The keystone of AJAX is the XMLHttpRequest object.
1. Create an XMLHttpRequest object
2. Define a callback function
3. Open the XMLHttpRequest object
4. Send a Request to a server
The XMLHttpRequest Object
All modern browsers support the XMLHttpRequest object.
The XMLHttpRequest object can be used to exchange data with a web server
behind the scenes. This means that it is possible to update parts of a web page,
without reloading the whole page.
Create an XMLHttpRequest Object
All modern browsers (Chrome, Firefox, IE, Edge, Safari, Opera) have a built-
in XMLHttpRequest object.
Syntax for creating an XMLHttpRequest object:
variable = new XMLHttpRequest();
Define a Callback Function
A callback function is a function passed as a parameter to another function.
In this case, the callback function should contain the code to execute when the
response is ready.
xhttp.onload = function() {
// What to do when the response is ready
}
Send a Request
To send a request to a server, you can use the open() and send() methods of
the XMLHttpRequest object:
xhttp.open("GET", "ajax_info.txt");
xhttp.send();
Example
// Create an XMLHttpRequest object
const xhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
// Define a callback function
xhttp.onload = function() {
// Here you can use the Data
}
// Send a request
xhttp.open("GET", "ajax_info.txt");
xhttp.send();
Try it Yourself »
Access Across Domains
For security reasons, modern browsers do not allow access across domains.
This means that both the web page and the XML file it tries to load, must be
located on the same server.
The examples on W3Schools all open XML files located on the W3Schools
domain.
If you want to use the example above on one of your own web pages, the XML
files you load must be located on your own server.
XMLHttpRequest Object Methods
Method Description
new XMLHttpRequest() Creates a new XMLHttpRequest object
abort() Cancels the current request
getAllResponseHeaders() Returns header information
getResponseHeader() Returns specific header information
open(method, url, async, user, Specifies the request
psw)
method: the request type GET or POST
url: the file location
async: true (asynchronous) or false (synchronous)
user: optional user name
psw: optional password
send() Sends the request to the server
Used for GET requests
send(string) Sends the request to the server.
Used for POST requests
setRequestHeader() Adds a label/value pair to the header to be sent
