Ajax 03
Ajax 03
Ajax 03
AJAX is not a new programming language, but a new way to use existing standards.
AJAX is the art of exchanging data with a server, and update parts of a web page - without
reloading the whole page.
AJAX is about updating parts of a web page, without reloading the whole page.
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.
Google Suggest
AJAX was made popular in 2005 by Google, with Google Suggest.
Google Suggest is using AJAX to create a very dynamic web interface: When you start typing in
Google's search box, a JavaScript sends the letters off to a server and the server returns a list of
suggestions.
Try it yourself »
</body>
</html>
Next, add a <script> tag to the page's head section. The script section contains the
loadXMLDoc() function:
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function loadXMLDoc()
{
.... AJAX script goes here ...
}
</script>
</head>
The next chapters will explain how AJAX works.
Try it yourself »
In the next chapter you will learn about sending server requests.
The XMLHttpRequest object is used to exchange data with a server.
Method Description
open(method,url,async) Specifies the type of request, the URL, and if the request should be
handled asynchronously or not.
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();
Try it yourself »
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();
Try it yourself »
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();
Try it yourself »
POST Requests
A simple POST request:
Example
xmlhttp.open("POST","demo_post.asp",true);
xmlhttp.send();
Try it yourself »
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");
Try it yourself »
Method Description
Adds HTTP headers to the request.
setRequestHeader(header,value)
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();
Try it yourself »
You will learn more about onreadystatechange in a later chapter.
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;
Try it yourself »
Server Response
To get the response from a server, use the responseText or responseXML property of the
XMLHttpRequest object.
Property Description
responseText get the response data as a string
responseXML get the response data as XML data
Try it yourself »
Try it yourself »
The onreadystatechange event
When a request to a server is sent, we want to perform some actions based on the response.
The onreadystatechange event is triggered every time the readyState changes.
The readyState property holds the status of the XMLHttpRequest.
Three important properties of the XMLHttpRequest object:
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;
}
}
Try it yourself »
Note: The onreadystatechange event is triggered four times, one time for each change in
readyState.
Try it yourself »
AJAX is used to create more interactive applications.
Try it yourself »
Try it yourself »
set conn=Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
conn.Provider="Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0"
conn.Open(Server.Mappath("/db/northwind.mdb"))
set rs=Server.CreateObject("ADODB.recordset")
rs.Open sql,conn
response.write("<table>")
do until rs.EOF
for each x in rs.Fields
response.write("<tr><td><b>" & x.name & "</b></td>")
response.write("<td>" & x.value & "</td></tr>")
next
rs.MoveNext
loop
response.write("</table>")
%>
AJAX XML Example
The following example will demonstrate how a web page can fetch information from an XML file with
AJAX:
Example
Try it yourself »
</body>
</html>
Eg2
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function loadXMLDoc(url)
{
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
}
else
{// code for IE6, IE5
xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}
xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
{
if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200)
{
document.getElementById('A1').innerHTML=xmlhttp.status;
document.getElementById('A2').innerHTML=xmlhttp.statusText;
document.getElementById('A3').innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
}
}
xmlhttp.open("GET",url,true);
xmlhttp.send();
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
Eg3
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function loadXMLDoc(url)
{
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
}
else
{// code for IE6, IE5
xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}
xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
{
if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200)
{
document.getElementById('p1').innerHTML=xmlhttp.getAllResponseHeaders();
}
}
xmlhttp.open("GET",url,true);
xmlhttp.send();
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<p id="p1">The getAllResponseHeaders() function returns the header information of a resource, like
length, server-type, content-type, last-modified, etc.</p>
<button onclick="loadXMLDoc('ajax_info.txt')">Get header information</button>
</body>
</html>
Eg4
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function loadXMLDoc(url)
{
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
}
else
{// code for IE6, IE5
xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}
xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
{
if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200)
{
document.getElementById('p1').innerHTML="Last modified: " + xmlhttp.getResponseHeader('Last-
Modified');
}
}
xmlhttp.open("GET",url,true);
xmlhttp.send();
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<p id="p1">The getResponseHeader() function is used to return specific header information from a
resource, like length, server-type, content-type, last-modified, etc.</p>
<button onclick="loadXMLDoc('ajax_info.txt')">Get "Last-Modified" information</button>
</body>
</html>
Eg5
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function showHint(str)
{
if (str.length==0)
{
document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML="";
return;
}
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
}
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();
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>
Eg6
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function showCustomer(str)
{
if (str=="")
{
document.getElementById("txtHint").innerHTML="";
return;
}
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
}
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","getcustomer.asp?q="+str,true);
xmlhttp.send();
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<form action="">
<select name="customers" onchange="showCustomer(this.value)">
<option value="">Select a customer:</option>
<option value="ALFKI">Alfreds Futterkiste</option>
<option value="NORTS ">North/South</option>
<option value="WOLZA">Wolski Zajazd</option>
</select>
</form>
<br />
<div id="txtHint">Customer info will be listed here...</div>
</body>
</html>
Eg7
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function loadXMLDoc(url)
{
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
}
else
{// code for IE6, IE5
xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}
xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
{
if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200)
{
txt="<table border='1'><tr><th>Title</th><th>Artist</th></tr>";
x=xmlhttp.responseXML.documentElement.getElementsByTagName("CD");
for (i=0;i<x.length;i++)
{
txt=txt + "<tr>";
xx=x[i].getElementsByTagName("TITLE");
{
try
{
txt=txt + "<td>" + xx[0].firstChild.nodeValue + "</td>";
}
catch (er)
{
txt=txt + "<td> </td>";
}
}
xx=x[i].getElementsByTagName("ARTIST");
{
try
{
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();
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
<div id="txtCDInfo">
<button onclick="loadXMLDoc('cd_catalog.xml')">Get CD info</button>
</div>
</body>
</html>
Eg8
<html>
<head>
<script type="text/javascript">
function loadXMLDoc(url,cfunc)
{
if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
}
else
{// code for IE6, IE5
xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}
xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=cfunc;
xmlhttp.open("GET",url,true);
xmlhttp.send();
}
function myFunction()
{
loadXMLDoc("ajax_info.txt",function()
{
if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200)
{
document.getElementById("myDiv").innerHTML=xmlhttp.responseText;
}
});
}
</script>
</head>
<body>
</body>
</html>