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Before you continue you should have a basic understanding of the following: HTML / XHTML CSS JavaScript / DOM
What is AJAX?
AJAX = Asynchronous JavaScript and XML. AJAX is a technique for creating fast and dynamic web pages. AJAX allows web pages to be updated asynchronously by exchanging small amounts of data with the server behind the scenes. This means that it is possible to update parts of a web page, without reloading the whole page. Classic web pages, (which do not use AJAX) must reload the entire page if the content should change. Examples of applications using AJAX: Google Maps, Gmail, Youtube, and Facebook tabs.
} </script> </head> The next chapters will explain how AJAX works
Example
var xmlhttp; if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest(); } else {// code for IE6, IE5 xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); }
open(method,url,async)
send(string)
GET or POST?
GET is simpler and faster than POST, and can be used in most cases. However, always use POST requests when: A cached file is not an option (update a file or database on the server) Sending a large amount of data to the server (POST has no size limitations) Sending user input (which can contain unknown characters), POST is more robust and secure than GET
GET Requests
A simple GET request:
Example
xmlhttp.open("GET","demo_get.asp",true); xmlhttp.send();
In the example above, you may get a cached result. To avoid this, add a unique ID to the URL:
Example
xmlhttp.open("GET","demo_get.asp?t=" + Math.random(),true); xmlhttp.send();
If you want to send information with the GET method, add the information to the URL:
Example
xmlhttp.open("GET","demo_get2.asp?fname=Henry&lname=Ford",true); xmlhttp.send();
POST Requests
A simple POST request:
Example
xmlhttp.open("POST","demo_post.asp",true); xmlhttp.send();
To POST data like an HTML form, add an HTTP header with setRequestHeader(). Specify the data you want to send in the send() method:
Example
xmlhttp.open("POST","ajax_test.asp",true); xmlhttp.setRequestHeader("Content-type","application/x-www-form-urlencoded"); xmlhttp.send("fname=Henry&lname=Ford");
Method setRequestHeader(header,value)
Description Adds HTTP headers to the request. header: specifies the header name value: specifies the header value
Async=true
When using async=true, specify a function to execute when the response is ready in the onreadystatechange event:
Example
xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function() { if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200) { document.getElementById("myDiv").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText; } } xmlhttp.open("GET","ajax_info.txt",true); xmlhttp.send();
Async=false
To use async=false, change the third parameter in the open() method to false: xmlhttp.open("GET","ajax_info.txt",false); Using async=false is not recommended, but for a few small requests this can be ok. Remember that the JavaScript will NOT continue to execute, until the server response is ready. If the server is busy or slow, the application will hang or stop. Note: When you use async=false, do NOT write an onreadystatechange function - just put the code after the send() statement:
Example
xmlhttp.open("GET","ajax_info.txt",false); xmlhttp.send(); document.getElementById("myDiv").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
Server Response
To get the response from a server, use the responseText or responseXML property of the XMLHttpRequest object.
Description get the response data as a string get the response data as XML data
Example
document.getElementById("myDiv").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
Example
xmlDoc=xmlhttp.responseXML; txt=""; x=xmlDoc.getElementsByTagName("ARTIST"); for (i=0;i<x.length;i++) { txt=txt + x[i].childNodes[0].nodeValue + "<br />"; } document.getElementById("myDiv").innerHTML=txt;
Property
Description Stores a function (or the name of a function) to be called automatically each onreadystatechange time the readyState property changes Holds the status of the XMLHttpRequest. Changes from 0 to 4: 0: request not initialized 1: server connection established readyState 2: request received 3: processing request 4: request finished and response is ready 200: "OK" status 404: Page not found In the onreadystatechange event, we specify what will happen when the server response is ready to be processed. When readyState is 4 and status is 200, the response is ready:
Example
xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function() { if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200) { document.getElementById("myDiv").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText; } } Note: The onreadystatechange event is triggered four times, one time for each change in readyState.
Example
Example
Start typing a name in the input field below: First name: Suggestions:
} else {// code for IE6, IE5 xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function() { if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200) { document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText; } } xmlhttp.open("GET","gethint.asp?q="+str,true); xmlhttp.send(); } Source code explanation: If the input field is empty (str.length==0), the function clears the content of the txtHint placeholder and exits the function. If the input field is not empty, the showHint() function executes the following: Create an XMLHttpRequest object Create the function to be executed when the server response is ready Send the request off to a file on the server Notice that a parameter (q) is added to the URL (with the content of the input field)
dim a(30) 'Fill up array with names a(1)="Anna" a(2)="Brittany" a(3)="Cinderella" a(4)="Diana" a(5)="Eva" a(6)="Fiona" a(7)="Gunda" a(8)="Hege" a(9)="Inga" a(10)="Johanna" a(11)="Kitty" a(12)="Linda" a(13)="Nina" a(14)="Ophelia" a(15)="Petunia" a(16)="Amanda" a(17)="Raquel" a(18)="Cindy" a(19)="Doris" a(20)="Eve" a(21)="Evita" a(22)="Sunniva" a(23)="Tove" a(24)="Unni" a(25)="Violet" a(26)="Liza" a(27)="Elizabeth" a(28)="Ellen" a(29)="Wenche" a(30)="Vicky" 'get the q parameter from URL q=ucase(request.querystring("q")) 'lookup all hints from array if length of q>0 if len(q)>0 then hint="" for i=1 to 30 if q=ucase(mid(a(i),1,len(q))) then if hint="" then hint=a(i) else hint=hint & " , " & a(i) end if
end if next end if 'Output "no suggestion" if no hint were found 'or output the correct values if hint="" then response.write("no suggestion") else response.write(hint) end if %>
$a[]="Tove"; $a[]="Unni"; $a[]="Violet"; $a[]="Liza"; $a[]="Elizabeth"; $a[]="Ellen"; $a[]="Wenche"; $a[]="Vicky"; //get the q parameter from URL $q=$_GET["q"]; //lookup all hints from array if length of q>0 if (strlen($q) > 0) { $hint=""; for($i=0; $i<count($a); $i++) { if (strtolower($q)==strtolower(substr($a[$i],0,strlen($q)))) { if ($hint=="") { $hint=$a[$i]; } else { $hint=$hint." , ".$a[$i]; } } } } // Set output to "no suggestion" if no hint were found // or to the correct values if ($hint == "") { $response="no suggestion"; } else { $response=$hint; } //output the response echo $response; ?>
Notice that a parameter (q) is added to the URL (with the content of the dropdown list)
Example
{ txt=txt + "<td>" + xx[0].firstChild.nodeValue + "</td>"; } catch (er) { txt=txt + "<td> </td>"; } } txt=txt + "</tr>"; } txt=txt + "</table>"; document.getElementById('txtCDInfo').innerHTML=txt; } } xmlhttp.open("GET",url,true); xmlhttp.send(); }