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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>
1.93 ! avankest 277: <p>Implementations <em class="ct">should</em> support XML (including
! 278: support for namespaces). If they don't support XML then
! 279: <code>responseXML</code> <em class="ct">must</em> always be
! 280: <code>null</code>. [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>]
! 281: [<cite><span>XMLNS</span></cite>]</p>
1.41 avankest 282: </dd>
1.29 avankest 283: </dl>
1.12 avankest 284:
1.80 avankest 285: <h4 id="terminology">Terminology</h4>
1.12 avankest 286:
1.80 avankest 287: <p>There is a <dfn id="case-insensitive-match">case-insensitive match</dfn>
1.92 avankest 288: of strings <var>s1</var> and <var>s2</var> if after lowercasing both strings
1.93 ! avankest 289: (by mapping a-Z to A-Z) they are identical.</p>
1.80 avankest 290:
291: <h4 id="extensibility">Extensibility</h4>
1.12 avankest 292:
1.81 avankest 293: <p>Extensions of the API defined by this specification are <em>strongly
1.22 avankest 294: discouraged</em>. User agents, Working Groups and other interested parties
1.33 avankest 295: should discuss extensions on a relevant public forum, preferably
1.22 avankest 296: <a href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 297:
298: <h2 id="xmlhttprequest">The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h2>
299:
1.58 avankest 300: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be used by scripts to
1.22 avankest 301: programmatically connect to their originating server via HTTP.</p>
1.12 avankest 302:
1.1 avankest 303: <p>Objects implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface
1.22 avankest 304: <em class="ct">must</em> also implement the <code>EventTarget</code>
1.58 avankest 305: interface. [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 306:
1.58 avankest 307: <p>Objects implementing the <code title="">Window</code> interface
308: <em class="ct">must</em> provide an <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code>
309: constructor. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 310:
1.1 avankest 311: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 312: <p>In ECMAScript this can be used as follows:</p>
313: <!-- [<cite><span>ECMAScript</span></cite>] -->
314:
315: <pre><code>var client = new XMLHttpRequest();</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 316: </div>
1.12 avankest 317:
1.58 avankest 318: <p>When the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code> constructor is invoked a
319: persistent pointer to the associated <code title="">Window</code> object
320: <em class="ct">must</em> be stored on the newly created object. This is the
1.25 avankest 321: <dfn title="Window pointer" id="window-pointer"><code>Window</code>
1.58 avankest 322: pointer</dfn>. The associated <code title="">Window</code> object is the one
323: of which the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> constructor was
324: invoked. This <span title="Window pointer">pointer</span>
1.25 avankest 325: <em class="ct">must</em> persist even if the browsing context in which the
1.37 avankest 326: <code title="">Window</code> is located is destroyed (by removing it from a
327: parent browsing context, for instance).</p>
1.25 avankest 328:
1.37 avankest 329: <p>The term browsing context is defined by the <cite>Window Object
330: 1.0</cite> specification. [<cite><span>Window</span></cite>]</p>
1.27 avankest 331:
332: <!-- XXX if the document object changes in the browsing context you get an
1.33 avankest 333: exception in some implementations. -->
1.27 avankest 334:
1.58 avankest 335: <div class="example">
1.65 avankest 336: <p>If <var><code>win</code></var> is a <code title="">Window</code> object
337: <var><code>client</code></var> will have a pointer to
338: <var><code>win</code></var> in the following example:</p>
1.58 avankest 339:
1.65 avankest 340: <pre><code>var client = new win.XMLHttpRequest()</code></pre>
1.58 avankest 341: </div>
1.12 avankest 342:
1.58 avankest 343: <pre class="idl">interface <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</dfn> {
344: // event handler
1.70 avankest 345: attribute EventListener <span>onreadystatechange</span>;
1.58 avankest 346:
347: // state
1.71 avankest 348: const unsigned short <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span> = 0;
1.58 avankest 349: const unsigned short <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> = 1;
350: const unsigned short <span title="SENT state">SENT</span> = 2;
1.86 avankest 351: const unsigned short <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> = 3;
1.79 avankest 352: const unsigned short <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> = 4;
1.70 avankest 353: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>readyState</span>;
1.58 avankest 354:
355: // request
1.70 avankest 356: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>);
357: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</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>);
359: 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>);
360: void <span>setRequestHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>, in DOMString <var>value</var>);
361: void <span>send</span>();
362: void <span>send</span>(in DOMString <var>data</var>);
363: void <span>send</span>(in Document <var>data</var>);
364: void <span>abort</span>();
1.58 avankest 365:
366: // response
1.70 avankest 367: DOMString <span>getAllResponseHeaders</span>();
368: DOMString <span>getResponseHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>);
369: readonly attribute DOMString <span>responseText</span>;
370: readonly attribute Document <span>responseXML</span>;
371: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>status</span>;
372: readonly attribute DOMString <span>statusText</span>;
1.1 avankest 373: };</pre>
1.8 avankest 374:
1.58 avankest 375: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be in five states:
1.71 avankest 376: <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>,
1.58 avankest 377: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>, <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>,
1.86 avankest 378: <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> and
1.79 avankest 379: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>. The current state is exposed through
380: the <code>readyState</code> attribute. The method definitions below define
381: when a state transition takes place.</p>
1.58 avankest 382:
383: <p>When constructed, the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object
1.71 avankest 384: <em class="ct">must</em> be in the UNSENT state. This state is represented
385: by the <dfn id="unsent" title="UNSENT state"><code>UNSENT</code></dfn>
1.58 avankest 386: constant, whose value is <code>0</code>.</p>
387:
388: <p>The OPEN state is the state of the object when the <code>open()</code>
1.92 avankest 389: method has been successfully invoked. During this state request headers can
1.58 avankest 390: be set using <code>setRequestHeader()</code> and the request can be made
391: using <code>send()</code>. This state is represented by the
392: <dfn id="open" title="OPEN state"><code>OPEN</code></dfn> constant, whose
393: value is <code>1</code>.</p>
394:
1.87 avankest 395: <p>During the OPEN state there is a <dfn id="send-flag"><code>send()</code>
396: flag</dfn> which influences several algorithms described below. Outside the
397: OPEN state its value <em class="ct">must</em> (always) be "false". During
398: the OPEN state it can be set to "true" as described in the
399: <code>send()</code> method algorithm.</p>
400:
1.58 avankest 401: <p>The SENT state is the state of the object when the user agent
402: successfully acknowledged the request. This state is represented by the
403: <dfn id="sent" title="SENT state"><code>SENT</code></dfn> constant, whose
404: value is <code>2</code>.</p>
405:
1.86 avankest 406: <p>The LOADING state is the state of the object when all HTTP headers have
1.58 avankest 407: been received. The object typically remains in this state until the complete
408: message body (if any) has been received. This state is represented by the
1.86 avankest 409: <dfn id="loading" title="LOADING state"><code>LOADING</code></dfn> constant,
410: whose value is <code>3</code>.</p>
1.58 avankest 411:
1.79 avankest 412: <p>The DONE state is the state of the object when either the data transfer
1.58 avankest 413: has been completed or something went wrong during the transfer (infinite
414: redirects for instance). This state is represented by the
1.79 avankest 415: <dfn id="done" title="DONE state"><code>DONE</code></dfn> constant, whose
416: value is <code>4</code>.</p>
1.90 avankest 417:
1.88 avankest 418: <p>The <dfn id="response-entity-body">response entity body</dfn> is the
419: fragment of the <span>entity body</span> received so far (LOADING state) or
420: the complete entity body (DONE state). If there is no entity body the
421: response entity body is "null".</p>
422:
423: <p>The <dfn id="text-response-entity-body">text response entity body</dfn>
1.90 avankest 424: is either a <code>DOMString</code> or <code>null</code>. The value of the
425: text response entity body is determined by running the following
426: algorithm:</p>
427:
1.88 avankest 428: <ol>
1.90 avankest 429: <li><p>If the <span>response entity body</span> is "null" the value is
430: <code>null</code> and abort these steps.</p>
431:
432: <li><p>Let <var>charset</var> be UTF-8.</p></li>
433:
434: <li><p>If there is no <code>Content-Type</code> header or there is a
435: <code>Content-Type</code> header which contains a MIME type that is
1.91 avankest 436: <code>text/xml</code>, <code>application/xml</code>, <code>text/xsl</code>
437: or ends in <code title="">+xml</code> (ignoring any parameters) use the
438: rules set forth in the XML specification to determine the character
439: encoding. Let <var>charset</var> be the determined character
440: encoding.</p></li>
1.90 avankest 441:
442: <li><p>If the <code>Content-Type</code> MIME type contains a
443: <code>charset</code> parameter let <var>charset</var> be the value of that
444: parameter.</p></li>
445:
1.92 avankest 446: <li><p>The value is the result of decoding the <span>response entity
1.90 avankest 447: body</span> using <var>charset</var>. If that fails the value is
448: <code>null</code>.</p></li>
1.88 avankest 449: </ol>
1.90 avankest 450:
1.88 avankest 451: <p>If the <span>response entity body</span> is "null" the text response
452: entity body is <code>null</code>. If the user agent fails to decode the
453: response entity body the text response entity body is also
454: <code>null</code>.</p>
1.90 avankest 455:
1.88 avankest 456: <p>The <dfn id="xml-response-entity-body">XML response entity body</dfn> is
457: a <code>Document</code> representing the response entity body or
1.90 avankest 458: <code>null</code> and is determined by running the following algorithm:</p>
459:
1.88 avankest 460: <ol>
1.90 avankest 461: <li><p>If the <span>response entity body</span> is "null" the value is
1.88 avankest 462: <code>null</code>.</p></li>
463:
464: <li><p>If there is no <code>Content-Type</code> header the value is
465: <code>null</code>.</p></li>
1.90 avankest 466: <!-- can it have no value? -->
1.88 avankest 467:
1.90 avankest 468: <li><p>If the <code>Content-Type</code> header does not contain a MIME type
469: (ignoring any parameters) that is <code>text/xml</code>,
1.91 avankest 470: <code>application/xml</code>, <code>text/xsl</code> or ends in
471: <code title="">+xml</code> the value is <code>null</code>.</p></li>
1.88 avankest 472:
473: <li><p>Parse the <span>response entity body</span> following the rules from
474: the XML specifications. Let the result be <var>parsed document</var>. If
475: this fails (unsupported character encoding, namespace well-formedness error
476: et cetera) the value is <code>null</code>. [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>]
477: [<cite><span>XMLNS</span></cite>]</p></li>
478:
479: <li><p>The value is an object implementing the <code>Document</code>
480: interface representing the <var>parsed document</var>.</p></li>
481: </ol>
1.58 avankest 482:
1.5 avankest 483: <dl>
1.12 avankest 484:
1.39 avankest 485: <dt><dfn id="dfn-onreadystatechange"><code>onreadystatechange</code></dfn>
486: of type <code>EventListener</code></dt>
1.12 avankest 487:
1.1 avankest 488: <dd>
489: <p>An attribute that takes an <code>EventListener</code> as value that
1.58 avankest 490: <em class="ct">must</em> be invoked along with any other appropriate event
491: listeners that are registered on this object when a
1.87 avankest 492: <code>readystatechange</code> event is dispatched on it during the
493: bubbling phase. Its initial value <em class="ct">must</em> be
494: <code>null</code>.</p>
1.1 avankest 495: </dd>
1.12 avankest 496:
1.1 avankest 497: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystate"><code>readyState</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 498: <code>unsigned short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 499:
1.1 avankest 500: <dd>
1.58 avankest 501: <p>The attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be the value of the constant
502: corresponding to the object's current state.</p>
1.1 avankest 503: </dd>
1.12 avankest 504:
1.14 avankest 505: <dt><dfn id="dfn-open" title="open"><code>open(<var>method</var>,
1.22 avankest 506: <var>url</var>, <var>async</var>, <var>user</var>,
507: <var>password</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 508:
1.1 avankest 509: <dd>
1.58 avankest 510: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
511: following steps:</p>
512:
513: <ol>
514: <li><p>If the <var>method</var> argument doesn't match the
515: <dfn><code>Method</code> production</dfn> defined in section 5.1.1 of RFC
516: 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
517: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.
518: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
519:
520: <li><p>If the given <var>method</var> is not supported for security
521: reasons the user agent <em class="ct">should</em> raise a
522: <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
523:
524: <li><p>Let <var>stored method</var> be <var>method</var>.</p></li>
525:
1.80 avankest 526: <li><p>If <var>method</var>
527: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span>
528: <code>GET</code>, <code>POST</code>, <code>HEAD</code>, <code>PUT</code>,
1.58 avankest 529: <code>DELETE</code> or <code>OPTIONS</code> the user agent
1.80 avankest 530: <em class="ct">must</em> convert it to its uppercase equivalent (by
531: mapping a-z to A-Z) and let <var>stored method</var> be the
532: result.</p></li>
1.68 avankest 533: <!-- WebKit (and supposedly Firefox) also uppercase: CONNECT, COPY,
534: INDEX, LOCK, M-POST, MKCOL, MOVE, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, TRACE and UNLOCK.
535: Not sure if TRACE and CONNECT are worth it though. They raise a
536: SECURITY_ERR exception anyway... -->
1.58 avankest 537:
538: <li><p>Drop the fragment identifier (if any) from <var>url</var> and let
539: <var>stored url</var> be the result of that operation.</p></li>
540:
541: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> is a relative reference it
542: <em class="ct">must</em> be resolved using the current value of the
543: <code>baseURI</code> attribute of the <code>Document</code> object
544: currently associated with the <span><code>Window</code> pointer</span>.
545: If this fails the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
546: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
547:
548: <li><p>If the <code>"user:password"</code> format in the
549: <code>userinfo</code> production defined in section 3.2.1 of RFC 3986 is
550: not supported for the relevant scheme and <var>stored url</var> contains
551: this format the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> throw a
1.69 avankest 552: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
553: [<cite><span>RFC3986</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.58 avankest 554:
555: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> contains the <code>"user:password"</code>
556: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part and <var>stored
557: password</var> be the password part.</p></li>
558:
559: <li><p>If <var>stored url</var> just contains the <code>"user"</code>
560: format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part.</p></li>
561:
1.69 avankest 562: <li>
563: <p>If <var>stored url</var> is non same-origin the user agent
564: <em class="ct">should</em> raise a <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception
565: and abort these steps.</p>
566: <p class="note">This specification does not define what constitutes as
1.71 avankest 567: non same-origin.<!-- XXX reference HTML5? --></p>
1.69 avankest 568: </li>
1.58 avankest 569:
570: <li><p>Let <var>async</var> be the value of the <var>async</var> argument
571: or <code>false</code> if it was omitted.</p></li>
572:
573: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
574: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
575: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
576: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 577:
1.58 avankest 578: <li>
579: <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is not
580: <code>null</code> let <var>stored user</var> be <var>user</var> encoded
581: using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication scheme or
582: UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p>
1.14 avankest 583:
1.58 avankest 584: <p class="note">This step overrides any user that may have been set by
585: the <var>url</var> argument.</p>
586: </li>
1.16 avankest 587:
1.58 avankest 588: <li><p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is
589: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored user</var>.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 590:
1.58 avankest 591: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
592: does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme the
593: user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
594: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
595:
596: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is not
597: <code>null</code> let <var>stored password</var> be <var>password</var>
598: encoded using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication
599: scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p></li>
600:
601: <li><p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is
602: <code>null</code> remove <var>stored password</var>.</p></li>
603:
1.89 avankest 604: <li><p>Set <span>response entity body</span> to "null" and reset the list
605: of request headers.<p></li>
1.58 avankest 606:
1.60 avankest 607: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
608: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 609: <!-- we can hardly require it... -->
610:
611: <li><p>Switch the object to the <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span>
612: state; the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously
613: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort
614: these steps (returning the method call).</p></li>
615: </ol>
1.14 avankest 616:
1.19 avankest 617: <p class="note">A future version or extension of this specification will
1.33 avankest 618: most likely define a way of doing cross-site requests.</p>
1.1 avankest 619: </dd>
1.12 avankest 620:
1.14 avankest 621: <dt><dfn id="dfn-setrequestheader" title="setrequestheader"><code>setRequestHeader(<var>header</var>,
1.22 avankest 622: <var>value</var>)</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 623:
1.5 avankest 624: <dd>
1.45 avankest 625: <p>Each request has a list of request headers with associated values. This
626: method can be used to manipulate those values and set new request
627: headers.</p>
628:
1.58 avankest 629: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
630: following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 631:
1.58 avankest 632: <ol>
633: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
634: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
635: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
636: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
637:
1.87 avankest 638: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is "true" the user
639: agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1.58 avankest 640: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.14 avankest 641:
1.58 avankest 642: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 643: <dfn><code>field-name</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.70 avankest 644: of RFC 2616 or is <code>null</code> the user agent
1.72 avankest 645: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
646: abort these steps. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.70 avankest 647:
648: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument is <code>null</code> the user
649: agent <em class="ct">must</em> abort these steps. (Don't raise an
650: exception.)</li>
651: <!-- undefined is to be treated as null here... -->
1.79 avankest 652:
1.58 avankest 653: <li><p>If the <var>value</var> argument doesn't match the
1.22 avankest 654: <dfn><code>field-value</code> production</dfn> as defined by section 4.2
1.58 avankest 655: of RFC 2616 the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise a
656: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and abort these steps.
657: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.14 avankest 658:
1.32 avankest 659: <li>
1.58 avankest 660: <p>For security reasons these steps <em class="ct">should</em> be
1.80 avankest 661: aborted if the <var>header</var> argument
662: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span>
663: one of the following headers:</p>
1.58 avankest 664:
1.32 avankest 665: <ul>
666: <li><code>Accept-Charset</code></li>
667: <li><code>Accept-Encoding</code></li>
1.68 avankest 668: <li><code>Connection</code></li>
1.32 avankest 669: <li><code>Content-Length</code></li>
1.68 avankest 670: <li><code>Content-Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
671: <li><code>Date</code></li>
1.32 avankest 672: <li><code>Expect</code></li>
673: <li><code>Host</code></li>
674: <li><code>Keep-Alive</code></li>
675: <li><code>Referer</code></li>
676: <li><code>TE</code></li>
677: <li><code>Trailer</code></li>
678: <li><code>Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
679: <li><code>Upgrade</code></li>
1.68 avankest 680: <li><code>Via</code></li>
1.32 avankest 681: </ul>
682: </li>
1.5 avankest 683:
1.58 avankest 684: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is not in the list of request
685: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> append the
686: <var>header</var> with its associated <var>value</var> to the list and
687: abort these steps.</p></li>
688:
689: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument is in the list of request
690: headers the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> either use multiple
691: headers, combine the values or use a combination of those (section 4.2,
1.66 avankest 692: RFC 2616). [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
1.58 avankest 693: </ol>
1.45 avankest 694:
695: <p class="note">See also the <code>send()</code> method regarding user
1.71 avankest 696: agent header handling for caching, authentication, proxies, and
697: cookies.</p>
1.14 avankest 698:
699: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 700: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.14 avankest 701: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
702: client.open('GET', 'demo.cgi');
703: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'one');
704: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'two');
705: client.send();
706:
707: // ...would result in the following header being sent:
708: ...
709: X-Test: one, two
1.58 avankest 710: ...</code></pre>
1.14 avankest 711: </div>
1.5 avankest 712: </dd>
1.12 avankest 713:
1.14 avankest 714: <dt><dfn id="dfn-send" title="send"><code>send(<var>data</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 715: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 716:
1.17 avankest 717: <dd>
1.58 avankest 718: <p>The <code>send()</code> method initiates the request and its optional
719: argument <em class="ct">may</em> be used by scripts to provide the entity
720: body. When the argument is provided scripts <em class="ct">should</em>
721: ensure that they have specified (before invoking <code>send()</code>) the
1.60 avankest 722: <code>Content-Type</code> header via <code>setRequestHeader()</code>.</p>
1.58 avankest 723:
724: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the
725: following steps:</p>
726:
727: <ol>
728: <li><p>If the state of the object is not
729: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> the user agent
730: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
731: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
732:
1.87 avankest 733: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is "true" the user
734: agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1.58 avankest 735: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
736:
737: <li>
738: <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has not been omitted and is not
739: <code>null</code> it <em class="ct">must</em> be used for the
740: <dfn id="dfn-entity-body">entity body</dfn> as defined by section 7.2 of
1.71 avankest 741: RFC 2616. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
742:
743: <p>The following rules <em class="ct">must</em> be followed by the user
744: agent:</p>
1.58 avankest 745:
746: <dl>
747: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>DOMString</code></dt>
748:
1.78 avankest 749: <dd><p><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be encoded as UTF-8 for
750: transmission.</p></dd>
1.58 avankest 751:
752: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>Document</code>
753:
754: <dd>
755: <p><var>data</var> <em class="ct">must</em> be serialized into a
756: namespace well-formed XML document and encoded using the encoding
757: given by <code><var>data</var>.xmlEncoding</code>, if specified, or
758: UTF-8 otherwise. If this fails because the <code>Document</code>
759: cannot be serialized the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> act as if
760: <var>data</var> was <code>null</code>.</p>
761:
762: <p>If no <code>Content-Type</code> header has been set by the script
1.71 avankest 763: the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> append it to the list of
1.58 avankest 764: request headers with a value of <code>application/xml</code>.</p>
765:
766: <p class="note">Subsequent changes to the <code>Document</code> have
767: no effect on what is submitted.</p>
768: </dd>
769:
770: <dt><var>data</var> is not a <code>DOMString</code> or
771: <code>Document</code></dt>
772:
1.78 avankest 773: <dd><p>The stringification mechanisms of the host language
1.58 avankest 774: <em class="ct">must</em> be used on <var>data</var> and the result
775: <em class="ct">must</em> be treated as if <var>data</var> is a
1.78 avankest 776: <code>DOMString</code>.</p></dd>
777: <!-- XXX What if the host language doesn't have stringification for
778: each type? Do we care? -->
1.58 avankest 779: </dl>
780:
781: <p>If the data argument has been omitted or is <code>null</code> no
782: entity body <em class="ct">must</em> be used in the request.</p>
783: </li>
784:
1.71 avankest 785: <li><p>Make a request to <var>stored url</var>, using HTTP method
786: <var>stored method</var>, user <var>stored user</var> (if provided) and
787: password <var>stored password</var> (if provided), taking into account
788: the entity body, list of request headers and the rules listed directly
789: after this set of steps.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 790:
1.67 avankest 791: <li>
792: <p>The user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously
793: dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p>
794:
1.71 avankest 795: <p class="note">The state of the object doesn't actually change as the
1.67 avankest 796: event is dispatched for historical reasons.</p>
797: </li>
798:
1.58 avankest 799: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> the user agent
1.87 avankest 800: <em class="ct">must</em> set the <dfn><code>send()</code> flag</dfn> to
801: "true" and return the <code>send()</code> method call. (Don't abort the
802: steps in the algorithm though.)</p></li>
1.58 avankest 803:
1.82 avankest 804: <li><p>If the request has been successfully acknowledged synchronously
805: switch the state to <span title="SENT state">SENT</span>; the user agent
1.58 avankest 806: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
807: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
808:
809: <li><p>If all HTTP headers have been receieved, immediately before
1.82 avankest 810: receiving the message body (if any), synchronously switch the state to
1.86 avankest 811: <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span>; the user agent
1.58 avankest 812: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
813: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p></li>
814:
815: <li>
816: <p>If the response is an HTTP redirect (status code <code>301</code>,
817: <code>302</code>, <code>303</code> or <code>307</code>), then it
818: <em class="ct">must</em> be transparently followed (unless it violates
819: security, infinite loop precautions or the scheme isn't supported).</p>
1.60 avankest 820:
1.58 avankest 821: <p class="note">HTTP places requirements on the user agent regarding the
822: preservation of the request method and entity body during redirects, and
823: also requires users to be notified of certain kinds of automatic
824: redirections.</p>
825: <!-- Arguably HTTP should be fixed for the latter case. No browser
826: follows that as far as I know. -->
827: </li>
1.60 avankest 828:
1.58 avankest 829: <li>
830: <p>If something goes wrong (infinite loop, network errors) the user
831: agent <em class="ct">must</em> follow the following set of steps:</p>
1.60 avankest 832:
1.58 avankest 833: <ol>
1.89 avankest 834: <li><p>Set <span>reponse entity body</span> to "null" and reset the
835: list of request headers.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 836:
1.82 avankest 837: <li><p>Synchronously switch the state to
1.79 avankest 838: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 839:
1.58 avankest 840: <li><p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> the user agent
841: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>NETWORK_ERR</code> exception.
842: (Don't abort these steps.)</p></li>
1.60 avankest 843:
1.58 avankest 844: <li><p>Synchronously dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event on
845: the object.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 846:
1.58 avankest 847: <li><p>Abort the overall algorithm.</p></li>
848: </ol>
1.60 avankest 849:
1.82 avankest 850: <p class="note">It is likely that a future version of the
851: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object will dispatch an <code>error</code>
852: event here as well.</p>
1.58 avankest 853: </li>
854:
1.82 avankest 855: <li><p>When the request has successfully completed loading, synchronously
856: switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>; the user agent
1.58 avankest 857: <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
858: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object and abort these
859: steps (and return the method call in case of <var>async</var> being
860: <code>false</code>).</p></li>
861: </ol>
1.14 avankest 862:
1.91 avankest 863: <p>If the user agent allows the user to configure a proxy it
1.22 avankest 864: <em class="ct">should</em> modify the request appropriately;
1.42 avankest 865: <abbr title="in other words">i.e.</abbr>, connect to the proxy host
866: instead of the origin server, modify the <code>Request-Line</code> and
867: send <code>Proxy-Authorization</code> headers as specified.</p>
1.12 avankest 868:
1.42 avankest 869: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP Authentication it
1.22 avankest 870: <em class="ct">should</em> consider requests originating from this object
1.42 avankest 871: to be part of the protection space that includes the accessed URIs and
872: send <code>Authorization</code> headers and handle <code>401
1.72 avankest 873: Unauthorised</code> requests appropriately. If authentication fails, user
1.42 avankest 874: agents <em class="ct">should</em> prompt the users for credentials.
875: [<cite><span>RFC2617</span></cite>]</p>
876:
1.57 avankest 877: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP State Management it
1.42 avankest 878: <em class="ct">should</em> persist, discard and send cookies (as received
879: in the <code>Set-Cookie</code> and <code>Set-Cookie2</code> response
880: headers, and sent in the <code>Cookie</code> header) as applicable.
881: [<cite><span>RFC2965</span></cite>]</p>
882:
883: <p>If the user agent implements a HTTP cache it <em class="ct">should</em>
884: respect <code>Cache-Control</code> request headers set by the script
885: (<abbr title="for example">e.g.</abbr>, <code>Cache-Control:
886: no-cache</code> bypasses the cache). It <em class="ct">must not</em> send
887: <code>Cache-Control</code> or <code>Pragma</code> request headers
888: automatically unless the user explicitly requests such behaviour
889: (<abbr>e.g.</abbr>, by (force-)reloading the page). <code>304 Not
1.22 avankest 890: Modified</code> responses that are a result of a user agent generated
891: conditional request <em class="ct">must</em> be presented as <code>200
1.57 avankest 892: OK</code> responses with the appropriate content. The user agent
1.39 avankest 893: <em class="ct">must</em> allow scripts to override automatic cache
1.22 avankest 894: validation by setting request headers (e.g., <code>If-None-Match</code>,
1.42 avankest 895: <code>If-Modified-Since</code>), in which case <code>304 Not
896: Modified</code> responses <em class="ct">must</em> be passed through.
897: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 898:
1.8 avankest 899: <p>If the user agent implements server-driven content-negotiation
1.42 avankest 900: it <em class="ct">should</em> set <code>Accept-Language</code>,
1.22 avankest 901: <code>Accept-Encoding</code> and <code>Accept-Charset</code> headers as
902: appropriate; it <em class="ct">must not</em> automatically set the
903: <code>Accept</code> header. Responses to such requests
1.40 avankest 904: <em class="ct">must</em> have the content-codings automatically
1.42 avankest 905: decoded. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.8 avankest 906: </dd>
1.12 avankest 907:
1.14 avankest 908: <dt><dfn id="dfn-abort"><code>abort()</code></dfn>, method</dt>
1.12 avankest 909:
1.5 avankest 910: <dd>
1.60 avankest 911: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
912: steps:</p>
913:
914: <ol>
915: <li><p>Set the <code>responseText</code>, <code>responseXML</code>,
916: <code>status</code> and <code>responseText</code> attributes to their
917: initial value as well as removing any registered request
918: headers.</p></li>
919:
920: <li><p>Any network activity for which the object responsible
921: <em class="ct">should</em> be cancelled.</p></li>
922:
1.83 avankest 923: <li>
1.85 avankest 924: <p>If the state is <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>,
1.83 avankest 925: <span title="OPEN state">OPEN</span> and the <span><code>send()</code>
1.87 avankest 926: flag</span> is "false", or <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> go to
927: the next step.</p>
1.85 avankest 928:
1.83 avankest 929: <p>Otherwise, switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>;
930: the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> then synchronously dispatch a
931: <code>readystatechange</code> event on the object.</p>
932: </li>
1.67 avankest 933:
1.60 avankest 934: <li>
1.71 avankest 935: <p>Switch the state to <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>. (Don't
936: dispatch the <code>readystatechange</code> event.)</p>
1.60 avankest 937:
1.82 avankest 938: <p class="note">It is likely that a future version of the
939: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object will dispatch an
940: <code title="">abort</code> event here as well.</p>
1.60 avankest 941: </li>
942: </ol>
1.5 avankest 943: </dd>
1.12 avankest 944:
1.14 avankest 945: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getallresponseheaders"><code>getAllResponseHeaders()</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 946: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 947:
1.5 avankest 948: <dd>
1.60 avankest 949: <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
1.58 avankest 950: the following steps:</p>
951:
952: <ol>
1.86 avankest 953: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> or
954: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 955: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1.76 avankest 956: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 957:
1.76 avankest 958: <li><p>The user agent <em class="ct">must</em> return all the HTTP
959: headers, as a single string, with each header line separated by a U+000D
960: CR U+000A LF pair excluding the status line.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 961: </ol>
1.24 avankest 962:
1.5 avankest 963: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 964: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.5 avankest 965: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 966: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 967: client.send();
1.12 avankest 968: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 969: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.12 avankest 970: print(this.getAllResponseHeaders());
971: }
972: }
1.5 avankest 973:
974: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
975: Date: 2004年10月24日 04:58:38 GMT
976: Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix)
977: Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
978: Connection: Keep-Alive
979: Transfer-Encoding: chunked
1.58 avankest 980: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.5 avankest 981: </div>
982: </dd>
1.12 avankest 983:
1.18 avankest 984: <dt><dfn id="dfn-getresponseheader" title="getresponseheader"><code>getResponseHeader(<var>header</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.22 avankest 985: method</dt>
1.12 avankest 986:
1.1 avankest 987: <dd>
1.58 avankest 988: <p>When the method is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run
989: the following steps:</p>
1.14 avankest 990:
1.58 avankest 991: <ol>
1.86 avankest 992: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> or
993: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> the user agent
1.58 avankest 994: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1.76 avankest 995: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 996:
1.76 avankest 997: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument doesn't match the
1.58 avankest 998: <span><code>field-name</code> production</span> the user agent
999: <em class="ct">must</em> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
1.76 avankest 1000: abort these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1001:
1.80 avankest 1002: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument
1003: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span>
1.76 avankest 1004: multiple HTTP headers for the last request sent the user agent
1.58 avankest 1005: <em class="ct">must</em> return the values of these headers as a single
1.77 avankest 1006: concatenated string separated from each other by an U+002C COMMA followed
1.76 avankest 1007: by an U+0020 SPACE and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1008:
1.80 avankest 1009: <li><p>If the <var>header</var> argument
1010: <span title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</span> a
1.76 avankest 1011: single HTTP header for the last request sent the user agent
1.58 avankest 1012: <em class="ct">must</em> return the value of that header and abort these
1.76 avankest 1013: steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1014:
1.76 avankest 1015: <li><p>The method <em class="ct">must</em> return
1016: <code>null</code>.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1017: </ol>
1.12 avankest 1018:
1.1 avankest 1019: <div class="example">
1.58 avankest 1020: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.1 avankest 1021: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 1022: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 1023: client.send();
1.12 avankest 1024: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.13 avankest 1025: if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.14 avankest 1026: print(client.getResponseHeader("Content-Type"));
1.12 avankest 1027: }
1028: }
1.1 avankest 1029:
1.5 avankest 1030: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.58 avankest 1031: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.1 avankest 1032: </div>
1.5 avankest 1033: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1034:
1.5 avankest 1035: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsetext"><code>responseText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1036: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1037:
1.5 avankest 1038: <dd>
1.88 avankest 1039: <p>On getting, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
1040: steps:</p>
1041:
1042: <ol>
1043: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> or
1044: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>, the user agent
1045: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1046: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.12 avankest 1047:
1.88 avankest 1048: <li><p>Return the <span>text response entity body</span>.</p></li>
1049: </ol>
1.5 avankest 1050: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1051:
1.5 avankest 1052: <dt><dfn id="dfn-responsexml"><code>responseXML</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1053: <code>Document</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1054:
1.8 avankest 1055: <dd>
1.75 avankest 1056: <p>On getting, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
1057: steps:</p>
1.79 avankest 1058:
1.75 avankest 1059: <ol>
1.79 avankest 1060: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> the user
1061: agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1062: exception and abort these steps.</p></li>
1.75 avankest 1063:
1.88 avankest 1064: <li><p>Return the <span>XML response entity body</span>.</p></li>
1.75 avankest 1065: </ol>
1.5 avankest 1066: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1067:
1.22 avankest 1068: <dt><dfn id="dfn-status"><code>status</code></dfn> of type <code>unsigned
1069: short</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1070:
1.5 avankest 1071: <dd>
1.72 avankest 1072: <p>On getting, if available, it <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP
1073: status code sent by the server (typically <code>200</code> for a
1074: successful request). Otherwise, if not available, the user agent
1075: <em class="ct">must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
1076: exception.</p>
1.12 avankest 1077: </dd>
1078:
1.5 avankest 1079: <dt><dfn id="dfn-statustext"><code>statusText</code></dfn> of type
1.22 avankest 1080: <code>DOMString</code>, readonly</dt>
1.12 avankest 1081:
1.5 avankest 1082: <dd>
1.72 avankest 1083: <p>On getting, if available, it <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP
1084: status text sent by the server (appears after the status code). Otherwise,
1085: if not available, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an
1086: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
1.1 avankest 1087: </dd>
1088: </dl>
1.12 avankest 1089:
1.31 avankest 1090: <h3 id="events">Events for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1091: Object</h3>
1.12 avankest 1092:
1.1 avankest 1093: <p>These sections describe the various events that can be dispatched on the
1.22 avankest 1094: object implementing the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface. For this
1095: version of the specification only one event is defined.</p>
1.12 avankest 1096:
1.1 avankest 1097: <dl>
1098: <dt><dfn id="dfn-readystatechange"><code>readystatechange</code></dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 1099:
1.72 avankest 1100: <dd>When the user agent dispatches a <code title="">readystatechange</code>
1101: event (as indicated above) it <em class="ct">must not</em> bubble,
1102: <em class="ct">must not</em> be cancelable and <em class="ct">must</em>
1103: implement the <code>Event</code> interface. Its <code>namespaceURI</code>
1104: attribute <em class="ct">must</em> be <code>null</code>.
1105: [<cite><span>DOM3Events</span></cite>]</dd>
1.1 avankest 1106: </dl>
1.32 avankest 1107:
1.31 avankest 1108: <h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions for the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
1109: Object</h3>
1110:
1.32 avankest 1111: <pre class="idl">exception <dfn>XMLHttpRequestException</dfn> {
1.31 avankest 1112: unsigned short code;
1113: };
1114: const unsigned short <span>NETWORK_ERR</span> = 101;</pre>
1115:
1.33 avankest 1116: <p>The <dfn id="network-err"><code>NETWORK_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1117: thrown when a network error occurs in synchronous requests. See the section
1118: on <code>send()</code> for more details.</p>
1.11 avankest 1119:
1.29 avankest 1120: <h2 class="no-num" id="notcovered">Not in this Specification</h2>
1121:
1122: <p><em>This section is non normative.</em></p>
1123:
1.72 avankest 1124: <p>This specification does not include the following features which are
1125: being considered for a future version of this specification:</p>
1.29 avankest 1126:
1127: <ul>
1128: <li><code>load</code> event and <code>onload</code> attribute;</li>
1129: <li><code>error</code> event and <code>onerror</code> attribute;</li>
1130: <li><code>progress</code> event and <code>onprogress</code> attribute;</li>
1131: <li><code title="">abort</code> event and <code>onabort</code> attribute;</li>
1132: <li>Timers have been suggested, perhaps an <code>ontimeout</code>
1133: attribute;</li>
1134: <li>Property to disable following redirects;</li>
1.30 avankest 1135: <li><code title="">responseXML</code> for <code>text/html</code>
1136: documents;</li>
1.40 avankest 1137: <li>Cross-site <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>;</li>
1.87 avankest 1138: <li><code>responseBody</code> to deal with byte streams;</li>
1139: <li><code>getRequestHeader()</code> and
1140: <code>removeRequestHeader()</code>.</li>
1.29 avankest 1141: </ul>
1142:
1.1 avankest 1143: <h2 class="no-num" id="bibref">References</h2>
1.11 avankest 1144:
1.6 avankest 1145: <dl>
1.37 avankest 1146: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3">DOM3Core</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1147:
1.11 avankest 1148: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core">Document Object
1.92 avankest 1149: Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a></cite>, A. Le Hors, P. Le
1150: Hégaret, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne, editors. World
1151: Wide Web Consortium, April 2004.</dd>
1.11 avankest 1152:
1.37 avankest 1153: <dt>[<dfn id="DOM3EV">DOM3Events</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1154:
1.92 avankest 1155: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Events/">Document
1156: Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification</a></cite>, Björn Höhrmann,
1157: editor. World Wide Web Consortium, April 2006.</dd>
1.11 avankest 1158:
1.37 avankest 1159: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-ecmascript">ECMAScript</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1160:
1.92 avankest 1161: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm">ECMAScript
1162: Language Specification</a></cite>, Third Edition. ECMA, December 1999.</dd>
1.14 avankest 1163:
1.37 avankest 1164: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2046">RFC2046</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1165:
1.19 avankest 1166: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2046">Multipurpose Internet Mail
1.92 avankest 1167: Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types</a></cite>, N. Freed, N.
1168: Borenstein, editors. IETF, November 1996.</dd>
1.14 avankest 1169:
1.37 avankest 1170: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2119">RFC2119</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1171:
1.92 avankest 1172: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119">RFC 2119: Key words for use
1173: in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels</a></cite>, S. Bradner. IETF, March
1174: 1997.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1175:
1.37 avankest 1176: <dt>[<dfn id="RFC2616">RFC2616</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1177:
1.11 avankest 1178: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer Protocol
1.92 avankest 1179: -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H. Frystyk, L.
1180: Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF, June 1999.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1181:
1.37 avankest 1182: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2617">RFC2617</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1183:
1.11 avankest 1184: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617">HTTP Authentication: Basic
1.92 avankest 1185: and Digest Access Authentication</a></cite>, P. Hallam-Baker, J.
1186: Hostetler, S. Lawrence, P. Leach, A. Luotonen, L. Stewart, editors. IETF,
1187: June 1999.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1188:
1.37 avankest 1189: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2965">RFC2965</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1190:
1.19 avankest 1191: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965">HTTP State Management
1.92 avankest 1192: Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, October
1193: 2000.</dd>
1.19 avankest 1194:
1.37 avankest 1195: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc3986">RFC3986</dfn>]</dt>
1.24 avankest 1196:
1.11 avankest 1197: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986">Uniform Resource Identifier
1.92 avankest 1198: (URI): Generic Syntax</a></cite>, T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter,
1199: editors. IETF, January 2005.</dd>
1.28 avankest 1200:
1.92 avankest 1201: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-window">Window</dfn>]</dt>
1.28 avankest 1202:
1.92 avankest 1203: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/Window/">Window Object
1204: 1.0</a></cite>, I. Davis, M. Stachowiak, editors. W3C, April 2006.</dd>
1.41 avankest 1205:
1.92 avankest 1206: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xml">XML</dfn>]</dt>
1.41 avankest 1207:
1.92 avankest 1208: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/">Extensible Markup Language
1209: (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, J. Paoli, C.
1210: Sperberg-McQueen, E. Maler, F. Yergeau. W3C, September 2006.</dd>
1.41 avankest 1211:
1.92 avankest 1212: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xmlns">XMLNS</dfn>]</dt>
1.41 avankest 1213:
1.92 avankest 1214: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/">Namespaces in XML
1215: (Second Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, D. Hollander, A. Layman, R. Tobin.
1216: W3C, August 2006.</dd>
1.1 avankest 1217: </dl>
1.11 avankest 1218:
1.1 avankest 1219: <h2 class="no-num" id="acknowledgements">Acknowledgements</h2>
1.11 avankest 1220:
1.1 avankest 1221: <p><em>This section is non-normative</em></p>
1.12 avankest 1222:
1.7 avankest 1223: <p>The editor would like to thank to the following people who have contributed
1.33 avankest 1224: to this specification (ordered by first name):</p>
1.12 avankest 1225:
1.1 avankest 1226: <ul>
1.22 avankest 1227: <li>Alex Hopmann</li>
1.7 avankest 1228: <li>Alex Vincent</li>
1.15 avankest 1229: <li>Alexey Proskuryakov</li>
1.1 avankest 1230: <li>Asbjørn Ulsberg</li>
1231: <li>Boris Zbarsky</li>
1232: <li>Björn Höhrmann</li>
1233: <li>Cameron McCormack</li>
1234: <li>Christophe Jolif</li>
1235: <li>Charles McCathieNevile</li>
1.54 avankest 1236: <li>Dan Winship</li>
1.72 avankest 1237: <li>David Håsäther</li>
1.1 avankest 1238: <li>Dean Jackson</li>
1239: <li>Doug Schepers</li>
1240: <li>Douglas Livingstone</li>
1241: <li>Gorm Haug Eriksen</li>
1242: <li>Hallvord R. M. Steen</li>
1243: <li>Håkon Wium Lie</li>
1244: <li>Ian Davis</li>
1245: <li>Ian Hickson</li>
1246: <li>Ivan Herman</li>
1247: <li>Jens Lindström</li>
1248: <li>Jim Deegan</li>
1249: <li>Jim Ley</li>
1250: <li>Jonas Sicking</li>
1251: <li>Julian Reschke</li>
1252: <li>Karl Dubost</li>
1253: <li>Maciej Stachowiak</li>
1.7 avankest 1254: <li>Magnus Kristiansen</li>
1.1 avankest 1255: <li>Marc Hadley</li>
1.53 avankest 1256: <li>Marcos Caceres</li>
1.87 avankest 1257: <li>Mark Baker</li>
1.1 avankest 1258: <li>Mark Nottingham</li>
1.92 avankest 1259: <li>Mohamed Zergaoui</li>
1.1 avankest 1260: <li>Pawel Glowacki</li>
1261: <li>Robin Berjon</li>
1262: <li>Ruud Steltenpool</li>
1.33 avankest 1263: <li>Simon Pieters</li>
1.1 avankest 1264: </ul>
1.12 avankest 1265:
1.1 avankest 1266: <p>Special thanks to the Microsoft employees who first implemented the
1.22 avankest 1267: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> interface, which was first widely deployed by the
1268: Windows Internet Explorer browser.</p>
1.12 avankest 1269:
1.54 avankest 1270: <p>Special thanks also to the WHATWG for drafting an initial version of this
1.22 avankest 1271: specification in their Web Applications 1.0 document.</p>
1.12 avankest 1272:
1.1 avankest 1273: <p>Thanks also to all those who have helped to improve this specification by
1.22 avankest 1274: sending suggestions and corrections. (Please, keep bugging us with your
1275: issues!)</p>
1.1 avankest 1276: </body>
1277: </html>
1.92 avankest 1278:
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