Annotation of 2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/Overview.html, revision 1.143

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                      5:   <title>The XMLHttpRequest Object</title>
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1.25      avankest   25:   <link href="http://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/base" rel=stylesheet>
1.121     avankest   26:   <link href="http://www.w3.org/StyleSheets/TR/W3C-WD" rel=stylesheet>
1.2       avankest   27: 
1.1       avankest   28:  <body>
1.25      avankest   29:   <div class=head>
                     30:    <p><a href="http://www.w3.org/"><img alt=W3C height=48
                     31:     src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_home" width=72></a></p>
1.2       avankest   32: 
1.25      avankest   33:    <h1 class=head id=the-xmlhttprequest>The <code
1.14      avankest   34:     title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h1>
1.2       avankest   35: 
1.128     avankest   36:    <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=pagesubtitle>Editor's
1.139     avankest   37:     draft<!--W3C Working Draft--> 25 September 2007</h2>
1.2       avankest   38: 
1.1       avankest   39:    <dl>
1.14      avankest   40:     <dt>This Version:
1.2       avankest   41: 
                     42:     <dd><a
1.139     avankest   43:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070925/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070925/</a>
1.2       avankest   44: 
1.14      avankest   45:     <dt>Latest Version:
1.2       avankest   46: 
                     47:     <dd><a
                     48:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest/">http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest/</a>
                     49: 
1.14      avankest   50:     <dt>Previous Versions:
1.2       avankest   51: 
                     52:     <dd><a
1.134     avankest   53:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070618/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070618/</a>
                     54: 
                     55:     <dd><a
1.60      avankest   56:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070227/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070227/</a>
                     57: 
                     58:     <dd><a
1.25      avankest   59:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060927/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060927/</a>
                     60: 
                     61:     <dd><a
1.2       avankest   62:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060619/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060619/</a>
                     63: 
                     64:     <dd><a
                     65:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/</a>
                     66: 
                     67:     <dt>Editor:
                     68: 
                     69:     <dd><a href="http://annevankesteren.nl/">Anne van Kesteren</a> (<a
                     70:      href="http://www.opera.com/">Opera Software ASA</a>) &lt;<a
                     71:      href="mailto:annevk@opera.com">annevk@opera.com</a>&gt;
1.1       avankest   72:    </dl>
1.2       avankest   73: 
1.25      avankest   74:    <p class=copyright><a
1.2       avankest   75:     href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Copyright">Copyright</a>
1.53      avankest   76:     &copy; 2007 <a href="http://www.w3.org/"><acronym title="World Wide Web
                     77:     Consortium">W3C</acronym></a><sup>&reg;</sup> (<a
                     78:     href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/"><acronym title="Massachusetts Institute
                     79:     of Technology">MIT</acronym></a>, <a
                     80:     href="http://www.ercim.org/"><acronym title="European Research Consortium
                     81:     for Informatics and Mathematics">ERCIM</acronym></a>, <a
1.2       avankest   82:     href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/">Keio</a>), All Rights Reserved. W3C <a
                     83:     href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Legal_Disclaimer">liability</a>,
                     84:     <a
                     85:     href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#W3C_Trademarks">trademark</a>
                     86:     and <a
                     87:     href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-documents">document
                     88:     use</a> rules apply.</p>
1.1       avankest   89:   </div>
1.2       avankest   90: 
                     91:   <hr>
                     92: 
1.25      avankest   93:   <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=specabstract>Abstract</h2>
1.2       avankest   94: 
1.25      avankest   95:   <p>The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object specification defines an
                     96:    <abbr title="Application Programming Interface">API</abbr> that provides
                     97:    scripted client functionality for transferring data between a client and a
                     98:    server.
                     99: 
                    100:   <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=sotd>Status of this Document</h2>
1.2       avankest  101: 
                    102:   <p><em>This section describes the status of this document at the time of
                    103:    its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of
                    104:    current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report
                    105:    can be found in the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/">W3C technical reports
1.65      avankest  106:    index</a> at http://www.w3.org/TR/.</em></p>
                    107:   <!-- change back to Last Call -->
1.2       avankest  108: 
1.139     avankest  109:   <p>This is the 25 September 2007 <strong>Editor's</strong> <!--Working-->
                    110:    Draft of The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object specification.
                    111:    Please send comments to <a
1.121     avankest  112:    href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a> (<a
1.49      avankest  113:    href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapi/">archived</a>)
                    114:    with either <samp>[XHR]</samp> or <samp title="">[XMLHttpRequest]</samp>
1.65      avankest  115:    at the start of the subject line<!-- by 2 April 2007-->.
1.49      avankest  116: 
                    117:   <p>This document is produced by the <a
                    118:    href="http://www.w3.org/2006/webapi/">Web API Working Group</a>, part of
                    119:    the <a href="http://www.w3.org/2006/rwc/Activity">Rich Web Clients
                    120:    Activity</a> in the W3C <a
                    121:    href="http://www.w3.org/Interaction/">Interaction Domain</a>. Changes made
                    122:    to this document can be found in the <a
                    123:    href="http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/Overview.html">W3C
                    124:    public CVS server</a>.
1.2       avankest  125: 
                    126:   <p>Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C
                    127:    Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or
                    128:    obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this
                    129:    document as other than work in progress.
                    130: 
                    131:   <p>This document was produced by a group operating under the <a
                    132:    href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/">5 February
1.54      avankest  133:    2004 W3C Patent Policy</a>. W3C maintains a <a
                    134:    href="http://www.w3.org/2004/01/pp-impl/38482/status"
1.25      avankest  135:    rel=disclosure>public list of any patent disclosures</a> made in
1.2       avankest  136:    connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes
                    137:    instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual
                    138:    knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains <a
                    139:    href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#def-essential">Essential
                    140:    Claim(s)</a> must disclose the information in accordance with <a
                    141:    href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#sec-Disclosure">section
                    142:    6 of the W3C Patent Policy</a>.
                    143: 
1.25      avankest  144:   <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=toc>Table of Contents</h2>
1.2       avankest  145:   <!--begin-toc-->
                    146: 
1.25      avankest  147:   <ul class=toc>
                    148:    <li><a href="#introduction"><span class=secno>1. </span>Introduction</a>
                    149:     <ul class=toc>
1.31      avankest  150:      <li><a href="#examples"><span class=secno>1.1. </span>Examples of
1.2       avankest  151:       Usage</a>
                    152: 
1.31      avankest  153:      <li><a href="#conformance"><span class=secno>1.2. </span>Conformance</a>
1.25      avankest  154:       
1.31      avankest  155:       <ul class=toc>
                    156:        <li><a href="#dependencies"><span class=secno>1.2.1.
1.32      avankest  157:         </span>Dependencies</a>
1.81      avankest  158: 
                    159:        <li><a href="#terminology"><span class=secno>1.2.2.
                    160:         </span>Terminology</a>
                    161: 
                    162:        <li><a href="#extensibility"><span class=secno>1.2.3.
                    163:         </span>Extensibility</a>
1.31      avankest  164:       </ul>
1.2       avankest  165:     </ul>
                    166: 
1.25      avankest  167:    <li><a href="#xmlhttprequest"><span class=secno>2. </span>The <code
1.16      avankest  168:     title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</a>
1.25      avankest  169:     <ul class=toc>
1.60      avankest  170:      <li><a href="#events"><span class=secno>2.1. </span>Events for the <code
1.33      avankest  171:       title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</a>
                    172: 
1.60      avankest  173:      <li><a href="#exceptions"><span class=secno>2.2. </span>Exceptions for
1.33      avankest  174:       the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</a>
1.11      avankest  175:     </ul>
1.2       avankest  176: 
1.31      avankest  177:    <li class=no-num><a href="#notcovered">Not in this Specification</a>
                    178: 
1.25      avankest  179:    <li class=no-num><a href="#bibref">References</a>
1.2       avankest  180: 
1.131     avankest  181:    <li class=no-num><a href="#acknowledgments">Acknowledgments</a>
1.2       avankest  182:   </ul>
                    183:   <!--end-toc-->
                    184: 
1.25      avankest  185:   <h2 id=introduction><span class=secno>1. </span>Introduction</h2>
1.2       avankest  186: 
                    187:   <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em>
                    188: 
1.60      avankest  189:   <p>The <code><a href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code>
                    190:    object implements an interface exposed by a scripting engine that allows
                    191:    scripts to perform HTTP client functionality, such as submitting form data
                    192:    or loading data from a server.
1.2       avankest  193: 
                    194:   <p>The name of the object is <code><a
1.60      avankest  195:    href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> for compatibility
1.128     avankest  196:    with the Web, though each component of this name is potentially
1.60      avankest  197:    misleading. First, the object supports any text based format, including
                    198:    XML. Second, it can be used to make requests over both HTTP and HTTPS
                    199:    (some implementations support protocols in addition to HTTP and HTTPS, but
                    200:    that functionality is not covered by this specification). Finally, it
                    201:    supports "requests" in a broad sense of the term as it pertains to HTTP;
                    202:    namely all activity involved with HTTP requests or responses for the
                    203:    defined HTTP methods.
1.2       avankest  204: 
1.31      avankest  205:   <h3 id=examples><span class=secno>1.1. </span>Examples of Usage</h3>
1.2       avankest  206: 
                    207:   <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em>
                    208: 
1.34      avankest  209:   <p>Some [<cite><a href="#ref-ecmascript">ECMAScript</a></cite>] examples
                    210:    are listed in the specification. In addition, you can find some below.
1.2       avankest  211: 
1.25      avankest  212:   <div class=example>
1.18      avankest  213:    <p>Some simple code to do something with data from an XML document fetched
                    214:     over the network:</p>
                    215: 
1.60      avankest  216:    <pre><code>function test(data) {
1.18      avankest  217:  // taking care of data
                    218: }
                    219: 
                    220: function handler() {
1.118     avankest  221:  if(this.readyState == 4 &amp;&amp; this.status == 200) {
1.18      avankest  222:   // so far so good
1.118     avankest  223:   if(this.responseXML != null &amp;&amp; this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data)
                    224:      // success!
1.18      avankest  225:    test(this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data);
                    226:   else
                    227:    test(null);
1.118     avankest  228:  } else if (this.readyState == 4 &amp;&amp; this.status != 200) {
1.18      avankest  229:   // fetched the wrong page or network error...
                    230:   test(null);
                    231:  }
                    232: }
                    233: 
                    234: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
                    235: client.onreadystatechange = handler;
                    236: client.open("GET", "test.xml");
1.60      avankest  237: client.send();</code></pre>
1.18      avankest  238: 
1.58      avankest  239:    <p>If you just want to log a message to the server:</p>
1.18      avankest  240: 
1.60      avankest  241:    <pre><code>function log(message) {
1.18      avankest  242:  var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.58      avankest  243:  client.open("POST", "/log");
1.59      avankest  244:  client.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "text/plain;charset=UTF-8");
1.18      avankest  245:  client.send(message);
1.60      avankest  246: }</code></pre>
1.18      avankest  247: 
                    248:    <p>Or if you want to check the status of a document on the server:</p>
                    249: 
1.60      avankest  250:    <pre><code>function fetchStatus(address) {
1.18      avankest  251:  var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
                    252:  client.onreadystatechange = function() {
                    253:   // in case of network errors this might not give reliable results
                    254:   if(this.readyState == 4)
                    255:    returnStatus(this.status);
                    256:  }
                    257:  client.open("HEAD", address);
                    258:  client.send();
1.60      avankest  259: }</code></pre>
1.18      avankest  260:   </div>
1.2       avankest  261: 
1.31      avankest  262:   <h3 id=conformance><span class=secno>1.2. </span>Conformance</h3>
1.2       avankest  263: 
1.29      avankest  264:   <p>Everything in this specification is normative except for diagrams,
1.2       avankest  265:    examples, notes and sections marked non-normative.
                    266: 
1.25      avankest  267:   <p>The key words <em class=ct>must</em>, <em class=ct>must not</em>, <em
1.75      avankest  268:    class=ct>should</em> and <em class=ct>may</em> in this document are to be
                    269:    interpreted as described in RFC 2119. [<cite><a
                    270:    href="#RFC2119">RFC2119</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest  271: 
                    272:   <p>This specification defines the following classes of products:
                    273: 
                    274:   <dl>
1.75      avankest  275:    <dt><dfn id=conforming-user-agent>Conforming user agent</dfn>
1.2       avankest  276: 
1.75      avankest  277:    <dd>
                    278:     <p>A user agent <em class=ct>must</em> behave as described in this
1.107     avankest  279:      specification in order to be considered conformant.</p>
1.75      avankest  280: 
1.141     avankest  281:     <p>If the user agent is not a conforming XML user agent the <a
                    282:      href="#xml-response-entity-body">XML response entity body</a> <em
                    283:      class=ct>must</em> (always) be <code>null</code>.</p>
                    284: 
                    285:     <p>User agents <em class=ct>may</em> implement algorithms given in this
                    286:      specification in any way desired, so long as the end result is
                    287:      indistinguishable from the result that would be obtained by the
                    288:      specification's algorithms.</p>
1.2       avankest  289: 
1.96      avankest  290:     <p class=note>This specification uses both the terms "conforming user
                    291:      agent(s)" and "user agent(s)" to refer to this product class.</p>
                    292: 
1.95      avankest  293:    <dt><dfn id=conforming-xml-user-agent>Conforming XML user agent</dfn>
                    294: 
                    295:    <dd>
1.141     avankest  296:     <p>A user agent that is both a <a
                    297:      href="#conforming-user-agent">conforming user agent</a> and a conforming
                    298:      XML processor that reports violations of namespace well-formedness.
                    299:      [<cite><a href="#ref-xml">XML</a></cite>] [<cite><a
                    300:      href="#ref-xmlns">XMLNS</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest  301:   </dl>
                    302: 
1.32      avankest  303:   <h4 id=dependencies><span class=secno>1.2.1. </span>Dependencies</h4>
1.2       avankest  304: 
1.31      avankest  305:   <p>This specification relies on several underlying specifications.
1.2       avankest  306: 
1.31      avankest  307:   <dl>
                    308:    <dt>DOM
1.2       avankest  309: 
1.31      avankest  310:    <dd>
1.127     avankest  311:     <p>A <a href="#conforming-user-agent" title="conforming user
                    312:      agent">conforming user agent</a> <em class=ct>must</em> support some
1.96      avankest  313:      version of DOM Events and DOM Core, because this specification uses some
                    314:      of the features defined in those specifications. [<cite><a
                    315:      href="#DOM3EV">DOM3Events</a></cite>] [<cite><a
                    316:      href="#DOM3">DOM3Core</a></cite>]</p>
                    317: 
                    318:     <p>It <em class=ct>must</em> also support some version of the Window
                    319:      Object because some of the functionality in this specification relies on
                    320:      it. [<cite><a href="#ref-window">Window</a></cite>]</p>
1.2       avankest  321: 
1.31      avankest  322:    <dt>HTTP
1.11      avankest  323: 
1.31      avankest  324:    <dd>
1.127     avankest  325:     <p>A <a href="#conforming-user-agent" title="conforming user
                    326:      agent">conforming user agent</a> <em class=ct>must</em> support some
                    327:      version of the HTTP protocol. It <em class=ct>should</em> support any
                    328:      HTTP method that matches the <a href="#method"><code>Method</code>
                    329:      production</a> and <em class=ct>must</em> at least support the following
                    330:      methods:</p>
1.81      avankest  331: 
1.60      avankest  332:     <ul>
                    333:      <li><code>GET</code>
                    334: 
                    335:      <li><code>POST</code>
                    336: 
                    337:      <li><code>HEAD</code>
                    338: 
                    339:      <li><code>PUT</code>
                    340: 
                    341:      <li><code>DELETE</code>
                    342: 
                    343:      <li><code>OPTIONS</code>
                    344:     </ul>
                    345: 
                    346:     <p>Other requirements regarding HTTP are made throughout the
1.41      avankest  347:      specification. [<cite><a href="#RFC2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]</p>
1.31      avankest  348:   </dl>
1.2       avankest  349: 
1.81      avankest  350:   <h4 id=terminology><span class=secno>1.2.2. </span>Terminology</h4>
                    351: 
                    352:   <p>There is a <dfn id=case-insensitive-match>case-insensitive match</dfn>
1.102     avankest  353:    of strings <var>s1</var> and <var>s2</var> if after uppercasing both
1.101     avankest  354:    strings (by mapping a-z to A-Z) they are identical.
1.2       avankest  355: 
1.142     avankest  356:   <p>Two URIs are <dfn id=same-origin>same-origin</dfn> if after performing
                    357:    scheme-based normalization on both URIs as described in section 5.3.3 of
                    358:    RFC 3987 the scheme, domain and port components are identical. [<cite><a
                    359:    href="#ref-rfc3987">RFC3987</a></cite>]
                    360: 
                    361:   <p class=issue>The above definition does not deal with data:, javascript:,
                    362:    etc. What to do about those?
                    363: 
1.81      avankest  364:   <h4 id=extensibility><span class=secno>1.2.3. </span>Extensibility</h4>
1.2       avankest  365: 
1.82      avankest  366:   <p>Extensions of the API defined by this specification are <em>strongly
1.31      avankest  367:    discouraged</em>. User agents, Working Groups and other interested parties
1.35      avankest  368:    should discuss extensions on a relevant public forum, preferably <a
1.31      avankest  369:    href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a>.
1.2       avankest  370: 
1.25      avankest  371:   <h2 id=xmlhttprequest><span class=secno>2. </span>The <code
1.16      avankest  372:    title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h2>
1.2       avankest  373: 
1.60      avankest  374:   <p>The <code><a href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code>
                    375:    object can be used by scripts to programmatically connect to their
                    376:    originating server via HTTP.
1.2       avankest  377: 
                    378:   <p>Objects implementing the <code><a
1.60      avankest  379:    href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> interface <em
                    380:    class=ct>must</em> also implement the <code>EventTarget</code> interface.
                    381:    [<cite><a href="#DOM3EV">DOM3Events</a></cite>]
                    382: 
                    383:   <p>Objects implementing the <code title="">Window</code> interface <em
                    384:    class=ct>must</em> provide an <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code>
                    385:    constructor. [<cite><a href="#ref-window">Window</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest  386: 
1.25      avankest  387:   <div class=example>
1.60      avankest  388:    <p>In ECMAScript this can be used as follows:</p>
1.118     avankest  389: 
1.60      avankest  390:    <pre><code>var client = new XMLHttpRequest();</code></pre>
1.1       avankest  391:   </div>
1.2       avankest  392: 
1.60      avankest  393:   <p>When the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code> constructor is invoked a
                    394:    persistent pointer to the associated <code title="">Window</code> object
                    395:    <em class=ct>must</em> be stored on the newly created object. This is the
                    396:    <dfn id=window-pointer title="Window pointer"><code>Window</code>
                    397:    pointer</dfn>. The associated <code title="">Window</code> object is the
                    398:    one of which the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> constructor was
                    399:    invoked. This <a href="#window-pointer" title="Window pointer">pointer</a>
                    400:    <em class=ct>must</em> persist even if the browsing context in which the
                    401:    <code title="">Window</code> is located is destroyed (by removing it from
                    402:    a parent browsing context, for instance).
1.29      avankest  403: 
                    404:   <p>The term browsing context is defined by the <cite>Window Object
1.39      avankest  405:    1.0</cite> specification. [<cite><a href="#ref-window">Window</a></cite>]</p>
1.29      avankest  406:   <!-- XXX if the document object changes in the browsing context you get an
1.35      avankest  407:   exception in some implementations. -->
1.2       avankest  408: 
1.60      avankest  409:   <div class=example>
1.66      avankest  410:    <p>If <var><code>win</code></var> is a <code title="">Window</code> object
                    411:     <var><code>client</code></var> will have a pointer to
                    412:     <var><code>win</code></var> in the following example:</p>
1.60      avankest  413: 
1.66      avankest  414:    <pre><code>var client = new win.XMLHttpRequest()</code></pre>
1.60      avankest  415:   </div>
1.11      avankest  416: 
1.60      avankest  417:   <pre
                    418:    class=idl>interface <dfn id=xmlhttprequest-object>XMLHttpRequest</dfn> {
                    419:   // event handler
1.132     avankest  420:            attribute EventListener <a href="#onreadystatechange">onreadystatechange</a>;
1.60      avankest  421: 
                    422:   // state
1.135     avankest  423:   const unsigned short <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</a> = 0;
                    424:   const unsigned short <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED state">OPENED</a> = 1;
1.132     avankest  425:   const unsigned short <a href="#headers-received-state" title="HEADERS_RECEIVED state">HEADERS_RECEIVED</a> = 2;
                    426:   const unsigned short <a href="#loading-state" title="LOADING state">LOADING</a> = 3;
                    427:   const unsigned short <a href="#done-state" title="DONE state">DONE</a> = 4;
                    428:   readonly attribute unsigned short <a href="#readystate">readyState</a>;
1.60      avankest  429: 
                    430:   // request
1.132     avankest  431:   void <a href="#open">open</a>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>);
                    432:   void <a href="#open">open</a>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>);
                    433:   void <a href="#open">open</a>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>, in DOMString <var>user</var>);
                    434:   void <a href="#open">open</a>(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>);
                    435:   void <a href="#setrequestheader">setRequestHeader</a>(in DOMString <var>header</var>, in DOMString <var>value</var>);
                    436:   void <a href="#send">send</a>();
                    437:   void <a href="#send">send</a>(in DOMString <var>data</var>);
                    438:   void <a href="#send">send</a>(in Document <var>data</var>);
                    439:   void <a href="#abort">abort</a>();
1.60      avankest  440: 
                    441:   // response
1.132     avankest  442:   DOMString <a href="#getallresponseheaders">getAllResponseHeaders</a>();
                    443:   DOMString <a href="#getresponseheader">getResponseHeader</a>(in DOMString <var>header</var>);
                    444:   readonly attribute DOMString <a href="#responsetext">responseText</a>;
                    445:   readonly attribute Document <a href="#responsexml">responseXML</a>;
                    446:   readonly attribute unsigned short <a href="#status">status</a>;
                    447:   readonly attribute DOMString <a href="#statustext">statusText</a>;
1.5       avankest  448: };</pre>
1.2       avankest  449: 
1.60      avankest  450:   <p>The <code><a href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code>
1.135     avankest  451:    object can be in five states: <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT
                    452:    state">UNSENT</a>, <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED
                    453:    state">OPENED</a>, <a href="#headers-received-state"
                    454:    title="HEADERS_RECEIVED state">HEADERS_RECEIVED</a>, <a
                    455:    href="#loading-state" title="LOADING state">LOADING</a> and <a
                    456:    href="#done-state" title="DONE state">DONE</a>. The current state is
                    457:    exposed through the <code><a href="#readystate">readyState</a></code>
                    458:    attribute. The method definitions below define when a state transition
                    459:    takes place.
1.60      avankest  460: 
                    461:   <p>When constructed, the <code><a
                    462:    href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> object <em
1.72      avankest  463:    class=ct>must</em> be in the UNSENT state. This state is represented by
1.135     avankest  464:    the <dfn id=unsent-state title="UNSENT state"><code>UNSENT</code></dfn>
1.72      avankest  465:    constant, whose value is <code>0</code>.
1.60      avankest  466: 
1.135     avankest  467:   <p>The OPENED state is the state of the object when the <code><a
1.132     avankest  468:    href="#open">open()</a></code> method has been successfully invoked.
1.93      avankest  469:    During this state request headers can be set using <code><a
1.132     avankest  470:    href="#setrequestheader">setRequestHeader()</a></code> and the request can
                    471:    be made using <code><a href="#send">send()</a></code>. This state is
1.135     avankest  472:    represented by the <dfn id=opened-state title="OPENED
                    473:    state"><code>OPENED</code></dfn> constant, whose value is <code>1</code>.
1.60      avankest  474: 
1.135     avankest  475:   <p>The OPENED state has an associated <dfn id=send-flag><code>send()</code>
1.105     avankest  476:    flag</dfn> which can be either "true" or "false". The initial value of the
                    477:    <code title="">send()</code> flag is "false".
1.88      avankest  478: 
1.124     avankest  479:   <p>The HEADERS_RECEIVED state is the state of the object when all response
                    480:    headers have been received. This state is represented by the <dfn
1.132     avankest  481:    id=headers-received-state title="HEADERS_RECEIVED
1.124     avankest  482:    state"><code>HEADERS_RECEIVED</code></dfn> constant, whose value is
                    483:    <code>2</code>.
                    484: 
                    485:   <p>The LOADING state is the state of the object when the response entity
1.132     avankest  486:    body is being received. This state is represented by the <dfn
                    487:    id=loading-state title="LOADING state"><code>LOADING</code></dfn>
                    488:    constant, whose value is <code>3</code>.
1.60      avankest  489: 
1.80      avankest  490:   <p>The DONE state is the state of the object when either the data transfer
                    491:    has been completed or something went wrong during the transfer (infinite
1.132     avankest  492:    redirects for instance). This state is represented by the <dfn
                    493:    id=done-state title="DONE state"><code>DONE</code></dfn> constant, whose
                    494:    value is <code>4</code>.
1.60      avankest  495: 
1.125     avankest  496:   <p>The DONE state has an associated <dfn id=error-flag>error flag</dfn>
                    497:    which can be either "true" or "false". The initial value of the error flag
                    498:    is "false".
                    499: 
1.89      avankest  500:   <p>The <dfn id=response-entity-body>response entity body</dfn> is the
1.132     avankest  501:    fragment of the <a href="#entity-body">entity body</a> received so far
1.89      avankest  502:    (LOADING state) or the complete entity body (DONE state). If there is no
                    503:    entity body the response entity body is "null".
                    504: 
                    505:   <p>The <dfn id=text-response-entity-body>text response entity body</dfn> is
1.108     avankest  506:    either a <code>DOMString</code> representing the <a
                    507:    href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a> or
1.127     avankest  508:    <code>null</code>. The text response entity body is the return value of
                    509:    the following algorithm:
1.89      avankest  510: 
                    511:   <ol>
1.91      avankest  512:    <li>
1.108     avankest  513:     <p>If the response entity body is "null" return <code>null</code> and
                    514:      terminate these steps.</p>
1.91      avankest  515: 
                    516:    <li>
1.114     avankest  517:     <p>Let <var>charset</var> be "null".
1.112     avankest  518: 
                    519:    <li>
1.91      avankest  520:     <p>If there is no <code>Content-Type</code> header or there is a
                    521:      <code>Content-Type</code> header which contains a MIME type that is
1.117     avankest  522:      <code>text/xml</code>, <code>application/xml</code> or ends in <code
                    523:      title="">+xml</code> (ignoring any parameters) use the rules set forth
1.127     avankest  524:      in the XML specifications to determine the character encoding. Let
1.117     avankest  525:      <var>charset</var> be the determined character encoding.
1.91      avankest  526: 
                    527:    <li>
1.128     avankest  528:     <p>If there is a <code>Content-Type</code> header which contains a
1.119     avankest  529:      <code>text/html</code> MIME type follow the rules set forth in the HTML
                    530:      specification to determine the character encoding. Let
1.143   ! avankest  531:      <var>charset</var> be the determined character encoding. [<cite><a
        !           532:      href="#html5">HTML5</a></cite>]</p>
        !           533: 
        !           534:     <p class=note>If we get two interoperable implementations of all features
        !           535:      in this specification and HTML5 has not yet reached recommendation
        !           536:      status this feature will be made informative.</p>
1.119     avankest  537: 
                    538:    <li>
1.141     avankest  539:     <p>If the MIME type specified by the <code>Content-Type</code> header
                    540:      contains a <code>charset</code> parameter and <var>charset</var> is
                    541:      "null" let <var>charset</var> be the value of that parameter.</p>
1.116     avankest  542: 
1.119     avankest  543:     <p class=note>The algorithms described by the XML and HTML specifications
                    544:      already take <code>Content-Type</code> into account.</p>
1.112     avankest  545: 
                    546:    <li> <!-- This stuff is copied from HTML5. Thanks Hixie! -->
1.114     avankest  547:     <p>If <var>charset</var> is "null" then, for each of the rows in the
                    548:      following table, starting with the first one and going down, if the
1.128     avankest  549:      first bytes of <var>bytes</var> match the bytes given in the first
                    550:      column, then let <var>charset</var> be the encoding given in the cell in
                    551:      the second column of that row. If there is no match <var>charset</var>
                    552:      remains "null".</p>
1.112     avankest  553: 
                    554:     <table>
                    555:      <thead>
                    556:       <tr>
                    557:        <th>Bytes in Hexadecimal
                    558: 
                    559:        <th>Description
                    560: 
                    561:      <tbody>
                    562:       <tr>
                    563:        <td>00 00 FE FF
                    564: 
                    565:        <td>UTF-32BE BOM
                    566: 
                    567:       <tr>
                    568:        <td>FF FE 00 00
                    569: 
                    570:        <td>UTF-32LE BOM
                    571: 
                    572:       <tr>
                    573:        <td>FE FF
                    574: 
                    575:        <td>UTF-16BE BOM
                    576: 
                    577:       <tr>
                    578:        <td>FF FE
                    579: 
                    580:        <td>UTF-16LE BOM
                    581: 
                    582:       <tr>
                    583:        <td>EF BB BF
                    584: 
1.118     avankest  585:        <td>UTF-8 BOM<!-- nobody uses this
                    586:       <tr>
                    587:        <td>DD 73 66 73
                    588:        <td>UTF-EBCDIC
1.112     avankest  589: -->
                    590:         
                    591:     </table>
                    592: 
                    593:    <li>
1.114     avankest  594:     <p>If <var>charset</var> is "null" let <var>charset</var> be UTF-8.
1.91      avankest  595: 
                    596:    <li>
1.108     avankest  597:     <p>Return the result of decoding the response entity body using
1.97      avankest  598:      <var>charset</var>. Or, if that fails, return <code>null</code>.
1.89      avankest  599:   </ol>
                    600: 
1.108     avankest  601:   <p>The <dfn id=xml-response-entity-body>XML response entity body</dfn> is
                    602:    either a <code>Document</code> representing the <a
1.127     avankest  603:    href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a> or
                    604:    <code>null</code>. The XML response entity body is the return value of the
                    605:    following algorithm:
1.89      avankest  606: 
                    607:   <ol>
1.91      avankest  608:    <li>
1.108     avankest  609:     <p>If the response entity body is "null" terminate these steps and return
                    610:      <code>null</code>.
1.89      avankest  611: 
                    612:    <li>
1.104     avankest  613:     <p>If a <code>Content-Type</code> is present and it does not contain a
                    614:      MIME type (ignoring any parameters) that is <code>text/xml</code>,
1.117     avankest  615:      <code>application/xml</code> or ends in <code title="">+xml</code>
                    616:      terminate these steps and return <code>null</code>. (Do not terminate
                    617:      these steps if there is no <code>Content-Type</code> header at all.)
1.89      avankest  618: 
                    619:    <li>
1.129     avankest  620:     <p>Parse the response entity body into a document tree following the
                    621:      rules from the XML specifications. Let the result be <var>parsed
                    622:      document</var>. If this fails (unsupported character encoding, namespace
                    623:      well-formedness error et cetera) terminate these steps return
                    624:      <code>null</code>. [<cite><a href="#ref-xml">XML</a></cite>] [<cite><a
                    625:      href="#ref-xmlns">XMLNS</a></cite>]</p>
                    626: 
                    627:     <p class=note>Scripts in the resulting document tree will not be
                    628:      executed, resources referenced will not be loaded and no associated XSLT
                    629:      will be applied.</p>
1.89      avankest  630: 
                    631:    <li>
1.97      avankest  632:     <p>Return an object implementing the <code>Document</code> interface
                    633:      representing the <var>parsed document</var>.
1.89      avankest  634:   </ol>
                    635: 
1.6       avankest  636:   <dl>
1.132     avankest  637:    <dt><dfn id=onreadystatechange><code>onreadystatechange</code></dfn> of
                    638:     type <code>EventListener</code>
1.2       avankest  639: 
                    640:    <dd>
                    641:     <p>An attribute that takes an <code>EventListener</code> as value that
1.60      avankest  642:      <em class=ct>must</em> be invoked along with any other appropriate event
                    643:      listeners that are registered on this object when a <code><a
1.132     avankest  644:      href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event is dispatched
                    645:      on it during the bubbling phase. Its initial value <em
1.88      avankest  646:      class=ct>must</em> be <code>null</code>.</p>
1.2       avankest  647: 
1.132     avankest  648:    <dt><dfn id=readystate><code>readyState</code></dfn> of type
1.2       avankest  649:     <code>unsigned short</code>, readonly
                    650: 
                    651:    <dd>
1.60      avankest  652:     <p>The attribute <em class=ct>must</em> be the value of the constant
                    653:      corresponding to the object's current state.</p>
1.2       avankest  654: 
1.132     avankest  655:    <dt><dfn id=open title=open><code>open(<var>method</var>, <var>url</var>,
                    656:     <var>async</var>, <var>user</var>, <var>password</var>)</code></dfn>,
                    657:     method
1.2       avankest  658: 
1.60      avankest  659:    <dd>
                    660:     <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> follow the
1.97      avankest  661:      following steps (unless otherwise indicated):</p>
1.2       avankest  662: 
1.60      avankest  663:     <ol>
                    664:      <li>
1.98      avankest  665:       <p>If the <var>method</var> argument does not match the <dfn
1.60      avankest  666:        id=method><code>Method</code> production</dfn> defined in section
1.99      avankest  667:        5.1.1 of RFC 2616 raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
                    668:        terminate these steps. [<cite><a href="#RFC2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest  669: 
1.60      avankest  670:      <li>
                    671:       <p>If the given <var>method</var> is not supported for security reasons
1.139     avankest  672:        the user agent <em class=ct>should</em> raise a <code><a
                    673:        href="#security-err">SECURITY_ERR</a></code> exception and terminate
                    674:        these steps.
1.2       avankest  675: 
1.60      avankest  676:      <li>
                    677:       <p>Let <var>stored method</var> be <var>method</var>.
1.2       avankest  678: 
1.60      avankest  679:      <li>
1.81      avankest  680:       <p>If <var>method</var> <a href="#case-insensitive-match"
                    681:        title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</a>
                    682:        <code>GET</code>, <code>POST</code>, <code>HEAD</code>,
1.97      avankest  683:        <code>PUT</code>, <code>DELETE</code> or <code>OPTIONS</code> convert
                    684:        it to its uppercase equivalent (by mapping a-z to A-Z) and let
                    685:        <var>stored method</var> be the result.
1.69      avankest  686:      </li>
                    687:      <!-- WebKit (and supposedly Firefox) also uppercase: CONNECT, COPY,
                    688:      INDEX, LOCK, M-POST, MKCOL, MOVE, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, TRACE and UNLOCK.
                    689:      Not sure if TRACE and CONNECT are worth it though. They raise a
                    690:      SECURITY_ERR exception anyway... -->
1.2       avankest  691: 
1.60      avankest  692:      <li>
                    693:       <p>Drop the fragment identifier (if any) from <var>url</var> and let
                    694:        <var>stored url</var> be the result of that operation.
1.2       avankest  695: 
1.60      avankest  696:      <li>
1.97      avankest  697:       <p>If <var>stored url</var> is a relative reference resolve it using
                    698:        the current value of the <code>baseURI</code> attribute of the
                    699:        <code>Document</code> object currently associated with the <a
1.60      avankest  700:        href="#window-pointer"><code>Window</code> pointer</a>. If this fails
1.99      avankest  701:        raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.
1.2       avankest  702: 
1.60      avankest  703:      <li>
1.102     avankest  704:       <p>If <var>stored url</var> contains an unsupported scheme raise a
                    705:        <code>NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR</code> and terminate these steps.
                    706: 
                    707:      <li>
1.60      avankest  708:       <p>If the <code>"user:password"</code> format in the
                    709:        <code>userinfo</code> production defined in section 3.2.1 of RFC 3986
                    710:        is not supported for the relevant scheme and <var>stored url</var>
1.99      avankest  711:        contains this format raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and terminate
                    712:        these steps. [<cite><a href="#ref-rfc3986">RFC3986</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest  713: 
1.60      avankest  714:      <li>
                    715:       <p>If <var>stored url</var> contains the <code>"user:password"</code>
                    716:        format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part and <var>stored
                    717:        password</var> be the password part.
1.2       avankest  718: 
1.60      avankest  719:      <li>
                    720:       <p>If <var>stored url</var> just contains the <code>"user"</code>
                    721:        format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part.
1.24      avankest  722: 
1.60      avankest  723:      <li>
1.142     avankest  724:       <p>If <var>stored url</var> is not of the <a
                    725:        href="#same-origin">same-origin</a> as the URI specified by the
                    726:        <code>baseURI</code> attribute of the <code>document</code> attribute
                    727:        of the <a href="#window-pointer"><code>Window</code> pointer</a> the
                    728:        user agent <em class=ct>should</em> raise a <code><a
1.139     avankest  729:        href="#security-err">SECURITY_ERR</a></code> exception and terminate
                    730:        these steps.</p>
1.70      avankest  731: 
1.60      avankest  732:      <li>
                    733:       <p>Let <var>async</var> be the value of the <var>async</var> argument
1.103     avankest  734:        or <code>true</code> if it was omitted.
1.60      avankest  735: 
                    736:      <li>
1.127     avankest  737:       <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted, and its syntax does
                    738:        not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme, raise
                    739:        a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.
1.60      avankest  740: 
                    741:      <li>
                    742:       <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is not
                    743:        <code>null</code> let <var>stored user</var> be <var>user</var>
                    744:        encoded using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication
                    745:        scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p>
1.2       avankest  746: 
1.60      avankest  747:       <p class=note>This step overrides any user that may have been set by
                    748:        the <var>url</var> argument.</p>
1.17      avankest  749: 
1.60      avankest  750:      <li>
                    751:       <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is
                    752:        <code>null</code> remove <var>stored user</var>.
1.17      avankest  753: 
1.60      avankest  754:      <li>
                    755:       <p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
                    756:        does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme
1.99      avankest  757:        raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.
1.17      avankest  758: 
1.60      avankest  759:      <li>
                    760:       <p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is not
                    761:        <code>null</code> let <var>stored password</var> be
                    762:        <var>password</var> encoded using the encoding specified in the
                    763:        relevant authentication scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify
                    764:        an encoding.
1.17      avankest  765: 
1.60      avankest  766:      <li>
                    767:       <p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is
                    768:        <code>null</code> remove <var>stored password</var>.
1.17      avankest  769: 
1.60      avankest  770:      <li>
1.109     avankest  771:       <p><a href="#abort-send-algorithm" title="abort send()">Abort the
                    772:        <code>send()</code> algorithm</a>, set <a
                    773:        href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a> to "null" and
                    774:        reset the list of request headers.
1.17      avankest  775: 
1.60      avankest  776:       <p>
1.44      avankest  777: 
1.60      avankest  778:      <li>
1.109     avankest  779:       <p>The user agent <em class=ct>should</em> cancel any network activity
                    780:        for which the object is responsible.
1.60      avankest  781:      </li>
                    782:      <!-- we can hardly require it... -->
1.22      avankest  783: 
1.60      avankest  784:      <li>
1.135     avankest  785:       <p>Switch the object to the <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED
                    786:        state">OPENED</a> state, set the <a
1.132     avankest  787:        href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code> flag</a> to "false" and then
                    788:        synchronously dispatch a <code><a
                    789:        href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
1.97      avankest  790:        object and return the method call.
1.60      avankest  791:     </ol>
1.24      avankest  792: 
1.25      avankest  793:     <p class=note>A future version or extension of this specification will
1.35      avankest  794:      most likely define a way of doing cross-site requests.</p>
1.26      avankest  795: 
1.132     avankest  796:    <dt><dfn id=setrequestheader
1.25      avankest  797:     title=setrequestheader><code>setRequestHeader(<var>header</var>,
1.18      avankest  798:     <var>value</var>)</code></dfn>, method
1.6       avankest  799: 
                    800:    <dd>
1.47      avankest  801:     <p>Each request has a list of request headers with associated values.
                    802:      This method can be used to manipulate those values and set new request
                    803:      headers.</p>
                    804: 
1.60      avankest  805:     <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> follow the
1.97      avankest  806:      following steps (unless otherwise indicated):</p>
1.60      avankest  807: 
                    808:     <ol>
                    809:      <li>
1.135     avankest  810:       <p>If the state of the object is not <a href="#opened-state"
                    811:        title="OPENED state">OPENED</a> raise an
                    812:        <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.
1.6       avankest  813: 
1.60      avankest  814:      <li>
1.104     avankest  815:       <p>If the <a href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code> flag</a> is "true"
1.99      avankest  816:        raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
1.97      avankest  817:        steps.
1.60      avankest  818: 
                    819:      <li>
1.98      avankest  820:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument does not match the <dfn
1.60      avankest  821:        id=field-name><code>field-name</code> production</dfn> as defined by
1.97      avankest  822:        section 4.2 of RFC 2616 or is <code>null</code> raise a
1.99      avankest  823:        <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps. [<cite><a
1.97      avankest  824:        href="#RFC2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]
1.71      avankest  825: 
                    826:      <li>
1.99      avankest  827:       <p>If the <var>value</var> argument is <code>null</code> terminate
                    828:        these steps. (Do not raise an exception.)
1.71      avankest  829:      </li>
                    830:      <!-- undefined is to be treated as null here... -->
1.60      avankest  831: 
                    832:      <li>
1.98      avankest  833:       <p>If the <var>value</var> argument does not match the <dfn
1.60      avankest  834:        id=field-value><code>field-value</code> production</dfn> as defined by
1.99      avankest  835:        section 4.2 of RFC 2616 raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and terminate
1.97      avankest  836:        these steps. [<cite><a href="#RFC2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]
1.60      avankest  837: 
                    838:      <li>
1.133     avankest  839:       <p>For security reasons, these steps <em class=ct>should</em> be
1.99      avankest  840:        terminated if the <var>header</var> argument <a
                    841:        href="#case-insensitive-match" title="case-insensitive
                    842:        match">case-insensitively matches</a> one of the following headers:</p>
1.34      avankest  843: 
                    844:       <ul>
                    845:        <li><code>Accept-Charset</code>
                    846: 
                    847:        <li><code>Accept-Encoding</code>
                    848: 
1.69      avankest  849:        <li><code>Connection</code>
                    850: 
1.34      avankest  851:        <li><code>Content-Length</code>
                    852: 
1.69      avankest  853:        <li><code>Content-Transfer-Encoding</code>
                    854: 
                    855:        <li><code>Date</code>
                    856: 
1.34      avankest  857:        <li><code>Expect</code>
                    858: 
                    859:        <li><code>Host</code>
                    860: 
                    861:        <li><code>Keep-Alive</code>
                    862: 
                    863:        <li><code>Referer</code>
                    864: 
                    865:        <li><code>TE</code>
                    866: 
                    867:        <li><code>Trailer</code>
                    868: 
                    869:        <li><code>Transfer-Encoding</code>
                    870: 
                    871:        <li><code>Upgrade</code>
1.69      avankest  872: 
                    873:        <li><code>Via</code>
1.34      avankest  874:       </ul>
1.6       avankest  875: 
1.60      avankest  876:      <li>
1.133     avankest  877:       <p>Also for security reasons, these steps <em class=ct>should</em> be
                    878:        terminated if the first six characters of the <var>header</var>
                    879:        argument <a href="#case-insensitive-match" title="case-insensitive
                    880:        match">case-insensitively match</a> <code>Proxy-</code>.
                    881: 
                    882:      <li>
1.60      avankest  883:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument is not in the list of request
1.97      avankest  884:        headers append the <var>header</var> with its associated
1.99      avankest  885:        <var>value</var> to the list and terminate these steps.
1.46      avankest  886: 
1.60      avankest  887:      <li>
                    888:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument is in the list of request headers
1.97      avankest  889:        either use multiple headers, combine the values or use a combination
                    890:        of those (section 4.2, RFC 2616). [<cite><a
                    891:        href="#RFC2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]
                    892:      </li>
                    893:      <!-- XXX it seems UAs always combine the values -->
1.60      avankest  894:     </ol>
1.18      avankest  895: 
1.132     avankest  896:     <p class=note>See also the <code><a href="#send">send()</a></code> method
                    897:      regarding user agent header handling for caching, authentication,
1.47      avankest  898:      proxies, and cookies.</p>
                    899: 
1.25      avankest  900:     <div class=example>
1.60      avankest  901:      <pre><code>// The following script:
1.18      avankest  902: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
                    903: client.open('GET', 'demo.cgi');
                    904: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'one');
                    905: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'two');
                    906: client.send();
                    907: 
                    908: // ...would result in the following header being sent:
                    909: ...
                    910: X-Test: one, two
1.60      avankest  911: ...</code></pre>
1.18      avankest  912:     </div>
1.6       avankest  913: 
1.132     avankest  914:    <dt><dfn id=send title=send><code>send(<var>data</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.25      avankest  915:     method
1.2       avankest  916: 
                    917:    <dd>
1.132     avankest  918:     <p>The <code><a href="#send">send()</a></code> method initiates the
1.107     avankest  919:      request and its optional argument provides the <a
1.132     avankest  920:      href="#entity-body">entity body</a>. Authors are strongly encouraged to
                    921:      ensure that they have specified the <code>Content-Type</code> header via
                    922:      <code><a href="#setrequestheader">setRequestHeader()</a></code> before
                    923:      invoking <code><a href="#send">send()</a></code> with a
1.107     avankest  924:      non-<code>null</code> <var>data</var> argument.</p>
1.60      avankest  925: 
                    926:     <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> follow the
1.109     avankest  927:      following steps (unless otherwise noted). Note that this algorithm might
1.132     avankest  928:      get aborted if the <code><a href="#open">open()</a></code> or <code><a
                    929:      href="#abort">abort()</a></code> method is invoked. When the <dfn
                    930:      id=abort-send-algorithm title="abort send()"><code>send()</code>
                    931:      algorithm is aborted</dfn> the user agent <em class=ct>must</em>
                    932:      terminate the algorithm after finishing the step it is on.</p>
1.109     avankest  933: 
                    934:     <p class=note>The following algorithm can not be aborted through script
                    935:      when <var>async</var> is <code>false</code>. It can only be aborted when
                    936:      <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> and only after the method call has
                    937:      returned.</p>
1.60      avankest  938: 
                    939:     <ol>
                    940:      <li>
1.135     avankest  941:       <p>If the state of the object is not <a href="#opened-state"
                    942:        title="OPENED state">OPENED</a> raise an
                    943:        <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.
1.60      avankest  944: 
                    945:      <li>
1.104     avankest  946:       <p>If the <a href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code> flag</a> is "true"
1.99      avankest  947:        raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
1.97      avankest  948:        steps.
1.60      avankest  949: 
                    950:      <li>
1.104     avankest  951:       <p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> set the <a
                    952:        href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code> flag</a> to "true".
1.103     avankest  953: 
                    954:      <li>
1.60      avankest  955:       <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has not been omitted and is not
1.132     avankest  956:        <code>null</code> use it for the <dfn id=entity-body>entity body</dfn>
                    957:        as defined by section 7.2 of RFC 2616 observing the following rules:
                    958:        [<cite><a href="#RFC2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]</p>
1.60      avankest  959: 
1.120     avankest  960:       <dl class=switch>
1.60      avankest  961:        <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>DOMString</code>
                    962: 
1.79      avankest  963:        <dd>
1.97      avankest  964:         <p>Encode <var>data</var> using UTF-8 for transmission.
1.60      avankest  965: 
                    966:        <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>Document</code>
                    967: 
                    968:        <dd>
1.97      avankest  969:         <p>Serialize <var>data</var> into a namespace well-formed XML
                    970:          document and encoded using the encoding given by
                    971:          <code><var>data</var>.xmlEncoding</code>, if specified, or UTF-8
                    972:          otherwise. Or, if this fails because the <code>Document</code>
                    973:          cannot be serialized act as if <var>data</var> is <code>null</code>.</p>
                    974: 
                    975:         <p>If no <code>Content-Type</code> header is in the list of request
1.127     avankest  976:          headers append a <code>Content-Type</code> header to the list of
                    977:          request headers with a value of <code>application/xml</code>.</p>
1.60      avankest  978: 
                    979:         <p class=note>Subsequent changes to the <code>Document</code> have no
                    980:          effect on what is submitted.</p>
                    981: 
                    982:        <dt><var>data</var> is not a <code>DOMString</code> or
                    983:         <code>Document</code>
                    984: 
1.79      avankest  985:        <dd>
1.97      avankest  986:         <p>Use the stringification mechanisms of the host language on
                    987:          <var>data</var> and treat the result as if <var>data</var> is a
                    988:          <code>DOMString</code>. Or, if this fails, act as if <var>data</var>
                    989:          is <code>null</code>.
1.60      avankest  990:       </dl>
                    991: 
1.127     avankest  992:       <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has been omitted, or is
                    993:        <code>null</code>, no entity body is used in the request.</p>
1.60      avankest  994: 
                    995:      <li>
1.72      avankest  996:       <p>Make a request to <var>stored url</var>, using HTTP method
                    997:        <var>stored method</var>, user <var>stored user</var> (if provided)
                    998:        and password <var>stored password</var> (if provided), taking into
                    999:        account the entity body, list of request headers and the rules listed
                   1000:        directly after this set of steps.
1.60      avankest 1001: 
                   1002:      <li>
1.97      avankest 1003:       <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1004:        href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
1.97      avankest 1005:        object.</p>
                   1006: 
                   1007:       <p class=note>The state of the object does not change. The event is
                   1008:        dispatched for historical reasons.</p>
1.68      avankest 1009: 
                   1010:      <li>
1.103     avankest 1011:       <p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> return the <code><a
1.132     avankest 1012:        href="#send">send()</a></code> method call. (Do not terminate the
1.103     avankest 1013:        steps in the algorithm though.)
1.60      avankest 1014: 
                   1015:      <li>
1.124     avankest 1016:       <p>While downloading the resource the following rules are to be
                   1017:        observed.</p>
1.119     avankest 1018: 
1.120     avankest 1019:       <dl class=switch>
1.119     avankest 1020:        <dt>If the response is an HTTP redirect
                   1021: 
                   1022:        <dd>
                   1023:         <p>If the redirect does not violate security or infinite loop
                   1024:          precautions and the scheme is supported transparently follow it and
                   1025:          go to the start of this step.</p>
                   1026: 
                   1027:         <p class=note>HTTP places requirements on the user agent regarding
                   1028:          the preservation of the request method and entity body during
                   1029:          redirects, and also requires users to be notified of certain kinds
                   1030:          of automatic redirections.</p>
                   1031:         <!-- Arguably HTTP should be fixed for the latter case. No browser
                   1032:         follows that as far as I know. -->
                   1033:         
                   1034:         <p>Otherwise, follow the following set of steps:</p>
                   1035: 
                   1036:         <ol>
                   1037:          <li>
1.125     avankest 1038:           <p>Set the <a href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a>
                   1039:            to "null", the <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> to "true" and
                   1040:            reset the list of request headers.
1.119     avankest 1041: 
                   1042:          <li>
1.132     avankest 1043:           <p>Synchronously switch the state to <a href="#done-state"
                   1044:            title="DONE state">DONE</a>.
1.119     avankest 1045: 
                   1046:          <li>
                   1047:           <p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> raise a
                   1048:            <code><a href="#network-err">NETWORK_ERR</a></code> exception and
                   1049:            terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1050: 
                   1051:          <li>
                   1052:           <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1053:            href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
                   1054:            object.
1.119     avankest 1055: 
                   1056:          <li>
                   1057:           <p>Terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1058:         </ol>
                   1059: 
                   1060:         <p class=note>It is likely that a future version of the <code><a
                   1061:          href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> object will
                   1062:          dispatch an <code>error</code> event here as well.</p>
                   1063: 
                   1064:        <dt>If the user cancels the download
                   1065: 
                   1066:        <dd>
                   1067:         <p>Run the following set of steps:</p>
                   1068: 
                   1069:         <ol>
                   1070:          <li>
1.125     avankest 1071:           <p>Set the <a href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a>
                   1072:            to "null", the <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> to "true" and
                   1073:            reset the list of request headers.
1.119     avankest 1074: 
                   1075:          <li>
1.132     avankest 1076:           <p>Synchronously switch the state to <a href="#done-state"
                   1077:            title="DONE state">DONE</a>.
1.119     avankest 1078: 
                   1079:          <li>
1.122     avankest 1080:           <p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> raise an
                   1081:            <code><a href="#abort-err">ABORT_ERR</a></code> exception and
1.119     avankest 1082:            terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1083: 
                   1084:          <li>
                   1085:           <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1086:            href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
                   1087:            object.
1.119     avankest 1088: 
                   1089:          <li>
                   1090:           <p>Terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1091:         </ol>
                   1092: 
                   1093:         <p class=note>It is likely that a future version of the <code><a
                   1094:          href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> object will
1.122     avankest 1095:          dispatch an <code title="">abort</code> event here as well.</p>
1.119     avankest 1096: 
                   1097:        <dt>In case of network errors
1.118     avankest 1098: 
1.119     avankest 1099:        <dd>
1.127     avankest 1100:         <p>In case of DNS errors, or other type of network errors, run the
                   1101:          following set of steps. <span class=note>This does not include HTTP
                   1102:          responses that indicate some type of error, such as HTTP status code
1.119     avankest 1103:          410.</span></p>
                   1104: 
                   1105:         <ol>
                   1106:          <li>
1.125     avankest 1107:           <p>Set the <a href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a>
                   1108:            to "null", the <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> to "true" and
                   1109:            reset the list of request headers.
1.119     avankest 1110: 
                   1111:          <li>
1.132     avankest 1112:           <p>Synchronously switch the state to <a href="#done-state"
                   1113:            title="DONE state">DONE</a>.
1.119     avankest 1114: 
                   1115:          <li>
                   1116:           <p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> raise a
                   1117:            <code><a href="#network-err">NETWORK_ERR</a></code> exception and
                   1118:            terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1119: 
                   1120:          <li>
                   1121:           <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1122:            href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
                   1123:            object.
1.119     avankest 1124: 
                   1125:          <li>
                   1126:           <p>Terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1127:         </ol>
                   1128: 
                   1129:         <p class=note>It is likely that a future version of the <code><a
                   1130:          href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> object will
                   1131:          dispatch an <code>error</code> event here as well.</p>
                   1132: 
                   1133:        <dt>Once all HTTP headers have been received
1.60      avankest 1134: 
1.119     avankest 1135:        <dd>
                   1136:         <p>If all HTTP headers have been received, before receiving the
1.124     avankest 1137:          message body (if any), run the following steps:</p>
1.60      avankest 1138: 
1.119     avankest 1139:         <ol>
                   1140:          <li>
1.132     avankest 1141:           <p>Synchronously switch the state to <a
                   1142:            href="#headers-received-state" title="HEADERS_RECEIVED
                   1143:            state">HEADERS_RECEIVED</a>.
1.119     avankest 1144: 
                   1145:          <li>
                   1146:           <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1147:            href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
                   1148:            object.
1.124     avankest 1149:         </ol>
                   1150: 
                   1151:        <dt>Once the first byte (or more) of the response entity body has been
                   1152:         received
                   1153: 
                   1154:        <dt>If there is no response entity body
1.119     avankest 1155: 
1.124     avankest 1156:        <dd>
                   1157:         <p>Once the first byte of the response entity body has been received
                   1158:          or in case there is no response entity body, run the following
                   1159:          steps:</p>
                   1160: 
                   1161:         <ol>
1.119     avankest 1162:          <li>
1.132     avankest 1163:           <p>Synchronously switch the state to <a href="#loading-state"
1.119     avankest 1164:            title="LOADING state">LOADING</a>.
                   1165: 
                   1166:          <li>
                   1167:           <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1168:            href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
                   1169:            object.
1.119     avankest 1170:         </ol>
                   1171:       </dl>
1.60      avankest 1172: 
1.125     avankest 1173:       <p>Finally, once the complete resource has been downloaded go to the
                   1174:        next step.</p>
1.60      avankest 1175: 
                   1176:      <li>
1.83      avankest 1177:       <p>When the request has successfully completed loading, synchronously
1.132     avankest 1178:        switch the state to <a href="#done-state" title="DONE state">DONE</a>
                   1179:        and then synchronously dispatch a <code><a
                   1180:        href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
1.97      avankest 1181:        object and return the method call in case of <var>async</var> being
                   1182:        <code>false</code>.
1.60      avankest 1183:     </ol>
1.19      avankest 1184: 
1.92      avankest 1185:     <p>If the user agent allows the user to configure a proxy it <em
1.25      avankest 1186:      class=ct>should</em> modify the request appropriately; <abbr title="in
1.2       avankest 1187:      other words">i.e.</abbr>, connect to the proxy host instead of the
                   1188:      origin server, modify the <code>Request-Line</code> and send
                   1189:      <code>Proxy-Authorization</code> headers as specified.</p>
                   1190: 
1.44      avankest 1191:     <p>If the user agent supports HTTP Authentication it <em
                   1192:      class=ct>should</em> consider requests originating from this object to
                   1193:      be part of the protection space that includes the accessed URIs and send
1.19      avankest 1194:      <code>Authorization</code> headers and handle <code>401
1.138     avankest 1195:      Unauthorized</code> requests appropriately. If authentication fails,
1.44      avankest 1196:      user agents <em class=ct>should</em> prompt the users for credentials.
                   1197:      [<cite><a href="#ref-rfc2617">RFC2617</a></cite>]</p>
1.19      avankest 1198: 
1.59      avankest 1199:     <p>If the user agent supports HTTP State Management it <em
1.44      avankest 1200:      class=ct>should</em> persist, discard and send cookies (as received in
                   1201:      the <code>Set-Cookie</code> and <code>Set-Cookie2</code> response
                   1202:      headers, and sent in the <code>Cookie</code> header) as applicable.
1.51      avankest 1203:      [<cite><a href="#ref-rfc2965">RFC2965</a></cite>]</p>
1.44      avankest 1204: 
                   1205:     <p>If the user agent implements a HTTP cache it <em class=ct>should</em>
                   1206:      respect <code>Cache-Control</code> request headers set by the script
                   1207:      (<abbr title="for example">e.g.</abbr>, <code>Cache-Control:
                   1208:      no-cache</code> bypasses the cache). It <em class=ct>must not</em> send
1.25      avankest 1209:      <code>Cache-Control</code> or <code>Pragma</code> request headers
1.138     avankest 1210:      automatically unless the user explicitly requests such behavior
1.44      avankest 1211:      (<abbr>e.g.</abbr>, by (force-)reloading the page). <code>304 Not
                   1212:      Modified</code> responses that are a result of a user agent generated
                   1213:      conditional request <em class=ct>must</em> be presented as <code>200
1.59      avankest 1214:      OK</code> responses with the appropriate content. The user agent <em
1.44      avankest 1215:      class=ct>must</em> allow scripts to override automatic cache validation
                   1216:      by setting request headers (e.g., <code>If-None-Match</code>,
1.16      avankest 1217:      <code>If-Modified-Since</code>), in which case <code>304 Not
1.44      avankest 1218:      Modified</code> responses <em class=ct>must</em> be passed through.
                   1219:      [<cite><a href="#RFC2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]</p>
1.2       avankest 1220: 
1.44      avankest 1221:     <p>If the user agent implements server-driven content-negotiation it <em
1.25      avankest 1222:      class=ct>should</em> set <code>Accept-Language</code>,
1.18      avankest 1223:      <code>Accept-Encoding</code> and <code>Accept-Charset</code> headers as
1.25      avankest 1224:      appropriate; it <em class=ct>must not</em> automatically set the
1.18      avankest 1225:      <code>Accept</code> header. Responses to such requests <em
1.128     avankest 1226:      class=ct>must</em> have the content-encodings automatically decoded.
1.44      avankest 1227:      [<cite><a href="#RFC2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]</p>
1.18      avankest 1228: 
1.132     avankest 1229:    <dt><dfn id=abort><code>abort()</code></dfn>, method
1.6       avankest 1230: 
                   1231:    <dd>
1.62      avankest 1232:     <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> run the following
1.97      avankest 1233:      steps (unless otherwise noted):</p>
1.6       avankest 1234: 
1.62      avankest 1235:     <ol>
                   1236:      <li>
1.109     avankest 1237:       <p><a href="#abort-send-algorithm" title="abort send()">Abort the
                   1238:        <code>send()</code> algorithm</a>, set the <a
1.125     avankest 1239:        href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a> to "null", the
1.136     avankest 1240:        <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> to "true" and remove any
                   1241:        registered request headers.
1.62      avankest 1242: 
                   1243:      <li>
1.109     avankest 1244:       <p>The user agent <em class=ct>should</em> cancel any network activity
                   1245:        for which the object is responsible.
1.62      avankest 1246: 
1.80      avankest 1247:      <li>
1.135     avankest 1248:       <p>If the state is <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT
                   1249:        state">UNSENT</a>, <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED
                   1250:        state">OPENED</a> and the <a href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code>
                   1251:        flag</a> is "false", or <a href="#done-state" title="DONE
                   1252:        state">DONE</a> go to the next step.</p>
1.84      avankest 1253: 
1.132     avankest 1254:       <p>Otherwise, switch the state to <a href="#done-state" title="DONE
1.136     avankest 1255:        state">DONE</a>, set the <a href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code>
                   1256:        flag</a> to "false" and synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1257:        href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
1.84      avankest 1258:        object.</p>
1.68      avankest 1259: 
1.62      avankest 1260:      <li>
1.135     avankest 1261:       <p>Switch the state to <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT
1.98      avankest 1262:        state">UNSENT</a>. (Do not dispatch the <code><a
1.132     avankest 1263:        href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event.)</p>
1.62      avankest 1264: 
1.83      avankest 1265:       <p class=note>It is likely that a future version of the <code><a
                   1266:        href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> object will
                   1267:        dispatch an <code title="">abort</code> event here as well.</p>
1.62      avankest 1268:     </ol>
1.26      avankest 1269: 
1.6       avankest 1270:    <dt><dfn
1.132     avankest 1271:     id=getallresponseheaders><code>getAllResponseHeaders()</code></dfn>,
1.13      avankest 1272:     method
1.2       avankest 1273: 
                   1274:    <dd>
1.62      avankest 1275:     <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> run the following
                   1276:      steps:</p>
1.60      avankest 1277: 
                   1278:     <ol>
1.77      avankest 1279:      <li>
1.135     avankest 1280:       <p>If the state is <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT
                   1281:        state">UNSENT</a> or <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED
                   1282:        state">OPENED</a> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception
                   1283:        and terminate these steps.
1.125     avankest 1284: 
                   1285:      <li>
                   1286:       <p>If the <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> is "true" return
                   1287:        <code>null</code> and terminate these steps.
1.77      avankest 1288: 
                   1289:      <li>
1.97      avankest 1290:       <p>Return all the HTTP headers, as a single string, with each header
                   1291:        line separated by a U+000D CR U+000A LF pair excluding the status
                   1292:        line.
1.60      avankest 1293:     </ol>
1.6       avankest 1294: 
1.25      avankest 1295:     <div class=example>
1.60      avankest 1296:      <pre><code>// The following script:
1.6       avankest 1297: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.18      avankest 1298: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.6       avankest 1299: client.send();
1.16      avankest 1300: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.17      avankest 1301:  if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.16      avankest 1302:   print(this.getAllResponseHeaders());
                   1303:  }
                   1304: }
1.6       avankest 1305: 
                   1306: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
                   1307: Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2004 04:58:38 GMT
                   1308: Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix)
                   1309: Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
                   1310: Connection: Keep-Alive
                   1311: Transfer-Encoding: chunked
1.60      avankest 1312: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.6       avankest 1313:     </div>
                   1314: 
1.132     avankest 1315:    <dt><dfn id=getresponseheader
1.25      avankest 1316:     title=getresponseheader><code>getResponseHeader(<var>header</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.13      avankest 1317:     method
1.2       avankest 1318: 
1.6       avankest 1319:    <dd>
1.60      avankest 1320:     <p>When the method is invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> run
                   1321:      the following steps:</p>
                   1322: 
                   1323:     <ol>
1.77      avankest 1324:      <li>
1.135     avankest 1325:       <p>If the state is <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT
                   1326:        state">UNSENT</a> or <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED
                   1327:        state">OPENED</a> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception
                   1328:        and terminate these steps.
1.125     avankest 1329: 
                   1330:      <li>
                   1331:       <p>If the <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> is "true" return
                   1332:        <code>null</code> and terminate these steps.
1.17      avankest 1333: 
1.77      avankest 1334:      <li>
1.98      avankest 1335:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument does not match the <a
1.97      avankest 1336:        href="#field-name"><code>field-name</code> production</a> raise a
1.99      avankest 1337:        <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.
1.77      avankest 1338: 
                   1339:      <li>
1.81      avankest 1340:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument <a href="#case-insensitive-match"
                   1341:        title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</a> multiple
1.128     avankest 1342:        HTTP headers for the last request sent, return the values of these
1.97      avankest 1343:        headers as a single concatenated string separated from each other by
1.99      avankest 1344:        an U+002C COMMA followed by an U+0020 SPACE and terminate these steps.
1.77      avankest 1345: 
                   1346:      <li>
1.81      avankest 1347:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument <a href="#case-insensitive-match"
                   1348:        title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</a> a single
1.97      avankest 1349:        HTTP header for the last request sent return the value of that header
1.99      avankest 1350:        and terminate these steps.
1.77      avankest 1351: 
                   1352:      <li>
1.97      avankest 1353:       <p>Return <code>null</code>.
1.60      avankest 1354:     </ol>
1.17      avankest 1355: 
1.25      avankest 1356:     <div class=example>
1.60      avankest 1357:      <pre><code>// The following script:
1.1       avankest 1358: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.18      avankest 1359: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.6       avankest 1360: client.send();
1.16      avankest 1361: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.17      avankest 1362:  if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.18      avankest 1363:   print(client.getResponseHeader("Content-Type"));
1.16      avankest 1364:  }
                   1365: }
1.1       avankest 1366: 
1.6       avankest 1367: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.60      avankest 1368: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.2       avankest 1369:     </div>
                   1370: 
1.132     avankest 1371:    <dt><dfn id=responsetext><code>responseText</code></dfn> of type
1.9       avankest 1372:     <code>DOMString</code>, readonly
1.6       avankest 1373: 
                   1374:    <dd>
1.89      avankest 1375:     <p>On getting, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> run the following
                   1376:      steps:</p>
                   1377: 
                   1378:     <ol>
                   1379:      <li>
1.132     avankest 1380:       <p>If the state is not <a href="#loading-state" title="LOADING
                   1381:        state">LOADING</a> or <a href="#done-state" title="DONE
                   1382:        state">DONE</a> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and
                   1383:        terminate these steps.
1.6       avankest 1384: 
1.89      avankest 1385:      <li>
                   1386:       <p>Return the <a href="#text-response-entity-body">text response entity
                   1387:        body</a>.
                   1388:     </ol>
1.12      avankest 1389: 
1.132     avankest 1390:    <dt><dfn id=responsexml><code>responseXML</code></dfn> of type
1.9       avankest 1391:     <code>Document</code>, readonly
1.6       avankest 1392: 
                   1393:    <dd>
1.76      avankest 1394:     <p>On getting, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> run the following
                   1395:      steps:</p>
                   1396: 
                   1397:     <ol>
                   1398:      <li>
1.132     avankest 1399:       <p>If the state is not <a href="#done-state" title="DONE
                   1400:        state">DONE</a> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and
                   1401:        terminate these steps.
1.76      avankest 1402: 
                   1403:      <li>
1.89      avankest 1404:       <p>Return the <a href="#xml-response-entity-body">XML response entity
                   1405:        body</a>.
1.76      avankest 1406:     </ol>
1.12      avankest 1407: 
1.132     avankest 1408:    <dt><dfn id=status><code>status</code></dfn> of type <code>unsigned
1.9       avankest 1409:     short</code>, readonly
1.6       avankest 1410: 
                   1411:    <dd>
1.73      avankest 1412:     <p>On getting, if available, it <em class=ct>must</em> return the HTTP
                   1413:      status code sent by the server (typically <code>200</code> for a
                   1414:      successful request). Otherwise, if not available, the user agent <em
                   1415:      class=ct>must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
1.12      avankest 1416: 
1.132     avankest 1417:    <dt><dfn id=statustext><code>statusText</code></dfn> of type
1.9       avankest 1418:     <code>DOMString</code>, readonly
1.2       avankest 1419: 
1.6       avankest 1420:    <dd>
1.73      avankest 1421:     <p>On getting, if available, it <em class=ct>must</em> return the HTTP
                   1422:      status text sent by the server (appears after the status code).
                   1423:      Otherwise, if not available, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> raise
                   1424:      an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
1.2       avankest 1425:   </dl>
                   1426: 
1.60      avankest 1427:   <h3 id=events><span class=secno>2.1. </span>Events for the <code
1.33      avankest 1428:    title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h3>
1.2       avankest 1429: 
1.135     avankest 1430:   <p>This section describes the various events that can be dispatched on
                   1431:    objects implementing the <code><a
1.60      avankest 1432:    href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> interface. For
                   1433:    this version of the specification only one event is defined.
1.2       avankest 1434: 
1.1       avankest 1435:   <dl>
1.132     avankest 1436:    <dt><dfn id=readystatechange><code>readystatechange</code></dfn>
1.2       avankest 1437: 
1.73      avankest 1438:    <dd>When the user agent dispatches a <code
                   1439:     title="">readystatechange</code> event (as indicated above) it <em
                   1440:     class=ct>must not</em> bubble, <em class=ct>must not</em> be cancelable
                   1441:     and <em class=ct>must</em> implement the <code>Event</code> interface.
                   1442:     Its <code>namespaceURI</code> attribute <em class=ct>must</em> be
                   1443:     <code>null</code>. [<cite><a href="#DOM3EV">DOM3Events</a></cite>]
1.1       avankest 1444:   </dl>
1.2       avankest 1445: 
1.60      avankest 1446:   <h3 id=exceptions><span class=secno>2.2. </span>Exceptions for the <code
1.33      avankest 1447:    title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h3>
                   1448: 
1.139     avankest 1449:   <p>Several algorithms in this specification may result in an exception
                   1450:    being thrown. These exceptions are all part of the group
                   1451:    <code>ExceptionCode</code> and use the <code>DOMException</code> object
                   1452:    which is defined in DOM Level 3 Core. In addition this specification
                   1453:    extends the <code>ExceptionCode</code> group with several new constants as
                   1454:    indicated below. [<cite><a href="#DOM3">DOM3Core</a></cite>]
                   1455: 
1.34      avankest 1456:   <pre
1.139     avankest 1457:    class=idl>const unsigned short <a href="#security-err">SECURITY_ERR</a> = 18;
1.122     avankest 1458: const unsigned short <a href="#network-err">NETWORK_ERR</a> = 101;
                   1459: const unsigned short <a href="#abort-err">ABORT_ERR</a> = 102;</pre>
1.33      avankest 1460: 
1.139     avankest 1461:   <p>The <dfn id=security-err><code>SECURITY_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
                   1462:    raised if an attempt is made to perform an operation or access some data
                   1463:    in a way that would be a security risk or a violation of the user agent's
                   1464:    security policy.</p>
                   1465:   <!-- http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapi/2006May/0027.html -->
                   1466: 
                   1467:   <p class=note>The <code title="">SECURITY_ERR</code> exception is expected
                   1468:    to be eventually folded into an update of the the DOM Level 3 Core
                   1469:    specification with an equivalent definition and identical constant value.
                   1470:    Until that happens it is defined here to guide implementors. (This is also
                   1471:    the reason it has a different constant value from the other exceptions.)
                   1472: 
1.35      avankest 1473:   <p>The <dfn id=network-err><code>NETWORK_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1.139     avankest 1474:    raised when a network error occurs in synchronous requests.
1.122     avankest 1475: 
1.139     avankest 1476:   <p>The <dfn id=abort-err><code>ABORT_ERR</code></dfn> exception is raised
1.122     avankest 1477:    when the user aborts a request in synchronous requests.
                   1478: 
1.31      avankest 1479:   <h2 class=no-num id=notcovered>Not in this Specification</h2>
                   1480: 
                   1481:   <p><em>This section is non normative.</em>
                   1482: 
1.73      avankest 1483:   <p>This specification does not include the following features which are
                   1484:    being considered for a future version of this specification:
1.31      avankest 1485: 
                   1486:   <ul>
                   1487:    <li><code>load</code> event and <code>onload</code> attribute;
                   1488: 
                   1489:    <li><code>error</code> event and <code>onerror</code> attribute;
                   1490: 
                   1491:    <li><code>progress</code> event and <code>onprogress</code> attribute;
                   1492: 
                   1493:    <li><code title="">abort</code> event and <code>onabort</code> attribute;
                   1494: 
                   1495:    <li>Timers have been suggested, perhaps an <code>ontimeout</code>
                   1496:     attribute;
                   1497: 
                   1498:    <li>Property to disable following redirects;
                   1499: 
1.32      avankest 1500:    <li><code title="">responseXML</code> for <code>text/html</code>
                   1501:     documents;
1.31      avankest 1502: 
1.42      avankest 1503:    <li>Cross-site <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>;
                   1504: 
1.88      avankest 1505:    <li><code>responseBody</code> to deal with byte streams;
1.42      avankest 1506: 
1.115     avankest 1507:    <li><code>overrideMimeType</code> to fix up MIME types;
                   1508: 
1.88      avankest 1509:    <li><code>getRequestHeader()</code> and
                   1510:     <code>removeRequestHeader()</code>.
1.31      avankest 1511:   </ul>
                   1512: 
1.25      avankest 1513:   <h2 class=no-num id=bibref>References</h2>
1.2       avankest 1514: 
1.7       avankest 1515:   <dl>
1.39      avankest 1516:    <dt>[<dfn id=DOM3>DOM3Core</dfn>]
1.2       avankest 1517: 
1.15      avankest 1518:    <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core">Document Object
                   1519:     Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a></cite>, A. Le Hors, P. Le
1.140     avankest 1520:     H&eacute;garet, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne,
                   1521:     editors. W3C, April 2004.
1.2       avankest 1522: 
1.39      avankest 1523:    <dt>[<dfn id=DOM3EV>DOM3Events</dfn>]
1.2       avankest 1524: 
                   1525:    <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Events/">Document
1.140     avankest 1526:     Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Events Specification</a></cite> (work in
                   1527:     progress), Bj&ouml;rn H&ouml;hrmann, editor. W3C, April 2006.
1.15      avankest 1528: 
1.39      avankest 1529:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-ecmascript>ECMAScript</dfn>]
1.18      avankest 1530: 
                   1531:    <dd><cite><a
                   1532:     href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm">ECMAScript
                   1533:     Language Specification</a></cite>, Third Edition. ECMA, December 1999.
                   1534: 
1.143   ! avankest 1535:    <dt>[<dfn id=html5>HTML5</dfn>]
        !          1536: 
        !          1537:    <dd><cite><a
        !          1538:     href="http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/">HTML&nbsp;5</a></cite>
        !          1539:     (work in progress), Ian Hickson, editor. WHATWG, September 2007
        !          1540: 
1.39      avankest 1541:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-rfc2046>RFC2046</dfn>]
1.18      avankest 1542: 
1.22      avankest 1543:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2046">Multipurpose Internet Mail
                   1544:     Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types</a></cite>, N. Freed, N.
                   1545:     Borenstein, editors. IETF, November 1996.
1.18      avankest 1546: 
1.39      avankest 1547:    <dt>[<dfn id=RFC2119>RFC2119</dfn>]
1.15      avankest 1548: 
1.118     avankest 1549:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119">Key words for use in RFCs
                   1550:     to Indicate Requirement Levels</a></cite>, S. Bradner. IETF, March 1997.
1.15      avankest 1551: 
1.39      avankest 1552:    <dt>[<dfn id=RFC2616>RFC2616</dfn>]
1.15      avankest 1553: 
                   1554:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer
                   1555:     Protocol -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H.
1.93      avankest 1556:     Frystyk, L. Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF, June 1999.
1.15      avankest 1557: 
1.39      avankest 1558:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-rfc2617>RFC2617</dfn>]
1.15      avankest 1559: 
                   1560:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617">HTTP Authentication: Basic
1.93      avankest 1561:     and Digest Access Authentication</a></cite>, P. Hallam-Baker, J.
                   1562:     Hostetler, S. Lawrence, P. Leach, A. Luotonen, L. Stewart, editors. IETF,
                   1563:     June 1999.
1.2       avankest 1564: 
1.39      avankest 1565:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-rfc2965>RFC2965</dfn>]
1.2       avankest 1566: 
1.22      avankest 1567:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965">HTTP State Management
                   1568:     Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, October
                   1569:     2000.
                   1570: 
1.39      avankest 1571:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-rfc3986>RFC3986</dfn>]
1.2       avankest 1572: 
1.15      avankest 1573:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986">Uniform Resource
                   1574:     Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax</a></cite>, T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding,
                   1575:     L. Masinter, editors. IETF, January 2005.
1.30      avankest 1576: 
1.142     avankest 1577:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-rfc3987>RFC3987</dfn>]
                   1578: 
                   1579:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3987">Internationalized Resource
                   1580:     Identifiers (IRIs)</a></cite>, M. Duerst, M. Suignard, editors. IETF,
                   1581:     January 2005.
                   1582: 
1.39      avankest 1583:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-window>Window</dfn>]
1.30      avankest 1584: 
                   1585:    <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/Window/">Window Object
1.140     avankest 1586:     1.0</a></cite> (work in progress), I. Davis, M. Stachowiak, editors. W3C,
                   1587:     April 2006.
1.43      avankest 1588: 
                   1589:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-xml>XML</dfn>]
                   1590: 
                   1591:    <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/">Extensible Markup Language
                   1592:     (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, J. Paoli, C.
1.118     avankest 1593:     Sperberg-McQueen, E. Maler, F. Yergeau, editors. W3C, September 2006.
1.43      avankest 1594: 
                   1595:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-xmlns>XMLNS</dfn>]
                   1596: 
                   1597:    <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/">Namespaces in XML
1.118     avankest 1598:     (Second Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, D. Hollander, A. Layman, R. Tobin,
                   1599:     editors. W3C, August 2006.
1.2       avankest 1600:   </dl>
                   1601: 
1.131     avankest 1602:   <h2 class=no-num id=acknowledgments>Acknowledgments</h2>
1.2       avankest 1603: 
                   1604:   <p><em>This section is non-normative</em>
                   1605: 
1.9       avankest 1606:   <p>The editor would like to thank to the following people who have
1.35      avankest 1607:    contributed to this specification (ordered by first name):
1.2       avankest 1608: 
1.1       avankest 1609:   <ul>
1.113     avankest 1610:    <li>Ahmed Kamel
                   1611: 
1.25      avankest 1612:    <li>Alex Hopmann
                   1613: 
1.9       avankest 1614:    <li>Alex Vincent
                   1615: 
1.19      avankest 1616:    <li>Alexey Proskuryakov
                   1617: 
1.137     avankest 1618:    <li>Asbj&oslash;rn Ulsberg
1.2       avankest 1619: 
                   1620:    <li>Boris Zbarsky
                   1621: 
1.137     avankest 1622:    <li>Bj&ouml;rn H&ouml;hrmann
1.2       avankest 1623: 
                   1624:    <li>Cameron McCormack
                   1625: 
                   1626:    <li>Christophe Jolif
                   1627: 
                   1628:    <li>Charles McCathieNevile
                   1629: 
1.56      avankest 1630:    <li>Dan Winship
                   1631: 
1.137     avankest 1632:    <li>David H&aring;s&auml;ther
1.73      avankest 1633: 
1.2       avankest 1634:    <li>Dean Jackson
                   1635: 
1.127     avankest 1636:    <li>Denis Sureau
                   1637: 
1.2       avankest 1638:    <li>Doug Schepers
                   1639: 
                   1640:    <li>Douglas Livingstone
                   1641: 
1.131     avankest 1642:    <li>Elliotte Harold
                   1643: 
1.113     avankest 1644:    <li>Eric Lawrence
                   1645: 
                   1646:    <li>Gideon Cohn
                   1647: 
1.2       avankest 1648:    <li>Gorm Haug Eriksen
                   1649: 
                   1650:    <li>Hallvord R. M. Steen
                   1651: 
1.137     avankest 1652:    <li>H&aring;kon Wium Lie
1.2       avankest 1653: 
                   1654:    <li>Ian Davis
                   1655: 
                   1656:    <li>Ian Hickson
                   1657: 
                   1658:    <li>Ivan Herman
                   1659: 
1.135     avankest 1660:    <li>Jeff Walden
                   1661: 
1.137     avankest 1662:    <li>Jens Lindstr&ouml;m
1.2       avankest 1663: 
                   1664:    <li>Jim Deegan
                   1665: 
                   1666:    <li>Jim Ley
                   1667: 
1.113     avankest 1668:    <li>Joe Farro
                   1669: 
1.2       avankest 1670:    <li>Jonas Sicking
                   1671: 
                   1672:    <li>Julian Reschke
                   1673: 
                   1674:    <li>Karl Dubost
                   1675: 
                   1676:    <li>Maciej Stachowiak
                   1677: 
1.9       avankest 1678:    <li>Magnus Kristiansen
                   1679: 
1.2       avankest 1680:    <li>Marc Hadley
                   1681: 
1.55      avankest 1682:    <li>Marcos Caceres
                   1683: 
1.88      avankest 1684:    <li>Mark Baker
                   1685: 
1.2       avankest 1686:    <li>Mark Nottingham
                   1687: 
1.93      avankest 1688:    <li>Mohamed Zergaoui
                   1689: 
1.2       avankest 1690:    <li>Pawel Glowacki
                   1691: 
                   1692:    <li>Robin Berjon
                   1693: 
                   1694:    <li>Ruud Steltenpool
1.35      avankest 1695: 
                   1696:    <li>Simon Pieters
1.113     avankest 1697: 
1.126     avankest 1698:    <li>Stewart Brodie
                   1699: 
1.113     avankest 1700:    <li>Sunava Dutta
                   1701: 
                   1702:    <li>Zhenbin Xu
1.1       avankest 1703:   </ul>
1.2       avankest 1704: 
                   1705:   <p>Special thanks to the Microsoft employees who first implemented the
1.60      avankest 1706:    <code><a href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code>
                   1707:    interface, which was first widely deployed by the Windows Internet
                   1708:    Explorer browser.
1.2       avankest 1709: 
1.56      avankest 1710:   <p>Special thanks also to the WHATWG for drafting an initial version of
1.131     avankest 1711:    this specification in their Web Applications 1.0 document (now renamed to
                   1712:    HTML&nbsp;5).
1.2       avankest 1713: 
                   1714:   <p>Thanks also to all those who have helped to improve this specification
                   1715:    by sending suggestions and corrections. (Please, keep bugging us with your
                   1716:    issues!)

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