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3: <head>
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>,
1.74 avankest 205: <em class="ct">should</em> and <em class="ct">may</em> in this document are
206: to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.
207: [<cite><span>RFC2119</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 208:
1.1 avankest 209: <p>This specification defines the following classes of products:</p>
1.12 avankest 210:
1.1 avankest 211: <dl>
1.74 avankest 212: <dt><dfn id="conforming-user-agent">Conforming user agent</dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 213:
1.74 avankest 214: <dd>
215: <p>A user agent <em class="ct">must</em> behave as described in this
216: specification in order to be considered conformant even when faced with
217: non-conforming scripts.</p>
218:
1.75 avankest 219: <p>User agents <em class="ct">may</em> optimize any algorithm given in
220: this specification, so long as the end result is indistinguishable from
221: the result that would be obtained by the specification's algorithms. (The
222: algorithms in this specification are generally written with more concern
223: for clarity than efficiency.)</p>
1.74 avankest 224: </dd>
1.24 avankest 225:
1.74 avankest 226: <dt><dfn id="conforming-script">Conforming script</dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 227:
1.74 avankest 228: <dd><p>A script <em class="ct">must</em> satisfy the constraints and
229: conditions described by this specification in order to be
230: conformant.</p></dd>
1.1 avankest 231: </dl>
1.32 avankest 232:
1.30 avankest 233: <h4 id="dependencies">Dependencies</h4>
1.33 avankest 234:
1.29 avankest 235: <p>This specification relies on several underlying specifications.</p>
236: <dl>
237: <dt>DOM</dt>
1.33 avankest 238:
1.29 avankest 239: <dd>
240: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of DOM
1.37 avankest 241: Events because this specification uses some of the features defined in
242: that specification. [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</p>
1.39 avankest 243:
1.37 avankest 244: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of DOM
245: Core because this specification uses some of the features defined in that
246: specification. [<cite><span>DOM3Core</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 247:
248: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of the
1.37 avankest 249: Window Object because some of the functionality in this specification
250: relies on it. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 251: </dd>
252:
253: <dt>HTTP</dt>
1.33 avankest 254:
1.29 avankest 255: <dd>
1.39 avankest 256: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of the
1.58 avankest 257: HTTP protocol. The user agent <em class="ct">should</em> support any HTTP
258: method that matches the <span><code>Method</code> production</span> and
1.73 avankest 259: <em class="ct">must</em> at least support the following methods:</p>
1.58 avankest 260:
261: <ul>
262: <li><code>GET</code></li>
263: <li><code>POST</code></li>
264: <li><code>HEAD</code></li>
265: <li><code>PUT</code></li>
266: <li><code>DELETE</code></li>
267: <li><code>OPTIONS</code></li>
268: </ul>
269:
270: <p>Other requirements regarding HTTP are made throughout the
1.39 avankest 271: specification. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 272: </dd>
1.41 avankest 273:
274: <dt>XML</dt>
275:
276: <dd>
1.64 avankest 277: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">should</em> support some version of XML.
278: If they don't support some version of XML <code>responseXML</code>
1.41 avankest 279: <em class="ct">must</em> always be <code>null</code>.
280: [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>] [<cite><span>XMLNS</span></cite>]</p>
281: </dd>
1.29 avankest 282: </dl>
1.12 avankest 283:
1.80 avankest 284: <h4 id="terminology">Terminology</h4>
1.12 avankest 285:
1.80 avankest 286: <p>There is a <dfn id="case-insensitive-match">case-insensitive match</dfn>
287: of strings <var>a</var> and <var>b</var> if after lowercasing both strings
288: (by mapping A-Z to a-z) they are identical.</p>
289:
290: <h4 id="extensibility">Extensibility</h4>
1.12 avankest 291:
1.81 avankest 292: <p>Extensions of the API defined by this specification are <em>strongly
1.22 avankest 293: discouraged</em>. User agents, Working Groups and other interested parties
1.33 avankest 294: should discuss extensions on a relevant public forum, preferably
1.22 avankest 295: <a href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 296:
297: <h2 id="xmlhttprequest">The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h2>
298:
1.58 avankest 299: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be used by scripts to
1.22 avankest 300: programmatically connect to their originating server via HTTP.</p>
1.12 avankest 301:
1.1 avankest 302: <p>Objects implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface
1.22 avankest 303: <em class="ct">must</em> also implement the <code>EventTarget</code>
1.58 avankest 304: interface. [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 305:
1.58 avankest 306: <p>Objects implementing the <code title="">Window</code> interface
307: <em class="ct">must</em> provide an <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code>
308: constructor. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 309:
1.1 avankest 310: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 311: <p>In ECMAScript this can be used as follows:</p>
312: <!-- [<cite><span>ECMAScript</span></cite>] -->
313:
314: <pre><code>var client = new XMLHttpRequest();</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 315: </div>
1.12 avankest 316:
1.58 avankest 317: <p>When the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code> constructor is invoked a
318: persistent pointer to the associated <code title="">Window</code> object
319: <em class="ct">must</em> be stored on the newly created object. This is the
1.25 avankest 320: <dfn title="Window pointer" id="window-pointer"><code>Window</code>
1.58 avankest 321: pointer</dfn>. The associated <code title="">Window</code> object is the one
322: of which the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> constructor was
323: invoked. This <span title="Window pointer">pointer</span>
1.25 avankest 324: <em class="ct">must</em> persist even if the browsing context in which the
1.37 avankest 325: <code title="">Window</code> is located is destroyed (by removing it from a
326: parent browsing context, for instance).</p>
1.25 avankest 327:
1.37 avankest 328: <p>The term browsing context is defined by the <cite>Window Object
329: 1.0</cite> specification. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.27 avankest 330:
331: <!-- XXX if the document object changes in the browsing context you get an
1.33 avankest 332: exception in some implementations. -->
1.27 avankest 333:
1.58 avankest 334: <div class="example">
1.65 avankest 335: <p>If <var><code>win</code></var> is a <code title="">Window</code> object
336: <var><code>client</code></var> will have a pointer to
337: <var><code>win</code></var> in the following example:</p>
1.58 avankest 338:
1.65 avankest 339: <pre><code>var client = new win.XMLHttpRequest()</code></pre>
1.58 avankest 340: </div>
1.12 avankest 341:
1.58 avankest 342: <pre class="idl">interface <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</dfn> {
343: // event handler
1.70 avankest 344: attribute EventListener <span>onreadystatechange</span>;
1.58 avankest 345:
346: // state
1.71 avankest 347: const unsigned short <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span> = 0;
1.58 avankest 348: const unsigned short <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> = 1;
349: const unsigned short <span title="SENT state">SENT</span> = 2;
1.86 avankest 350: const unsigned short <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> = 3;
1.79 avankest 351: const unsigned short <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> = 4;
1.70 avankest 352: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>readyState</span>;
1.58 avankest 353:
354: // request
1.70 avankest 355: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>);
356: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>);
357: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>, in DOMString <var>user</var>);
358: 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>);
359: void <span>setRequestHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>, in DOMString <var>value</var>);
360: void <span>send</span>();
361: void <span>send</span>(in DOMString <var>data</var>);
362: void <span>send</span>(in Document <var>data</var>);
363: void <span>abort</span>();
1.58 avankest 364:
365: // response
1.70 avankest 366: DOMString <span>getAllResponseHeaders</span>();
367: DOMString <span>getResponseHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>);
368: readonly attribute DOMString <span>responseText</span>;
369: readonly attribute Document <span>responseXML</span>;
370: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>status</span>;
371: readonly attribute DOMString <span>statusText</span>;
1.1 avankest 372: };</pre>
1.8 avankest 373:
1.58 avankest 374: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be in five states:
1.71 avankest 375: <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>,
1.58 avankest 376: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>, <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>,
1.86 avankest 377: <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> and
1.79 avankest 378: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>. The current state is exposed through
379: the <code>readyState</code> attribute. The method definitions below define
380: when a state transition takes place.</p>
1.58 avankest 381:
382: <p>When constructed, the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object
1.71 avankest 383: <em class="ct">must</em> be in the UNSENT state. This state is represented
384: by the <dfn id="unsent" title="UNSENT state"><code>UNSENT</code></dfn>
1.58 avankest 385: constant, whose value is <code>0</code>.</p>
386:
387: <p>The OPEN state is the state of the object when the <code>open()</code>
388: method has been successfully invoked. During this state reqeust headers can
389: be set using <code>setRequestHeader()</code> and the request can be made
390: using <code>send()</code>. This state is represented by the
391: <dfn id="open" title="OPEN state"><code>OPEN</code></dfn> constant, whose
392: value is <code>1</code>.</p>
393:
1.87 avankest 394: <p>During the OPEN state there is a <dfn id="send-flag"><code>send()</code>
395: flag</dfn> which influences several algorithms described below. Outside the
396: OPEN state its value <em class="ct">must</em> (always) be "false". During
397: the OPEN state it can be set to "true" as described in the
398: <code>send()</code> method algorithm.</p>
399:
1.58 avankest 400: <p>The SENT state is the state of the object when the user agent
401: successfully acknowledged the request. This state is represented by the
402: <dfn id="sent" title="SENT state"><code>SENT</code></dfn> constant, whose
403: value is <code>2</code>.</p>
404:
1.86 avankest 405: <p>The LOADING state is the state of the object when all HTTP headers have
1.58 avankest 406: been received. The object typically remains in this state until the complete
407: message body (if any) has been received. This state is represented by the
1.86 avankest 408: <dfn id="loading" title="LOADING state"><code>LOADING</code></dfn> constant,
409: whose value is <code>3</code>.</p>
1.58 avankest 410:
1.79 avankest 411: <p>The DONE state is the state of the object when either the data transfer
1.58 avankest 412: has been completed or something went wrong during the transfer (infinite
413: redirects for instance). This state is represented by the
1.79 avankest 414: <dfn id="done" title="DONE state"><code>DONE</code></dfn> constant, whose
415: value is <code>4</code>.</p>
1.88 ! avankest 416:
! 417: <p>The <dfn id="response-entity-body">response entity body</dfn> is the
! 418: fragment of the <span>entity body</span> received so far (LOADING state) or
! 419: the complete entity body (DONE state). If there is no entity body the
! 420: response entity body is "null".</p>
! 421:
! 422: <p>The <dfn id="text-response-entity-body">text response entity body</dfn>
! 423: is the <span>response entity body</span> interpreted as a stream of
! 424: characters using the character encoding to decode as determined by the
! 425: following algorithm:</p>
! 426:
! 427: <ol>
! 428: <li class="issue">...</li>
! 429: </ol>
! 430:
! 431: <p>If the <span>response entity body</span> is "null" the text response
! 432: entity body is <code>null</code>. If the user agent fails to decode the
! 433: response entity body the text response entity body is also
! 434: <code>null</code>.</p>
! 435:
! 436: <p>The <dfn id="xml-response-entity-body">XML response entity body</dfn> is
! 437: a <code>Document</code> representing the response entity body or
! 438: <code>null</code> and is determined by the following algorithm:</p>
! 439:
! 440: <ol>
! 441: <li>If the <span>response entity body</span> is "null" the value is
! 442: <code>null</code>.</p></li>
! 443:
! 444: <li><p>If there is no <code>Content-Type</code> header the value is
! 445: <code>null</code>.</p></li>
! 446:
! 447: <li><p>If the <code>Content-Type</code> header does not contain a media
! 448: type (ignoring any parameters) that is <code>text/xml</code>,
! 449: <code>application/xml</code> or ends in <code title="">+xml</code> the
! 450: value is <code>null</code>.</p></li>
! 451:
! 452: <li><p>Parse the <span>response entity body</span> following the rules from
! 453: the XML specifications. Let the result be <var>parsed document</var>. If
! 454: this fails (unsupported character encoding, namespace well-formedness error
! 455: et cetera) the value is <code>null</code>. [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>]
! 456: [<cite><span>XMLNS</span></cite>]</p></li>
! 457:
! 458: <li><p>The value is an object implementing the <code>Document</code>
! 459: interface representing the <var>parsed document</var>.</p></li>
! 460: </ol>
1.58 avankest 461:
1.5 avankest 462: <dl>
1.12 avankest 463:
1.39 avankest 464: <dt><dfn id="dfn-onreadystatechange"><code>onreadystatechange</code></dfn>
465: of type <code>EventListener</code></dt>
1.12 avankest 466:
1.1 avankest 467: <dd>
468: <p>An attribute that takes an <code>EventListener</code> as value that
1.58 avankest 469: <em class="ct">must</em> be invoked along with any other appropriate event
470: listeners that are registered on this object when a
1.87 avankest 471: <code>readystatechange</code> event is dispatched on it during the
472: bubbling phase. Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be
473: <code>null</code>.</p>
1.1 avankest 474: </dd>
1.12 avankest 475:
1.1 avankest 476: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystate"><code>readyState</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 477: <code>unsigned short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 478:
1.1 avankest 479: <dd>
1.58 avankest 480: <p>The attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be the value of the constant
481: corresponding to the object's current state.</p>
1.1 avankest 482: </dd>
1.12 avankest 483:
1.14 avankest 484: <dt><dfn id="dfn-open" title="open"><code>open(<var>method</var>,
1.22 avankest 485: <var>url</var>, <var>async</var>, <var>user</var>,
486: <var>password</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 487:
1.1 avankest 488: <dd>
1.58 avankest 489: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
490: following steps:</p>
491:
492: <ol>
493: <li><p>If the <var>method</var> argument doesn't match the
494: <dfn><code>Method</code> production</dfn> defined in section 5.1.1 of RFC
495: 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
496: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.
497: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
498:
499: <li><p>If the given <var>method</var> is not supported for security
500: reasons the user agent <em class="ct">should</em> raise a
501: <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
502:
503: <li><p>Let <var>stored method</var> be <var>method</var>.</p></li>
504:
1.80 avankest 505: <li><p>If <var>method</var>
506: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span>
507: <code>GET</code>, <code>POST</code>, <code>HEAD</code>, <code>PUT</code>,
1.58 avankest 508: <code>DELETE</code> or <code>OPTIONS</code> the user agent
1.80 avankest 509: <em class="ct">must</em> convert it to its uppercase equivalent (by
510: mapping a-z to A-Z) and let <var>stored method</var> be the
511: result.</p></li>
1.68 avankest 512: <!-- WebKit (and supposedly Firefox) also uppercase: CONNECT, COPY,
513: INDEX, LOCK, M-POST, MKCOL, MOVE, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, TRACE and UNLOCK.
514: Not sure if TRACE and CONNECT are worth it though. They raise a
515: SECURITY_ERR exception anyway... -->
1.58 avankest 516:
517: <li><p>Drop the fragment identifier (if any) from <var>url</var> and let
518: <var>stored url</var> be the result of that operation.</p></li>
519:
520: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> is a relative reference it
521: <em class="ct">must</em> be resolved using the current value of the
522: <code>baseURI</code> attribute of the <code>Document</code> object
523: currently associated with the <span><code>Window</code> pointer</span>.
524: If this fails the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
525: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
526:
527: <li><p>If the <code>"user:password"</code> format in the
528: <code>userinfo</code> production defined in section 3.2.1 of RFC 3986 is
529: not supported for the relevant scheme and <var>stored url</var> contains
530: this format the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> throw a
1.69 avankest 531: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
532: [<cite><span>RFC3986</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.58 avankest 533:
534: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> contains the <code>"user:password"</code>
535: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part and <var>stored
536: password</var> be the password part.</p></li>
537:
538: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> just contains the <code>"user"</code>
539: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part.</p></li>
540:
1.69 avankest 541: <li>
542: <p>If <var>stored url</var> is non same-origin the user agent
543: <em class="ct">should</em> raise a <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception
544: and abort these steps.</p>
545: <p class="note">This specification does not define what constitutes as
1.71 avankest 546: non same-origin.<!-- XXX reference HTML5? --></p>
1.69 avankest 547: </li>
1.58 avankest 548:
549: <li><p>Let <var>async</var> be the value of the <var>async</var> argument
550: or <code>false</code> if it was omitted.</p></li>
551:
552: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
553: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
554: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
555: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 556:
1.58 avankest 557: <li>
558: <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is not
559: <code>null</code> let <var>stored user</var> be <var>user</var> encoded
560: using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication scheme or
561: UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p>
1.14 avankest 562:
1.58 avankest 563: <p class="note">This step overrides any user that may have been set by
564: the <var>url</var> argument.</p>
565: </li>
1.16 avankest 566:
1.58 avankest 567: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is
568: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored user</var>.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 569:
1.58 avankest 570: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
571: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
572: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
573: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
574:
575: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is not
576: <code>null</code> let <var>stored password</var> be <var>password</var>
577: encoded using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication
578: scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p></li>
579:
580: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is
581: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored password</var>.</p></li>
582:
583: <li><p>Set <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
584: <code>status</code> and <code>statusText</code> to their initial
585: values and reset the list of request headers.<p></li>
586:
1.60 avankest 587: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
588: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 589: <!-- we can hardly require it... -->
590:
591: <li><p>Switch the object to the <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>
592: state; the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously
593: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort
594: these steps (returning the method call).</p></li>
595: </ol>
1.14 avankest 596:
1.19 avankest 597: <p class="note">A future version or extension of this specification will
1.33 avankest 598: most likely define a way of doing cross-site requests.</p>
1.1 avankest 599: </dd>
1.12 avankest 600:
1.14 avankest 601: <dt><dfn id="dfn-setrequestheader" title="setrequestheader"><code>setRequestHeader(<var>header</var>,
1.22 avankest 602: <var>value</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 603:
1.5 avankest 604: <dd>
1.45 avankest 605: <p>Each request has a list of request headers with associated values. This
606: method can be used to manipulate those values and set new request
607: headers.</p>
608:
1.58 avankest 609: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
610: following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 611:
1.58 avankest 612: <ol>
613: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
614: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
615: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
616: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
617:
1.87 avankest 618: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is "true" the user
619: agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1.58 avankest 620: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 621:
1.58 avankest 622: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 623: <dfn><code>field-name</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.70 avankest 624: of RFC 2616 or is <code>null</code> the user agent
1.72 avankest 625: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
626: abort these steps. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.70 avankest 627:
628: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument is <code>null</code> the user
629: agent <em class="ct">must</em> abort these steps. (Don't raise an
630: exception.)</li>
631: <!-- undefined is to be treated as null here... -->
1.79 avankest 632:
1.58 avankest 633: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 634: <dfn><code>field-value</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.58 avankest 635: of RFC 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
636: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
637: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.14 avankest 638:
1.32 avankest 639: <li>
1.58 avankest 640: <p>For security reasons these steps <em class="ct">should</em> be
1.80 avankest 641: aborted if the <var>header</var> argument
642: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span>
643: one of the following headers:</p>
1.58 avankest 644:
1.32 avankest 645: <ul>
646: <li><code>Accept-Charset</code></li>
647: <li><code>Accept-Encoding</code></li>
1.68 avankest 648: <li><code>Connection</code></li>
1.32 avankest 649: <li><code>Content-Length</code></li>
1.68 avankest 650: <li><code>Content-Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
651: <li><code>Date</code></li>
1.32 avankest 652: <li><code>Expect</code></li>
653: <li><code>Host</code></li>
654: <li><code>Keep-Alive</code></li>
655: <li><code>Referer</code></li>
656: <li><code>TE</code></li>
657: <li><code>Trailer</code></li>
658: <li><code>Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
659: <li><code>Upgrade</code></li>
1.68 avankest 660: <li><code>Via</code></li>
1.32 avankest 661: </ul>
662: </li>
1.5 avankest 663:
1.59 avankest 664: <!--
1.58 avankest 665: <li>
666: <p>If the <var>header</var> argument case-insensitively matches one of
667: the following headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> set the
668: value of that HTTP header to <var>value</var> and abort these steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 669:
1.58 avankest 670: <ul>
671: <li><code>Apply-To-Redirect-Ref</code></li>
672: <li><code>Authorization</code></li>
673: <li><code>C-Ext</code></li>
674: <li><code>Content-Base</code></li>
675: <li><code>Content-Location</code></li>
676: <li><code>Content-MD5</code></li>
677: <li><code>Content-Range</code></li>
678: <li><code>Content-Type</code></li>
679: <li><code>Content-Version</code></li>
680: <li><code>Cookie</code></li>
681: <li><code>Cookie2</code></li>
682: <li><code>Delta-Base</code></li>
683: <li><code>Depth</code></li>
684: <li><code>Destination</code></li>
685: <li><code>ETag</code></li>
686: <li><code>Ext</code></li>
687: <li><code>From</code></li>
688: <li><code>If</code></li>
689: <li><code>If-Modified-Since</code></li>
690: <li><code>If-Range</code></li>
691: <li><code>If-Unmodified-Since</code></li>
692: <li><code>Label</code></li>
693: <li><code>Lock-Token</code></li>
694: <li><code>Max-Forwards</code></li>
695: <li><code>MIME-Version</code></li>
696: <li><code>Ordering-Type</code></li>
697: <li><code>Overwrite</code></li>
698: <li><code>Proxy-Authorization</code></li>
699: <li><code>Redirect-Ref</code></li>
700: <li><code>SOAPAction</code></li>
701: <li><code>Status-URI</code></li>
702: <li><code>Timeout</code></li>
703: </ul>
704: </li>
1.59 avankest 705: -->
1.44 avankest 706:
1.58 avankest 707: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is not in the list of request
708: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> append the
709: <var>header</var> with its associated <var>value</var> to the list and
710: abort these steps.</p></li>
711:
712: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is in the list of request
713: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> either use multiple
714: headers, combine the values or use a combination of those (section 4.2,
1.66 avankest 715: RFC 2616). [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.58 avankest 716: </ol>
1.45 avankest 717:
718: <p class="note">See also the <code>send()</code> method regarding user
1.71 avankest 719: agent header handling for caching, authentication, proxies, and
720: cookies.</p>
1.14 avankest 721:
722: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 723: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.14 avankest 724: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
725: client.open('GET', 'demo.cgi');
726: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'one');
727: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'two');
728: client.send();
729:
730: // ...would result in the following header being sent:
731: ...
732: X-Test: one, two
1.58 avankest 733: ...</code></pre>
1.14 avankest 734: </div>
1.5 avankest 735: </dd>
1.12 avankest 736:
1.14 avankest 737: <dt><dfn id="dfn-send" title="send"><code>send(<var>data</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 738: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 739:
1.17 avankest 740: <dd>
1.58 avankest 741: <p>The <code>send()</code> method initiates the request and its optional
742: argument <em class="ct">may</em> be used by scripts to provide the entity
743: body. When the argument is provided scripts <em class="ct">should</em>
744: ensure that they have specified (before invoking <code>send()</code>) the
1.60 avankest 745: <code>Content-Type</code> header via <code>setRequestHeader()</code>.</p>
1.58 avankest 746:
747: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
748: following steps:</p>
749:
750: <ol>
751: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
752: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
753: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
754: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
755:
1.87 avankest 756: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is "true" the user
757: agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1.58 avankest 758: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
759:
760: <li>
761: <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has not been omitted and is not
762: <code>null</code> it <em class="ct">must</em> be used for the
763: <dfn id="dfn-entity-body">entity body</dfn> as defined by section 7.2 of
1.71 avankest 764: RFC 2616. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
765:
766: <p>The following rules <em class="ct">must</em> be followed by the user
767: agent:</p>
1.58 avankest 768:
769: <dl>
770: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>DOMString</code></dt>
771:
1.78 avankest 772: <dd><p><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be encoded as UTF-8 for
773: transmission.</p></dd>
1.58 avankest 774:
775: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>Document</code>
776:
777: <dd>
778: <p><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be serialized into a
779: namespace well-formed XML document and encoded using the encoding
780: given by <code><var>data</var>.xmlEncoding</code>, if specified, or
781: UTF-8 otherwise. If this fails because the <code>Document</code>
782: cannot be serialized the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> act as if
783: <var>data</var> was <code>null</code>.</p>
784:
785: <p>If no <code>Content-Type</code> header has been set by the script
1.71 avankest 786: the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> append it to the list of
1.58 avankest 787: request headers with a value of <code>application/xml</code>.</p>
788:
789: <p class="note">Subsequent changes to the <code>Document</code> have
790: no effect on what is submitted.</p>
791: </dd>
792:
793: <dt><var>data</var> is not a <code>DOMString</code> or
794: <code>Document</code></dt>
795:
1.78 avankest 796: <dd><p>The stringification mechanisms of the host language
1.58 avankest 797: <em class="ct">must</em> be used on <var>data</var> and the result
798: <em class="ct">must</em> be treated as if <var>data</var> is a
1.78 avankest 799: <code>DOMString</code>.</p></dd>
800: <!-- XXX What if the host language doesn't have stringification for
801: each type? Do we care? -->
1.58 avankest 802: </dl>
803:
804: <p>If the data argument has been omitted or is <code>null</code> no
805: entity body <em class="ct">must</em> be used in the request.</p>
806: </li>
807:
1.71 avankest 808: <li><p>Make a request to <var>stored url</var>, using HTTP method
809: <var>stored method</var>, user <var>stored user</var> (if provided) and
810: password <var>stored password</var> (if provided), taking into account
811: the entity body, list of request headers and the rules listed directly
812: after this set of steps.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 813:
1.67 avankest 814: <li>
815: <p>The user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously
816: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p>
817:
1.71 avankest 818: <p class="note">The state of the object doesn't actually change as the
1.67 avankest 819: event is dispatched for historical reasons.</p>
820: </li>
821:
1.58 avankest 822: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> the user agent
1.87 avankest 823: <em class="ct">must</em> set the <dfn><code>send()</code> flag</dfn> to
824: "true" and return the <code>send()</code> method call. (Don't abort the
825: steps in the algorithm though.)</p></li>
1.58 avankest 826:
1.82 avankest 827: <li><p>If the request has been successfully acknowledged synchronously
828: switch the state to <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>; the user agent
1.58 avankest 829: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
830: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
1.67 avankest 831: <!-- IE does this regardless of the async value -->
1.58 avankest 832:
833: <li><p>If all HTTP headers have been receieved, immediately before
1.82 avankest 834: receiving the message body (if any), synchronously switch the state to
1.86 avankest 835: <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span>; the user agent
1.58 avankest 836: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
837: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
1.67 avankest 838: <!-- IE does this regardless of the async value -->
1.58 avankest 839:
840: <li>
841: <p>If the response is an HTTP redirect (status code <code>301</code>,
842: <code>302</code>, <code>303</code> or <code>307</code>), then it
843: <em class="ct">must</em> be transparently followed (unless it violates
844: security, infinite loop precautions or the scheme isn't supported).</p>
1.60 avankest 845:
1.58 avankest 846: <p class="note">HTTP places requirements on the user agent regarding the
847: preservation of the request method and entity body during redirects, and
848: also requires users to be notified of certain kinds of automatic
849: redirections.</p>
850: <!-- Arguably HTTP should be fixed for the latter case. No browser
851: follows that as far as I know. -->
852: </li>
1.60 avankest 853:
1.58 avankest 854: <li>
855: <p>If something goes wrong (infinite loop, network errors) the user
856: agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the following set of steps:</p>
1.60 avankest 857:
1.58 avankest 858: <ol>
859: <li><p>Set <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
860: <code>status</code> and <code>statusText</code> to their initial
861: values and reset the list of request headers.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 862:
1.82 avankest 863: <li><p>Synchronously switch the state to
1.79 avankest 864: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 865:
1.58 avankest 866: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> the user agent
867: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>NETWORK_ERR</code> exception.
868: (Don't abort these steps.)</p></li>
1.60 avankest 869:
1.58 avankest 870: <li><p>Synchronously dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on
871: the object.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 872:
1.58 avankest 873: <li><p>Abort the overall algorithm.</p></li>
874: </ol>
1.60 avankest 875:
1.82 avankest 876: <p class="note">It is likely that a future version of the
877: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object will dispatch an <code>error</code>
878: event here as well.</p>
1.58 avankest 879: </li>
880:
1.82 avankest 881: <li><p>When the request has successfully completed loading, synchronously
882: switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>; the user agent
1.58 avankest 883: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
884: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort these
885: steps (and return the method call in case of <var>async</var> being
886: <code>false</code>).</p></li>
887: </ol>
1.14 avankest 888:
1.8 avankest 889: <p>If the user agent allows the specification of a proxy it
1.22 avankest 890: <em class="ct">should</em> modify the request appropriately;
1.42 avankest 891: <abbr title="in other words">i.e.</abbr>, connect to the proxy host
892: instead of the origin server, modify the <code>Request-Line</code> and
893: send <code>Proxy-Authorization</code> headers as specified.</p>
1.12 avankest 894:
1.42 avankest 895: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP Authentication it
1.22 avankest 896: <em class="ct">should</em> consider requests originating from this object
1.42 avankest 897: to be part of the protection space that includes the accessed URIs and
898: send <code>Authorization</code> headers and handle <code>401
1.72 avankest 899: Unauthorised</code> requests appropriately. If authentication fails, user
1.42 avankest 900: agents <em class="ct">should</em> prompt the users for credentials.
901: [<cite><span>RFC2617</span></cite>]</p>
902:
1.57 avankest 903: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP State Management it
1.42 avankest 904: <em class="ct">should</em> persist, discard and send cookies (as received
905: in the <code>Set-Cookie</code> and <code>Set-Cookie2</code> response
906: headers, and sent in the <code>Cookie</code> header) as applicable.
907: [<cite><span>RFC2965</span></cite>]</p>
908:
909: <p>If the user agent implements a HTTP cache it <em class="ct">should</em>
910: respect <code>Cache-Control</code> request headers set by the script
911: (<abbr title="for example">e.g.</abbr>, <code>Cache-Control:
912: no-cache</code> bypasses the cache). It <em class="ct">must not</em> send
913: <code>Cache-Control</code> or <code>Pragma</code> request headers
914: automatically unless the user explicitly requests such behaviour
915: (<abbr>e.g.</abbr>, by (force-)reloading the page). <code>304 Not
1.22 avankest 916: Modified</code> responses that are a result of a user agent generated
917: conditional request <em class="ct">must</em> be presented as <code>200
1.57 avankest 918: OK</code> responses with the appropriate content. The user agent
1.39 avankest 919: <em class="ct">must</em> allow scripts to override automatic cache
1.22 avankest 920: validation by setting request headers (e.g., <code>If-None-Match</code>,
1.42 avankest 921: <code>If-Modified-Since</code>), in which case <code>304 Not
922: Modified</code> responses <em class="ct">must</em> be passed through.
923: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 924:
1.8 avankest 925: <p>If the user agent implements server-driven content-negotiation
1.42 avankest 926: it <em class="ct">should</em> set <code>Accept-Language</code>,
1.22 avankest 927: <code>Accept-Encoding</code> and <code>Accept-Charset</code> headers as
928: appropriate; it <em class="ct">must not</em> automatically set the
929: <code>Accept</code> header. Responses to such requests
1.40 avankest 930: <em class="ct">must</em> have the content-codings automatically
1.42 avankest 931: decoded. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.8 avankest 932: </dd>
1.12 avankest 933:
1.14 avankest 934: <dt><dfn id="dfn-abort"><code>abort()</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 935:
1.5 avankest 936: <dd>
1.60 avankest 937: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
938: steps:</p>
939:
940: <ol>
941: <li><p>Set the <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
942: <code>status</code> and <code>responseText</code> attributes to their
943: initial value as well as removing any registered request
944: headers.</p></li>
945:
946: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
947: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
948:
1.83 avankest 949: <li>
1.85 avankest 950: <p>If the state is <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>,
1.83 avankest 951: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> and the <span><code>send()</code>
1.87 avankest 952: flag</span> is "false", or <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> go to
953: the next step.</p>
1.85 avankest 954:
1.83 avankest 955: <p>Otherwise, switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>;
956: the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
957: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p>
958: </li>
1.67 avankest 959:
1.60 avankest 960: <li>
1.71 avankest 961: <p>Switch the state to <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>. (Don't
962: dispatch the <code>readystatechange</code> event.)</p>
1.60 avankest 963:
1.82 avankest 964: <p class="note">It is likely that a future version of the
965: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object will dispatch an
966: <code title="">abort</code> event here as well.</p>
1.60 avankest 967: </li>
968: </ol>
1.5 avankest 969: </dd>
1.12 avankest 970:
1.14 avankest 971: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getallresponseheaders"><code>getAllResponseHeaders()</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 972: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 973:
1.5 avankest 974: <dd>
1.60 avankest 975: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
1.58 avankest 976: the following steps:</p>
977:
978: <ol>
1.86 avankest 979: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> or
980: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 981: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1.76 avankest 982: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 983:
1.76 avankest 984: <li><p>The user agent <em class="ct">must</em> return all the HTTP
985: headers, as a single string, with each header line separated by a U+000D
986: CR U+000A LF pair excluding the status line.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 987: </ol>
1.24 avankest 988:
1.5 avankest 989: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 990: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.5 avankest 991: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 992: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 993: client.send();
1.12 avankest 994: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 995: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.12 avankest 996: print(this.getAllResponseHeaders());
997: }
998: }
1.5 avankest 999:
1000: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1001: Date: 2004年10月24日 04:58:38 GMT
1002: Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix)
1003: Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
1004: Connection: Keep-Alive
1005: Transfer-Encoding: chunked
1.58 avankest 1006: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.5 avankest 1007: </div>
1008: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1009:
1.18 avankest 1010: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getresponseheader" title="getresponseheader"><code>getResponseHeader(<var>header</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 1011: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 1012:
1.1 avankest 1013: <dd>
1.58 avankest 1014: <p>When the method is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
1015: the following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 1016:
1.58 avankest 1017: <ol>
1.86 avankest 1018: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> or
1019: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 1020: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1.76 avankest 1021: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1022:
1.76 avankest 1023: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
1.58 avankest 1024: <span><code>field-name</code> production</span> the user agent
1025: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
1.76 avankest 1026: abort these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1027:
1.80 avankest 1028: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument
1029: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span>
1.76 avankest 1030: multiple HTTP headers for the last request sent the user agent
1.58 avankest 1031: <em class="ct">must</em> return the values of these headers as a single
1.77 avankest 1032: concatenated string separated from each other by an U+002C COMMA followed
1.76 avankest 1033: by an U+0020 SPACE and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1034:
1.80 avankest 1035: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument
1036: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span> a
1.76 avankest 1037: single HTTP header for the last request sent the user agent
1.58 avankest 1038: <em class="ct">must</em> return the value of that header and abort these
1.76 avankest 1039: steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1040:
1.76 avankest 1041: <li><p>The method <em class="ct">must</em> return
1042: <code>null</code>.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1043: </ol>
1.12 avankest 1044:
1.1 avankest 1045: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 1046: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.1 avankest 1047: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 1048: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 1049: client.send();
1.12 avankest 1050: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 1051: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.14 avankest 1052: print(client.getResponseHeader("Content-Type"));
1.12 avankest 1053: }
1054: }
1.1 avankest 1055:
1.5 avankest 1056: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.58 avankest 1057: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 1058: </div>
1.5 avankest 1059: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1060:
1.5 avankest 1061: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsetext"><code>responseText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1062: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1063:
1.5 avankest 1064: <dd>
1.88 ! avankest 1065: <p>On getting, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
! 1066: steps:</p>
! 1067:
! 1068: <ol>
! 1069: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> or
! 1070: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>, the user agent
! 1071: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
! 1072: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.12 avankest 1073:
1.88 ! avankest 1074: <li><p>Return the <span>text response entity body</span>.</p></li>
! 1075: </ol>
1.5 avankest 1076: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1077:
1.5 avankest 1078: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsexml"><code>responseXML</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1079: <code>Document</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1080:
1.8 avankest 1081: <dd>
1.75 avankest 1082: <p>On getting, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
1083: steps:</p>
1.79 avankest 1084:
1.75 avankest 1085: <ol>
1.79 avankest 1086: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> the user
1087: agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1088: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.75 avankest 1089:
1.88 ! avankest 1090: <li><p>Return the <span>XML response entity body</span>.</p></li>
1.75 avankest 1091: </ol>
1.5 avankest 1092: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1093:
1.22 avankest 1094: <dt><dfn id="dfn-status"><code>status</code></dfn> of type <code>unsigned
1095: short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1096:
1.5 avankest 1097: <dd>
1.72 avankest 1098: <p>On getting, if available, it <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP
1099: status code sent by the server (typically <code>200</code> for a
1100: successful request). Otherwise, if not available, the user agent
1101: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1102: exception.</p>
1.12 avankest 1103: </dd>
1104:
1.5 avankest 1105: <dt><dfn id="dfn-statustext"><code>statusText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1106: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1107:
1.5 avankest 1108: <dd>
1.72 avankest 1109: <p>On getting, if available, it <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP
1110: status text sent by the server (appears after the status code). Otherwise,
1111: if not available, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an
1112: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
1.1 avankest 1113: </dd>
1114: </dl>
1.12 avankest 1115:
1.31 avankest 1116: <h3 id="events">Events for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1117: Object</h3>
1.12 avankest 1118:
1.1 avankest 1119: <p>These sections describe the various events that can be dispatched on the
1.22 avankest 1120: object implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface. For this
1121: version of the specification only one event is defined.</p>
1.12 avankest 1122:
1.1 avankest 1123: <dl>
1124: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystatechange"><code>readystatechange</code></dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 1125:
1.72 avankest 1126: <dd>When the user agent dispatches a <code title="">readystatechange</code>
1127: event (as indicated above) it <em class="ct">must not</em> bubble,
1128: <em class="ct">must not</em> be cancelable and <em class="ct">must</em>
1129: implement the <code>Event</code> interface. Its <code>namespaceURI</code>
1130: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.
1131: [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</dd>
1.1 avankest 1132: </dl>
1.32 avankest 1133:
1.31 avankest 1134: <h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1135: Object</h3>
1136:
1.32 avankest 1137: <pre class="idl">exception <dfn>XMLHttpRequestException</dfn> {
1.31 avankest 1138: unsigned short code;
1139: };
1140: const unsigned short <span>NETWORK_ERR</span> = 101;</pre>
1141:
1.33 avankest 1142: <p>The <dfn id="network-err"><code>NETWORK_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1143: thrown when a network error occurs in synchronous requests. See the section
1144: on <code>send()</code> for more details.</p>
1.11 avankest 1145:
1.29 avankest 1146: <h2 class="no-num" id="notcovered">Not in this Specification</h2>
1147:
1148: <p><em>This section is non normative.</em></p>
1149:
1.72 avankest 1150: <p>This specification does not include the following features which are
1151: being considered for a future version of this specification:</p>
1.29 avankest 1152:
1153: <ul>
1154: <li><code>load</code> event and <code>onload</code> attribute;</li>
1155: <li><code>error</code> event and <code>onerror</code> attribute;</li>
1156: <li><code>progress</code> event and <code>onprogress</code> attribute;</li>
1157: <li><code title="">abort</code> event and <code>onabort</code> attribute;</li>
1158: <li>Timers have been suggested, perhaps an <code>ontimeout</code>
1159: attribute;</li>
1160: <li>Property to disable following redirects;</li>
1.30 avankest 1161: <li><code title="">responseXML</code> for <code>text/html</code>
1162: documents;</li>
1.40 avankest 1163: <li>Cross-site <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>;</li>
1.87 avankest 1164: <li><code>responseBody</code> to deal with byte streams;</li>
1165: <li><code>getRequestHeader()</code> and
1166: <code>removeRequestHeader()</code>.</li>
1.29 avankest 1167: </ul>
1168:
1.1 avankest 1169: <h2 class="no-num" id="bibref">References</h2>
1.11 avankest 1170:
1.6 avankest 1171: <dl>
1.37 avankest 1172: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3">DOM3Core</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1173:
1.11 avankest 1174: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core">Document Object
1175: Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a></cite>, A. Le Hors, P. Le
1176: Hégaret, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne, editors.
1177: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2004.</dd>
1178:
1.37 avankest 1179: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3EV">DOM3Events</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1180:
1.1 avankest 1181: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Events/">Document Object
1.11 avankest 1182: Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification</a></cite>, Björn Höhrmann, editor.
1183: World Wide Web Consortium, April 2006.</dd>
1184:
1.37 avankest 1185: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-ecmascript">ECMAScript</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1186:
1.14 avankest 1187: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm">ECMAScript
1188: Language Specification</a></cite>, Third Edition. ECMA, December 1999.</dd>
1189:
1.37 avankest 1190: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2046">RFC2046</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1191:
1.19 avankest 1192: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2046">Multipurpose Internet Mail
1193: Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types</a></cite>, N. Freed, N. Borenstein,
1194: editors. IETF, November 1996.</dd>
1.14 avankest 1195:
1.37 avankest 1196: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2119">RFC2119</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1197:
1.11 avankest 1198: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119">RFC 2119: Key words
1199: for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels</a></cite>, S. Bradner.
1200: IETF, March 1997.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1201:
1.37 avankest 1202: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2616">RFC2616</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1203:
1.11 avankest 1204: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer Protocol
1205: -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H. Frystyk, L.
1206: Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF, June 1999</dd>
1.12 avankest 1207:
1.37 avankest 1208: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2617">RFC2617</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1209:
1.11 avankest 1210: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617">HTTP Authentication: Basic
1.14 avankest 1211: and Digest Access Authentication</a></cite>, ...</dd>
1.12 avankest 1212:
1.37 avankest 1213: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2965">RFC2965</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1214:
1.19 avankest 1215: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965">HTTP State Management
1216: Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, October
1217: 2000.</dd>
1218:
1.37 avankest 1219: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc3986">RFC3986</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1220:
1.11 avankest 1221: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986">Uniform Resource Identifier
1222: (URI): Generic Syntax</a></cite>, T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter,
1223: editors. IETF, January 2005.</dd>
1.28 avankest 1224:
1.37 avankest 1225: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-window">Window</dfn>]</dt>
1.28 avankest 1226:
1227: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/Window/">Window Object
1228: 1.0</a></cite>, I. Davis, M. Stachowiak, editors. W3C, April 2006.</dd>
1.41 avankest 1229:
1230: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xml">XML</dfn>]</dt>
1231:
1232: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/">Extensible
1233: Markup Language (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, J. Paoli,
1234: C. Sperberg-McQueen, E. Maler, F. Yergeau. W3C, September 2006.</dd>
1235:
1236: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xmlns">XMLNS</dfn>]</dt>
1237:
1238: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/">Namespaces in
1239: XML (Second Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, D. Hollander, A. Layman, R.
1240: Tobin. W3C, August 2006.</dd>
1.1 avankest 1241: </dl>
1.11 avankest 1242:
1.1 avankest 1243: <h2 class="no-num" id="acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</h2>
1.11 avankest 1244:
1.1 avankest 1245: <p><em>This section is non-normative</em></p>
1.12 avankest 1246:
1.7 avankest 1247: <p>The editor would like to thank to the following people who have contributed
1.33 avankest 1248: to this specification (ordered by first name):</p>
1.12 avankest 1249:
1.1 avankest 1250: <ul>
1.22 avankest 1251: <li>Alex Hopmann</li>
1.7 avankest 1252: <li>Alex Vincent</li>
1.15 avankest 1253: <li>Alexey Proskuryakov</li>
1.1 avankest 1254: <li>Asbjørn Ulsberg</li>
1255: <li>Boris Zbarsky</li>
1256: <li>Björn Höhrmann</li>
1257: <li>Cameron McCormack</li>
1258: <li>Christophe Jolif</li>
1259: <li>Charles McCathieNevile</li>
1.54 avankest 1260: <li>Dan Winship</li>
1.72 avankest 1261: <li>David Håsäther</li>
1.1 avankest 1262: <li>Dean Jackson</li>
1263: <li>Doug Schepers</li>
1264: <li>Douglas Livingstone</li>
1265: <li>Gorm Haug Eriksen</li>
1266: <li>Hallvord R. M. Steen</li>
1267: <li>Håkon Wium Lie</li>
1268: <li>Ian Davis</li>
1269: <li>Ian Hickson</li>
1270: <li>Ivan Herman</li>
1271: <li>Jens Lindström</li>
1272: <li>Jim Deegan</li>
1273: <li>Jim Ley</li>
1274: <li>Jonas Sicking</li>
1275: <li>Julian Reschke</li>
1276: <li>Karl Dubost</li>
1277: <li>Maciej Stachowiak</li>
1.7 avankest 1278: <li>Magnus Kristiansen</li>
1.1 avankest 1279: <li>Marc Hadley</li>
1.53 avankest 1280: <li>Marcos Caceres</li>
1.87 avankest 1281: <li>Mark Baker</li>
1.1 avankest 1282: <li>Mark Nottingham</li>
1283: <li>Pawel Glowacki</li>
1284: <li>Robin Berjon</li>
1285: <li>Ruud Steltenpool</li>
1.33 avankest 1286: <li>Simon Pieters</li>
1.1 avankest 1287: </ul>
1.12 avankest 1288:
1.1 avankest 1289: <p>Special thanks to the Microsoft employees who first implemented the
1.22 avankest 1290: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface, which was first widely deployed by the
1291: Windows Internet Explorer browser.</p>
1.12 avankest 1292:
1.54 avankest 1293: <p>Special thanks also to the WHATWG for drafting an initial version of this
1.22 avankest 1294: specification in their Web Applications 1.0 document.</p>
1.12 avankest 1295:
1.1 avankest 1296: <p>Thanks also to all those who have helped to improve this specification by
1.22 avankest 1297: sending suggestions and corrections. (Please, keep bugging us with your
1298: issues!)</p>
1.1 avankest 1299: </body>
1300: </html>
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