Annotation of 2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/Overview.html, revision 1.175

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1.25      avankest    3: <html lang=en-US>
1.1       avankest    4:  <head>
                      5:   <title>The XMLHttpRequest Object</title>
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1.2       avankest   26: 
1.1       avankest   27:  <body>
1.25      avankest   28:   <div class=head>
                     29:    <p><a href="http://www.w3.org/"><img alt=W3C height=48
                     30:     src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_home" width=72></a></p>
1.2       avankest   31: 
1.157     avankest   32:    <h1 class=head id=the-xmlhttprequest-object>The <code
1.14      avankest   33:     title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h1>
1.2       avankest   34: 
1.174     avankest   35:    <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=w3c-doctype>Editor's Draft 12 May 2008</h2>
1.2       avankest   36: 
1.1       avankest   37:    <dl>
1.154     avankest   38:     <dt>This Version:
1.2       avankest   39: 
                     40:     <dd><a
1.174     avankest   41:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/ED-XMLHttpRequest-20080512/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/ED-XMLHttpRequest-20080512/</a>
1.2       avankest   42: 
1.14      avankest   43:     <dt>Latest Version:
1.2       avankest   44: 
                     45:     <dd><a
                     46:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest/">http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest/</a>
                     47: 
1.14      avankest   48:     <dt>Previous Versions:
1.2       avankest   49: 
                     50:     <dd><a
1.174     avankest   51:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20080415/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20080415/</a>
                     52: 
                     53:     <dd><a
1.155     avankest   54:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20071026/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20071026/</a>
                     55: 
                     56:     <dd><a
1.134     avankest   57:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070618/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070618/</a>
                     58: 
                     59:     <dd><a
1.60      avankest   60:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070227/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070227/</a>
                     61: 
                     62:     <dd><a
1.25      avankest   63:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060927/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060927/</a>
                     64: 
                     65:     <dd><a
1.2       avankest   66:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060619/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060619/</a>
                     67: 
                     68:     <dd><a
                     69:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/</a>
                     70: 
                     71:     <dt>Editor:
                     72: 
                     73:     <dd><a href="http://annevankesteren.nl/">Anne van Kesteren</a> (<a
                     74:      href="http://www.opera.com/">Opera Software ASA</a>) &lt;<a
                     75:      href="mailto:annevk@opera.com">annevk@opera.com</a>&gt;
1.1       avankest   76:    </dl>
1.2       avankest   77: 
1.25      avankest   78:    <p class=copyright><a
1.2       avankest   79:     href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Copyright">Copyright</a>
1.53      avankest   80:     &copy; 2007 <a href="http://www.w3.org/"><acronym title="World Wide Web
                     81:     Consortium">W3C</acronym></a><sup>&reg;</sup> (<a
                     82:     href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/"><acronym title="Massachusetts Institute
                     83:     of Technology">MIT</acronym></a>, <a
                     84:     href="http://www.ercim.org/"><acronym title="European Research Consortium
                     85:     for Informatics and Mathematics">ERCIM</acronym></a>, <a
1.2       avankest   86:     href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/">Keio</a>), All Rights Reserved. W3C <a
                     87:     href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Legal_Disclaimer">liability</a>,
                     88:     <a
                     89:     href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#W3C_Trademarks">trademark</a>
                     90:     and <a
                     91:     href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-documents">document
                     92:     use</a> rules apply.</p>
1.1       avankest   93:   </div>
1.2       avankest   94: 
                     95:   <hr>
                     96: 
1.25      avankest   97:   <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=specabstract>Abstract</h2>
1.2       avankest   98: 
1.25      avankest   99:   <p>The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object specification defines an
                    100:    <abbr title="Application Programming Interface">API</abbr> that provides
                    101:    scripted client functionality for transferring data between a client and a
                    102:    server.
                    103: 
                    104:   <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=sotd>Status of this Document</h2>
1.2       avankest  105: 
                    106:   <p><em>This section describes the status of this document at the time of
                    107:    its publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of
                    108:    current W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report
                    109:    can be found in the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/">W3C technical reports
1.173     avankest  110:    index</a> at http://www.w3.org/TR/.</em>
1.2       avankest  111: 
1.174     avankest  112:   <p>This is the 12 May 2008 Last Call Working Draft of The <code
1.148     avankest  113:    title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object specification. Please send comments
                    114:    to <a href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a> (<a
1.49      avankest  115:    href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapi/">archived</a>)
                    116:    with either <samp>[XHR]</samp> or <samp title="">[XMLHttpRequest]</samp>
1.173     avankest  117:    at the start of the subject line before befor 2 June 2008.
1.49      avankest  118: 
                    119:   <p>This document is produced by the <a
                    120:    href="http://www.w3.org/2006/webapi/">Web API Working Group</a>, part of
                    121:    the <a href="http://www.w3.org/2006/rwc/Activity">Rich Web Clients
                    122:    Activity</a> in the W3C <a
                    123:    href="http://www.w3.org/Interaction/">Interaction Domain</a>. Changes made
                    124:    to this document can be found in the <a
                    125:    href="http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/Overview.html">W3C
                    126:    public CVS server</a>.
1.2       avankest  127: 
                    128:   <p>Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C
                    129:    Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or
                    130:    obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this
                    131:    document as other than work in progress.
                    132: 
                    133:   <p>This document was produced by a group operating under the <a
                    134:    href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/">5 February
1.54      avankest  135:    2004 W3C Patent Policy</a>. W3C maintains a <a
                    136:    href="http://www.w3.org/2004/01/pp-impl/38482/status"
1.25      avankest  137:    rel=disclosure>public list of any patent disclosures</a> made in
1.2       avankest  138:    connection with the deliverables of the group; that page also includes
                    139:    instructions for disclosing a patent. An individual who has actual
                    140:    knowledge of a patent which the individual believes contains <a
                    141:    href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#def-essential">Essential
                    142:    Claim(s)</a> must disclose the information in accordance with <a
                    143:    href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#sec-Disclosure">section
                    144:    6 of the W3C Patent Policy</a>.
                    145: 
1.25      avankest  146:   <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id=toc>Table of Contents</h2>
1.2       avankest  147:   <!--begin-toc-->
                    148: 
1.25      avankest  149:   <ul class=toc>
                    150:    <li><a href="#introduction"><span class=secno>1. </span>Introduction</a>
1.154     avankest  151: 
                    152:    <li><a href="#conformance"><span class=secno>2. </span>Conformance</a>
1.25      avankest  153:     <ul class=toc>
1.168     avankest  154:      <li><a href="#dependencies"><span class=secno>2.1
1.154     avankest  155:       </span>Dependencies</a>
1.2       avankest  156: 
1.168     avankest  157:      <li><a href="#terminology"><span class=secno>2.2 </span>Terminology</a>
1.81      avankest  158: 
1.168     avankest  159:      <li><a href="#extensibility"><span class=secno>2.3
1.154     avankest  160:       </span>Extensibility</a>
                    161:     </ul>
1.81      avankest  162: 
1.154     avankest  163:    <li><a href="#security"><span class=secno>3. </span>Security
                    164:     Considerations</a>
1.2       avankest  165: 
1.154     avankest  166:    <li><a href="#xmlhttprequest"><span class=secno>4. </span>The <code
1.16      avankest  167:     title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</a>
1.25      avankest  168:     <ul class=toc>
1.168     avankest  169:      <li><a href="#events"><span class=secno>4.1 </span>Events for the <code
1.33      avankest  170:       title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</a>
                    171: 
1.168     avankest  172:      <li><a href="#exceptions"><span class=secno>4.2 </span>Exceptions for
1.33      avankest  173:       the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</a>
1.11      avankest  174:     </ul>
1.2       avankest  175: 
1.31      avankest  176:    <li class=no-num><a href="#notcovered">Not in this Specification</a>
                    177: 
1.25      avankest  178:    <li class=no-num><a href="#bibref">References</a>
1.2       avankest  179: 
1.131     avankest  180:    <li class=no-num><a href="#acknowledgments">Acknowledgments</a>
1.2       avankest  181:   </ul>
                    182:   <!--end-toc-->
                    183: 
1.25      avankest  184:   <h2 id=introduction><span class=secno>1. </span>Introduction</h2>
1.2       avankest  185: 
                    186:   <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em>
                    187: 
1.60      avankest  188:   <p>The <code><a href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code>
                    189:    object implements an interface exposed by a scripting engine that allows
                    190:    scripts to perform HTTP client functionality, such as submitting form data
                    191:    or loading data from a server.
1.2       avankest  192: 
                    193:   <p>The name of the object is <code><a
1.60      avankest  194:    href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> for compatibility
1.128     avankest  195:    with the Web, though each component of this name is potentially
1.60      avankest  196:    misleading. First, the object supports any text based format, including
                    197:    XML. Second, it can be used to make requests over both HTTP and HTTPS
                    198:    (some implementations support protocols in addition to HTTP and HTTPS, but
                    199:    that functionality is not covered by this specification). Finally, it
                    200:    supports "requests" in a broad sense of the term as it pertains to HTTP;
                    201:    namely all activity involved with HTTP requests or responses for the
                    202:    defined HTTP methods.
1.2       avankest  203: 
1.25      avankest  204:   <div class=example>
1.18      avankest  205:    <p>Some simple code to do something with data from an XML document fetched
                    206:     over the network:</p>
                    207: 
1.60      avankest  208:    <pre><code>function test(data) {
1.18      avankest  209:  // taking care of data
                    210: }
                    211: 
                    212: function handler() {
1.118     avankest  213:  if(this.readyState == 4 &amp;&amp; this.status == 200) {
1.18      avankest  214:   // so far so good
1.118     avankest  215:   if(this.responseXML != null &amp;&amp; this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data)
                    216:      // success!
1.18      avankest  217:    test(this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data);
                    218:   else
                    219:    test(null);
1.118     avankest  220:  } else if (this.readyState == 4 &amp;&amp; this.status != 200) {
1.18      avankest  221:   // fetched the wrong page or network error...
                    222:   test(null);
                    223:  }
                    224: }
                    225: 
                    226: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
                    227: client.onreadystatechange = handler;
                    228: client.open("GET", "test.xml");
1.60      avankest  229: client.send();</code></pre>
1.18      avankest  230: 
1.58      avankest  231:    <p>If you just want to log a message to the server:</p>
1.18      avankest  232: 
1.60      avankest  233:    <pre><code>function log(message) {
1.18      avankest  234:  var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.58      avankest  235:  client.open("POST", "/log");
1.59      avankest  236:  client.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "text/plain;charset=UTF-8");
1.18      avankest  237:  client.send(message);
1.60      avankest  238: }</code></pre>
1.18      avankest  239: 
                    240:    <p>Or if you want to check the status of a document on the server:</p>
                    241: 
1.60      avankest  242:    <pre><code>function fetchStatus(address) {
1.18      avankest  243:  var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
                    244:  client.onreadystatechange = function() {
                    245:   // in case of network errors this might not give reliable results
                    246:   if(this.readyState == 4)
                    247:    returnStatus(this.status);
                    248:  }
                    249:  client.open("HEAD", address);
                    250:  client.send();
1.60      avankest  251: }</code></pre>
1.18      avankest  252:   </div>
1.2       avankest  253: 
1.154     avankest  254:   <h2 id=conformance><span class=secno>2. </span>Conformance</h2>
1.2       avankest  255: 
1.29      avankest  256:   <p>Everything in this specification is normative except for diagrams,
1.2       avankest  257:    examples, notes and sections marked non-normative.
                    258: 
1.25      avankest  259:   <p>The key words <em class=ct>must</em>, <em class=ct>must not</em>, <em
1.75      avankest  260:    class=ct>should</em> and <em class=ct>may</em> in this document are to be
                    261:    interpreted as described in RFC 2119. [<cite><a
1.146     avankest  262:    href="#ref-rfc2119">RFC2119</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest  263: 
                    264:   <p>This specification defines the following classes of products:
                    265: 
                    266:   <dl>
1.75      avankest  267:    <dt><dfn id=conforming-user-agent>Conforming user agent</dfn>
1.2       avankest  268: 
1.75      avankest  269:    <dd>
                    270:     <p>A user agent <em class=ct>must</em> behave as described in this
1.107     avankest  271:      specification in order to be considered conformant.</p>
1.75      avankest  272: 
1.141     avankest  273:     <p>If the user agent is not a conforming XML user agent the <a
                    274:      href="#xml-response-entity-body">XML response entity body</a> <em
                    275:      class=ct>must</em> (always) be <code>null</code>.</p>
                    276: 
                    277:     <p>User agents <em class=ct>may</em> implement algorithms given in this
                    278:      specification in any way desired, so long as the end result is
                    279:      indistinguishable from the result that would be obtained by the
                    280:      specification's algorithms.</p>
1.2       avankest  281: 
1.96      avankest  282:     <p class=note>This specification uses both the terms "conforming user
                    283:      agent(s)" and "user agent(s)" to refer to this product class.</p>
                    284: 
1.95      avankest  285:    <dt><dfn id=conforming-xml-user-agent>Conforming XML user agent</dfn>
                    286: 
                    287:    <dd>
1.164     avankest  288:     <p>An XML user agent <em class=ct>must</em> be a <a
                    289:      href="#conforming-user-agent">conforming user agent</a> and <em
                    290:      class=ct>must</em> be a conforming XML processor that reports violations
                    291:      of namespace well-formedness. [<cite><a href="#ref-xml">XML</a></cite>]
                    292:      [<cite><a href="#ref-xmlns">XMLNS</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest  293:   </dl>
                    294: 
1.168     avankest  295:   <h3 id=dependencies><span class=secno>2.1 </span>Dependencies</h3>
1.2       avankest  296: 
1.31      avankest  297:   <p>This specification relies on several underlying specifications.
1.2       avankest  298: 
1.31      avankest  299:   <dl>
                    300:    <dt>DOM
1.2       avankest  301: 
1.31      avankest  302:    <dd>
1.127     avankest  303:     <p>A <a href="#conforming-user-agent" title="conforming user
                    304:      agent">conforming user agent</a> <em class=ct>must</em> support some
1.151     avankest  305:      subset of the functionality defined in DOM Events and DOM Core that this
                    306:      specification relies upon. [<cite><a
1.156     avankest  307:      href="#ref-dom2events">DOM2Events</a></cite>] [<cite><a
                    308:      href="#ref-dom3core">DOM3Core</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest  309: 
1.162     avankest  310:    <dt>HTML&nbsp;5
                    311: 
                    312:    <dd>
                    313:     <p>This specification depends on HTML&nbsp;5 for defining the
                    314:      <code>Window</code> object and finding the character encoding of a
                    315:      <code>text/html</code> resource. A <a
                    316:      href="#conforming-user-agent">conforming user agent</a> <em
                    317:      class=ct>must</em> support these features. [<cite><a
                    318:      href="#ref-html5">HTML5</a></cite>]</p>
                    319: 
                    320:     <p class=note>The <a
                    321:      href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-Window-20060407/">Window Object
                    322:      1.0</a> draft is not referenced normatively as it appears to be no
                    323:      longer maintained and HTML&nbsp;5 defines the <code>Window</code> object
                    324:      in more detail. This specification already depends on HTML&nbsp;5 for
                    325:      other reasons so there is not much additional overhead because of this.</p>
                    326: 
1.31      avankest  327:    <dt>HTTP
1.11      avankest  328: 
1.31      avankest  329:    <dd>
1.156     avankest  330:     <p>A <a href="#conforming-user-agent">conforming user agent</a> <em
                    331:      class=ct>must</em> support some version of the HTTP protocol. It <em
                    332:      class=ct>should</em> support any HTTP method that matches the <a
                    333:      href="#method"><code>Method</code> production</a> and <em
                    334:      class=ct>must</em> at least support the following methods:</p>
1.81      avankest  335: 
1.60      avankest  336:     <ul>
                    337:      <li><code>GET</code>
                    338: 
                    339:      <li><code>POST</code>
                    340: 
                    341:      <li><code>HEAD</code>
                    342: 
                    343:      <li><code>PUT</code>
                    344: 
                    345:      <li><code>DELETE</code>
                    346: 
                    347:      <li><code>OPTIONS</code>
                    348:     </ul>
                    349: 
                    350:     <p>Other requirements regarding HTTP are made throughout the
1.146     avankest  351:      specification. [<cite><a href="#ref-rfc2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]</p>
1.31      avankest  352:   </dl>
1.2       avankest  353: 
1.168     avankest  354:   <h3 id=terminology><span class=secno>2.2 </span>Terminology</h3>
1.81      avankest  355: 
                    356:   <p>There is a <dfn id=case-insensitive-match>case-insensitive match</dfn>
1.154     avankest  357:    of strings <var>s1</var> and <var>s2</var> if after mapping the ASCII
                    358:    character range A-Z to the range a-z both strings are identical.
1.2       avankest  359: 
1.142     avankest  360:   <p>Two URIs are <dfn id=same-origin>same-origin</dfn> if after performing
                    361:    scheme-based normalization on both URIs as described in section 5.3.3 of
1.146     avankest  362:    RFC 3987 the scheme, ihost and port components are identical. If either
1.154     avankest  363:    URI does not have an ihost component the URIs <em class=ct>must not</em>
                    364:    be considered same-origin. [<cite><a
1.148     avankest  365:    href="#ref-rfc3987">RFC3987</a></cite>]
1.142     avankest  366: 
1.158     avankest  367:   <p>The terms <dfn id=origin>origin</dfn> and <dfn
                    368:    id=event-handler-attribute>event handler DOM attribute</dfn> are defined
                    369:    by the HTML&nbsp;5 specification. [<cite><a
                    370:    href="#ref-html5">HTML5</a></cite>]
1.156     avankest  371: 
1.168     avankest  372:   <h3 id=extensibility><span class=secno>2.3 </span>Extensibility</h3>
1.2       avankest  373: 
1.82      avankest  374:   <p>Extensions of the API defined by this specification are <em>strongly
1.31      avankest  375:    discouraged</em>. User agents, Working Groups and other interested parties
1.35      avankest  376:    should discuss extensions on a relevant public forum, preferably <a
1.31      avankest  377:    href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a>.
1.2       avankest  378: 
1.154     avankest  379:   <h2 id=security><span class=secno>3. </span>Security Considerations</h2>
                    380: 
1.155     avankest  381:   <p>Apart from requirements affecting security made throughout this
                    382:    specification implementations <em class=ct>may</em>, at their discretion,
1.159     avankest  383:    not expose certain headers, such as HttpOnly cookies.
1.154     avankest  384: 
                    385:   <h2 id=xmlhttprequest><span class=secno>4. </span>The <code
1.16      avankest  386:    title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h2>
1.2       avankest  387: 
1.60      avankest  388:   <p>The <code><a href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code>
                    389:    object can be used by scripts to programmatically connect to their
                    390:    originating server via HTTP.
1.2       avankest  391: 
                    392:   <p>Objects implementing the <code><a
1.60      avankest  393:    href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> interface <em
                    394:    class=ct>must</em> also implement the <code>EventTarget</code> interface.
1.156     avankest  395:    [<cite><a href="#ref-dom2events">DOM2Events</a></cite>]
1.60      avankest  396: 
                    397:   <p>Objects implementing the <code title="">Window</code> interface <em
                    398:    class=ct>must</em> provide an <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code>
1.156     avankest  399:    constructor. [<cite><a href="#ref-html5">HTML5</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest  400: 
1.25      avankest  401:   <div class=example>
1.60      avankest  402:    <p>In ECMAScript this can be used as follows:</p>
1.118     avankest  403: 
1.60      avankest  404:    <pre><code>var client = new XMLHttpRequest();</code></pre>
1.1       avankest  405:   </div>
1.2       avankest  406: 
1.60      avankest  407:   <p>When the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code> constructor is invoked a
1.158     avankest  408:    persistent pointer to the associated <code title="">Document</code> object
                    409:    is stored on the newly created object. This is the <dfn
                    410:    id=document-pointer title="Document pointer"><code>Document</code>
                    411:    pointer</dfn>. The associated <code>Document</code> object is the one
                    412:    returned by the <code>document</code> attribute from the object on which
                    413:    the <code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code> constructor was invoked (a
                    414:    <code>Window</code> object). The pointer can become "null" if the object
                    415:    is destroyed.
                    416: 
                    417:   <p class=note>As per the conformance criteria implementations are free to
                    418:    implement this in any way they desire as long as the end results are
                    419:    identical to those given by the English prose.
1.2       avankest  420: 
1.60      avankest  421:   <div class=example>
1.158     avankest  422:    <p>If <var><code>iframe</code></var> is a <code title="">Window</code>
                    423:     object <var><code>client</code></var> will have a pointer to
                    424:     <var><code>iframe.document</code></var> in the following example:</p>
1.60      avankest  425: 
1.158     avankest  426:    <pre><code>var client = new iframe.XMLHttpRequest()</code></pre>
1.60      avankest  427:   </div>
1.11      avankest  428: 
1.60      avankest  429:   <pre
                    430:    class=idl>interface <dfn id=xmlhttprequest-object>XMLHttpRequest</dfn> {
                    431:   // event handler
1.132     avankest  432:            attribute EventListener <a href="#onreadystatechange">onreadystatechange</a>;
1.60      avankest  433: 
                    434:   // state
1.135     avankest  435:   const unsigned short <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</a> = 0;
                    436:   const unsigned short <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED state">OPENED</a> = 1;
1.132     avankest  437:   const unsigned short <a href="#headers-received-state" title="HEADERS_RECEIVED state">HEADERS_RECEIVED</a> = 2;
                    438:   const unsigned short <a href="#loading-state" title="LOADING state">LOADING</a> = 3;
                    439:   const unsigned short <a href="#done-state" title="DONE state">DONE</a> = 4;
                    440:   readonly attribute unsigned short <a href="#readystate">readyState</a>;
1.60      avankest  441: 
                    442:   // request
1.132     avankest  443:   void <a href="#open">open</a>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>);
                    444:   void <a href="#open">open</a>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var>url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>);
                    445:   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>);
                    446:   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>);
                    447:   void <a href="#setrequestheader">setRequestHeader</a>(in DOMString <var>header</var>, in DOMString <var>value</var>);
                    448:   void <a href="#send">send</a>();
                    449:   void <a href="#send">send</a>(in DOMString <var>data</var>);
                    450:   void <a href="#send">send</a>(in Document <var>data</var>);
                    451:   void <a href="#abort">abort</a>();
1.60      avankest  452: 
                    453:   // response
1.132     avankest  454:   DOMString <a href="#getallresponseheaders">getAllResponseHeaders</a>();
                    455:   DOMString <a href="#getresponseheader">getResponseHeader</a>(in DOMString <var>header</var>);
                    456:   readonly attribute DOMString <a href="#responsetext">responseText</a>;
                    457:   readonly attribute Document <a href="#responsexml">responseXML</a>;
                    458:   readonly attribute unsigned short <a href="#status">status</a>;
                    459:   readonly attribute DOMString <a href="#statustext">statusText</a>;
1.5       avankest  460: };</pre>
1.2       avankest  461: 
1.60      avankest  462:   <p>The <code><a href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code>
1.135     avankest  463:    object can be in five states: <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT
                    464:    state">UNSENT</a>, <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED
                    465:    state">OPENED</a>, <a href="#headers-received-state"
                    466:    title="HEADERS_RECEIVED state">HEADERS_RECEIVED</a>, <a
                    467:    href="#loading-state" title="LOADING state">LOADING</a> and <a
                    468:    href="#done-state" title="DONE state">DONE</a>. The current state is
                    469:    exposed through the <code><a href="#readystate">readyState</a></code>
                    470:    attribute. The method definitions below define when a state transition
                    471:    takes place.
1.60      avankest  472: 
                    473:   <p>When constructed, the <code><a
                    474:    href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> object <em
1.72      avankest  475:    class=ct>must</em> be in the UNSENT state. This state is represented by
1.135     avankest  476:    the <dfn id=unsent-state title="UNSENT state"><code>UNSENT</code></dfn>
1.72      avankest  477:    constant, whose value is <code>0</code>.
1.60      avankest  478: 
1.135     avankest  479:   <p>The OPENED state is the state of the object when the <code><a
1.132     avankest  480:    href="#open">open()</a></code> method has been successfully invoked.
1.93      avankest  481:    During this state request headers can be set using <code><a
1.132     avankest  482:    href="#setrequestheader">setRequestHeader()</a></code> and the request can
                    483:    be made using <code><a href="#send">send()</a></code>. This state is
1.135     avankest  484:    represented by the <dfn id=opened-state title="OPENED
                    485:    state"><code>OPENED</code></dfn> constant, whose value is <code>1</code>.
1.60      avankest  486: 
1.135     avankest  487:   <p>The OPENED state has an associated <dfn id=send-flag><code>send()</code>
1.175   ! avankest  488:    flag</dfn> which indicates whether the <code><a
        !           489:    href="#send">send()</a></code> method has been invoked. It can be either
        !           490:    "true" or "false" and has an initial value of "false".
1.88      avankest  491: 
1.124     avankest  492:   <p>The HEADERS_RECEIVED state is the state of the object when all response
                    493:    headers have been received. This state is represented by the <dfn
1.132     avankest  494:    id=headers-received-state title="HEADERS_RECEIVED
1.124     avankest  495:    state"><code>HEADERS_RECEIVED</code></dfn> constant, whose value is
                    496:    <code>2</code>.
                    497: 
                    498:   <p>The LOADING state is the state of the object when the response entity
1.132     avankest  499:    body is being received. This state is represented by the <dfn
                    500:    id=loading-state title="LOADING state"><code>LOADING</code></dfn>
                    501:    constant, whose value is <code>3</code>.
1.60      avankest  502: 
1.80      avankest  503:   <p>The DONE state is the state of the object when either the data transfer
                    504:    has been completed or something went wrong during the transfer (infinite
1.132     avankest  505:    redirects for instance). This state is represented by the <dfn
                    506:    id=done-state title="DONE state"><code>DONE</code></dfn> constant, whose
                    507:    value is <code>4</code>.
1.60      avankest  508: 
1.125     avankest  509:   <p>The DONE state has an associated <dfn id=error-flag>error flag</dfn>
1.175   ! avankest  510:    which indicates some type of network error or abortion. It can be either
        !           511:    "true" or "false" and has an initial value of "false".
1.125     avankest  512: 
1.89      avankest  513:   <p>The <dfn id=response-entity-body>response entity body</dfn> is the
1.132     avankest  514:    fragment of the <a href="#entity-body">entity body</a> received so far
1.89      avankest  515:    (LOADING state) or the complete entity body (DONE state). If there is no
                    516:    entity body the response entity body is "null".
                    517: 
                    518:   <p>The <dfn id=text-response-entity-body>text response entity body</dfn> is
1.170     avankest  519:    a <code>DOMString</code> representing the <a
                    520:    href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a>. The text response
                    521:    entity body is the return value of the following algorithm:
1.89      avankest  522: 
                    523:   <ol>
1.91      avankest  524:    <li>
1.168     avankest  525:     <p>If the response entity body is "null" return the empty string and
1.108     avankest  526:      terminate these steps.</p>
1.91      avankest  527: 
                    528:    <li>
1.114     avankest  529:     <p>Let <var>charset</var> be "null".
1.112     avankest  530: 
                    531:    <li>
1.91      avankest  532:     <p>If there is no <code>Content-Type</code> header or there is a
                    533:      <code>Content-Type</code> header which contains a MIME type that is
1.117     avankest  534:      <code>text/xml</code>, <code>application/xml</code> or ends in <code
                    535:      title="">+xml</code> (ignoring any parameters) use the rules set forth
1.127     avankest  536:      in the XML specifications to determine the character encoding. Let
1.117     avankest  537:      <var>charset</var> be the determined character encoding.
1.91      avankest  538: 
                    539:    <li>
1.128     avankest  540:     <p>If there is a <code>Content-Type</code> header which contains a
1.146     avankest  541:      <code>text/html</code> MIME type follow the rules set forth in the
                    542:      HTML&nbsp;5 specification to determine the character encoding. Let
1.143     avankest  543:      <var>charset</var> be the determined character encoding. [<cite><a
1.146     avankest  544:      href="#ref-html5">HTML5</a></cite>]
1.119     avankest  545: 
                    546:    <li>
1.141     avankest  547:     <p>If the MIME type specified by the <code>Content-Type</code> header
                    548:      contains a <code>charset</code> parameter and <var>charset</var> is
                    549:      "null" let <var>charset</var> be the value of that parameter.</p>
1.116     avankest  550: 
1.119     avankest  551:     <p class=note>The algorithms described by the XML and HTML specifications
                    552:      already take <code>Content-Type</code> into account.</p>
1.112     avankest  553: 
                    554:    <li> <!-- This stuff is copied from HTML5. Thanks Hixie! -->
1.114     avankest  555:     <p>If <var>charset</var> is "null" then, for each of the rows in the
                    556:      following table, starting with the first one and going down, if the
1.128     avankest  557:      first bytes of <var>bytes</var> match the bytes given in the first
                    558:      column, then let <var>charset</var> be the encoding given in the cell in
                    559:      the second column of that row. If there is no match <var>charset</var>
                    560:      remains "null".</p>
1.112     avankest  561: 
                    562:     <table>
                    563:      <thead>
                    564:       <tr>
                    565:        <th>Bytes in Hexadecimal
                    566: 
                    567:        <th>Description
                    568: 
                    569:      <tbody>
                    570:       <tr>
                    571:        <td>00 00 FE FF
                    572: 
                    573:        <td>UTF-32BE BOM
                    574: 
                    575:       <tr>
                    576:        <td>FF FE 00 00
                    577: 
                    578:        <td>UTF-32LE BOM
                    579: 
                    580:       <tr>
                    581:        <td>FE FF
                    582: 
                    583:        <td>UTF-16BE BOM
                    584: 
                    585:       <tr>
                    586:        <td>FF FE
                    587: 
                    588:        <td>UTF-16LE BOM
                    589: 
                    590:       <tr>
                    591:        <td>EF BB BF
                    592: 
1.118     avankest  593:        <td>UTF-8 BOM<!-- nobody uses this
                    594:       <tr>
                    595:        <td>DD 73 66 73
                    596:        <td>UTF-EBCDIC
1.112     avankest  597: -->
                    598:         
                    599:     </table>
                    600: 
                    601:    <li>
1.114     avankest  602:     <p>If <var>charset</var> is "null" let <var>charset</var> be UTF-8.
1.91      avankest  603: 
                    604:    <li>
1.108     avankest  605:     <p>Return the result of decoding the response entity body using
1.168     avankest  606:      <var>charset</var>. Replace bytes or sequences of bytes that are not
1.174     avankest  607:      valid according to the <var>charset</var> with a single U+FFFD
                    608:      character.
1.89      avankest  609:   </ol>
                    610: 
1.164     avankest  611:   <p class=note>Authors are encouraged to simply encode their resources using
                    612:    UTF-8.
                    613: 
1.108     avankest  614:   <p>The <dfn id=xml-response-entity-body>XML response entity body</dfn> is
                    615:    either a <code>Document</code> representing the <a
1.127     avankest  616:    href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a> or
                    617:    <code>null</code>. The XML response entity body is the return value of the
                    618:    following algorithm:
1.89      avankest  619: 
                    620:   <ol>
1.91      avankest  621:    <li>
1.108     avankest  622:     <p>If the response entity body is "null" terminate these steps and return
                    623:      <code>null</code>.
1.89      avankest  624: 
                    625:    <li>
1.104     avankest  626:     <p>If a <code>Content-Type</code> is present and it does not contain a
                    627:      MIME type (ignoring any parameters) that is <code>text/xml</code>,
1.117     avankest  628:      <code>application/xml</code> or ends in <code title="">+xml</code>
                    629:      terminate these steps and return <code>null</code>. (Do not terminate
                    630:      these steps if there is no <code>Content-Type</code> header at all.)
1.89      avankest  631: 
                    632:    <li>
1.129     avankest  633:     <p>Parse the response entity body into a document tree following the
                    634:      rules from the XML specifications. Let the result be <var>parsed
                    635:      document</var>. If this fails (unsupported character encoding, namespace
                    636:      well-formedness error et cetera) terminate these steps return
                    637:      <code>null</code>. [<cite><a href="#ref-xml">XML</a></cite>] [<cite><a
                    638:      href="#ref-xmlns">XMLNS</a></cite>]</p>
                    639: 
                    640:     <p class=note>Scripts in the resulting document tree will not be
                    641:      executed, resources referenced will not be loaded and no associated XSLT
                    642:      will be applied.</p>
1.89      avankest  643: 
                    644:    <li>
1.97      avankest  645:     <p>Return an object implementing the <code>Document</code> interface
                    646:      representing the <var>parsed document</var>.
1.89      avankest  647:   </ol>
                    648: 
1.6       avankest  649:   <dl>
1.132     avankest  650:    <dt><dfn id=onreadystatechange><code>onreadystatechange</code></dfn> of
1.158     avankest  651:     type <code>EventListener</code>
1.2       avankest  652: 
                    653:    <dd>
1.158     avankest  654:     <p>This attribute is an <a href="#event-handler-attribute">event handler
                    655:      DOM attribute</a> and <em class=ct>must</em> be invoked whenever a
                    656:      <code><a href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event is
1.174     avankest  657:      targeted at the object.
1.2       avankest  658: 
1.132     avankest  659:    <dt><dfn id=readystate><code>readyState</code></dfn> of type
1.2       avankest  660:     <code>unsigned short</code>, readonly
                    661: 
                    662:    <dd>
1.151     avankest  663:     <p>On getting the attribute <em class=ct>must</em> return the value of
                    664:      the constant corresponding to the object's current state.
1.2       avankest  665: 
1.132     avankest  666:    <dt><dfn id=open title=open><code>open(<var>method</var>, <var>url</var>,
                    667:     <var>async</var>, <var>user</var>, <var>password</var>)</code></dfn>,
                    668:     method
1.2       avankest  669: 
1.60      avankest  670:    <dd>
                    671:     <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> follow the
1.97      avankest  672:      following steps (unless otherwise indicated):</p>
1.2       avankest  673: 
1.60      avankest  674:     <ol>
                    675:      <li>
1.157     avankest  676:       <p>Let <var>stored method</var> be the <var>method</var> argument.
                    677: 
                    678:      <li>
                    679:       <p>If <var>stored method</var> does not match the <dfn
                    680:        id=method><code>Method</code> production</dfn>, defined in section
                    681:        5.1.1 of RFC 2616, raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
1.146     avankest  682:        terminate these steps. [<cite><a
                    683:        href="#ref-rfc2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest  684: 
1.60      avankest  685:      <li>
1.157     avankest  686:       <p>If <var>stored method</var> <a href="#case-insensitive-match"
                    687:        title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</a>
                    688:        <code>CONNECT</code>, <code>DELETE</code>, <code>GET</code>,
                    689:        <code>HEAD</code>, <code>OPTIONS</code> <code>POST</code>,
                    690:        <code>PUT</code>, <code>TRACE</code>, or <code>TRACK</code> let
                    691:        <var>stored method</var> be the canonical uppercase form of the
                    692:        matched method name.
                    693:      </li>
                    694:      <!-- WebKit (and supposedly Firefox) also uppercase: COPY, INDEX, LOCK,
                    695:      M-POST, MKCOL, MOVE, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, and UNLOCK. -->
                    696: 
                    697:      <li>
                    698:       <p>If <var>stored method</var> is one of <code>CONNECT</code>,
                    699:        <code>TRACE</code>, or <code>TRACK</code> the user agent <em
                    700:        class=ct>should</em> raise a <code><a
1.139     avankest  701:        href="#security-err">SECURITY_ERR</a></code> exception and terminate
                    702:        these steps.
1.2       avankest  703: 
1.60      avankest  704:      <li>
                    705:       <p>Drop the fragment identifier (if any) from <var>url</var> and let
                    706:        <var>stored url</var> be the result of that operation.
1.2       avankest  707: 
1.60      avankest  708:      <li>
1.97      avankest  709:       <p>If <var>stored url</var> is a relative reference resolve it using
1.158     avankest  710:        the current value of the <code>baseURI</code> attribute of the <a
                    711:        href="#document-pointer"><code>Document</code> pointer</a>. If this
                    712:        fails raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
                    713:        steps.
1.2       avankest  714: 
1.60      avankest  715:      <li>
1.102     avankest  716:       <p>If <var>stored url</var> contains an unsupported scheme raise a
                    717:        <code>NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR</code> and terminate these steps.
                    718: 
                    719:      <li>
1.60      avankest  720:       <p>If the <code>"user:password"</code> format in the
                    721:        <code>userinfo</code> production defined in section 3.2.1 of RFC 3986
                    722:        is not supported for the relevant scheme and <var>stored url</var>
1.99      avankest  723:        contains this format raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and terminate
                    724:        these steps. [<cite><a href="#ref-rfc3986">RFC3986</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest  725: 
1.60      avankest  726:      <li>
                    727:       <p>If <var>stored url</var> contains the <code>"user:password"</code>
                    728:        format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part and <var>stored
                    729:        password</var> be the password part.
1.2       avankest  730: 
1.60      avankest  731:      <li>
                    732:       <p>If <var>stored url</var> just contains the <code>"user"</code>
                    733:        format let <var>stored user</var> be the user part.
1.24      avankest  734: 
1.60      avankest  735:      <li>
1.142     avankest  736:       <p>If <var>stored url</var> is not of the <a
1.158     avankest  737:        href="#same-origin">same-origin</a> as the <a
                    738:        href="#origin">origin</a> of the <a
                    739:        href="#document-pointer"><code>Document</code> pointer</a> the user
                    740:        agent <em class=ct>should</em> raise a <code><a
1.148     avankest  741:        href="#security-err">SECURITY_ERR</a></code> exception and terminate
1.158     avankest  742:        these steps.
1.70      avankest  743: 
1.60      avankest  744:      <li>
                    745:       <p>Let <var>async</var> be the value of the <var>async</var> argument
1.103     avankest  746:        or <code>true</code> if it was omitted.
1.60      avankest  747: 
                    748:      <li>
1.127     avankest  749:       <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted, and its syntax does
                    750:        not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme, raise
                    751:        a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.
1.60      avankest  752: 
                    753:      <li>
                    754:       <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is not
                    755:        <code>null</code> let <var>stored user</var> be <var>user</var>
                    756:        encoded using the encoding specified in the relevant authentication
                    757:        scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify an encoding.</p>
1.2       avankest  758: 
1.60      avankest  759:       <p class=note>This step overrides any user that may have been set by
                    760:        the <var>url</var> argument.</p>
1.17      avankest  761: 
1.60      avankest  762:      <li>
                    763:       <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted and is
                    764:        <code>null</code> remove <var>stored user</var>.
1.17      avankest  765: 
1.60      avankest  766:      <li>
                    767:       <p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and its syntax
                    768:        does not match that specified by the relevant authentication scheme
1.99      avankest  769:        raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.
1.17      avankest  770: 
1.60      avankest  771:      <li>
                    772:       <p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is not
                    773:        <code>null</code> let <var>stored password</var> be
                    774:        <var>password</var> encoded using the encoding specified in the
                    775:        relevant authentication scheme or UTF-8 if the scheme fails to specify
                    776:        an encoding.
1.17      avankest  777: 
1.60      avankest  778:      <li>
                    779:       <p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted and is
                    780:        <code>null</code> remove <var>stored password</var>.
1.17      avankest  781: 
1.60      avankest  782:      <li>
1.109     avankest  783:       <p><a href="#abort-send-algorithm" title="abort send()">Abort the
                    784:        <code>send()</code> algorithm</a>, set <a
                    785:        href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a> to "null" and
                    786:        reset the list of request headers.
1.17      avankest  787: 
1.60      avankest  788:       <p>
1.44      avankest  789: 
1.60      avankest  790:      <li>
1.109     avankest  791:       <p>The user agent <em class=ct>should</em> cancel any network activity
                    792:        for which the object is responsible.
1.60      avankest  793:      </li>
                    794:      <!-- we can hardly require it... -->
1.22      avankest  795: 
1.60      avankest  796:      <li>
1.135     avankest  797:       <p>Switch the object to the <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED
                    798:        state">OPENED</a> state, set the <a
1.132     avankest  799:        href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code> flag</a> to "false" and then
                    800:        synchronously dispatch a <code><a
                    801:        href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
1.97      avankest  802:        object and return the method call.
1.60      avankest  803:     </ol>
1.24      avankest  804: 
1.25      avankest  805:     <p class=note>A future version or extension of this specification will
1.35      avankest  806:      most likely define a way of doing cross-site requests.</p>
1.26      avankest  807: 
1.132     avankest  808:    <dt><dfn id=setrequestheader
1.25      avankest  809:     title=setrequestheader><code>setRequestHeader(<var>header</var>,
1.18      avankest  810:     <var>value</var>)</code></dfn>, method
1.6       avankest  811: 
                    812:    <dd>
1.164     avankest  813:     <p>Each request has a list of request headers with associated values. The
                    814:      <code><a href="#setrequestheader">setRequestHeader()</a></code> method
                    815:      can be used to manipulate those values and set new request headers.</p>
                    816: 
                    817:     <p class=note>The <code><a
                    818:      href="#setrequestheader">setRequestHeader()</a></code> method appends a
                    819:      value if the HTTP header given as argument is already part of the list
                    820:      of request headers.</p>
1.47      avankest  821: 
1.60      avankest  822:     <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> follow the
1.97      avankest  823:      following steps (unless otherwise indicated):</p>
1.60      avankest  824: 
                    825:     <ol>
                    826:      <li>
1.135     avankest  827:       <p>If the state of the object is not <a href="#opened-state"
                    828:        title="OPENED state">OPENED</a> raise an
                    829:        <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.
1.6       avankest  830: 
1.60      avankest  831:      <li>
1.104     avankest  832:       <p>If the <a href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code> flag</a> is "true"
1.99      avankest  833:        raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
1.97      avankest  834:        steps.
1.60      avankest  835: 
                    836:      <li>
1.98      avankest  837:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument does not match the <dfn
1.60      avankest  838:        id=field-name><code>field-name</code> production</dfn> as defined by
1.97      avankest  839:        section 4.2 of RFC 2616 or is <code>null</code> raise a
1.99      avankest  840:        <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps. [<cite><a
1.146     avankest  841:        href="#ref-rfc2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]
1.71      avankest  842: 
                    843:      <li>
1.99      avankest  844:       <p>If the <var>value</var> argument is <code>null</code> terminate
                    845:        these steps. (Do not raise an exception.)
1.71      avankest  846:      </li>
                    847:      <!-- undefined is to be treated as null here... -->
1.60      avankest  848: 
                    849:      <li>
1.98      avankest  850:       <p>If the <var>value</var> argument does not match the <dfn
1.60      avankest  851:        id=field-value><code>field-value</code> production</dfn> as defined by
1.99      avankest  852:        section 4.2 of RFC 2616 raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and terminate
1.146     avankest  853:        these steps. [<cite><a href="#ref-rfc2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]
1.60      avankest  854: 
                    855:      <li>
1.133     avankest  856:       <p>For security reasons, these steps <em class=ct>should</em> be
1.99      avankest  857:        terminated if the <var>header</var> argument <a
                    858:        href="#case-insensitive-match" title="case-insensitive
                    859:        match">case-insensitively matches</a> one of the following headers:</p>
1.34      avankest  860: 
                    861:       <ul>
                    862:        <li><code>Accept-Charset</code>
                    863: 
                    864:        <li><code>Accept-Encoding</code>
                    865: 
1.69      avankest  866:        <li><code>Connection</code>
                    867: 
1.34      avankest  868:        <li><code>Content-Length</code>
                    869: 
1.69      avankest  870:        <li><code>Content-Transfer-Encoding</code>
                    871: 
                    872:        <li><code>Date</code>
                    873: 
1.34      avankest  874:        <li><code>Expect</code>
                    875: 
                    876:        <li><code>Host</code>
                    877: 
                    878:        <li><code>Keep-Alive</code>
                    879: 
                    880:        <li><code>Referer</code>
                    881: 
                    882:        <li><code>TE</code>
                    883: 
                    884:        <li><code>Trailer</code>
                    885: 
                    886:        <li><code>Transfer-Encoding</code>
                    887: 
                    888:        <li><code>Upgrade</code>
1.69      avankest  889: 
                    890:        <li><code>Via</code>
1.34      avankest  891:       </ul>
1.6       avankest  892: 
1.60      avankest  893:      <li>
1.133     avankest  894:       <p>Also for security reasons, these steps <em class=ct>should</em> be
1.169     avankest  895:        terminated if the start of the <var>header</var> argument <a
                    896:        href="#case-insensitive-match" title="case-insensitive
                    897:        match">case-insensitively matches</a> <code>Proxy-</code> or
                    898:        <code>Sec-</code>.
1.133     avankest  899: 
                    900:      <li>
1.60      avankest  901:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument is not in the list of request
1.97      avankest  902:        headers append the <var>header</var> with its associated
1.99      avankest  903:        <var>value</var> to the list and terminate these steps.
1.46      avankest  904: 
1.60      avankest  905:      <li>
                    906:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument is in the list of request headers
1.97      avankest  907:        either use multiple headers, combine the values or use a combination
                    908:        of those (section 4.2, RFC 2616). [<cite><a
1.146     avankest  909:        href="#ref-rfc2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]
1.97      avankest  910:      </li>
                    911:      <!-- XXX it seems UAs always combine the values -->
1.60      avankest  912:     </ol>
1.18      avankest  913: 
1.132     avankest  914:     <p class=note>See also the <code><a href="#send">send()</a></code> method
                    915:      regarding user agent header handling for caching, authentication,
1.47      avankest  916:      proxies, and cookies.</p>
                    917: 
1.25      avankest  918:     <div class=example>
1.60      avankest  919:      <pre><code>// The following script:
1.18      avankest  920: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
                    921: client.open('GET', 'demo.cgi');
                    922: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'one');
                    923: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'two');
                    924: client.send();
                    925: 
                    926: // ...would result in the following header being sent:
                    927: ...
                    928: X-Test: one, two
1.60      avankest  929: ...</code></pre>
1.18      avankest  930:     </div>
1.6       avankest  931: 
1.132     avankest  932:    <dt><dfn id=send title=send><code>send(<var>data</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.25      avankest  933:     method
1.2       avankest  934: 
                    935:    <dd>
1.132     avankest  936:     <p>The <code><a href="#send">send()</a></code> method initiates the
1.107     avankest  937:      request and its optional argument provides the <a
1.164     avankest  938:      href="#entity-body">entity body</a>.</p>
                    939: 
                    940:     <p class=note>Authors are encouraged to ensure that they have specified
                    941:      the <code>Content-Type</code> header via <code><a
                    942:      href="#setrequestheader">setRequestHeader()</a></code> before invoking
                    943:      <code><a href="#send">send()</a></code> with a non-<code>null</code>
                    944:      <var>data</var> argument.</p>
1.60      avankest  945: 
                    946:     <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> follow the
1.109     avankest  947:      following steps (unless otherwise noted). Note that this algorithm might
1.132     avankest  948:      get aborted if the <code><a href="#open">open()</a></code> or <code><a
                    949:      href="#abort">abort()</a></code> method is invoked. When the <dfn
                    950:      id=abort-send-algorithm title="abort send()"><code>send()</code>
                    951:      algorithm is aborted</dfn> the user agent <em class=ct>must</em>
                    952:      terminate the algorithm after finishing the step it is on.</p>
1.109     avankest  953: 
                    954:     <p class=note>The following algorithm can not be aborted through script
                    955:      when <var>async</var> is <code>false</code>. It can only be aborted when
                    956:      <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> and only after the method call has
                    957:      returned.</p>
1.60      avankest  958: 
                    959:     <ol>
                    960:      <li>
1.135     avankest  961:       <p>If the state of the object is not <a href="#opened-state"
                    962:        title="OPENED state">OPENED</a> raise an
                    963:        <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these steps.
1.60      avankest  964: 
                    965:      <li>
1.104     avankest  966:       <p>If the <a href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code> flag</a> is "true"
1.99      avankest  967:        raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
1.97      avankest  968:        steps.
1.60      avankest  969: 
                    970:      <li>
1.104     avankest  971:       <p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> set the <a
                    972:        href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code> flag</a> to "true".
1.103     avankest  973: 
                    974:      <li>
1.167     avankest  975:       <p>If <var>stored method</var> is <code>GET</code> act as if the
                    976:        <var>data</var> argument is <code>null</code>.</p>
                    977: 
1.60      avankest  978:       <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has not been omitted and is not
1.132     avankest  979:        <code>null</code> use it for the <dfn id=entity-body>entity body</dfn>
                    980:        as defined by section 7.2 of RFC 2616 observing the following rules:
1.146     avankest  981:        [<cite><a href="#ref-rfc2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]</p>
1.60      avankest  982: 
1.120     avankest  983:       <dl class=switch>
1.60      avankest  984:        <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>DOMString</code>
                    985: 
1.79      avankest  986:        <dd>
1.164     avankest  987:         <p>Encode <var>data</var> using UTF-8 for transmission.</p>
                    988: 
1.165     avankest  989:         <p>If a <code>Content-Type</code> header is set using <code><a
                    990:          href="#setrequestheader">setRequestHeader()</a></code> set the
                    991:          <code>charset</code> parameter of that header to <code>UTF-8</code>.</p>
1.60      avankest  992: 
                    993:        <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>Document</code>
                    994: 
                    995:        <dd>
1.97      avankest  996:         <p>Serialize <var>data</var> into a namespace well-formed XML
                    997:          document and encoded using the encoding given by
1.166     avankest  998:          <code><var>data</var>.inputEncoding</code>, when not
                    999:          <code>null</code>, or UTF-8 otherwise. Or, if this fails because the
                   1000:          <code>Document</code> cannot be serialized act as if <var>data</var>
                   1001:          is <code>null</code>.</p>
                   1002: 
                   1003:         <p>If no <code>Content-Type</code> header has been set using <code><a
                   1004:          href="#setrequestheader">setRequestHeader()</a></code> append a
                   1005:          <code>Content-Type</code> header to the list of request headers with
                   1006:          a value of <code>application/xml;charset=<var>charset</var></code>
                   1007:          where <var>charset</var> is the encoding used to encode the
                   1008:          document.</p>
1.60      avankest 1009: 
                   1010:         <p class=note>Subsequent changes to the <code>Document</code> have no
                   1011:          effect on what is submitted.</p>
                   1012: 
                   1013:        <dt><var>data</var> is not a <code>DOMString</code> or
                   1014:         <code>Document</code>
                   1015: 
1.79      avankest 1016:        <dd>
1.97      avankest 1017:         <p>Use the stringification mechanisms of the host language on
                   1018:          <var>data</var> and treat the result as if <var>data</var> is a
1.167     avankest 1019:          <code>DOMString</code>. Or, if this fails, act as if the
                   1020:          <var>data</var> argument is <code>null</code>.
1.60      avankest 1021:       </dl>
                   1022: 
1.127     avankest 1023:       <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has been omitted, or is
                   1024:        <code>null</code>, no entity body is used in the request.</p>
1.60      avankest 1025: 
                   1026:      <li>
1.72      avankest 1027:       <p>Make a request to <var>stored url</var>, using HTTP method
                   1028:        <var>stored method</var>, user <var>stored user</var> (if provided)
                   1029:        and password <var>stored password</var> (if provided), taking into
                   1030:        account the entity body, list of request headers and the rules listed
                   1031:        directly after this set of steps.
1.60      avankest 1032: 
                   1033:      <li>
1.97      avankest 1034:       <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1035:        href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
1.97      avankest 1036:        object.</p>
                   1037: 
                   1038:       <p class=note>The state of the object does not change. The event is
                   1039:        dispatched for historical reasons.</p>
1.68      avankest 1040: 
                   1041:      <li>
1.103     avankest 1042:       <p>If <var>async</var> is <code>true</code> return the <code><a
1.132     avankest 1043:        href="#send">send()</a></code> method call. (Do not terminate the
1.103     avankest 1044:        steps in the algorithm though.)
1.60      avankest 1045: 
                   1046:      <li>
1.124     avankest 1047:       <p>While downloading the resource the following rules are to be
                   1048:        observed.</p>
1.119     avankest 1049: 
1.120     avankest 1050:       <dl class=switch>
1.119     avankest 1051:        <dt>If the response is an HTTP redirect
                   1052: 
                   1053:        <dd>
1.146     avankest 1054:         <p>If the redirect does not violate security (it is <a
                   1055:          href="#same-origin">same-origin</a> for instance) or infinite loop
                   1056:          precautions and the scheme is supported transparently follow the
1.167     avankest 1057:          redirect and go to the start of this step (step 8).</p>
1.119     avankest 1058: 
                   1059:         <p class=note>HTTP places requirements on the user agent regarding
                   1060:          the preservation of the request method and entity body during
                   1061:          redirects, and also requires users to be notified of certain kinds
                   1062:          of automatic redirections.</p>
                   1063:         <!-- Arguably HTTP should be fixed for the latter case. No browser
                   1064:         follows that as far as I know. -->
                   1065:         
                   1066:         <p>Otherwise, follow the following set of steps:</p>
                   1067: 
                   1068:         <ol>
                   1069:          <li>
1.125     avankest 1070:           <p>Set the <a href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a>
                   1071:            to "null", the <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> to "true" and
                   1072:            reset the list of request headers.
1.119     avankest 1073: 
                   1074:          <li>
1.132     avankest 1075:           <p>Synchronously switch the state to <a href="#done-state"
                   1076:            title="DONE state">DONE</a>.
1.119     avankest 1077: 
                   1078:          <li>
                   1079:           <p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> raise a
                   1080:            <code><a href="#network-err">NETWORK_ERR</a></code> exception and
                   1081:            terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1082: 
                   1083:          <li>
                   1084:           <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1085:            href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
                   1086:            object.
1.119     avankest 1087: 
                   1088:          <li>
                   1089:           <p>Terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1090:         </ol>
                   1091: 
                   1092:         <p class=note>It is likely that a future version of the <code><a
                   1093:          href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> object will
                   1094:          dispatch an <code>error</code> event here as well.</p>
                   1095: 
                   1096:        <dt>If the user cancels the download
                   1097: 
                   1098:        <dd>
                   1099:         <p>Run the following set of steps:</p>
                   1100: 
                   1101:         <ol>
                   1102:          <li>
1.125     avankest 1103:           <p>Set the <a href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a>
                   1104:            to "null", the <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> to "true" and
                   1105:            reset the list of request headers.
1.119     avankest 1106: 
                   1107:          <li>
1.132     avankest 1108:           <p>Synchronously switch the state to <a href="#done-state"
                   1109:            title="DONE state">DONE</a>.
1.119     avankest 1110: 
                   1111:          <li>
1.122     avankest 1112:           <p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> raise an
                   1113:            <code><a href="#abort-err">ABORT_ERR</a></code> exception and
1.119     avankest 1114:            terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1115: 
                   1116:          <li>
                   1117:           <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1118:            href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
                   1119:            object.
1.119     avankest 1120: 
                   1121:          <li>
                   1122:           <p>Terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1123:         </ol>
                   1124: 
                   1125:         <p class=note>It is likely that a future version of the <code><a
                   1126:          href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> object will
1.122     avankest 1127:          dispatch an <code title="">abort</code> event here as well.</p>
1.119     avankest 1128: 
                   1129:        <dt>In case of network errors
1.118     avankest 1130: 
1.119     avankest 1131:        <dd>
1.127     avankest 1132:         <p>In case of DNS errors, or other type of network errors, run the
                   1133:          following set of steps. <span class=note>This does not include HTTP
                   1134:          responses that indicate some type of error, such as HTTP status code
1.119     avankest 1135:          410.</span></p>
                   1136: 
                   1137:         <ol>
                   1138:          <li>
1.125     avankest 1139:           <p>Set the <a href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a>
                   1140:            to "null", the <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> to "true" and
                   1141:            reset the list of request headers.
1.119     avankest 1142: 
                   1143:          <li>
1.132     avankest 1144:           <p>Synchronously switch the state to <a href="#done-state"
                   1145:            title="DONE state">DONE</a>.
1.119     avankest 1146: 
                   1147:          <li>
                   1148:           <p>If <var>async</var> is set to <code>false</code> raise a
                   1149:            <code><a href="#network-err">NETWORK_ERR</a></code> exception and
                   1150:            terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1151: 
                   1152:          <li>
                   1153:           <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1154:            href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
                   1155:            object.
1.119     avankest 1156: 
                   1157:          <li>
                   1158:           <p>Terminate the overall algorithm.
                   1159:         </ol>
                   1160: 
                   1161:         <p class=note>It is likely that a future version of the <code><a
                   1162:          href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> object will
                   1163:          dispatch an <code>error</code> event here as well.</p>
                   1164: 
                   1165:        <dt>Once all HTTP headers have been received
1.60      avankest 1166: 
1.119     avankest 1167:        <dd>
                   1168:         <p>If all HTTP headers have been received, before receiving the
1.124     avankest 1169:          message body (if any), run the following steps:</p>
1.60      avankest 1170: 
1.119     avankest 1171:         <ol>
                   1172:          <li>
1.132     avankest 1173:           <p>Synchronously switch the state to <a
                   1174:            href="#headers-received-state" title="HEADERS_RECEIVED
                   1175:            state">HEADERS_RECEIVED</a>.
1.119     avankest 1176: 
                   1177:          <li>
                   1178:           <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1179:            href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
                   1180:            object.
1.124     avankest 1181:         </ol>
                   1182: 
                   1183:        <dt>Once the first byte (or more) of the response entity body has been
                   1184:         received
                   1185: 
                   1186:        <dt>If there is no response entity body
1.119     avankest 1187: 
1.124     avankest 1188:        <dd>
                   1189:         <ol>
1.119     avankest 1190:          <li>
1.132     avankest 1191:           <p>Synchronously switch the state to <a href="#loading-state"
1.119     avankest 1192:            title="LOADING state">LOADING</a>.
                   1193: 
                   1194:          <li>
                   1195:           <p>Synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1196:            href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
                   1197:            object.
1.119     avankest 1198:         </ol>
                   1199:       </dl>
1.60      avankest 1200: 
1.125     avankest 1201:       <p>Finally, once the complete resource has been downloaded go to the
                   1202:        next step.</p>
1.60      avankest 1203: 
                   1204:      <li>
1.83      avankest 1205:       <p>When the request has successfully completed loading, synchronously
1.132     avankest 1206:        switch the state to <a href="#done-state" title="DONE state">DONE</a>
                   1207:        and then synchronously dispatch a <code><a
                   1208:        href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
1.97      avankest 1209:        object and return the method call in case of <var>async</var> being
                   1210:        <code>false</code>.
1.60      avankest 1211:     </ol>
1.19      avankest 1212: 
1.92      avankest 1213:     <p>If the user agent allows the user to configure a proxy it <em
1.25      avankest 1214:      class=ct>should</em> modify the request appropriately; <abbr title="in
1.2       avankest 1215:      other words">i.e.</abbr>, connect to the proxy host instead of the
                   1216:      origin server, modify the <code>Request-Line</code> and send
                   1217:      <code>Proxy-Authorization</code> headers as specified.</p>
                   1218: 
1.44      avankest 1219:     <p>If the user agent supports HTTP Authentication it <em
                   1220:      class=ct>should</em> consider requests originating from this object to
                   1221:      be part of the protection space that includes the accessed URIs and send
1.19      avankest 1222:      <code>Authorization</code> headers and handle <code>401
1.138     avankest 1223:      Unauthorized</code> requests appropriately. If authentication fails,
1.44      avankest 1224:      user agents <em class=ct>should</em> prompt the users for credentials.
                   1225:      [<cite><a href="#ref-rfc2617">RFC2617</a></cite>]</p>
1.19      avankest 1226: 
1.59      avankest 1227:     <p>If the user agent supports HTTP State Management it <em
1.44      avankest 1228:      class=ct>should</em> persist, discard and send cookies (as received in
                   1229:      the <code>Set-Cookie</code> and <code>Set-Cookie2</code> response
                   1230:      headers, and sent in the <code>Cookie</code> header) as applicable.
1.51      avankest 1231:      [<cite><a href="#ref-rfc2965">RFC2965</a></cite>]</p>
1.164     avankest 1232:     <!-- It has been said that RFC2965 does not match reality. -->
1.44      avankest 1233:     <p>If the user agent implements a HTTP cache it <em class=ct>should</em>
                   1234:      respect <code>Cache-Control</code> request headers set by the script
                   1235:      (<abbr title="for example">e.g.</abbr>, <code>Cache-Control:
                   1236:      no-cache</code> bypasses the cache). It <em class=ct>must not</em> send
1.25      avankest 1237:      <code>Cache-Control</code> or <code>Pragma</code> request headers
1.138     avankest 1238:      automatically unless the user explicitly requests such behavior
1.44      avankest 1239:      (<abbr>e.g.</abbr>, by (force-)reloading the page). <code>304 Not
                   1240:      Modified</code> responses that are a result of a user agent generated
                   1241:      conditional request <em class=ct>must</em> be presented as <code>200
1.59      avankest 1242:      OK</code> responses with the appropriate content. The user agent <em
1.44      avankest 1243:      class=ct>must</em> allow scripts to override automatic cache validation
                   1244:      by setting request headers (e.g., <code>If-None-Match</code>,
1.16      avankest 1245:      <code>If-Modified-Since</code>), in which case <code>304 Not
1.44      avankest 1246:      Modified</code> responses <em class=ct>must</em> be passed through.
1.146     avankest 1247:      [<cite><a href="#ref-rfc2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]</p>
1.2       avankest 1248: 
1.44      avankest 1249:     <p>If the user agent implements server-driven content-negotiation it <em
1.162     avankest 1250:      class=ct>should</em> set <code>Accept-Encoding</code> and
1.175   ! avankest 1251:      <code>Accept-Charset</code> headers as appropriate. Unless set through
        !          1252:      <code><a href="#setrequestheader">setRequestHeader()</a></code> user
        !          1253:      agents <em class=ct>should</em> set the <code>Accept</code> and
        !          1254:      <code>Accept-Language</code> headers as well. Responses to such requests
        !          1255:      <em class=ct>must</em> have the content-encodings automatically decoded.
1.146     avankest 1256:      [<cite><a href="#ref-rfc2616">RFC2616</a></cite>]</p>
1.18      avankest 1257: 
1.132     avankest 1258:    <dt><dfn id=abort><code>abort()</code></dfn>, method
1.6       avankest 1259: 
                   1260:    <dd>
1.62      avankest 1261:     <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> run the following
1.97      avankest 1262:      steps (unless otherwise noted):</p>
1.6       avankest 1263: 
1.62      avankest 1264:     <ol>
                   1265:      <li>
1.109     avankest 1266:       <p><a href="#abort-send-algorithm" title="abort send()">Abort the
                   1267:        <code>send()</code> algorithm</a>, set the <a
1.125     avankest 1268:        href="#response-entity-body">response entity body</a> to "null", the
1.136     avankest 1269:        <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> to "true" and remove any
                   1270:        registered request headers.
1.62      avankest 1271: 
                   1272:      <li>
1.109     avankest 1273:       <p>The user agent <em class=ct>should</em> cancel any network activity
                   1274:        for which the object is responsible.
1.62      avankest 1275: 
1.80      avankest 1276:      <li>
1.135     avankest 1277:       <p>If the state is <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT
                   1278:        state">UNSENT</a>, <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED
                   1279:        state">OPENED</a> and the <a href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code>
                   1280:        flag</a> is "false", or <a href="#done-state" title="DONE
                   1281:        state">DONE</a> go to the next step.</p>
1.84      avankest 1282: 
1.132     avankest 1283:       <p>Otherwise, switch the state to <a href="#done-state" title="DONE
1.136     avankest 1284:        state">DONE</a>, set the <a href="#send-flag"><code>send()</code>
                   1285:        flag</a> to "false" and synchronously dispatch a <code><a
1.132     avankest 1286:        href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event on the
1.84      avankest 1287:        object.</p>
1.68      avankest 1288: 
1.62      avankest 1289:      <li>
1.135     avankest 1290:       <p>Switch the state to <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT
1.98      avankest 1291:        state">UNSENT</a>. (Do not dispatch the <code><a
1.132     avankest 1292:        href="#readystatechange">readystatechange</a></code> event.)</p>
1.62      avankest 1293: 
1.83      avankest 1294:       <p class=note>It is likely that a future version of the <code><a
                   1295:        href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> object will
                   1296:        dispatch an <code title="">abort</code> event here as well.</p>
1.62      avankest 1297:     </ol>
1.26      avankest 1298: 
1.6       avankest 1299:    <dt><dfn
1.132     avankest 1300:     id=getallresponseheaders><code>getAllResponseHeaders()</code></dfn>,
1.13      avankest 1301:     method
1.2       avankest 1302: 
                   1303:    <dd>
1.62      avankest 1304:     <p>When invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> run the following
                   1305:      steps:</p>
1.60      avankest 1306: 
                   1307:     <ol>
1.77      avankest 1308:      <li>
1.135     avankest 1309:       <p>If the state is <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT
                   1310:        state">UNSENT</a> or <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED
                   1311:        state">OPENED</a> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception
                   1312:        and terminate these steps.
1.125     avankest 1313: 
                   1314:      <li>
1.171     avankest 1315:       <p>If the <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> is "true" return the
                   1316:        empty string and terminate these steps.
1.77      avankest 1317: 
                   1318:      <li>
1.97      avankest 1319:       <p>Return all the HTTP headers, as a single string, with each header
1.168     avankest 1320:        line separated by a U+000D (CR) U+000A (LF) pair excluding the status
1.97      avankest 1321:        line.
1.60      avankest 1322:     </ol>
1.6       avankest 1323: 
1.25      avankest 1324:     <div class=example>
1.60      avankest 1325:      <pre><code>// The following script:
1.6       avankest 1326: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.18      avankest 1327: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.6       avankest 1328: client.send();
1.16      avankest 1329: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.17      avankest 1330:  if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.16      avankest 1331:   print(this.getAllResponseHeaders());
                   1332:  }
                   1333: }
1.6       avankest 1334: 
                   1335: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
                   1336: Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2004 04:58:38 GMT
                   1337: Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix)
                   1338: Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
                   1339: Connection: Keep-Alive
                   1340: Transfer-Encoding: chunked
1.60      avankest 1341: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.6       avankest 1342:     </div>
                   1343: 
1.132     avankest 1344:    <dt><dfn id=getresponseheader
1.25      avankest 1345:     title=getresponseheader><code>getResponseHeader(<var>header</var>)</code></dfn>,
1.13      avankest 1346:     method
1.2       avankest 1347: 
1.6       avankest 1348:    <dd>
1.60      avankest 1349:     <p>When the method is invoked, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> run
                   1350:      the following steps:</p>
                   1351: 
                   1352:     <ol>
1.77      avankest 1353:      <li>
1.135     avankest 1354:       <p>If the state is <a href="#unsent-state" title="UNSENT
                   1355:        state">UNSENT</a> or <a href="#opened-state" title="OPENED
                   1356:        state">OPENED</a> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception
                   1357:        and terminate these steps.
1.125     avankest 1358: 
                   1359:      <li>
1.150     avankest 1360:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument does not match the <a
1.172     avankest 1361:        href="#field-name"><code>field-name</code> production</a> return
                   1362:        <code>null</code> and terminate these steps.
1.150     avankest 1363: 
                   1364:      <li>
1.125     avankest 1365:       <p>If the <a href="#error-flag">error flag</a> is "true" return
                   1366:        <code>null</code> and terminate these steps.
1.17      avankest 1367: 
1.77      avankest 1368:      <li>
1.81      avankest 1369:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument <a href="#case-insensitive-match"
                   1370:        title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</a> multiple
1.128     avankest 1371:        HTTP headers for the last request sent, return the values of these
1.97      avankest 1372:        headers as a single concatenated string separated from each other by
1.168     avankest 1373:        an U+002C followed by an U+0020 character and terminate these steps.
1.77      avankest 1374: 
                   1375:      <li>
1.81      avankest 1376:       <p>If the <var>header</var> argument <a href="#case-insensitive-match"
                   1377:        title="case-insensitive match">case-insensitively matches</a> a single
1.97      avankest 1378:        HTTP header for the last request sent return the value of that header
1.99      avankest 1379:        and terminate these steps.
1.77      avankest 1380: 
                   1381:      <li>
1.97      avankest 1382:       <p>Return <code>null</code>.
1.60      avankest 1383:     </ol>
1.17      avankest 1384: 
1.25      avankest 1385:     <div class=example>
1.60      avankest 1386:      <pre><code>// The following script:
1.1       avankest 1387: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.18      avankest 1388: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.6       avankest 1389: client.send();
1.16      avankest 1390: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.17      avankest 1391:  if(this.readyState == 3) {
1.18      avankest 1392:   print(client.getResponseHeader("Content-Type"));
1.16      avankest 1393:  }
                   1394: }
1.1       avankest 1395: 
1.6       avankest 1396: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.164     avankest 1397: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.2       avankest 1398:     </div>
                   1399: 
1.132     avankest 1400:    <dt><dfn id=responsetext><code>responseText</code></dfn> of type
1.9       avankest 1401:     <code>DOMString</code>, readonly
1.6       avankest 1402: 
                   1403:    <dd>
1.89      avankest 1404:     <p>On getting, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> run the following
                   1405:      steps:</p>
                   1406: 
                   1407:     <ol>
                   1408:      <li>
1.132     avankest 1409:       <p>If the state is not <a href="#loading-state" title="LOADING
                   1410:        state">LOADING</a> or <a href="#done-state" title="DONE
1.170     avankest 1411:        state">DONE</a> return the empty string and terminate these steps.
1.6       avankest 1412: 
1.89      avankest 1413:      <li>
                   1414:       <p>Return the <a href="#text-response-entity-body">text response entity
                   1415:        body</a>.
                   1416:     </ol>
1.12      avankest 1417: 
1.132     avankest 1418:    <dt><dfn id=responsexml><code>responseXML</code></dfn> of type
1.9       avankest 1419:     <code>Document</code>, readonly
1.6       avankest 1420: 
                   1421:    <dd>
1.76      avankest 1422:     <p>On getting, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> run the following
                   1423:      steps:</p>
                   1424: 
                   1425:     <ol>
                   1426:      <li>
1.132     avankest 1427:       <p>If the state is not <a href="#done-state" title="DONE
1.170     avankest 1428:        state">DONE</a> return <code>null</code> and terminate these steps.
1.76      avankest 1429: 
                   1430:      <li>
1.89      avankest 1431:       <p>Return the <a href="#xml-response-entity-body">XML response entity
                   1432:        body</a>.
1.76      avankest 1433:     </ol>
1.12      avankest 1434: 
1.132     avankest 1435:    <dt><dfn id=status><code>status</code></dfn> of type <code>unsigned
1.9       avankest 1436:     short</code>, readonly
1.6       avankest 1437: 
                   1438:    <dd>
1.73      avankest 1439:     <p>On getting, if available, it <em class=ct>must</em> return the HTTP
                   1440:      status code sent by the server (typically <code>200</code> for a
                   1441:      successful request). Otherwise, if not available, the user agent <em
                   1442:      class=ct>must</em> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
1.12      avankest 1443: 
1.132     avankest 1444:    <dt><dfn id=statustext><code>statusText</code></dfn> of type
1.9       avankest 1445:     <code>DOMString</code>, readonly
1.2       avankest 1446: 
1.6       avankest 1447:    <dd>
1.73      avankest 1448:     <p>On getting, if available, it <em class=ct>must</em> return the HTTP
                   1449:      status text sent by the server (appears after the status code).
                   1450:      Otherwise, if not available, the user agent <em class=ct>must</em> raise
                   1451:      an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
1.2       avankest 1452:   </dl>
                   1453: 
1.168     avankest 1454:   <h3 id=events><span class=secno>4.1 </span>Events for the <code
1.33      avankest 1455:    title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h3>
1.2       avankest 1456: 
1.135     avankest 1457:   <p>This section describes the various events that can be dispatched on
                   1458:    objects implementing the <code><a
1.60      avankest 1459:    href="#xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</a></code> interface. For
                   1460:    this version of the specification only one event is defined.
1.2       avankest 1461: 
1.1       avankest 1462:   <dl>
1.132     avankest 1463:    <dt><dfn id=readystatechange><code>readystatechange</code></dfn>
1.2       avankest 1464: 
1.73      avankest 1465:    <dd>When the user agent dispatches a <code
                   1466:     title="">readystatechange</code> event (as indicated above) it <em
                   1467:     class=ct>must not</em> bubble, <em class=ct>must not</em> be cancelable
                   1468:     and <em class=ct>must</em> implement the <code>Event</code> interface.
                   1469:     Its <code>namespaceURI</code> attribute <em class=ct>must</em> be
1.146     avankest 1470:     <code>null</code>. [<cite><a
1.156     avankest 1471:     href="#ref-dom2events">DOM2Events</a></cite>]
1.1       avankest 1472:   </dl>
1.2       avankest 1473: 
1.168     avankest 1474:   <h3 id=exceptions><span class=secno>4.2 </span>Exceptions for the <code
1.33      avankest 1475:    title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> Object</h3>
                   1476: 
1.139     avankest 1477:   <p>Several algorithms in this specification may result in an exception
                   1478:    being thrown. These exceptions are all part of the group
                   1479:    <code>ExceptionCode</code> and use the <code>DOMException</code> object
                   1480:    which is defined in DOM Level 3 Core. In addition this specification
                   1481:    extends the <code>ExceptionCode</code> group with several new constants as
1.146     avankest 1482:    indicated below. [<cite><a href="#ref-dom3core">DOM3Core</a></cite>]
1.139     avankest 1483: 
1.34      avankest 1484:   <pre
1.139     avankest 1485:    class=idl>const unsigned short <a href="#security-err">SECURITY_ERR</a> = 18;
1.122     avankest 1486: const unsigned short <a href="#network-err">NETWORK_ERR</a> = 101;
                   1487: const unsigned short <a href="#abort-err">ABORT_ERR</a> = 102;</pre>
1.33      avankest 1488: 
1.139     avankest 1489:   <p>The <dfn id=security-err><code>SECURITY_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
                   1490:    raised if an attempt is made to perform an operation or access some data
                   1491:    in a way that would be a security risk or a violation of the user agent's
                   1492:    security policy.</p>
                   1493:   <!-- http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapi/2006May/0027.html -->
                   1494: 
                   1495:   <p class=note>The <code title="">SECURITY_ERR</code> exception is expected
                   1496:    to be eventually folded into an update of the the DOM Level 3 Core
                   1497:    specification with an equivalent definition and identical constant value.
                   1498:    Until that happens it is defined here to guide implementors. (This is also
1.154     avankest 1499:    the reason the constant value is not in line with the other exceptions.)
1.139     avankest 1500: 
1.35      avankest 1501:   <p>The <dfn id=network-err><code>NETWORK_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1.139     avankest 1502:    raised when a network error occurs in synchronous requests.
1.122     avankest 1503: 
1.139     avankest 1504:   <p>The <dfn id=abort-err><code>ABORT_ERR</code></dfn> exception is raised
1.122     avankest 1505:    when the user aborts a request in synchronous requests.
                   1506: 
1.31      avankest 1507:   <h2 class=no-num id=notcovered>Not in this Specification</h2>
                   1508: 
1.144     avankest 1509:   <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em>
1.31      avankest 1510: 
1.73      avankest 1511:   <p>This specification does not include the following features which are
                   1512:    being considered for a future version of this specification:
1.31      avankest 1513: 
                   1514:   <ul>
                   1515:    <li><code>load</code> event and <code>onload</code> attribute;
                   1516: 
                   1517:    <li><code>error</code> event and <code>onerror</code> attribute;
                   1518: 
                   1519:    <li><code>progress</code> event and <code>onprogress</code> attribute;
                   1520: 
                   1521:    <li><code title="">abort</code> event and <code>onabort</code> attribute;
                   1522: 
                   1523:    <li>Timers have been suggested, perhaps an <code>ontimeout</code>
                   1524:     attribute;
                   1525: 
                   1526:    <li>Property to disable following redirects;
                   1527: 
1.32      avankest 1528:    <li><code title="">responseXML</code> for <code>text/html</code>
                   1529:     documents;
1.31      avankest 1530: 
1.42      avankest 1531:    <li>Cross-site <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>;
                   1532: 
1.88      avankest 1533:    <li><code>responseBody</code> to deal with byte streams;
1.42      avankest 1534: 
1.115     avankest 1535:    <li><code>overrideMimeType</code> to fix up MIME types;
                   1536: 
1.88      avankest 1537:    <li><code>getRequestHeader()</code> and
                   1538:     <code>removeRequestHeader()</code>.
1.31      avankest 1539:   </ul>
                   1540: 
1.25      avankest 1541:   <h2 class=no-num id=bibref>References</h2>
1.2       avankest 1542: 
1.7       avankest 1543:   <dl>
1.156     avankest 1544:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-dom2events>DOM2Events</dfn>]
                   1545: 
                   1546:    <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Events/">Document
1.161     avankest 1547:     Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Events Specification</a></cite>, T. Pixley,
                   1548:     editor. W3C, November 2000.
1.156     avankest 1549: 
1.146     avankest 1550:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-dom3core>DOM3Core</dfn>]
1.2       avankest 1551: 
1.15      avankest 1552:    <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core">Document Object
                   1553:     Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a></cite>, A. Le Hors, P. Le
1.140     avankest 1554:     H&eacute;garet, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne,
                   1555:     editors. W3C, April 2004.
1.2       avankest 1556: 
1.39      avankest 1557:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-ecmascript>ECMAScript</dfn>]
1.18      avankest 1558: 
                   1559:    <dd><cite><a
                   1560:     href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm">ECMAScript
                   1561:     Language Specification</a></cite>, Third Edition. ECMA, December 1999.
                   1562: 
1.146     avankest 1563:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-html5>HTML5</dfn>]
1.143     avankest 1564: 
                   1565:    <dd><cite><a
1.172     avankest 1566:     href="http://www.w3.org/html/wg/html5/">HTML&nbsp;5</a></cite> (work in
                   1567:     progress), I. Hickson, D. Hyatt, editors. W3C, 2008.
                   1568: 
                   1569:    <dd><cite><a
1.143     avankest 1570:     href="http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/">HTML&nbsp;5</a></cite>
1.172     avankest 1571:     (work in progress), I. Hickson, editor. WHATWG, 2008.
1.18      avankest 1572: 
1.146     avankest 1573:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-rfc2119>RFC2119</dfn>]
1.15      avankest 1574: 
1.118     avankest 1575:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119">Key words for use in RFCs
                   1576:     to Indicate Requirement Levels</a></cite>, S. Bradner. IETF, March 1997.
1.15      avankest 1577: 
1.146     avankest 1578:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-rfc2616>RFC2616</dfn>]
1.15      avankest 1579: 
                   1580:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer
                   1581:     Protocol -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H.
1.93      avankest 1582:     Frystyk, L. Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF, June 1999.
1.15      avankest 1583: 
1.39      avankest 1584:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-rfc2617>RFC2617</dfn>]
1.15      avankest 1585: 
                   1586:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617">HTTP Authentication: Basic
1.93      avankest 1587:     and Digest Access Authentication</a></cite>, P. Hallam-Baker, J.
                   1588:     Hostetler, S. Lawrence, P. Leach, A. Luotonen, L. Stewart, editors. IETF,
                   1589:     June 1999.
1.2       avankest 1590: 
1.39      avankest 1591:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-rfc2965>RFC2965</dfn>]
1.2       avankest 1592: 
1.22      avankest 1593:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965">HTTP State Management
                   1594:     Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, October
                   1595:     2000.
                   1596: 
1.39      avankest 1597:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-rfc3986>RFC3986</dfn>]
1.2       avankest 1598: 
1.15      avankest 1599:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986">Uniform Resource
                   1600:     Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax</a></cite>, T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding,
                   1601:     L. Masinter, editors. IETF, January 2005.
1.30      avankest 1602: 
1.142     avankest 1603:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-rfc3987>RFC3987</dfn>]
                   1604: 
                   1605:    <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3987">Internationalized Resource
                   1606:     Identifiers (IRIs)</a></cite>, M. Duerst, M. Suignard, editors. IETF,
                   1607:     January 2005.
                   1608: 
1.43      avankest 1609:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-xml>XML</dfn>]
                   1610: 
                   1611:    <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/">Extensible Markup Language
                   1612:     (XML) 1.0 (Fourth Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, J. Paoli, C.
1.118     avankest 1613:     Sperberg-McQueen, E. Maler, F. Yergeau, editors. W3C, September 2006.
1.43      avankest 1614: 
                   1615:    <dt>[<dfn id=ref-xmlns>XMLNS</dfn>]
                   1616: 
                   1617:    <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/">Namespaces in XML
1.118     avankest 1618:     (Second Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, D. Hollander, A. Layman, R. Tobin,
                   1619:     editors. W3C, August 2006.
1.2       avankest 1620:   </dl>
                   1621: 
1.131     avankest 1622:   <h2 class=no-num id=acknowledgments>Acknowledgments</h2>
1.2       avankest 1623: 
1.164     avankest 1624:   <p>The editor would like to thank Addison Phillips, Ahmed Kamel, Alex
                   1625:    Hopmann, Alex Vincent, Alexey Proskuryakov, Asbj&oslash;rn Ulsberg, Boris
                   1626:    Zbarsky, Bj&ouml;rn H&ouml;hrmann, Cameron McCormack, Christophe Jolif,
                   1627:    Charles McCathieNevile, Dan Winship, David H&aring;s&auml;ther, Dean
                   1628:    Jackson, Denis Sureau, Doug Schepers, Douglas Livingstone, Elliotte
                   1629:    Harold, Eric Lawrence, Geoffrey Sneddon, Gideon Cohn, Gorm Haug Eriksen,
                   1630:    Hallvord R. M. Steen, H&aring;kon Wium Lie, Ian Davis, Ian Hickson, Ivan
                   1631:    Herman, Jeff Walden, Jens Lindstr&ouml;m, Jim Deegan, Jim Ley, Joe Farro,
                   1632:    Jonas Sicking, Julian Reschke, Karl Dubost, Maciej Stachowiak, Magnus
                   1633:    Kristiansen, Marc Hadley, Marcos Caceres, Mark Baker, Mark Nottingham,
                   1634:    Mohamed Zergaoui, Pawel Glowacki, Robin Berjon, Ruud Steltenpool, Simon
                   1635:    Pieters, Stewart Brodie, Sunava Dutta, Tom Magliery and Zhenbin Xu for
                   1636:    their contributions to this specification.
1.2       avankest 1637: 
                   1638:   <p>Special thanks to the Microsoft employees who first implemented the
1.144     avankest 1639:    <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> interface, which was first widely
                   1640:    deployed by the Windows Internet Explorer browser.
1.2       avankest 1641: 
1.56      avankest 1642:   <p>Special thanks also to the WHATWG for drafting an initial version of
1.131     avankest 1643:    this specification in their Web Applications 1.0 document (now renamed to
1.146     avankest 1644:    HTML&nbsp;5). [<cite><a href="#ref-html5">HTML5</a></cite>]
1.2       avankest 1645: 
                   1646:   <p>Thanks also to all those who have helped to improve this specification
                   1647:    by sending suggestions and corrections. (Please, keep bugging us with your
                   1648:    issues!)

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