user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously
749: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p>
750:
751: <p class="note">The state of the object doesn't actually change, but the
752: event is dispatched for historical reasons.</p>
753: </li>
754:
1.58 avankest 755: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> the user agent
756: <em class="ct">must</em> set the <dfn><code>send()</code> flag</dfn>,
757: directly unset it when the state changes and return the
758: <code>send()</code> method call. (Don't abort the steps in the algorithm
759: though.)</p></li>
760:
761: <li><p>If the request has been successfully acknowledged switch the
762: state to <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>; the user agent
763: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
764: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
1.67 avankest 765: <!-- IE does this regardless of the async value -->
1.58 avankest 766:
767: <li><p>If all HTTP headers have been receieved, immediately before
768: receiving the message body (if any), switch the state to
769: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span>; the user agent
770: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
771: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
1.67 avankest 772: <!-- IE does this regardless of the async value -->
1.58 avankest 773:
774: <li>
775: <p>If the response is an HTTP redirect (status code <code>301</code>,
776: <code>302</code>, <code>303</code> or <code>307</code>), then it
777: <em class="ct">must</em> be transparently followed (unless it violates
778: security, infinite loop precautions or the scheme isn't supported).</p>
1.60 avankest 779:
1.58 avankest 780: <p class="note">HTTP places requirements on the user agent regarding the
781: preservation of the request method and entity body during redirects, and
782: also requires users to be notified of certain kinds of automatic
783: redirections.</p>
784: <!-- Arguably HTTP should be fixed for the latter case. No browser
785: follows that as far as I know. -->
786: </li>
1.60 avankest 787:
1.58 avankest 788: <li>
789: <p>If something goes wrong (infinite loop, network errors) the user
790: agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the following set of steps:</p>
1.60 avankest 791:
1.58 avankest 792: <ol>
793: <li><p>Set <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
794: <code>status</code> and <code>statusText</code> to their initial
795: values and reset the list of request headers.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 796:
1.58 avankest 797: <li><p>Switch the state to
798: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 799:
1.58 avankest 800: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> the user agent
801: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>NETWORK_ERR</code> exception.
802: (Don't abort these steps.)</p></li>
1.60 avankest 803:
1.58 avankest 804: <li><p>Synchronously dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on
805: the object.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 806:
1.58 avankest 807: <li><p>Abort the overall algorithm.</p></li>
808: </ol>
1.60 avankest 809:
1.58 avankest 810: <p class="note">In future versions of this specification the user agent
811: will be required to dispatch an <code>error</code> event if the above
812: occurs.</p>
813: </li>
814:
815: <li><p>When the request has successfully completed loading, switch the
816: state to <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>; the user agent
817: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
818: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort these
819: steps (and return the method call in case of <var>async</var> being
820: <code>false</code>).</p></li>
821: </ol>
1.14 avankest 822:
1.8 avankest 823: <p>If the user agent allows the specification of a proxy it
1.22 avankest 824: <em class="ct">should</em> modify the request appropriately;
1.42 avankest 825: <abbr title="in other words">i.e.</abbr>, connect to the proxy host
826: instead of the origin server, modify the <code>Request-Line</code> and
827: send <code>Proxy-Authorization</code> headers as specified.</p>
1.12 avankest 828:
1.42 avankest 829: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP Authentication it
1.22 avankest 830: <em class="ct">should</em> consider requests originating from this object
1.42 avankest 831: to be part of the protection space that includes the accessed URIs and
832: send <code>Authorization</code> headers and handle <code>401
833: Unauthorised</code> requests appropriately. if authentication fails, user
834: agents <em class="ct">should</em> prompt the users for credentials.
835: [<cite><span>RFC2617</span></cite>]</p>
836:
1.57 avankest 837: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP State Management it
1.42 avankest 838: <em class="ct">should</em> persist, discard and send cookies (as received
839: in the <code>Set-Cookie</code> and <code>Set-Cookie2</code> response
840: headers, and sent in the <code>Cookie</code> header) as applicable.
841: [<cite><span>RFC2965</span></cite>]</p>
842:
843: <p>If the user agent implements a HTTP cache it <em class="ct">should</em>
844: respect <code>Cache-Control</code> request headers set by the script
845: (<abbr title="for example">e.g.</abbr>, <code>Cache-Control:
846: no-cache</code> bypasses the cache). It <em class="ct">must not</em> send
847: <code>Cache-Control</code> or <code>Pragma</code> request headers
848: automatically unless the user explicitly requests such behaviour
849: (<abbr>e.g.</abbr>, by (force-)reloading the page). <code>304 Not
1.22 avankest 850: Modified</code> responses that are a result of a user agent generated
851: conditional request <em class="ct">must</em> be presented as <code>200
1.57 avankest 852: OK</code> responses with the appropriate content. The user agent
1.39 avankest 853: <em class="ct">must</em> allow scripts to override automatic cache
1.22 avankest 854: validation by setting request headers (e.g., <code>If-None-Match</code>,
1.42 avankest 855: <code>If-Modified-Since</code>), in which case <code>304 Not
856: Modified</code> responses <em class="ct">must</em> be passed through.
857: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 858:
1.8 avankest 859: <p>If the user agent implements server-driven content-negotiation
1.42 avankest 860: it <em class="ct">should</em> set <code>Accept-Language</code>,
1.22 avankest 861: <code>Accept-Encoding</code> and <code>Accept-Charset</code> headers as
862: appropriate; it <em class="ct">must not</em> automatically set the
863: <code>Accept</code> header. Responses to such requests
1.40 avankest 864: <em class="ct">must</em> have the content-codings automatically
1.42 avankest 865: decoded. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.8 avankest 866: </dd>
1.12 avankest 867:
1.14 avankest 868: <dt><dfn id="dfn-abort"><code>abort()</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 869:
1.5 avankest 870: <dd>
1.60 avankest 871: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
872: steps:</p>
873:
874: <ol>
875: <li><p>Set the <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
876: <code>status</code> and <code>responseText</code> attributes to their
877: initial value as well as removing any registered request
878: headers.</p></li>
879:
880: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
881: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
882:
1.67 avankest 883: <li>Switch the state to <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>; the
884: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
885: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</li>
886:
1.60 avankest 887: <li>
888: <p>Switch the state to
889: <span title="UNINITIALIZED state">UNINITIALIZED</span>. (Don't dispatch
890: the <code>readystatechange</code> event.)</p>
891:
892: <p class="note">It's likely that a future version of the
893: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> will dispatch an <code title="">abort</code>
894: event here.</p>
895: </li>
896: </ol>
1.5 avankest 897: </dd>
1.12 avankest 898:
1.14 avankest 899: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getallresponseheaders"><code>getAllResponseHeaders()</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 900: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 901:
1.5 avankest 902: <dd>
1.60 avankest 903: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
1.58 avankest 904: the following steps:</p>
905:
906: <ol>
1.63 avankest 907: <li>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
908: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 909: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
910: exception and abort these steps.</li>
911:
912: <li>The user agent <em class="ct">must</em> return all the HTTP headers,
913: as a single string, with each header line separated by a U+000D CR U+000A
914: LF pair excluding the status line.</li>
915: </ol>
1.24 avankest 916:
1.5 avankest 917: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 918: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.5 avankest 919: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 920: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 921: client.send();
1.12 avankest 922: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 923: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.12 avankest 924: print(this.getAllResponseHeaders());
925: }
926: }
1.5 avankest 927:
928: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
929: Date: 2004年10月24日 04:58:38 GMT
930: Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix)
931: Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
932: Connection: Keep-Alive
933: Transfer-Encoding: chunked
1.58 avankest 934: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.5 avankest 935: </div>
936: </dd>
1.12 avankest 937:
1.18 avankest 938: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getresponseheader" title="getresponseheader"><code>getResponseHeader(<var>header</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 939: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 940:
1.1 avankest 941: <dd>
1.58 avankest 942: <p>When the method is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
943: the following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 944:
1.58 avankest 945: <ol>
1.63 avankest 946: <li>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
947: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 948: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
949: exception and abort these steps.</li>
950:
951: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
952: <span><code>field-name</code> production</span> the user agent
953: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
954: abort these steps.</li>
955:
956: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches multiple
957: HTTP headers for the last request sent the user agent
958: <em class="ct">must</em> return the values of these headers as a single
959: concatenated string separated from each other by an U+OO2C COMMA followed
960: by an U+0020 SPACE and abort these steps.</li>
961:
962: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches a single
963: HTTP header for the last request sent the user agent
964: <em class="ct">must</em> return the value of that header and abort these
965: steps.</li>
966:
967: <li>The method <em class="ct">must</em> return <code>null</code>.</li>
968: </ol>
1.12 avankest 969:
1.1 avankest 970: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 971: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.1 avankest 972: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 973: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 974: client.send();
1.12 avankest 975: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 976: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.14 avankest 977: print(client.getResponseHeader("Content-Type"));
1.12 avankest 978: }
979: }
1.1 avankest 980:
1.5 avankest 981: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.58 avankest 982: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 983: </div>
1.5 avankest 984: </dd>
1.12 avankest 985:
1.5 avankest 986: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsetext"><code>responseText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 987: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 988:
1.5 avankest 989: <dd>
1.63 avankest 990: <p>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
991: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>, the user agent
1.40 avankest 992: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
993: exception. Otherwise, if there's no <span>entity body</span> this
994: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>. If there is, it
995: <em class="ct">must</em> be the fragment of the <span>entity body</span>
996: received so far (when the state is
1.63 avankest 997: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span>) or the complete
1.40 avankest 998: <span>entity body</span> (when the state is
1.63 avankest 999: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>), interpreted as a stream of
1.40 avankest 1000: characters.</p>
1.12 avankest 1001:
1.50 avankest 1002: <p>If the response includes a MIME type understood by the user agent the
1003: characters <em class="ct">must</em> be decoded following the relevant MIME
1004: type specification. If the user agent cannot derive a character stream in
1005: accord with the media type specification, <code>responseText</code>
1006: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 1007:
1.40 avankest 1008: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be the
1009: <code>null</code>.</p>
1.5 avankest 1010: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1011:
1.5 avankest 1012: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsexml"><code>responseXML</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1013: <code>Document</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1014:
1.8 avankest 1015: <dd>
1.63 avankest 1016: <p>If the state is not <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>, user
1.40 avankest 1017: agents <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1018: exception. Otherwise, if there's no <span>entity body</span> this
1019: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>. If there is, and
1020: the <code>Content-Type</code> header contains a media type (ignoring any
1021: parameters) that is either <code>text/xml</code>,
1.61 avankest 1022: <code>application/xml</code>, or ends in <code title="">+xml</code>, it
1.22 avankest 1023: <em class="ct">must</em> be an object that implements the
1024: <code>Document</code> interface representing the parsed document. If
1025: <code>Content-Type</code> did not contain such a media type, or if the
1.45 avankest 1026: document could not be parsed (due to an XML namespace well-formedness
1027: error or unsupported character encoding, for instance), it
1028: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 1029:
1.8 avankest 1030: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.5 avankest 1031: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1032:
1.22 avankest 1033: <dt><dfn id="dfn-status"><code>status</code></dfn> of type <code>unsigned
1034: short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1035:
1.5 avankest 1036: <dd>
1037: <p>If the <code>status</code> attribute is not available an
1.40 avankest 1038: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception <em class="ct">must</em> be
1039: raised. It <em class="ct">must</em> be available when the state is
1.63 avankest 1040: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
1041: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>. When available, it
1.25 avankest 1042: <em class="ct">must</em> represent the HTTP status code (typically
1.39 avankest 1043: <code>200</code> for a successful request).</p>
1.27 avankest 1044:
1.8 avankest 1045: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>0</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 1046: </dd>
1047:
1.5 avankest 1048: <dt><dfn id="dfn-statustext"><code>statusText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1049: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1050:
1.5 avankest 1051: <dd>
1052: <p>If the <code>statusText</code> attribute is not available an
1.40 avankest 1053: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception <em class="ct">must</em> be
1054: raised. It <em class="ct">must</em> be available when the state is
1.63 avankest 1055: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
1056: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>). When available, it
1.25 avankest 1057: <em class="ct">must</em> represent the HTTP status text sent by the server
1058: (appears after the status code).</p>
1.21 avankest 1059:
1.8 avankest 1060: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be the empty string.</p>
1.1 avankest 1061: </dd>
1062: </dl>
1.12 avankest 1063:
1.54 avankest 1064: <!--
1.1 avankest 1065: <p>HTTP requests sent from multiple different <code>XMLHttpRequest</code>
1.40 avankest 1066: objects in succession <em class="ct">should</em> use a shared HTTP
1067: connection.</p>
1.54 avankest 1068: -->
1.12 avankest 1069:
1.31 avankest 1070: <h3 id="events">Events for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1071: Object</h3>
1.12 avankest 1072:
1.1 avankest 1073: <p>These sections describe the various events that can be dispatched on the
1.22 avankest 1074: object implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface. For this
1075: version of the specification only one event is defined.</p>
1.12 avankest 1076:
1.1 avankest 1077: <dl>
1078: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystatechange"><code>readystatechange</code></dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 1079:
1.62 avankest 1080: <dd>The <code title="">readystatechange</code> event is dispatched as
1081: indicated in the detailed algorithms above. The event <em class="ct">must
1082: not</em> bubble, <em class="ct">must not</em> be cancelable and
1083: <em class="ct">must</em> implement the <code>Event</code> interface. The
1084: event has no namespace (<code>Event.namespaceURI</code> is
1.40 avankest 1085: <code>null</code>). [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</dd>
1.1 avankest 1086: </dl>
1.32 avankest 1087:
1.31 avankest 1088: <h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1089: Object</h3>
1090:
1.32 avankest 1091: <pre class="idl">exception <dfn>XMLHttpRequestException</dfn> {
1.31 avankest 1092: unsigned short code;
1093: };
1094: const unsigned short <span>NETWORK_ERR</span> = 101;</pre>
1095:
1.33 avankest 1096: <p>The <dfn id="network-err"><code>NETWORK_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1097: thrown when a network error occurs in synchronous requests. See the section
1098: on <code>send()</code> for more details.</p>
1.11 avankest 1099:
1.29 avankest 1100: <h2 class="no-num" id="notcovered">Not in this Specification</h2>
1101:
1102: <p><em>This section is non normative.</em></p>
1103:
1.44 avankest 1104: <p>This specification does not include the following features that may or
1105: may not be implemented by user agents:</p>
1.29 avankest 1106:
1107: <ul>
1108: <li><code>load</code> event and <code>onload</code> attribute;</li>
1109: <li><code>error</code> event and <code>onerror</code> attribute;</li>
1110: <li><code>progress</code> event and <code>onprogress</code> attribute;</li>
1111: <li><code title="">abort</code> event and <code>onabort</code> attribute;</li>
1112: <li>Timers have been suggested, perhaps an <code>ontimeout</code>
1113: attribute;</li>
1114: <li>Property to disable following redirects;</li>
1.30 avankest 1115: <li><code title="">responseXML</code> for <code>text/html</code>
1116: documents;</li>
1.40 avankest 1117: <li>Cross-site <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>;</li>
1118: <li>Deal with byte streams;</li>
1119: <li><code>getRequestHeader</code> and
1120: <code>removeRequestHeader</code>.</li>
1.29 avankest 1121: </ul>
1122:
1.1 avankest 1123: <h2 class="no-num" id="bibref">References</h2>
1.11 avankest 1124:
1.6 avankest 1125: <dl>
1.37 avankest 1126: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3">DOM3Core</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1127:
1.11 avankest 1128: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core">Document Object
1129: Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a></cite>, A. Le Hors, P. Le
1130: Hégaret, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne, editors.
1131: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2004.</dd>
1132:
1.37 avankest 1133: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3EV">DOM3Events</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1134:
1.1 avankest 1135: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Events/">Document Object
1.11 avankest 1136: Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification</a></cite>, Björn Höhrmann, editor.
1137: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2006.</dd>
1138:
1.37 avankest 1139: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-ecmascript">ECMAScript</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1140:
1.14 avankest 1141: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm">ECMAScript
1142: Language Specification</a></cite>, Third Edition. ECMA, December 1999.</dd>
1143:
1.37 avankest 1144: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2046">RFC2046</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1145:
1.19 avankest 1146: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2046">Multipurpose Internet Mail
1147: Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types</a></cite>, N. Freed, N. Borenstein,
1148: editors. IETF, November 1996.</dd>
1.14 avankest 1149:
1.37 avankest 1150: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2119">RFC2119</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1151:
1.11 avankest 1152: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119">RFC 2119: Key words
1153: for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels</a></cite>, S. Bradner.
1154: IETF, March 1997.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1155:
1.37 avankest 1156: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2616">RFC2616</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1157:
1.11 avankest 1158: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer Protocol
1159: -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H. Frystyk, L.
1160: Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF, June 1999</dd>
1.12 avankest 1161:
1.37 avankest 1162: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2617">RFC2617</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1163:
1.11 avankest 1164: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617">HTTP Authentication: Basic
1.14 avankest 1165: and Digest Access Authentication</a></cite>, ...</dd>
1.12 avankest 1166:
1.37 avankest 1167: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2965">RFC2965</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1168:
1.19 avankest 1169: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965">HTTP State Management
1170: Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, October
1171: 2000.</dd>
1172:
1.37 avankest 1173: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc3986">RFC3986</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1174:
1.11 avankest 1175: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986">Uniform Resource Identifier
1176: (URI): Generic Syntax</a></cite>, T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter,
1177: editors. IETF, January 2005.</dd>
1.28 avankest 1178:
1.37 avankest 1179: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-window">Window</dfn>]</dt>
1.28 avankest 1180:
1181: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/Window/">Window Object
1182: 1.0</a></cite>, I. Davis, M. Stachowiak, editors. W3C, April 2006.</dd>
1.41 avankest 1183:
1184: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xml">XML</dfn>]</dt>
1185:
1186: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/">Extensible
1187: Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, J. Paoli,
1188: C. Sperberg-McQueen, E. Maler, F. Yergeau. W3C, September 2006.</dd>
1189:
1190: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xmlns">XMLNS</dfn>]</dt>
1191:
1192: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/">Namespaces in
1193: XML (Second Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, D. Hollander, A. Layman, R.
1194: Tobin. W3C, August 2006.</dd>
1.1 avankest 1195: </dl>
1.11 avankest 1196:
1.1 avankest 1197: <h2 class="no-num" id="acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</h2>
1.11 avankest 1198:
1.1 avankest 1199: <p><em>This section is non-normative</em></p>
1.12 avankest 1200:
1.7 avankest 1201: <p>The editor would like to thank to the following people who have contributed
1.33 avankest 1202: to this specification (ordered by first name):</p>
1.12 avankest 1203:
1.1 avankest 1204: <ul>
1.22 avankest 1205: <li>Alex Hopmann</li>
1.7 avankest 1206: <li>Alex Vincent</li>
1.15 avankest 1207: <li>Alexey Proskuryakov</li>
1.1 avankest 1208: <li>Asbjørn Ulsberg</li>
1209: <li>Boris Zbarsky</li>
1210: <li>Björn Höhrmann</li>
1211: <li>Cameron McCormack</li>
1212: <li>Christophe Jolif</li>
1213: <li>Charles McCathieNevile</li>
1.54 avankest 1214: <li>Dan Winship</li>
1.1 avankest 1215: <li>Dean Jackson</li>
1216: <li>Doug Schepers</li>
1217: <li>Douglas Livingstone</li>
1218: <li>Gorm Haug Eriksen</li>
1219: <li>Hallvord R. M. Steen</li>
1220: <li>Håkon Wium Lie</li>
1221: <li>Ian Davis</li>
1222: <li>Ian Hickson</li>
1223: <li>Ivan Herman</li>
1224: <li>Jens Lindström</li>
1225: <li>Jim Deegan</li>
1226: <li>Jim Ley</li>
1227: <li>Jonas Sicking</li>
1228: <li>Julian Reschke</li>
1229: <li>Karl Dubost</li>
1230: <li>Maciej Stachowiak</li>
1.7 avankest 1231: <li>Magnus Kristiansen</li>
1.1 avankest 1232: <li>Marc Hadley</li>
1.53 avankest 1233: <li>Marcos Caceres</li>
1.1 avankest 1234: <li>Mark Nottingham</li>
1235: <li>Pawel Glowacki</li>
1236: <li>Robin Berjon</li>
1237: <li>Ruud Steltenpool</li>
1.33 avankest 1238: <li>Simon Pieters</li>
1.1 avankest 1239: </ul>
1.12 avankest 1240:
1.1 avankest 1241: <p>Special thanks to the Microsoft employees who first implemented the
1.22 avankest 1242: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface, which was first widely deployed by the
1243: Windows Internet Explorer browser.</p>
1.12 avankest 1244:
1.54 avankest 1245: <p>Special thanks also to the WHATWG for drafting an initial version of this
1.22 avankest 1246: specification in their Web Applications 1.0 document.</p>
1.12 avankest 1247:
1.1 avankest 1248: <p>Thanks also to all those who have helped to improve this specification by
1.22 avankest 1249: sending suggestions and corrections. (Please, keep bugging us with your
1250: issues!)</p>
1.1 avankest 1251: </body>
1252: </html>
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