The XMLHttpRequest Object

With an XMLHttpRequest you can communicate with your server from inside a web page.

What is the XMLHttpRequest Object?

The XMLHttpRequest object is the developer’s dream, because you can:

• Update a web page with new data without reloading the page
• Request and receive new data from a server after the page has loaded
• Communicate with a server in the background

XMLHttpRequest Example

When you type in the input box below, an HTTP request is sent to the server and name suggestions are returned from a name list:

Creating an XMLHttpRequest Object

Creating an XMLHttpRequest object is done with one single line of JavaScript.

In all modern browsers:

In older Microsoft browsers (IE 5 and 6):

In the next chapter, we will use the XMLHttpRequest object to retrieve XML information from a server.

The XMLHttpRequest object is supported in all modern browsers

Is the XMLHttpRequest Object a W3C Standard?

The XMLHttpRequest object is not specified in any W3C recommendation.

However, the W3C DOM Level 3 "Load and Save" specification contains some similar functionality, but these are not implemented in any browsers yet.

Altova® XMLSpy® - The industry-leading XML editor!

Whether you're new to XML or already an advanced user, the user-friendly views and powerful entry helpers, wizards, and debuggers in XMLSpy are designed to meet your XML and Web development needs from start to finish. New features in Version 2010!

XML editor Graphical XML Schema / DTD editors XSLT 1.0/2.0 editor, debugger, profiler XQuery editor, debugger, profiler XBRL validator, taxonomy editor, taxonomy wizard Support for Office Open XML (OOXML) Graphical WSDL 1.1/2.0 editor & SOAP debugger JSON editing & conversion Java, C#, C++ code generation And much more! Download a free trial today!