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4: <title>The XMLHttpRequest Object</title>
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1.58 avankest 20: <!--<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/W3C-WD">-->
1.1 avankest 21: </head>
22: <body>
23: <div class="head">
24: <p><a href="http://www.w3.org/"><img height="48" width="72" alt="W3C" src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_home"></a></p>
1.12 avankest 25:
1.10 avankest 26: <h1 class="head">The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h1>
1.12 avankest 27:
1.53 avankest 28: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="pagesubtitle">Editor's draft<!--W3C Working Draft--> [DATE: 3 August 2002]</h2>
1.12 avankest 29:
1.1 avankest 30: <dl>
1.10 avankest 31: <dt>This Version:</dt>
1.24 avankest 32:
1.47 avankest 33: <dd><a href="[VERSION]/">http://www.w3.org/TR/[YEAR]/WD-XMLHttpRequest-[CDATE]/</a></dd>
1.14 avankest 34:
1.10 avankest 35: <dt>Latest Version:</dt>
1.24 avankest 36:
1.1 avankest 37: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest/">http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest/</a></dd>
1.14 avankest 38:
1.10 avankest 39: <dt>Previous Versions:</dt>
1.24 avankest 40:
1.58 avankest 41: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070227/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070227/</a></dd>
42:
1.22 avankest 43: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060927/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060927/</a></dd>
1.24 avankest 44:
1.1 avankest 45: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060619/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060619/</a></dd>
1.24 avankest 46:
1.1 avankest 47: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/</a></dd>
1.14 avankest 48:
1.1 avankest 49: <dt>Editor:</dt>
1.24 avankest 50:
1.1 avankest 51: <dd><a href="http://annevankesteren.nl/">Anne van Kesteren</a>
52: (<a href="http://www.opera.com/">Opera Software ASA</a>)
53: <<a href="mailto:annevk@opera.com">annevk@opera.com</a>></dd>
54: </dl>
1.14 avankest 55:
1.1 avankest 56: <p class="copyright"><a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Copyright">Copyright</a>
1.51 avankest 57: © 2007
58: <a href="http://www.w3.org/"><acronym title="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</acronym></a><sup>®</sup>
59: (<a href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/"><acronym title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology">MIT</acronym></a>,
60: <a href="http://www.ercim.org/"><acronym title="European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics">ERCIM</acronym></a>,
61: <a href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/">Keio</a>), All Rights Reserved. W3C
62: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Legal_Disclaimer">liability</a>,
63: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#W3C_Trademarks">trademark</a>
64: and
65: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-documents">document
66: use</a> rules apply.</p>
1.1 avankest 67: </div>
1.12 avankest 68:
1.1 avankest 69: <hr>
1.12 avankest 70:
1.1 avankest 71: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="specabstract">Abstract</h2>
1.10 avankest 72:
1.22 avankest 73: <p>The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object specification defines an
74: <abbr title="Application Programming Interface">API</abbr> that provides
75: scripted client functionality for transferring data between a client and a
76: server.</p>
1.12 avankest 77:
1.1 avankest 78: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="sotd">Status of this Document</h2>
1.12 avankest 79:
1.1 avankest 80: <p><em>This section describes the status of this document at the time of its
1.36 avankest 81: publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current
82: W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be
83: found in the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/">W3C technical reports index</a>
84: at http://www.w3.org/TR/.</em></p>
85:
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
1.73 ! avankest 252: <em class="ct">must</em> at least support the following methods:</p>
1.58 avankest 253:
254: <ul>
255: <li><code>GET</code></li>
256: <li><code>POST</code></li>
257: <li><code>HEAD</code></li>
258: <li><code>PUT</code></li>
259: <li><code>DELETE</code></li>
260: <li><code>OPTIONS</code></li>
261: </ul>
262:
263: <p>Other requirements regarding HTTP are made throughout the
1.39 avankest 264: specification. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 265: </dd>
1.41 avankest 266:
267: <dt>XML</dt>
268:
269: <dd>
1.64 avankest 270: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">should</em> support some version of XML.
271: If they don't support some version of XML <code>responseXML</code>
1.41 avankest 272: <em class="ct">must</em> always be <code>null</code>.
273: [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>] [<cite><span>XMLNS</span></cite>]</p>
274: </dd>
1.29 avankest 275: </dl>
1.12 avankest 276:
1.1 avankest 277: <h3 id="extensibility">Extensibility</h3>
1.12 avankest 278:
279: <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em></p>
280:
1.25 avankest 281: <p>Extensions of the APIs defined by this specification are <em>strongly
1.22 avankest 282: discouraged</em>. User agents, Working Groups and other interested parties
1.33 avankest 283: should discuss extensions on a relevant public forum, preferably
1.22 avankest 284: <a href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 285:
286: <h2 id="xmlhttprequest">The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h2>
287:
1.58 avankest 288: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be used by scripts to
1.22 avankest 289: programmatically connect to their originating server via HTTP.</p>
1.12 avankest 290:
1.1 avankest 291: <p>Objects implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface
1.22 avankest 292: <em class="ct">must</em> also implement the <code>EventTarget</code>
1.58 avankest 293: interface. [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 294:
1.58 avankest 295: <p>Objects implementing the <code title="">Window</code> interface
296: <em class="ct">must</em> provide an <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code>
297: constructor. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 298:
1.1 avankest 299: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 300: <p>In ECMAScript this can be used as follows:</p>
301: <!-- [<cite><span>ECMAScript</span></cite>] -->
302:
303: <pre><code>var client = new XMLHttpRequest();</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 304: </div>
1.12 avankest 305:
1.58 avankest 306: <p>When the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code> constructor is invoked a
307: persistent pointer to the associated <code title="">Window</code> object
308: <em class="ct">must</em> be stored on the newly created object. This is the
1.25 avankest 309: <dfn title="Window pointer" id="window-pointer"><code>Window</code>
1.58 avankest 310: pointer</dfn>. The associated <code title="">Window</code> object is the one
311: of which the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> constructor was
312: invoked. This <span title="Window pointer">pointer</span>
1.25 avankest 313: <em class="ct">must</em> persist even if the browsing context in which the
1.37 avankest 314: <code title="">Window</code> is located is destroyed (by removing it from a
315: parent browsing context, for instance).</p>
1.25 avankest 316:
1.37 avankest 317: <p>The term browsing context is defined by the <cite>Window Object
318: 1.0</cite> specification. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.27 avankest 319:
320: <!-- XXX if the document object changes in the browsing context you get an
1.33 avankest 321: exception in some implementations. -->
1.27 avankest 322:
1.58 avankest 323: <div class="example">
1.65 avankest 324: <p>If <var><code>win</code></var> is a <code title="">Window</code> object
325: <var><code>client</code></var> will have a pointer to
326: <var><code>win</code></var> in the following example:</p>
1.58 avankest 327:
1.65 avankest 328: <pre><code>var client = new win.XMLHttpRequest()</code></pre>
1.58 avankest 329: </div>
1.12 avankest 330:
1.58 avankest 331: <pre class="idl">interface <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</dfn> {
332: // event handler
1.70 avankest 333: attribute EventListener <span>onreadystatechange</span>;
1.58 avankest 334:
335: // state
1.71 avankest 336: const unsigned short <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span> = 0;
1.58 avankest 337: const unsigned short <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> = 1;
338: const unsigned short <span title="SENT state">SENT</span> = 2;
339: const unsigned short <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> = 3;
340: const unsigned short <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span> = 4;
1.70 avankest 341: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>readyState</span>;
1.58 avankest 342:
343: // request
1.70 avankest 344: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>);
345: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>);
346: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>, in DOMString <var>user</var>);
347: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>, in DOMString <var>user</var>, in DOMString <var>password</var>);
348: void <span>setRequestHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>, in DOMString <var>value</var>);
349: void <span>send</span>();
350: void <span>send</span>(in DOMString <var>data</var>);
351: void <span>send</span>(in Document <var>data</var>);
352: void <span>abort</span>();
1.58 avankest 353:
354: // response
1.70 avankest 355: DOMString <span>getAllResponseHeaders</span>();
356: DOMString <span>getResponseHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>);
357: readonly attribute DOMString <span>responseText</span>;
358: readonly attribute Document <span>responseXML</span>;
359: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>status</span>;
360: readonly attribute DOMString <span>statusText</span>;
1.1 avankest 361: };</pre>
1.8 avankest 362:
1.58 avankest 363: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be in five states:
1.71 avankest 364: <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>,
1.58 avankest 365: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>, <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>,
366: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> and
367: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>. The current state is exposed
368: through the <code>readyState</code> attribute. The method definitions below
1.63 avankest 369: define when a state transition takes place.</p>
1.58 avankest 370:
371: <p>When constructed, the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object
1.71 avankest 372: <em class="ct">must</em> be in the UNSENT state. This state is represented
373: by the <dfn id="unsent" title="UNSENT state"><code>UNSENT</code></dfn>
1.58 avankest 374: constant, whose value is <code>0</code>.</p>
375:
376: <p>The OPEN state is the state of the object when the <code>open()</code>
377: method has been successfully invoked. During this state reqeust headers can
378: be set using <code>setRequestHeader()</code> and the request can be made
379: using <code>send()</code>. This state is represented by the
380: <dfn id="open" title="OPEN state"><code>OPEN</code></dfn> constant, whose
381: value is <code>1</code>.</p>
382:
383: <p>The SENT state is the state of the object when the user agent
384: successfully acknowledged the request. This state is represented by the
385: <dfn id="sent" title="SENT state"><code>SENT</code></dfn> constant, whose
386: value is <code>2</code>.</p>
387:
388: <p>The RECEIVING state is the state of the object when all HTTP headers have
389: been received. The object typically remains in this state until the complete
390: message body (if any) has been received. This state is represented by the
391: <dfn id="receiving" title="RECEIVING state"><code>RECEIVING</code></dfn>
392: constant, whose value is <code>3</code>.</p>
393:
394: <p>The LOADED state is the state of the object when either the data transfer
395: has been completed or something went wrong during the transfer (infinite
396: redirects for instance). This state is represented by the
397: <dfn id="loaded" title="LOADED state"><code>LOADED</code></dfn> constant,
398: whose value is <code>4</code>.</p>
399:
1.5 avankest 400: <dl>
1.12 avankest 401:
1.39 avankest 402: <dt><dfn id="dfn-onreadystatechange"><code>onreadystatechange</code></dfn>
403: of type <code>EventListener</code></dt>
1.12 avankest 404:
1.1 avankest 405: <dd>
406: <p>An attribute that takes an <code>EventListener</code> as value that
1.58 avankest 407: <em class="ct">must</em> be invoked along with any other appropriate event
408: listeners that are registered on this object when a
409: <code>readystatechange</code> event is dispatched on it. Its initial value
410: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.1 avankest 411: </dd>
1.12 avankest 412:
1.1 avankest 413: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystate"><code>readyState</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 414: <code>unsigned short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 415:
1.1 avankest 416: <dd>
1.58 avankest 417: <p>The attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be the value of the constant
418: corresponding to the object's current state.</p>
1.1 avankest 419: </dd>
1.12 avankest 420:
1.14 avankest 421: <dt><dfn id="dfn-open" title="open"><code>open(<var>method</var>,
1.22 avankest 422: <var>url</var>, <var>async</var>, <var>user</var>,
423: <var>password</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 424:
1.1 avankest 425: <dd>
1.58 avankest 426: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
427: following steps:</p>
428:
429: <ol>
430: <li><p>If the <var>method</var> argument doesn't match the
431: <dfn><code>Method</code> production</dfn> defined in section 5.1.1 of RFC
432: 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
433: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.
434: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
435:
436: <li><p>If the given <var>method</var> is not supported for security
437: reasons the user agent <em class="ct">should</em> raise a
438: <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
439:
440: <li><p>Let <var>stored method</var> be <var>method</var>.</p></li>
441:
442: <li><p>If <var>method</var> case-insensitively matches <code>GET</code>,
443: <code>POST</code>, <code>HEAD</code>, <code>PUT</code>,
444: <code>DELETE</code> or <code>OPTIONS</code> the user agent
1.72 avankest 445: <em class="ct">must</em> convert it to its uppercase equivalent and let
446: <var>stored method</var> be the result.</p></li>
1.68 avankest 447: <!-- WebKit (and supposedly Firefox) also uppercase: CONNECT, COPY,
448: INDEX, LOCK, M-POST, MKCOL, MOVE, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, TRACE and UNLOCK.
449: Not sure if TRACE and CONNECT are worth it though. They raise a
450: SECURITY_ERR exception anyway... -->
1.58 avankest 451:
452: <li><p>Drop the fragment identifier (if any) from <var>url</var> and let
453: <var>stored url</var> be the result of that operation.</p></li>
454:
455: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> is a relative reference it
456: <em class="ct">must</em> be resolved using the current value of the
457: <code>baseURI</code> attribute of the <code>Document</code> object
458: currently associated with the <span><code>Window</code> pointer</span>.
459: If this fails the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
460: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
461:
462: <li><p>If the <code>"user:password"</code> format in the
463: <code>userinfo</code> production defined in section 3.2.1 of RFC 3986 is
464: not supported for the relevant scheme and <var>stored url</var> contains
465: this format the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> throw a
1.69 avankest 466: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
467: [<cite><span>RFC3986</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.58 avankest 468:
469: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> contains the <code>"user:password"</code>
470: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part and <var>stored
471: password</var> be the password part.</p></li>
472:
473: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> just contains the <code>"user"</code>
474: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part.</p></li>
475:
1.69 avankest 476: <li>
477: <p>If <var>stored url</var> is non same-origin the user agent
478: <em class="ct">should</em> raise a <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception
479: and abort these steps.</p>
480: <p class="note">This specification does not define what constitutes as
1.71 avankest 481: non same-origin.<!-- XXX reference HTML5? --></p>
1.69 avankest 482: </li>
1.58 avankest 483:
484: <li><p>Let <var>async</var> be the value of the <var>async</var> argument
485: or <code>false</code> if it was omitted.</p></li>
486:
487: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
488: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
489: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
490: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 491:
1.58 avankest 492: <li>
493: <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is not
494: <code>null</code> let <var>stored user</var> be <var>user</var> encoded
495: using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication scheme or
496: UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p>
1.14 avankest 497:
1.58 avankest 498: <p class="note">This step overrides any user that may have been set by
499: the <var>url</var> argument.</p>
500: </li>
1.16 avankest 501:
1.58 avankest 502: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is
503: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored user</var>.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 504:
1.58 avankest 505: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
506: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
507: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
508: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
509:
510: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is not
511: <code>null</code> let <var>stored password</var> be <var>password</var>
512: encoded using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication
513: scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p></li>
514:
515: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is
516: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored password</var>.</p></li>
517:
518: <li><p>Set <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
519: <code>status</code> and <code>statusText</code> to their initial
520: values and reset the list of request headers.<p></li>
521:
1.60 avankest 522: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
523: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 524: <!-- we can hardly require it... -->
525:
526: <li><p>Switch the object to the <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>
527: state; the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously
528: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort
529: these steps (returning the method call).</p></li>
530: </ol>
1.14 avankest 531:
1.19 avankest 532: <p class="note">A future version or extension of this specification will
1.33 avankest 533: most likely define a way of doing cross-site requests.</p>
1.1 avankest 534: </dd>
1.12 avankest 535:
1.14 avankest 536: <dt><dfn id="dfn-setrequestheader" title="setrequestheader"><code>setRequestHeader(<var>header</var>,
1.22 avankest 537: <var>value</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 538:
1.5 avankest 539: <dd>
1.45 avankest 540: <p>Each request has a list of request headers with associated values. This
541: method can be used to manipulate those values and set new request
542: headers.</p>
543:
1.58 avankest 544: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
545: following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 546:
1.58 avankest 547: <ol>
548: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
549: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
550: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
551: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
552:
553: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is set the user agent
554: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
555: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 556:
1.58 avankest 557: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 558: <dfn><code>field-name</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.70 avankest 559: of RFC 2616 or is <code>null</code> the user agent
1.72 avankest 560: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
561: abort these steps. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.70 avankest 562:
563: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument is <code>null</code> the user
564: agent <em class="ct">must</em> abort these steps. (Don't raise an
565: exception.)</li>
566: <!-- undefined is to be treated as null here... -->
567:
1.58 avankest 568: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 569: <dfn><code>field-value</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.58 avankest 570: of RFC 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
571: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
572: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.14 avankest 573:
1.32 avankest 574: <li>
1.58 avankest 575: <p>For security reasons these steps <em class="ct">should</em> be
576: aborted if the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches one
577: of the following headers:</p>
578:
1.32 avankest 579: <ul>
580: <li><code>Accept-Charset</code></li>
581: <li><code>Accept-Encoding</code></li>
1.68 avankest 582: <li><code>Connection</code></li>
1.32 avankest 583: <li><code>Content-Length</code></li>
1.68 avankest 584: <li><code>Content-Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
585: <li><code>Date</code></li>
1.32 avankest 586: <li><code>Expect</code></li>
587: <li><code>Host</code></li>
588: <li><code>Keep-Alive</code></li>
589: <li><code>Referer</code></li>
590: <li><code>TE</code></li>
591: <li><code>Trailer</code></li>
592: <li><code>Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
593: <li><code>Upgrade</code></li>
1.68 avankest 594: <li><code>Via</code></li>
1.32 avankest 595: </ul>
596: </li>
1.5 avankest 597:
1.59 avankest 598: <!--
1.58 avankest 599: <li>
600: <p>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches one of
601: the following headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> set the
602: value of that HTTP header to <var>value</var> and abort these steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 603:
1.58 avankest 604: <ul>
605: <li><code>Apply-To-Redirect-Ref</code></li>
606: <li><code>Authorization</code></li>
607: <li><code>C-Ext</code></li>
608: <li><code>Content-Base</code></li>
609: <li><code>Content-Location</code></li>
610: <li><code>Content-MD5</code></li>
611: <li><code>Content-Range</code></li>
612: <li><code>Content-Type</code></li>
613: <li><code>Content-Version</code></li>
614: <li><code>Cookie</code></li>
615: <li><code>Cookie2</code></li>
616: <li><code>Delta-Base</code></li>
617: <li><code>Depth</code></li>
618: <li><code>Destination</code></li>
619: <li><code>ETag</code></li>
620: <li><code>Ext</code></li>
621: <li><code>From</code></li>
622: <li><code>If</code></li>
623: <li><code>If-Modified-Since</code></li>
624: <li><code>If-Range</code></li>
625: <li><code>If-Unmodified-Since</code></li>
626: <li><code>Label</code></li>
627: <li><code>Lock-Token</code></li>
628: <li><code>Max-Forwards</code></li>
629: <li><code>MIME-Version</code></li>
630: <li><code>Ordering-Type</code></li>
631: <li><code>Overwrite</code></li>
632: <li><code>Proxy-Authorization</code></li>
633: <li><code>Redirect-Ref</code></li>
634: <li><code>SOAPAction</code></li>
635: <li><code>Status-URI</code></li>
636: <li><code>Timeout</code></li>
637: </ul>
638: </li>
1.59 avankest 639: -->
1.44 avankest 640:
1.58 avankest 641: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is not in the list of request
642: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> append the
643: <var>header</var> with its associated <var>value</var> to the list and
644: abort these steps.</p></li>
645:
646: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is in the list of request
647: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> either use multiple
648: headers, combine the values or use a combination of those (section 4.2,
1.66 avankest 649: RFC 2616). [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.58 avankest 650: </ol>
1.45 avankest 651:
652: <p class="note">See also the <code>send()</code> method regarding user
1.71 avankest 653: agent header handling for caching, authentication, proxies, and
654: cookies.</p>
1.14 avankest 655:
656: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 657: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.14 avankest 658: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
659: client.open('GET', 'demo.cgi');
660: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'one');
661: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'two');
662: client.send();
663:
664: // ...would result in the following header being sent:
665: ...
666: X-Test: one, two
1.58 avankest 667: ...</code></pre>
1.14 avankest 668: </div>
1.5 avankest 669: </dd>
1.12 avankest 670:
1.14 avankest 671: <dt><dfn id="dfn-send" title="send"><code>send(<var>data</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 672: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 673:
1.17 avankest 674: <dd>
1.58 avankest 675: <p>The <code>send()</code> method initiates the request and its optional
676: argument <em class="ct">may</em> be used by scripts to provide the entity
677: body. When the argument is provided scripts <em class="ct">should</em>
678: ensure that they have specified (before invoking <code>send()</code>) the
1.60 avankest 679: <code>Content-Type</code> header via <code>setRequestHeader()</code>.</p>
1.58 avankest 680:
681: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
682: following steps:</p>
683:
684: <ol>
685: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
686: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
687: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
688: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
689:
690: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is set 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>
695: <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has not been omitted and is not
696: <code>null</code> it <em class="ct">must</em> be used for the
697: <dfn id="dfn-entity-body">entity body</dfn> as defined by section 7.2 of
1.71 avankest 698: RFC 2616. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
699:
700: <p>The following rules <em class="ct">must</em> be followed by the user
701: agent:</p>
1.58 avankest 702:
703: <dl>
704: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>DOMString</code></dt>
705:
706: <dd><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be encoded as UTF-8 for
707: transmission.</dd>
708:
709: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>Document</code>
710:
711: <dd>
712: <p><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be serialized into a
713: namespace well-formed XML document and encoded using the encoding
714: given by <code><var>data</var>.xmlEncoding</code>, if specified, or
715: UTF-8 otherwise. If this fails because the <code>Document</code>
716: cannot be serialized the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> act as if
717: <var>data</var> was <code>null</code>.</p>
718:
719: <p>If no <code>Content-Type</code> header has been set by the script
1.71 avankest 720: the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> append it to the list of
1.58 avankest 721: request headers with a value of <code>application/xml</code>.</p>
722:
723: <p class="note">Subsequent changes to the <code>Document</code> have
724: no effect on what is submitted.</p>
725: </dd>
726:
727: <dt><var>data</var> is not a <code>DOMString</code> or
728: <code>Document</code></dt>
729:
730: <dd>The stringification mechanisms of the host language
731: <em class="ct">must</em> be used on <var>data</var> and the result
732: <em class="ct">must</em> be treated as if <var>data</var> is a
733: <code>DOMString</code>.</dd>
734: </dl>
735:
736: <p>If the data argument has been omitted or is <code>null</code> no
737: entity body <em class="ct">must</em> be used in the request.</p>
738: </li>
739:
1.71 avankest 740: <li><p>Make a request to <var>stored url</var>, using HTTP method
741: <var>stored method</var>, user <var>stored user</var> (if provided) and
742: password <var>stored password</var> (if provided), taking into account
743: the entity body, list of request headers and the rules listed directly
744: after this set of steps.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 745:
1.67 avankest 746: <li>
747: <p>The user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously
748: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p>
749:
1.71 avankest 750: <p class="note">The state of the object doesn't actually change as the
1.67 avankest 751: event is dispatched for historical reasons.</p>
752: </li>
753:
1.58 avankest 754: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> the user agent
755: <em class="ct">must</em> set the <dfn><code>send()</code> flag</dfn>,
756: directly unset it when the state changes and return the
757: <code>send()</code> method call. (Don't abort the steps in the algorithm
758: though.)</p></li>
759:
760: <li><p>If the request has been successfully acknowledged switch the
761: state to <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>; the user agent
762: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
763: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
1.67 avankest 764: <!-- IE does this regardless of the async value -->
1.58 avankest 765:
766: <li><p>If all HTTP headers have been receieved, immediately before
767: receiving the message body (if any), switch the state to
768: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span>; the user agent
769: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
770: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
1.67 avankest 771: <!-- IE does this regardless of the async value -->
1.58 avankest 772:
773: <li>
774: <p>If the response is an HTTP redirect (status code <code>301</code>,
775: <code>302</code>, <code>303</code> or <code>307</code>), then it
776: <em class="ct">must</em> be transparently followed (unless it violates
777: security, infinite loop precautions or the scheme isn't supported).</p>
1.60 avankest 778:
1.58 avankest 779: <p class="note">HTTP places requirements on the user agent regarding the
780: preservation of the request method and entity body during redirects, and
781: also requires users to be notified of certain kinds of automatic
782: redirections.</p>
783: <!-- Arguably HTTP should be fixed for the latter case. No browser
784: follows that as far as I know. -->
785: </li>
1.60 avankest 786:
1.58 avankest 787: <li>
788: <p>If something goes wrong (infinite loop, network errors) the user
789: agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the following set of steps:</p>
1.60 avankest 790:
1.58 avankest 791: <ol>
792: <li><p>Set <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
793: <code>status</code> and <code>statusText</code> to their initial
794: values and reset the list of request headers.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 795:
1.58 avankest 796: <li><p>Switch the state to
797: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 798:
1.58 avankest 799: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> the user agent
800: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>NETWORK_ERR</code> exception.
801: (Don't abort these steps.)</p></li>
1.60 avankest 802:
1.58 avankest 803: <li><p>Synchronously dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on
804: the object.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 805:
1.58 avankest 806: <li><p>Abort the overall algorithm.</p></li>
807: </ol>
1.60 avankest 808:
1.58 avankest 809: <p class="note">In future versions of this specification the user agent
810: will be required to dispatch an <code>error</code> event if the above
811: occurs.</p>
812: </li>
813:
814: <li><p>When the request has successfully completed loading, switch the
815: state to <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>; the user agent
816: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
817: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort these
818: steps (and return the method call in case of <var>async</var> being
819: <code>false</code>).</p></li>
820: </ol>
1.14 avankest 821:
1.8 avankest 822: <p>If the user agent allows the specification of a proxy it
1.22 avankest 823: <em class="ct">should</em> modify the request appropriately;
1.42 avankest 824: <abbr title="in other words">i.e.</abbr>, connect to the proxy host
825: instead of the origin server, modify the <code>Request-Line</code> and
826: send <code>Proxy-Authorization</code> headers as specified.</p>
1.12 avankest 827:
1.42 avankest 828: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP Authentication it
1.22 avankest 829: <em class="ct">should</em> consider requests originating from this object
1.42 avankest 830: to be part of the protection space that includes the accessed URIs and
831: send <code>Authorization</code> headers and handle <code>401
1.72 avankest 832: Unauthorised</code> requests appropriately. If authentication fails, user
1.42 avankest 833: agents <em class="ct">should</em> prompt the users for credentials.
834: [<cite><span>RFC2617</span></cite>]</p>
835:
1.57 avankest 836: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP State Management it
1.42 avankest 837: <em class="ct">should</em> persist, discard and send cookies (as received
838: in the <code>Set-Cookie</code> and <code>Set-Cookie2</code> response
839: headers, and sent in the <code>Cookie</code> header) as applicable.
840: [<cite><span>RFC2965</span></cite>]</p>
841:
842: <p>If the user agent implements a HTTP cache it <em class="ct">should</em>
843: respect <code>Cache-Control</code> request headers set by the script
844: (<abbr title="for example">e.g.</abbr>, <code>Cache-Control:
845: no-cache</code> bypasses the cache). It <em class="ct">must not</em> send
846: <code>Cache-Control</code> or <code>Pragma</code> request headers
847: automatically unless the user explicitly requests such behaviour
848: (<abbr>e.g.</abbr>, by (force-)reloading the page). <code>304 Not
1.22 avankest 849: Modified</code> responses that are a result of a user agent generated
850: conditional request <em class="ct">must</em> be presented as <code>200
1.57 avankest 851: OK</code> responses with the appropriate content. The user agent
1.39 avankest 852: <em class="ct">must</em> allow scripts to override automatic cache
1.22 avankest 853: validation by setting request headers (e.g., <code>If-None-Match</code>,
1.42 avankest 854: <code>If-Modified-Since</code>), in which case <code>304 Not
855: Modified</code> responses <em class="ct">must</em> be passed through.
856: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 857:
1.8 avankest 858: <p>If the user agent implements server-driven content-negotiation
1.42 avankest 859: it <em class="ct">should</em> set <code>Accept-Language</code>,
1.22 avankest 860: <code>Accept-Encoding</code> and <code>Accept-Charset</code> headers as
861: appropriate; it <em class="ct">must not</em> automatically set the
862: <code>Accept</code> header. Responses to such requests
1.40 avankest 863: <em class="ct">must</em> have the content-codings automatically
1.42 avankest 864: decoded. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.8 avankest 865: </dd>
1.12 avankest 866:
1.14 avankest 867: <dt><dfn id="dfn-abort"><code>abort()</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 868:
1.5 avankest 869: <dd>
1.60 avankest 870: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
871: steps:</p>
872:
873: <ol>
874: <li><p>Set the <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
875: <code>status</code> and <code>responseText</code> attributes to their
876: initial value as well as removing any registered request
877: headers.</p></li>
878:
879: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
880: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
881:
1.67 avankest 882: <li>Switch the state to <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>; the
883: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
884: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</li>
885:
1.60 avankest 886: <li>
1.71 avankest 887: <p>Switch the state to <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>. (Don't
888: dispatch the <code>readystatechange</code> event.)</p>
1.60 avankest 889:
890: <p class="note">It's likely that a future version of the
891: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> will dispatch an <code title="">abort</code>
892: event here.</p>
893: </li>
894: </ol>
1.5 avankest 895: </dd>
1.12 avankest 896:
1.14 avankest 897: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getallresponseheaders"><code>getAllResponseHeaders()</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 898: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 899:
1.5 avankest 900: <dd>
1.60 avankest 901: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
1.58 avankest 902: the following steps:</p>
903:
904: <ol>
1.63 avankest 905: <li>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
906: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 907: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
908: exception and abort these steps.</li>
909:
910: <li>The user agent <em class="ct">must</em> return all the HTTP headers,
911: as a single string, with each header line separated by a U+000D CR U+000A
912: LF pair excluding the status line.</li>
913: </ol>
1.24 avankest 914:
1.5 avankest 915: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 916: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.5 avankest 917: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 918: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 919: client.send();
1.12 avankest 920: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 921: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.12 avankest 922: print(this.getAllResponseHeaders());
923: }
924: }
1.5 avankest 925:
926: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
927: Date: 2004年10月24日 04:58:38 GMT
928: Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix)
929: Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
930: Connection: Keep-Alive
931: Transfer-Encoding: chunked
1.58 avankest 932: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.5 avankest 933: </div>
934: </dd>
1.12 avankest 935:
1.18 avankest 936: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getresponseheader" title="getresponseheader"><code>getResponseHeader(<var>header</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 937: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 938:
1.1 avankest 939: <dd>
1.58 avankest 940: <p>When the method is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
941: the following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 942:
1.58 avankest 943: <ol>
1.63 avankest 944: <li>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
945: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 946: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
947: exception and abort these steps.</li>
948:
949: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
950: <span><code>field-name</code> production</span> the user agent
951: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
952: abort these steps.</li>
953:
954: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches multiple
955: HTTP headers for the last request sent the user agent
956: <em class="ct">must</em> return the values of these headers as a single
957: concatenated string separated from each other by an U+OO2C COMMA followed
958: by an U+0020 SPACE and abort these steps.</li>
959:
960: <li>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches a single
961: HTTP header for the last request sent the user agent
962: <em class="ct">must</em> return the value of that header and abort these
963: steps.</li>
964:
965: <li>The method <em class="ct">must</em> return <code>null</code>.</li>
966: </ol>
1.12 avankest 967:
1.1 avankest 968: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 969: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.1 avankest 970: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 971: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 972: client.send();
1.12 avankest 973: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 974: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.14 avankest 975: print(client.getResponseHeader("Content-Type"));
1.12 avankest 976: }
977: }
1.1 avankest 978:
1.5 avankest 979: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.58 avankest 980: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 981: </div>
1.5 avankest 982: </dd>
1.12 avankest 983:
1.5 avankest 984: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsetext"><code>responseText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 985: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 986:
1.5 avankest 987: <dd>
1.63 avankest 988: <p>If the state is not <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span> or
989: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>, the user agent
1.40 avankest 990: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
991: exception. Otherwise, if there's no <span>entity body</span> this
992: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>. If there is, it
993: <em class="ct">must</em> be the fragment of the <span>entity body</span>
994: received so far (when the state is
1.63 avankest 995: <span title="RECEIVING state">RECEIVING</span>) or the complete
1.40 avankest 996: <span>entity body</span> (when the state is
1.63 avankest 997: <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>), interpreted as a stream of
1.40 avankest 998: characters.</p>
1.12 avankest 999:
1.50 avankest 1000: <p>If the response includes a MIME type understood by the user agent the
1001: characters <em class="ct">must</em> be decoded following the relevant MIME
1002: type specification. If the user agent cannot derive a character stream in
1003: accord with the media type specification, <code>responseText</code>
1004: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 1005:
1.40 avankest 1006: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be the
1007: <code>null</code>.</p>
1.5 avankest 1008: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1009:
1.5 avankest 1010: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsexml"><code>responseXML</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1011: <code>Document</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1012:
1.8 avankest 1013: <dd>
1.63 avankest 1014: <p>If the state is not <span title="LOADED state">LOADED</span>, user
1.40 avankest 1015: agents <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1016: exception. Otherwise, if there's no <span>entity body</span> this
1017: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>. If there is, and
1018: the <code>Content-Type</code> header contains a media type (ignoring any
1019: parameters) that is either <code>text/xml</code>,
1.61 avankest 1020: <code>application/xml</code>, or ends in <code title="">+xml</code>, it
1.22 avankest 1021: <em class="ct">must</em> be an object that implements the
1022: <code>Document</code> interface representing the parsed document. If
1023: <code>Content-Type</code> did not contain such a media type, or if the
1.45 avankest 1024: document could not be parsed (due to an XML namespace well-formedness
1025: error or unsupported character encoding, for instance), it
1026: <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.12 avankest 1027:
1.8 avankest 1028: <p>Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.5 avankest 1029: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1030:
1.22 avankest 1031: <dt><dfn id="dfn-status"><code>status</code></dfn> of type <code>unsigned
1032: short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1033:
1.5 avankest 1034: <dd>
1.72 avankest 1035: <p>On getting, if available, it <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP
1036: status code sent by the server (typically <code>200</code> for a
1037: successful request). Otherwise, if not available, the user agent
1038: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1039: exception.</p>
1.12 avankest 1040: </dd>
1041:
1.5 avankest 1042: <dt><dfn id="dfn-statustext"><code>statusText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1043: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1044:
1.5 avankest 1045: <dd>
1.72 avankest 1046: <p>On getting, if available, it <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP
1047: status text sent by the server (appears after the status code). Otherwise,
1048: if not available, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an
1049: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
1.1 avankest 1050: </dd>
1051: </dl>
1.12 avankest 1052:
1.31 avankest 1053: <h3 id="events">Events for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1054: Object</h3>
1.12 avankest 1055:
1.1 avankest 1056: <p>These sections describe the various events that can be dispatched on the
1.22 avankest 1057: object implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface. For this
1058: version of the specification only one event is defined.</p>
1.12 avankest 1059:
1.1 avankest 1060: <dl>
1061: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystatechange"><code>readystatechange</code></dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 1062:
1.72 avankest 1063: <dd>When the user agent dispatches a <code title="">readystatechange</code>
1064: event (as indicated above) it <em class="ct">must not</em> bubble,
1065: <em class="ct">must not</em> be cancelable and <em class="ct">must</em>
1066: implement the <code>Event</code> interface. Its <code>namespaceURI</code>
1067: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.
1068: [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</dd>
1.1 avankest 1069: </dl>
1.32 avankest 1070:
1.31 avankest 1071: <h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1072: Object</h3>
1073:
1.32 avankest 1074: <pre class="idl">exception <dfn>XMLHttpRequestException</dfn> {
1.31 avankest 1075: unsigned short code;
1076: };
1077: const unsigned short <span>NETWORK_ERR</span> = 101;</pre>
1078:
1.33 avankest 1079: <p>The <dfn id="network-err"><code>NETWORK_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1080: thrown when a network error occurs in synchronous requests. See the section
1081: on <code>send()</code> for more details.</p>
1.11 avankest 1082:
1.29 avankest 1083: <h2 class="no-num" id="notcovered">Not in this Specification</h2>
1084:
1085: <p><em>This section is non normative.</em></p>
1086:
1.72 avankest 1087: <p>This specification does not include the following features which are
1088: being considered for a future version of this specification:</p>
1.29 avankest 1089:
1090: <ul>
1091: <li><code>load</code> event and <code>onload</code> attribute;</li>
1092: <li><code>error</code> event and <code>onerror</code> attribute;</li>
1093: <li><code>progress</code> event and <code>onprogress</code> attribute;</li>
1094: <li><code title="">abort</code> event and <code>onabort</code> attribute;</li>
1095: <li>Timers have been suggested, perhaps an <code>ontimeout</code>
1096: attribute;</li>
1097: <li>Property to disable following redirects;</li>
1.30 avankest 1098: <li><code title="">responseXML</code> for <code>text/html</code>
1099: documents;</li>
1.40 avankest 1100: <li>Cross-site <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>;</li>
1101: <li>Deal with byte streams;</li>
1102: <li><code>getRequestHeader</code> and
1103: <code>removeRequestHeader</code>.</li>
1.29 avankest 1104: </ul>
1105:
1.1 avankest 1106: <h2 class="no-num" id="bibref">References</h2>
1.11 avankest 1107:
1.6 avankest 1108: <dl>
1.37 avankest 1109: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3">DOM3Core</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1110:
1.11 avankest 1111: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core">Document Object
1112: Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a></cite>, A. Le Hors, P. Le
1113: Hégaret, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne, editors.
1114: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2004.</dd>
1115:
1.37 avankest 1116: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3EV">DOM3Events</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1117:
1.1 avankest 1118: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Events/">Document Object
1.11 avankest 1119: Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification</a></cite>, Björn Höhrmann, editor.
1120: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2006.</dd>
1121:
1.37 avankest 1122: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-ecmascript">ECMAScript</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1123:
1.14 avankest 1124: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm">ECMAScript
1125: Language Specification</a></cite>, Third Edition. ECMA, December 1999.</dd>
1126:
1.37 avankest 1127: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2046">RFC2046</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1128:
1.19 avankest 1129: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2046">Multipurpose Internet Mail
1130: Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types</a></cite>, N. Freed, N. Borenstein,
1131: editors. IETF, November 1996.</dd>
1.14 avankest 1132:
1.37 avankest 1133: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2119">RFC2119</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1134:
1.11 avankest 1135: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119">RFC 2119: Key words
1136: for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels</a></cite>, S. Bradner.
1137: IETF, March 1997.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1138:
1.37 avankest 1139: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2616">RFC2616</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1140:
1.11 avankest 1141: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer Protocol
1142: -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H. Frystyk, L.
1143: Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF, June 1999</dd>
1.12 avankest 1144:
1.37 avankest 1145: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2617">RFC2617</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1146:
1.11 avankest 1147: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617">HTTP Authentication: Basic
1.14 avankest 1148: and Digest Access Authentication</a></cite>, ...</dd>
1.12 avankest 1149:
1.37 avankest 1150: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2965">RFC2965</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1151:
1.19 avankest 1152: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965">HTTP State Management
1153: Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, October
1154: 2000.</dd>
1155:
1.37 avankest 1156: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc3986">RFC3986</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1157:
1.11 avankest 1158: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986">Uniform Resource Identifier
1159: (URI): Generic Syntax</a></cite>, T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter,
1160: editors. IETF, January 2005.</dd>
1.28 avankest 1161:
1.37 avankest 1162: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-window">Window</dfn>]</dt>
1.28 avankest 1163:
1164: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/Window/">Window Object
1165: 1.0</a></cite>, I. Davis, M. Stachowiak, editors. W3C, April 2006.</dd>
1.41 avankest 1166:
1167: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xml">XML</dfn>]</dt>
1168:
1169: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/">Extensible
1170: Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, J. Paoli,
1171: C. Sperberg-McQueen, E. Maler, F. Yergeau. W3C, September 2006.</dd>
1172:
1173: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xmlns">XMLNS</dfn>]</dt>
1174:
1175: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/">Namespaces in
1176: XML (Second Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, D. Hollander, A. Layman, R.
1177: Tobin. W3C, August 2006.</dd>
1.1 avankest 1178: </dl>
1.11 avankest 1179:
1.1 avankest 1180: <h2 class="no-num" id="acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</h2>
1.11 avankest 1181:
1.1 avankest 1182: <p><em>This section is non-normative</em></p>
1.12 avankest 1183:
1.7 avankest 1184: <p>The editor would like to thank to the following people who have contributed
1.33 avankest 1185: to this specification (ordered by first name):</p>
1.12 avankest 1186:
1.1 avankest 1187: <ul>
1.22 avankest 1188: <li>Alex Hopmann</li>
1.7 avankest 1189: <li>Alex Vincent</li>
1.15 avankest 1190: <li>Alexey Proskuryakov</li>
1.1 avankest 1191: <li>Asbjørn Ulsberg</li>
1192: <li>Boris Zbarsky</li>
1193: <li>Björn Höhrmann</li>
1194: <li>Cameron McCormack</li>
1195: <li>Christophe Jolif</li>
1196: <li>Charles McCathieNevile</li>
1.54 avankest 1197: <li>Dan Winship</li>
1.72 avankest 1198: <li>David Håsäther</li>
1.1 avankest 1199: <li>Dean Jackson</li>
1200: <li>Doug Schepers</li>
1201: <li>Douglas Livingstone</li>
1202: <li>Gorm Haug Eriksen</li>
1203: <li>Hallvord R. M. Steen</li>
1204: <li>Håkon Wium Lie</li>
1205: <li>Ian Davis</li>
1206: <li>Ian Hickson</li>
1207: <li>Ivan Herman</li>
1208: <li>Jens Lindström</li>
1209: <li>Jim Deegan</li>
1210: <li>Jim Ley</li>
1211: <li>Jonas Sicking</li>
1212: <li>Julian Reschke</li>
1213: <li>Karl Dubost</li>
1214: <li>Maciej Stachowiak</li>
1.7 avankest 1215: <li>Magnus Kristiansen</li>
1.1 avankest 1216: <li>Marc Hadley</li>
1.53 avankest 1217: <li>Marcos Caceres</li>
1.1 avankest 1218: <li>Mark Nottingham</li>
1219: <li>Pawel Glowacki</li>
1220: <li>Robin Berjon</li>
1221: <li>Ruud Steltenpool</li>
1.33 avankest 1222: <li>Simon Pieters</li>
1.1 avankest 1223: </ul>
1.12 avankest 1224:
1.1 avankest 1225: <p>Special thanks to the Microsoft employees who first implemented the
1.22 avankest 1226: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface, which was first widely deployed by the
1227: Windows Internet Explorer browser.</p>
1.12 avankest 1228:
1.54 avankest 1229: <p>Special thanks also to the WHATWG for drafting an initial version of this
1.22 avankest 1230: specification in their Web Applications 1.0 document.</p>
1.12 avankest 1231:
1.1 avankest 1232: <p>Thanks also to all those who have helped to improve this specification by
1.22 avankest 1233: sending suggestions and corrections. (Please, keep bugging us with your
1234: issues!)</p>
1.1 avankest 1235: </body>
1236: </html>
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