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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
1.71 avankest 337: const unsigned short <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span> = 0;
1.58 avankest 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:
1.71 avankest 365: <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>,
1.58 avankest 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
1.71 avankest 373: <em class="ct">must</em> be in the UNSENT state. This state is represented
374: by the <dfn id="unsent" title="UNSENT state"><code>UNSENT</code></dfn>
1.58 avankest 375: constant, whose value is <code>0</code>.</p>
376:
377: <p>The OPEN state is the state of the object when the <code>open()</code>
378: method has been successfully invoked. During this state reqeust headers can
379: be set using <code>setRequestHeader()</code> and the request can be made
380: using <code>send()</code>. This state is represented by the
381: <dfn id="open" title="OPEN state"><code>OPEN</code></dfn> constant, whose
382: value is <code>1</code>.</p>
383:
384: <p>The SENT state is the state of the object when the user agent
385: successfully acknowledged the request. This state is represented by the
386: <dfn id="sent" title="SENT state"><code>SENT</code></dfn> constant, whose
387: value is <code>2</code>.</p>
388:
389: <p>The RECEIVING state is the state of the object when all HTTP headers have
390: been received. The object typically remains in this state until the complete
391: message body (if any) has been received. This state is represented by the
392: <dfn id="receiving" title="RECEIVING state"><code>RECEIVING</code></dfn>
393: constant, whose value is <code>3</code>.</p>
394:
395: <p>The LOADED state is the state of the object when either the data transfer
396: has been completed or something went wrong during the transfer (infinite
397: redirects for instance). This state is represented by the
398: <dfn id="loaded" title="LOADED state"><code>LOADED</code></dfn> constant,
399: whose value is <code>4</code>.</p>
400:
1.5 avankest 401: <dl>
1.12 avankest 402:
1.39 avankest 403: <dt><dfn id="dfn-onreadystatechange"><code>onreadystatechange</code></dfn>
404: of type <code>EventListener</code></dt>
1.12 avankest 405:
1.1 avankest 406: <dd>
407: <p>An attribute that takes an <code>EventListener</code> as value that
1.58 avankest 408: <em class="ct">must</em> be invoked along with any other appropriate event
409: listeners that are registered on this object when a
410: <code>readystatechange</code> event is dispatched on it. Its initial value
411: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.1 avankest 412: </dd>
1.12 avankest 413:
1.1 avankest 414: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystate"><code>readyState</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 415: <code>unsigned short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 416:
1.1 avankest 417: <dd>
1.58 avankest 418: <p>The attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be the value of the constant
419: corresponding to the object's current state.</p>
1.1 avankest 420: </dd>
1.12 avankest 421:
1.14 avankest 422: <dt><dfn id="dfn-open" title="open"><code>open(<var>method</var>,
1.22 avankest 423: <var>url</var>, <var>async</var>, <var>user</var>,
424: <var>password</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 425:
1.1 avankest 426: <dd>
1.58 avankest 427: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
428: following steps:</p>
429:
430: <ol>
431: <li><p>If the <var>method</var> argument doesn't match the
432: <dfn><code>Method</code> production</dfn> defined in section 5.1.1 of RFC
433: 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
434: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.
435: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
436:
437: <li><p>If the given <var>method</var> is not supported for security
438: reasons the user agent <em class="ct">should</em> raise a
439: <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
440:
441: <li><p>Let <var>stored method</var> be <var>method</var>.</p></li>
442:
443: <li><p>If <var>method</var> case-insensitively matches <code>GET</code>,
444: <code>POST</code>, <code>HEAD</code>, <code>PUT</code>,
445: <code>DELETE</code> or <code>OPTIONS</code> the user agent
1.72 ! avankest 446: <em class="ct">must</em> convert it to its uppercase equivalent and let
! 447: <var>stored method</var> be the result.</p></li>
1.68 avankest 448: <!-- WebKit (and supposedly Firefox) also uppercase: CONNECT, COPY,
449: INDEX, LOCK, M-POST, MKCOL, MOVE, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, TRACE and UNLOCK.
450: Not sure if TRACE and CONNECT are worth it though. They raise a
451: SECURITY_ERR exception anyway... -->
1.58 avankest 452:
453: <li><p>Drop the fragment identifier (if any) from <var>url</var> and let
454: <var>stored url</var> be the result of that operation.</p></li>
455:
456: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> is a relative reference it
457: <em class="ct">must</em> be resolved using the current value of the
458: <code>baseURI</code> attribute of the <code>Document</code> object
459: currently associated with the <span><code>Window</code> pointer</span>.
460: If this fails the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
461: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
462:
463: <li><p>If the <code>"user:password"</code> format in the
464: <code>userinfo</code> production defined in section 3.2.1 of RFC 3986 is
465: not supported for the relevant scheme and <var>stored url</var> contains
466: this format the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> throw a
1.69 avankest 467: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
468: [<cite><span>RFC3986</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.58 avankest 469:
470: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> contains the <code>"user:password"</code>
471: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part and <var>stored
472: password</var> be the password part.</p></li>
473:
474: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> just contains the <code>"user"</code>
475: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part.</p></li>
476:
1.69 avankest 477: <li>
478: <p>If <var>stored url</var> is non same-origin the user agent
479: <em class="ct">should</em> raise a <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception
480: and abort these steps.</p>
481: <p class="note">This specification does not define what constitutes as
1.71 avankest 482: non same-origin.<!-- XXX reference HTML5? --></p>
1.69 avankest 483: </li>
1.58 avankest 484:
485: <li><p>Let <var>async</var> be the value of the <var>async</var> argument
486: or <code>false</code> if it was omitted.</p></li>
487:
488: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
489: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
490: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
491: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 492:
1.58 avankest 493: <li>
494: <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is not
495: <code>null</code> let <var>stored user</var> be <var>user</var> encoded
496: using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication scheme or
497: UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p>
1.14 avankest 498:
1.58 avankest 499: <p class="note">This step overrides any user that may have been set by
500: the <var>url</var> argument.</p>
501: </li>
1.16 avankest 502:
1.58 avankest 503: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is
504: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored user</var>.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 505:
1.58 avankest 506: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
507: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
508: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
509: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
510:
511: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is not
512: <code>null</code> let <var>stored password</var> be <var>password</var>
513: encoded using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication
514: scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p></li>
515:
516: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is
517: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored password</var>.</p></li>
518:
519: <li><p>Set <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
520: <code>status</code> and <code>statusText</code> to their initial
521: values and reset the list of request headers.<p></li>
522:
1.60 avankest 523: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
524: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 525: <!-- we can hardly require it... -->
526:
527: <li><p>Switch the object to the <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>
528: state; the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously
529: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort
530: these steps (returning the method call).</p></li>
531: </ol>
1.14 avankest 532:
1.19 avankest 533: <p class="note">A future version or extension of this specification will
1.33 avankest 534: most likely define a way of doing cross-site requests.</p>
1.1 avankest 535: </dd>
1.12 avankest 536:
1.14 avankest 537: <dt><dfn id="dfn-setrequestheader" title="setrequestheader"><code>setRequestHeader(<var>header</var>,
1.22 avankest 538: <var>value</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 539:
1.5 avankest 540: <dd>
1.45 avankest 541: <p>Each request has a list of request headers with associated values. This
542: method can be used to manipulate those values and set new request
543: headers.</p>
544:
1.58 avankest 545: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
546: following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 547:
1.58 avankest 548: <ol>
549: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
550: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
551: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
552: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
553:
554: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is set the user agent
555: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
556: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 557:
1.58 avankest 558: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 559: <dfn><code>field-name</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.70 avankest 560: of RFC 2616 or is <code>null</code> the user agent
1.72 ! avankest 561: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
! 562: abort these steps. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.70 avankest 563:
564: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument is <code>null</code> the user
565: agent <em class="ct">must</em> abort these steps. (Don't raise an
566: exception.)</li>
567: <!-- undefined is to be treated as null here... -->
568:
1.58 avankest 569: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 570: <dfn><code>field-value</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.58 avankest 571: of RFC 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
572: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
573: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.14 avankest 574:
1.32 avankest 575: <li>
1.58 avankest 576: <p>For security reasons these steps <em class="ct">should</em> be
577: aborted if the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches one
578: of the following headers:</p>
579:
1.32 avankest 580: <ul>
581: <li><code>Accept-Charset</code></li>
582: <li><code>Accept-Encoding</code></li>
1.68 avankest 583: <li><code>Connection</code></li>
1.32 avankest 584: <li><code>Content-Length</code></li>
1.68 avankest 585: <li><code>Content-Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
586: <li><code>Date</code></li>
1.32 avankest 587: <li><code>Expect</code></li>
588: <li><code>Host</code></li>
589: <li><code>Keep-Alive</code></li>
590: <li><code>Referer</code></li>
591: <li><code>TE</code></li>
592: <li><code>Trailer</code></li>
593: <li><code>Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
594: <li><code>Upgrade</code></li>
1.68 avankest 595: <li><code>Via</code></li>
1.32 avankest 596: </ul>
597: </li>
1.5 avankest 598:
1.59 avankest 599: <!--
1.58 avankest 600: <li>
601: <p>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches one of
602: the following headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> set the
603: value of that HTTP header to <var>value</var> and abort these steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 604:
1.58 avankest 605: <ul>
606: <li><code>Apply-To-Redirect-Ref</code></li>
607: <li><code>Authorization</code></li>
608: <li><code>C-Ext</code></li>
609: <li><code>Content-Base</code></li>
610: <li><code>Content-Location</code></li>
611: <li><code>Content-MD5</code></li>
612: <li><code>Content-Range</code></li>
613: <li><code>Content-Type</code></li>
614: <li><code>Content-Version</code></li>
615: <li><code>Cookie</code></li>
616: <li><code>Cookie2</code></li>
617: <li><code>Delta-Base</code></li>
618: <li><code>Depth</code></li>
619: <li><code>Destination</code></li>
620: <li><code>ETag</code></li>
621: <li><code>Ext</code></li>
622: <li><code>From</code></li>
623: <li><code>If</code></li>
624: <li><code>If-Modified-Since</code></li>
625: <li><code>If-Range</code></li>
626: <li><code>If-Unmodified-Since</code></li>
627: <li><code>Label</code></li>
628: <li><code>Lock-Token</code></li>
629: <li><code>Max-Forwards</code></li>
630: <li><code>MIME-Version</code></li>
631: <li><code>Ordering-Type</code></li>
632: <li><code>Overwrite</code></li>
633: <li><code>Proxy-Authorization</code></li>
634: <li><code>Redirect-Ref</code></li>
635: <li><code>SOAPAction</code></li>
636: <li><code>Status-URI</code></li>
637: <li><code>Timeout</code></li>
638: </ul>
639: </li>
1.59 avankest 640: -->
1.44 avankest 641:
1.58 avankest 642: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is not in the list of request
643: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> append the
644: <var>header</var> with its associated <var>value</var> to the list and
645: abort these steps.</p></li>
646:
647: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is in the list of request
648: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> either use multiple
649: headers, combine the values or use a combination of those (section 4.2,
1.66 avankest 650: RFC 2616). [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.58 avankest 651: </ol>
1.45 avankest 652:
653: <p class="note">See also the <code>send()</code> method regarding user
1.71 avankest 654: agent header handling for caching, authentication, proxies, and
655: 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>
1.5 avankest 670: </dd>
1.12 avankest 671:
1.14 avankest 672: <dt><dfn id="dfn-send" title="send"><code>send(<var>data</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 673: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 674:
1.17 avankest 675: <dd>
1.58 avankest 676: <p>The <code>send()</code> method initiates the request and its optional
677: argument <em class="ct">may</em> be used by scripts to provide the entity
678: body. When the argument is provided scripts <em class="ct">should</em>
679: ensure that they have specified (before invoking <code>send()</code>) the
1.60 avankest 680: <code>Content-Type</code> header via <code>setRequestHeader()</code>.</p>
1.58 avankest 681:
682: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
683: following steps:</p>
684:
685: <ol>
686: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
687: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
688: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
689: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
690:
691: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is set the user agent
692: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
693: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
694:
695: <li>
696: <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has not been omitted and is not
697: <code>null</code> it <em class="ct">must</em> be used for the
698: <dfn id="dfn-entity-body">entity body</dfn> as defined by section 7.2 of
1.71 avankest 699: RFC 2616. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
700:
701: <p>The following rules <em class="ct">must</em> be followed by the user
702: agent:</p>
1.58 avankest 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
1.71 avankest 721: the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> append it to the list of
1.58 avankest 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:
1.71 avankest 741: <li><p>Make a request to <var>stored url</var>, using HTTP method
742: <var>stored method</var>, user <var>stored user</var> (if provided) and
743: password <var>stored password</var> (if provided), taking into account
744: the entity body, list of request headers and the rules listed directly
745: after this 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:
1.71 avankest 751: <p class="note">The state of the object doesn't actually change as the
1.67 avankest 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
1.72 ! avankest 833: Unauthorised</code> requests appropriately. If authentication fails, user
1.42 avankest 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>
1.71 avankest 888: <p>Switch the state to <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>. (Don't
889: dispatch the <code>readystatechange</code> event.)</p>
1.60 avankest 890:
891: <p class="note">It's likely that a future version of the
892: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> will dispatch an <code title="">abort</code>
893: event here.</p>
894: </li>
895: </ol>
1.5 avankest 896: </dd>
1.12 avankest 897:
1.14 avankest 898: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getallresponseheaders"><code>getAllResponseHeaders()</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 899: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 900:
1.5 avankest 901: <dd>
1.60 avankest 902: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
1.58 avankest 903: the following steps:</p>
904:
905: <ol>
1.63 avankest 906: <li>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
907: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 908: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
909: exception and abort these steps.</li>
910:
911: <li>The user agent <em class="ct">must</em> return all the HTTP headers,
912: as a single string, with each header line separated by a U+000D CR U+000A
913: LF pair excluding the status line.</li>
914: </ol>
1.24 avankest 915:
1.5 avankest 916: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 917: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.5 avankest 918: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 919: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 920: client.send();
1.12 avankest 921: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 922: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.12 avankest 923: print(this.getAllResponseHeaders());
924: }
925: }
1.5 avankest 926:
927: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
928: Date: 2004年10月24日 04:58:38 GMT
929: Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix)
930: Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
931: Connection: Keep-Alive
932: Transfer-Encoding: chunked
1.58 avankest 933: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.5 avankest 934: </div>
935: </dd>
1.12 avankest 936:
1.18 avankest 937: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getresponseheader" title="getresponseheader"><code>getResponseHeader(<var>header</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 938: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 939:
1.1 avankest 940: <dd>
1.58 avankest 941: <p>When the method is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
942: the following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 943:
1.58 avankest 944: <ol>
1.63 avankest 945: <li>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
946: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 947: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
948: exception and abort these steps.</li>
949:
950: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
951: <span><code>field-name</code> production</span> the user agent
952: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
953: abort these steps.</li>
954:
955: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches multiple
956: HTTP headers for the last request sent the user agent
957: <em class="ct">must</em> return the values of these headers as a single
958: concatenated string separated from each other by an U+OO2C COMMA followed
959: by an U+0020 SPACE and abort these steps.</li>
960:
961: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches a single
962: HTTP header for the last request sent the user agent
963: <em class="ct">must</em> return the value of that header and abort these
964: steps.</li>
965:
966: <li>The method <em class="ct">must</em> return <code>null</code>.</li>
967: </ol>
1.12 avankest 968:
1.1 avankest 969: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 970: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.1 avankest 971: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 972: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 973: client.send();
1.12 avankest 974: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 975: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.14 avankest 976: print(client.getResponseHeader("Content-Type"));
1.12 avankest 977: }
978: }
1.1 avankest 979:
1.5 avankest 980: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.58 avankest 981: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 982: </div>
1.5 avankest 983: </dd>
1.12 avankest 984:
1.5 avankest 985: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsetext"><code>responseText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 986: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 987:
1.5 avankest 988: <dd>
1.63 avankest 989: <p>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
990: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>, the user agent
1.40 avankest 991: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
992: exception. Otherwise, if there's no <span>entity body</span> this
993: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>. If there is, it
994: <em class="ct">must</em> be the fragment of the <span>entity body</span>
995: received so far (when the state is
1.63 avankest 996: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span>) or the complete
1.40 avankest 997: <span>entity body</span> (when the state is
1.63 avankest 998: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>), interpreted as a stream of
1.40 avankest 999: characters.</p>
1.12 avankest 1000:
1.50 avankest 1001: <p>If the response includes a MIME type understood by the user agent the
1002: characters <em class="ct">must</em> be decoded following the relevant MIME
1003: type specification. If the user agent cannot derive a character stream in
1004: accord with the media type specification, <code>responseText</code>
1005: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 1006:
1.40 avankest 1007: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be the
1008: <code>null</code>.</p>
1.5 avankest 1009: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1010:
1.5 avankest 1011: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsexml"><code>responseXML</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1012: <code>Document</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1013:
1.8 avankest 1014: <dd>
1.63 avankest 1015: <p>If the state is not <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>, user
1.40 avankest 1016: agents <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1017: exception. Otherwise, if there's no <span>entity body</span> this
1018: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>. If there is, and
1019: the <code>Content-Type</code> header contains a media type (ignoring any
1020: parameters) that is either <code>text/xml</code>,
1.61 avankest 1021: <code>application/xml</code>, or ends in <code title="">+xml</code>, it
1.22 avankest 1022: <em class="ct">must</em> be an object that implements the
1023: <code>Document</code> interface representing the parsed document. If
1024: <code>Content-Type</code> did not contain such a media type, or if the
1.45 avankest 1025: document could not be parsed (due to an XML namespace well-formedness
1026: error or unsupported character encoding, for instance), it
1027: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 1028:
1.8 avankest 1029: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.5 avankest 1030: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1031:
1.22 avankest 1032: <dt><dfn id="dfn-status"><code>status</code></dfn> of type <code>unsigned
1033: short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1034:
1.5 avankest 1035: <dd>
1.72 ! avankest 1036: <p>On getting, if available, it <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP
! 1037: status code sent by the server (typically <code>200</code> for a
! 1038: successful request). Otherwise, if not available, the user agent
! 1039: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
! 1040: exception.</p>
1.12 avankest 1041: </dd>
1042:
1.5 avankest 1043: <dt><dfn id="dfn-statustext"><code>statusText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1044: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1045:
1.5 avankest 1046: <dd>
1.72 ! avankest 1047: <p>On getting, if available, it <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP
! 1048: status text sent by the server (appears after the status code). Otherwise,
! 1049: if not available, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an
! 1050: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
1.1 avankest 1051: </dd>
1052: </dl>
1.12 avankest 1053:
1.31 avankest 1054: <h3 id="events">Events for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1055: Object</h3>
1.12 avankest 1056:
1.1 avankest 1057: <p>These sections describe the various events that can be dispatched on the
1.22 avankest 1058: object implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface. For this
1059: version of the specification only one event is defined.</p>
1.12 avankest 1060:
1.1 avankest 1061: <dl>
1062: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystatechange"><code>readystatechange</code></dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 1063:
1.72 ! avankest 1064: <dd>When the user agent dispatches a <code title="">readystatechange</code>
! 1065: event (as indicated above) it <em class="ct">must not</em> bubble,
! 1066: <em class="ct">must not</em> be cancelable and <em class="ct">must</em>
! 1067: implement the <code>Event</code> interface. Its <code>namespaceURI</code>
! 1068: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.
! 1069: [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</dd>
1.1 avankest 1070: </dl>
1.32 avankest 1071:
1.31 avankest 1072: <h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1073: Object</h3>
1074:
1.32 avankest 1075: <pre class="idl">exception <dfn>XMLHttpRequestException</dfn> {
1.31 avankest 1076: unsigned short code;
1077: };
1078: const unsigned short <span>NETWORK_ERR</span> = 101;</pre>
1079:
1.33 avankest 1080: <p>The <dfn id="network-err"><code>NETWORK_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1081: thrown when a network error occurs in synchronous requests. See the section
1082: on <code>send()</code> for more details.</p>
1.11 avankest 1083:
1.29 avankest 1084: <h2 class="no-num" id="notcovered">Not in this Specification</h2>
1085:
1086: <p><em>This section is non normative.</em></p>
1087:
1.72 ! avankest 1088: <p>This specification does not include the following features which are
! 1089: being considered for a future version of this specification:</p>
1.29 avankest 1090:
1091: <ul>
1092: <li><code>load</code> event and <code>onload</code> attribute;</li>
1093: <li><code>error</code> event and <code>onerror</code> attribute;</li>
1094: <li><code>progress</code> event and <code>onprogress</code> attribute;</li>
1095: <li><code title="">abort</code> event and <code>onabort</code> attribute;</li>
1096: <li>Timers have been suggested, perhaps an <code>ontimeout</code>
1097: attribute;</li>
1098: <li>Property to disable following redirects;</li>
1.30 avankest 1099: <li><code title="">responseXML</code> for <code>text/html</code>
1100: documents;</li>
1.40 avankest 1101: <li>Cross-site <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>;</li>
1102: <li>Deal with byte streams;</li>
1103: <li><code>getRequestHeader</code> and
1104: <code>removeRequestHeader</code>.</li>
1.29 avankest 1105: </ul>
1106:
1.1 avankest 1107: <h2 class="no-num" id="bibref">References</h2>
1.11 avankest 1108:
1.6 avankest 1109: <dl>
1.37 avankest 1110: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3">DOM3Core</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1111:
1.11 avankest 1112: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core">Document Object
1113: Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a></cite>, A. Le Hors, P. Le
1114: Hégaret, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne, editors.
1115: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2004.</dd>
1116:
1.37 avankest 1117: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3EV">DOM3Events</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1118:
1.1 avankest 1119: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Events/">Document Object
1.11 avankest 1120: Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification</a></cite>, Björn Höhrmann, editor.
1121: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2006.</dd>
1122:
1.37 avankest 1123: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-ecmascript">ECMAScript</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1124:
1.14 avankest 1125: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm">ECMAScript
1126: Language Specification</a></cite>, Third Edition. ECMA, December 1999.</dd>
1127:
1.37 avankest 1128: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2046">RFC2046</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1129:
1.19 avankest 1130: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2046">Multipurpose Internet Mail
1131: Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types</a></cite>, N. Freed, N. Borenstein,
1132: editors. IETF, November 1996.</dd>
1.14 avankest 1133:
1.37 avankest 1134: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2119">RFC2119</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1135:
1.11 avankest 1136: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119">RFC 2119: Key words
1137: for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels</a></cite>, S. Bradner.
1138: IETF, March 1997.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1139:
1.37 avankest 1140: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2616">RFC2616</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1141:
1.11 avankest 1142: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer Protocol
1143: -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H. Frystyk, L.
1144: Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF, June 1999</dd>
1.12 avankest 1145:
1.37 avankest 1146: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2617">RFC2617</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1147:
1.11 avankest 1148: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617">HTTP Authentication: Basic
1.14 avankest 1149: and Digest Access Authentication</a></cite>, ...</dd>
1.12 avankest 1150:
1.37 avankest 1151: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2965">RFC2965</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1152:
1.19 avankest 1153: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965">HTTP State Management
1154: Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, October
1155: 2000.</dd>
1156:
1.37 avankest 1157: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc3986">RFC3986</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1158:
1.11 avankest 1159: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986">Uniform Resource Identifier
1160: (URI): Generic Syntax</a></cite>, T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter,
1161: editors. IETF, January 2005.</dd>
1.28 avankest 1162:
1.37 avankest 1163: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-window">Window</dfn>]</dt>
1.28 avankest 1164:
1165: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/Window/">Window Object
1166: 1.0</a></cite>, I. Davis, M. Stachowiak, editors. W3C, April 2006.</dd>
1.41 avankest 1167:
1168: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xml">XML</dfn>]</dt>
1169:
1170: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/">Extensible
1171: Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, J. Paoli,
1172: C. Sperberg-McQueen, E. Maler, F. Yergeau. W3C, September 2006.</dd>
1173:
1174: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xmlns">XMLNS</dfn>]</dt>
1175:
1176: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/">Namespaces in
1177: XML (Second Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, D. Hollander, A. Layman, R.
1178: Tobin. W3C, August 2006.</dd>
1.1 avankest 1179: </dl>
1.11 avankest 1180:
1.1 avankest 1181: <h2 class="no-num" id="acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</h2>
1.11 avankest 1182:
1.1 avankest 1183: <p><em>This section is non-normative</em></p>
1.12 avankest 1184:
1.7 avankest 1185: <p>The editor would like to thank to the following people who have contributed
1.33 avankest 1186: to this specification (ordered by first name):</p>
1.12 avankest 1187:
1.1 avankest 1188: <ul>
1.22 avankest 1189: <li>Alex Hopmann</li>
1.7 avankest 1190: <li>Alex Vincent</li>
1.15 avankest 1191: <li>Alexey Proskuryakov</li>
1.1 avankest 1192: <li>Asbjørn Ulsberg</li>
1193: <li>Boris Zbarsky</li>
1194: <li>Björn Höhrmann</li>
1195: <li>Cameron McCormack</li>
1196: <li>Christophe Jolif</li>
1197: <li>Charles McCathieNevile</li>
1.54 avankest 1198: <li>Dan Winship</li>
1.72 ! avankest 1199: <li>David Håsäther</li>
1.1 avankest 1200: <li>Dean Jackson</li>
1201: <li>Doug Schepers</li>
1202: <li>Douglas Livingstone</li>
1203: <li>Gorm Haug Eriksen</li>
1204: <li>Hallvord R. M. Steen</li>
1205: <li>Håkon Wium Lie</li>
1206: <li>Ian Davis</li>
1207: <li>Ian Hickson</li>
1208: <li>Ivan Herman</li>
1209: <li>Jens Lindström</li>
1210: <li>Jim Deegan</li>
1211: <li>Jim Ley</li>
1212: <li>Jonas Sicking</li>
1213: <li>Julian Reschke</li>
1214: <li>Karl Dubost</li>
1215: <li>Maciej Stachowiak</li>
1.7 avankest 1216: <li>Magnus Kristiansen</li>
1.1 avankest 1217: <li>Marc Hadley</li>
1.53 avankest 1218: <li>Marcos Caceres</li>
1.1 avankest 1219: <li>Mark Nottingham</li>
1220: <li>Pawel Glowacki</li>
1221: <li>Robin Berjon</li>
1222: <li>Ruud Steltenpool</li>
1.33 avankest 1223: <li>Simon Pieters</li>
1.1 avankest 1224: </ul>
1.12 avankest 1225:
1.1 avankest 1226: <p>Special thanks to the Microsoft employees who first implemented the
1.22 avankest 1227: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface, which was first widely deployed by the
1228: Windows Internet Explorer browser.</p>
1.12 avankest 1229:
1.54 avankest 1230: <p>Special thanks also to the WHATWG for drafting an initial version of this
1.22 avankest 1231: specification in their Web Applications 1.0 document.</p>
1.12 avankest 1232:
1.1 avankest 1233: <p>Thanks also to all those who have helped to improve this specification by
1.22 avankest 1234: sending suggestions and corrections. (Please, keep bugging us with your
1235: issues!)</p>
1.1 avankest 1236: </body>
1237: </html>
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