Annotation of 2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/Overview.src.html, revision 1.208
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1.207 avankest 4: <title>XMLHttpRequest</title>
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1.1 avankest 28: </head>
29: <body>
30: <div class="head">
31: <p><a href="http://www.w3.org/"><img height="48" width="72" alt="W3C" src="http://www.w3.org/Icons/w3c_home"></a></p>
1.12 avankest 32:
1.207 avankest 33: <h1 class="head" id="the-xmlhttprequest-object"><code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code></h1>
1.12 avankest 34:
1.149 avankest 35: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="w3c-doctype">[LONGSTATUS] [DATE: 3 August 2002]</h2>
1.12 avankest 36:
1.1 avankest 37: <dl>
1.10 avankest 38: <dt>This Version:</dt>
1.173 avankest 39: <dd><a href="[VERSION]/">http://www.w3.org/TR/[YEAR]/ED-XMLHttpRequest-[CDATE]/</a></dd>
1.14 avankest 40:
1.10 avankest 41: <dt>Latest Version:</dt>
1.1 avankest 42: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest/">http://www.w3.org/TR/XMLHttpRequest/</a></dd>
1.203 avankest 43:
1.189 avankest 44: <dt>Latest Editor Version:</dt>
45: <dd><a href="http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/">http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/</a></dd>
1.14 avankest 46:
1.10 avankest 47: <dt>Previous Versions:</dt>
1.173 avankest 48: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20080415/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2008/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20080415/</a></dd>
1.154 avankest 49: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20071026/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20071026/</a></dd>
1.133 avankest 50: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070618/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070618/</a></dd>
1.58 avankest 51: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070227/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2007/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20070227/</a></dd>
1.22 avankest 52: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060927/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060927/</a></dd>
1.1 avankest 53: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060619/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060619/</a></dd>
54: <dd><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/">http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-XMLHttpRequest-20060405/</a></dd>
1.14 avankest 55:
1.1 avankest 56: <dt>Editor:</dt>
57: <dd><a href="http://annevankesteren.nl/">Anne van Kesteren</a>
58: (<a href="http://www.opera.com/">Opera Software ASA</a>)
59: <<a href="mailto:annevk@opera.com">annevk@opera.com</a>></dd>
60: </dl>
1.14 avankest 61:
1.1 avankest 62: <p class="copyright"><a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Copyright">Copyright</a>
1.51 avankest 63: © 2007
64: <a href="http://www.w3.org/"><acronym title="World Wide Web Consortium">W3C</acronym></a><sup>®</sup>
65: (<a href="http://www.csail.mit.edu/"><acronym title="Massachusetts Institute of Technology">MIT</acronym></a>,
66: <a href="http://www.ercim.org/"><acronym title="European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics">ERCIM</acronym></a>,
67: <a href="http://www.keio.ac.jp/">Keio</a>), All Rights Reserved. W3C
68: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#Legal_Disclaimer">liability</a>,
69: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/ipr-notice#W3C_Trademarks">trademark</a>
70: and
71: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Legal/copyright-documents">document
72: use</a> rules apply.</p>
1.1 avankest 73: </div>
1.12 avankest 74:
1.1 avankest 75: <hr>
1.12 avankest 76:
1.207 avankest 77:
78:
1.1 avankest 79: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="specabstract">Abstract</h2>
1.10 avankest 80:
1.207 avankest 81: <p>The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> specification defines an API
82: that provides scripted client functionality for transferring data between
83: a client and a server.</p>
84:
85:
1.12 avankest 86:
1.1 avankest 87: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="sotd">Status of this Document</h2>
1.12 avankest 88:
1.1 avankest 89: <p><em>This section describes the status of this document at the time of its
1.36 avankest 90: publication. Other documents may supersede this document. A list of current
91: W3C publications and the latest revision of this technical report can be
92: found in the <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/">W3C technical reports index</a>
1.117 avankest 93: at http://www.w3.org/TR/.</em></p>
1.36 avankest 94:
1.207 avankest 95: <p>This is the [DATE: 3 August 2002] [LONGSTATUS] of the
96: <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> specification. Please send comments
97: to <a href="mailto:public-webapps@w3.org">public-webapps@w3.org</a>
98: (<a href="http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapps/">archived</a>)
1.172 avankest 99: with either <samp>[XHR]</samp> or <samp title="">[XMLHttpRequest]</samp>
1.207 avankest 100: at the start of the subject line<!-- before befor 2 June 2008-->.</p>
1.51 avankest 101:
1.47 avankest 102: <p>This document is produced by the
1.207 avankest 103: <a href="http://www.w3.org/2008/webapps/">Web Applications</a> (WebApps)
104: Working Group, part of the
105: <a href="http://www.w3.org/2006/rwc/Activity">Rich Web Clients Activity</a>
106: in the W3C <a href="http://www.w3.org/Interaction/">Interaction Domain</a>.
107: Changes made to this document can be found in the
1.47 avankest 108: <a href="http://dev.w3.org/cvsweb/2006/webapi/XMLHttpRequest/Overview.html">W3C
1.117 avankest 109: public CVS server</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 110:
1.1 avankest 111: <p>Publication as a Working Draft does not imply endorsement by the W3C
1.36 avankest 112: Membership. This is a draft document and may be updated, replaced or
113: obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to cite this
114: document as other than work in progress.</p>
1.12 avankest 115:
1.1 avankest 116: <p>This document was produced by a group operating under the
1.36 avankest 117: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/">5 February
1.52 avankest 118: 2004 W3C Patent Policy</a>. W3C maintains a
1.207 avankest 119: <a rel="disclosure" href="http://www.w3.org/2004/01/pp-impl/42538/status">public
1.36 avankest 120: list of any patent disclosures</a> made in connection with the deliverables
121: of the group; that page also includes instructions for disclosing a patent.
122: An individual who has actual knowledge of a patent which the individual
123: believes contains
124: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#def-essential">Essential
125: Claim(s)</a> must disclose the information in accordance with
126: <a href="http://www.w3.org/Consortium/Patent-Policy-20040205/#sec-Disclosure">section
127: 6 of the W3C Patent Policy</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 128:
1.207 avankest 129:
130:
1.1 avankest 131: <h2 class="no-num no-toc" id="toc">Table of Contents</h2>
1.21 avankest 132:
1.1 avankest 133: <!--toc-->
1.12 avankest 134:
1.207 avankest 135:
136:
1.1 avankest 137: <h2 id="introduction">Introduction</h2>
1.12 avankest 138:
1.1 avankest 139: <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em></p>
1.12 avankest 140:
1.183 avankest 141: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object implements an interface exposed
142: by a scripting engine that allows scripts to perform HTTP client
143: functionality, such as submitting form data or loading data from a
144: server. It is the ECMAScript HTTP API.</p>
1.24 avankest 145:
1.1 avankest 146: <p>The name of the object is <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> for compatibility
1.183 avankest 147: with the Web, though each component of this name is potentially
148: misleading. First, the object supports any text based format, including
149: XML. Second, it can be used to make requests over both HTTP and HTTPS
150: (some implementations support protocols in addition to HTTP and HTTPS, but
151: that functionality is not covered by this specification). Finally, it
152: supports "requests" in a broad sense of the term as it pertains to HTTP;
153: namely all activity involved with HTTP requests or responses for the
154: defined HTTP methods.</p>
1.12 avankest 155:
1.14 avankest 156: <div class="example">
157: <p>Some simple code to do something with data from an XML document fetched
1.22 avankest 158: over the network:</p>
1.16 avankest 159:
1.58 avankest 160: <pre><code>function test(data) {
1.14 avankest 161: // taking care of data
162: }
163:
164: function handler() {
1.117 avankest 165: if(this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200) {
1.14 avankest 166: // so far so good
1.117 avankest 167: if(this.responseXML != null && this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data)
168: // success!
1.14 avankest 169: test(this.responseXML.getElementById('test').firstChild.data);
170: else
171: test(null);
1.117 avankest 172: } else if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status != 200) {
1.14 avankest 173: // fetched the wrong page or network error...
174: test(null);
175: }
176: }
1.12 avankest 177:
1.14 avankest 178: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
179: client.onreadystatechange = handler;
180: client.open("GET", "test.xml");
1.58 avankest 181: client.send();</code></pre>
1.16 avankest 182:
1.56 avankest 183: <p>If you just want to log a message to the server:</p>
1.16 avankest 184:
1.58 avankest 185: <pre><code>function log(message) {
1.14 avankest 186: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.56 avankest 187: client.open("POST", "/log");
1.57 avankest 188: client.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "text/plain;charset=UTF-8");
1.14 avankest 189: client.send(message);
1.58 avankest 190: }</code></pre>
1.16 avankest 191:
1.14 avankest 192: <p>Or if you want to check the status of a document on the server:</p>
1.16 avankest 193:
1.58 avankest 194: <pre><code>function fetchStatus(address) {
1.14 avankest 195: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
196: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
197: // in case of network errors this might not give reliable results
198: if(this.readyState == 4)
199: returnStatus(this.status);
200: }
201: client.open("HEAD", address);
202: client.send();
1.58 avankest 203: }</code></pre>
1.14 avankest 204: </div>
1.12 avankest 205:
1.203 avankest 206:
207:
1.153 avankest 208: <h2 id="conformance">Conformance</h2>
1.12 avankest 209:
1.27 avankest 210: <p>Everything in this specification is normative except for diagrams,
211: examples, notes and sections marked non-normative.</p>
1.12 avankest 212:
1.1 avankest 213: <p>The key words <em class="ct">must</em>, <em class="ct">must not</em>,
1.74 avankest 214: <em class="ct">should</em> and <em class="ct">may</em> in this document are
215: to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.
216: [<cite><span>RFC2119</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 217:
1.1 avankest 218: <p>This specification defines the following classes of products:</p>
1.12 avankest 219:
1.1 avankest 220: <dl>
1.74 avankest 221: <dt><dfn id="conforming-user-agent">Conforming user agent</dfn></dt>
1.24 avankest 222:
1.74 avankest 223: <dd>
224: <p>A user agent <em class="ct">must</em> behave as described in this
1.106 avankest 225: specification in order to be considered conformant.</p>
1.95 avankest 226:
1.140 avankest 227: <p>If the user agent is not a conforming XML user agent the <span>XML
228: response entity body</span> <em class="ct">must</em> (always) be
229: <code>null</code>.</p>
230:
231: <p>User agents <em class="ct">may</em> implement algorithms given in
232: this specification in any way desired, so long as the end result is
233: indistinguishable from the result that would be obtained by the
234: specification's algorithms.</p>
1.110 avankest 235:
1.95 avankest 236: <p class="note">This specification uses both the terms "conforming user
237: agent(s)" and "user agent(s)" to refer to this product class.</p>
1.74 avankest 238: </dd>
1.110 avankest 239:
1.94 avankest 240: <dt><dfn id="conforming-xml-user-agent">Conforming XML user agent</dfn></dt>
1.110 avankest 241:
1.163 avankest 242: <dd><p>An XML user agent <em class="ct">must</em> be a <span>conforming
243: user agent</span> and <em class="ct">must</em> be a conforming XML
244: processor that reports violations of namespace well-formedness.
1.203 avankest 245: [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>]</p></dd>
1.1 avankest 246: </dl>
1.32 avankest 247:
1.203 avankest 248:
1.153 avankest 249: <h3 id="dependencies">Dependencies</h3>
1.33 avankest 250:
1.29 avankest 251: <p>This specification relies on several underlying specifications.</p>
252: <dl>
253: <dt>DOM</dt>
1.33 avankest 254:
1.155 avankest 255: <dd><p>A <span title="conforming user agent">conforming user agent</span>
1.176 avankest 256: <em class="ct">must</em> support at least the subset of the functionality
1.182 avankest 257: defined in DOM Events and DOM Core that this specification relies upon,
258: such as various exceptions and <code>EventTarget</code>.
1.155 avankest 259: [<cite><span>DOM2Events</span></cite>]
260: [<cite><span>DOM3Core</span></cite>]</p></dd>
1.29 avankest 261:
1.161 avankest 262: <dt>HTML 5</dt>
263:
264: <dd>
1.189 avankest 265: <p>A <span>conforming user agent</span> <em class="ct">must</em> support
266: at least the subset of the functionality defined in HTML 5 that
1.197 avankest 267: this specification relies upon, such as the basics of the
268: <code>Window</code> object and serializing a <code>Document</code>
269: object. [<cite><span>HTML5</span></cite>]</p>
1.161 avankest 270:
271: <p class="note">The
272: <a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/2006/WD-Window-20060407/">Window Object
273: 1.0</a> draft is not referenced normatively as it appears to be no
274: longer maintained and HTML 5 defines the <code>Window</code> object
275: in more detail. This specification already depends on HTML 5 for
276: other reasons so there is not much additional overhead because of
277: this.</p>
278:
1.29 avankest 279: <dt>HTTP</dt>
1.33 avankest 280:
1.29 avankest 281: <dd>
1.155 avankest 282: <p>A <span>conforming user agent</span>
1.126 avankest 283: <em class="ct">must</em> support some version of the HTTP protocol. It
284: <em class="ct">should</em> support any HTTP method that matches the
1.203 avankest 285: <span>Method token</span> and <em class="ct">must</em>
1.149 avankest 286: at least support the following methods:</p>
1.58 avankest 287:
288: <ul>
289: <li><code>GET</code></li>
290: <li><code>POST</code></li>
291: <li><code>HEAD</code></li>
292: <li><code>PUT</code></li>
293: <li><code>DELETE</code></li>
294: <li><code>OPTIONS</code></li>
295: </ul>
1.135 avankest 296:
1.58 avankest 297: <p>Other requirements regarding HTTP are made throughout the
1.39 avankest 298: specification. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1.29 avankest 299: </dd>
1.189 avankest 300:
1.181 avankest 301: <dt>Web IDL</dt>
1.203 avankest 302:
1.181 avankest 303: <dd>A <span>conforming user agent</span> <em class="ct">must</em> also be
304: a conforming implementation of the IDL fragment in this specification, as
305: described in the Web IDL specification.
306: [<cite><span>WebIDL</span></cite>]
1.29 avankest 307: </dl>
1.12 avankest 308:
1.157 avankest 309:
1.153 avankest 310: <h3 id="terminology">Terminology</h3>
1.203 avankest 311:
312: <!-- XXX define simple terms here instead of referencing them -->
1.12 avankest 313:
1.200 avankest 314: <p>The terms and algorithms
315: <dfn id="url-fragment"><fragment></dfn>,
316: <dfn id="url-scheme"><scheme></dfn>,
317: <dfn id="ascii-case-insensitive">ASCII case-insensitive</dfn>,
318: <dfn id="uppercase" title="uppercase">converting a string to uppercase</dfn>,
1.203 avankest 319: <dfn id="document-base-url">document base URL</dfn>,
1.205 avankest 320: <dfn id="event-handler-attributes-0">event handler attributes</dfn>,
1.203 avankest 321: <dfn id="event-handler-event-type">event handler event type</dfn>,
322: <dfn id="fully-active">fully active</dfn>,
1.206 avankest 323: <dfn id="function"><code>Function</code></dfn>,
1.200 avankest 324: <dfn id="origin">origin</dfn>,
1.203 avankest 325: <dfn id="resolve-a-url">resolve a URL</dfn>,
326: <dfn id="same-origin">same origin</dfn>,
327: <dfn id="storage-mutex">storage mutex</dfn>,
328: <dfn id="task">task</dfn>,
329: <dfn id="task-source">task source</dfn>,
330: <dfn id="url">URL</dfn>,
1.208 ! avankest 331: <dfn id="url-character-encoding">URL character encoding</dfn>,
! 332: <dfn id="queue-a-task">queue a task</dfn>, and
! 333: <dfn id="xml-fragment-serialization-algorithm">XML fragment serialization algorithm</dfn>
1.200 avankest 334: are defined by the HTML 5 specification.
1.157 avankest 335: [<cite><span>HTML5</span></cite>]</p>
1.203 avankest 336:
337: <!-- Things might be splitted out of HTML5 -->
338:
339: <p>The term <dfn id="entity-body">entity body</dfn> is used as described
340: in RFC 2616. <dfn id="method-token">Method token</dfn> is used as
341: described in section 5.1.1 of RFC 2616. <dfn><code>field-name</code></dfn>
342: and <dfn><code>field-value</code></dfn> are used as described in section
343: 4.2 of RFC 2616. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
344:
345: <p><dfn><code>userinfo</code></dfn> is used as described in section 3.2.1
346: of RFC 3986. [<cite><span>RFC3986</span></cite>]</p>
347:
348: <p>To <dfn id="dispatch-readystatechange-event">dispatch a
349: <code>readystatechange</code> event</dfn> means that an event with the
350: name <code>readystatechange</code>, with no namespace, which does not
351: bubble and is not cancelable, and which uses the <code>Event</code>
352: interface, <em class="ct">must</em> be dispatched at the
353: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object.</p>
1.155 avankest 354:
1.80 avankest 355:
1.153 avankest 356: <h3 id="extensibility">Extensibility</h3>
1.12 avankest 357:
1.81 avankest 358: <p>Extensions of the API defined by this specification are <em>strongly
1.22 avankest 359: discouraged</em>. User agents, Working Groups and other interested parties
1.33 avankest 360: should discuss extensions on a relevant public forum, preferably
1.22 avankest 361: <a href="mailto:public-webapi@w3.org">public-webapi@w3.org</a>.</p>
1.12 avankest 362:
1.153 avankest 363:
1.157 avankest 364:
1.153 avankest 365: <h2 id="security">Security Considerations</h2>
1.203 avankest 366:
367: <p>Security related requirements are made throughout this
368: specification.</p>
1.153 avankest 369:
370:
1.157 avankest 371:
1.153 avankest 372: <h2 id="xmlhttprequest">The <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>
373: Object</h2>
1.12 avankest 374:
1.58 avankest 375: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be used by scripts to
1.22 avankest 376: programmatically connect to their originating server via HTTP.</p>
1.12 avankest 377:
1.203 avankest 378: <pre class="idl">[<span title="XMLHttpRequest constructor">Constructor</span>,
379: Implements=EventTarget]
380: interface <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-object">XMLHttpRequest</dfn> {
1.206 avankest 381: // <a href="#event-handler-attributes">event handler attributes</a>
382: attribute <span>Function</span> <span>onreadystatechange</span>;
1.58 avankest 383:
1.205 avankest 384: // <a href="#states">states</a>
1.71 avankest 385: const unsigned short <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span> = 0;
1.134 avankest 386: const unsigned short <span title="OPENED state">OPENED</span> = 1;
1.123 avankest 387: const unsigned short <span title="HEADERS_RECEIVED state">HEADERS_RECEIVED</span> = 2;
1.86 avankest 388: const unsigned short <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> = 3;
1.117 avankest 389: const unsigned short <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> = 4;
1.70 avankest 390: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>readyState</span>;
1.58 avankest 391:
1.205 avankest 392: // <a href="#request">request</a>
1.203 avankest 393: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var title="">url</var>);
394: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var title="">url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>);
395: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var title="">url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>, [Null=Null, Undefined=Null] in DOMString <var>user</var>);
396: void <span>open</span>(in DOMString <var>method</var>, in DOMString <var title="">url</var>, in boolean <var>async</var>, [Null=Null, Undefined=Null] in DOMString <var>user</var>, [Null=Null, Undefined=Null] in DOMString <var>password</var>);
1.70 avankest 397: void <span>setRequestHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>, in DOMString <var>value</var>);
398: void <span>send</span>();
1.181 avankest 399: void <span>send</span>([Null=Null, Undefined=Null] in DOMString <var>data</var>);
1.70 avankest 400: void <span>send</span>(in Document <var>data</var>);
401: void <span>abort</span>();
1.58 avankest 402:
1.205 avankest 403: // <a href="#response">response</a>
1.203 avankest 404: readonly attribute unsigned short <span>status</span>;
405: readonly attribute DOMString <span>statusText</span>;
406: DOMString <span>getResponseHeader</span>(in DOMString <var>header</var>);
1.70 avankest 407: DOMString <span>getAllResponseHeaders</span>();
408: readonly attribute DOMString <span>responseText</span>;
409: readonly attribute Document <span>responseXML</span>;
1.1 avankest 410: };</pre>
1.8 avankest 411:
1.124 avankest 412:
1.203 avankest 413: <h3>Origin and Base URL</h3>
414:
415: <p>Each <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object has an associated
416: <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-origin"><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> origin</dfn>
417: and an
418: <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-base-url"><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> base URL</dfn>.
419:
420: <p>This specification defines their values when the global object is
421: represented by the <code>Window</code> object. When the
422: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object used in other contexts their values
423: will have to be defined as appropriate for that context. That is
424: considered to be out of scope for this specification.</p>
425:
426: <hr>
427:
428: <p>In environments where the global object is represented by the
429: <code>Window</code> object the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object has an
430: associated
431: <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-document"><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> <code>Document</code></dfn>
432: which is the <code>Document</code> object associated with the
433: <code>Window</code> object for which the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code>
434: interface object was created.</p>
435:
436: <p class="note">The
437: <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> <code>Document</code></span> is used to
438: determine the <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> origin</span> and
439: <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> base URL</span> at a later stage.</p>
440:
441: <!-- XXX what happens if the document is not fully active?
442: e.g. should the constructor throw?
443: -->
444:
445:
446: <h3>Task Sources</h3>
447:
448: <p>The following <span title="task source">task sources</span> are used by
449: this specification:</p>
450:
451: <dl>
452: <dt>The <dfn><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> event task source</dfn></dt>
453:
454: <dd>This <span>task source</span> is used for events that are to be
455: asynchronously dispatched.</dd>
456:
457: <dt>The <dfn><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> networking task source</dfn></dt>
458:
459: <dd>This <span>task source</span> is used for network activity.</dd>
460: </dl>
461:
462: <p>Unless otherwise stated the <span>task source</span> used for all tasks
463: <span title="queue a task">queued</span> in this specification is the
464: <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> event task source</span>.</p>
465:
466:
467: <h3>Constructor</h3>
468:
469: <p>When the
470: <dfn id="xmlhttprequest-constructor" title="XMLHttpRequest constructor"><code title="">XMLHttpRequest()</code></dfn>
471: constructor is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> return a
472: new <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object.</p>
473:
474:
1.205 avankest 475: <h3 id="event-handler-attributes">Event Handler Attributes</h3>
476:
477: <p>The following is the
478: <span title="event handler attributes">event handler attribute</span> (and
479: its corresponding <span>event handler event type</span>) that
480: <em class="ct">must</em> be supported as DOM attribute by the
481: <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object:</p>
482:
483: <table>
484: <thead>
485: <tr>
486: <th><span title="event handler attributes">event handler attribute</span>
487: <th><span>event handler event type</span>
488: <tbody>
489: <tr>
490: <td><dfn id="onreadystatechange"><code>onreadystatechange</code></dfn>
491: <td><code>readystatechange</code></td>
492: </table>
493:
494:
495: <h3 id="states">States</h3>
1.203 avankest 496:
497: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object can be in several states. The
498: <dfn id="readystate"><code>readyState</code></dfn> attribute, on getting,
499: <em class="ct">must</em> return the current state, which
500: <em class="ct">must</em> be one of the following values:</p>
501:
502: <dl>
503: <dt><dfn id="unsent-state" title="UNSENT state"><code>UNSENT</code></dfn>
504: (numeric value 0)</dt>
505: <dd><p>The object has been constructed.</p></dd>
506:
507: <dt><dfn id="opened-state" title="OPENED state"><code>OPENED</code></dfn>
508: (numeric value 1)</dt>
509: <dd><p>The <code>open()</code> method has been successfully invoked.
510: During this state request headers can be set using
511: <code>setRequestHeader()</code> and the request can be made using the
512: <code>send()</code> method.</p></dd>
513:
514: <dt><dfn id="headers-received-state" title="HEADERS_RECEIVED state"><code>HEADERS_RECEIVED</code></dfn>
515: (numeric value 2)</dt>
516: <dd><p>All HTTP headers have been received. Several response members of
517: the object are now available.</p></dd>
518:
519: <dt><dfn id="loading-state" title="LOADING state"><code>LOADING</code></dfn>
520: (numeric value 3)</dt>
521: <dd><p>The <span>response entity body</span> is being received.</p></dd>
522:
523: <dt><dfn id="done-state" title="DONE state"><code>DONE</code></dfn>
524: (numeric value 4)</dt>
525: <dd><p>The data transfer has been completed or something went wrong
526: during the transfer (e.g. infinite redirects).</p></dd>
527: </dl>
528:
529: <p>The <span title="OPENED state">OPENED</span> state has an associated
530: <dfn id="send-flag"><code>send()</code> flag</dfn> that indicates whether
531: the <code>send()</code> method has been invoked. It can be either true
532: or false and has an initial value of false.</p>
533:
534: <p>The <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> state has an associated
535: <dfn id="error-flag">error flag</dfn> that indicates some type of network
536: error or abortion. It can be either true or false and has an initial value
537: of false.</p>
538:
539:
1.205 avankest 540: <h3 id="request">Request</h3>
1.203 avankest 541:
542: <p>The <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object holds the following request
543: metadata variables:</p>
544:
1.204 avankest 545: <dl>
546: <dt>The <dfn>asynchronous flag</dfn></dt>
547: <dd>A flag that is either true or false that indicates whether the
548: request is done asynchronously.</dd>
549:
550: <dt>The <dfn>request method</dfn></dt>
551: <dd>The method used in the request.</dd>
552:
553: <dt>The <dfn>request URL</dfn></dt>
554: <dd>The <span>URL</span> used in the request.</dd>
555:
556: <dt>The <dfn>request username</dfn></dt>
557: <dd>The username used in the request or null if there is no
558: username.</dd>
559:
560: <dt>The <dfn>request password</dfn></dt>
561: <dd>The password used in the request or null if there is no
562: password.</dd>
563:
564: <dt>The <dfn id="author-request-headers">author request headers</dfn></dt>
565: <dd>A list consisting of HTTP header name/value pairs to be used in the
566: request.</p>
1.203 avankest 567:
1.204 avankest 568: <dt>The <dfn>request entity body</dfn></dt>
569: <dd>The <span>entity body</span> used in the request.</dd>
570: </dl>
1.203 avankest 571:
572:
573: <h4>The <code title="">open()</code> method</h4>
1.88 avankest 574:
1.203 avankest 575: <p>When the <dfn id="open" title="open"><code>open(<var>method</var>,
576: <var title="">url</var>, <var>async</var>, <var>user</var>,
577: <var>password</var>)</code></dfn> method is invoked, the user agent
578: <em class="ct">must</em> run the following steps (unless otherwise
579: indicated):</p>
1.90 avankest 580:
1.88 avankest 581: <ol>
1.203 avankest 582: <li>
583: <p>If the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object has an associated
584: <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> <code>Document</code></span> run
585: these substeps:</p>
1.90 avankest 586:
1.203 avankest 587: <ol>
588: <li><p>If the
589: <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> <code>Document</code></span> is not
590: <span>fully active</span> raise an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code>
591: exception and terminate the overall set of steps.</p></li>
592:
593: <li><p>Let <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> base URL</span> be the
594: <span>document base URL</span> of the
595: <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> <code>Document</code></span>.</p></li>
596:
597: <li><p>Let <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> origin</span> be the
598: <span>origin</span> of the
599: <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> <code>Document</code></span>.</p></li>
600: </ol>
601: </li>
1.90 avankest 602:
1.203 avankest 603: <li><p>If <var>method</var> does not match the
604: <span>Method token</span> raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and
605: terminate these steps.</p></li>
1.118 avankest 606:
1.115 avankest 607: <li>
1.203 avankest 608: <p>If <var>method</var> is an
609: <span>ASCII case-insensitive</span> match for
610: <code>CONNECT</code>, <code>DELETE</code>, <code>GET</code>,
611: <code>HEAD</code>, <code>OPTIONS</code>, <code>POST</code>,
612: <code>PUT</code>, <code>TRACE</code>, or <code>TRACK</code>
613: <span title="uppercase">convert <var>method</var> to uppercase</span>.</p>
1.118 avankest 614:
1.203 avankest 615: <p class="note">If it does not match any of the above, it is passed
616: through <em>literally</em>, including in the final request.</p>
1.115 avankest 617: </li>
1.203 avankest 618: <!-- WebKit (and supposedly Gecko) also uppercase: COPY, INDEX, LOCK,
619: M-POST, MKCOL, MOVE, PROPFIND, PROPPATCH, and UNLOCK. -->
1.118 avankest 620:
1.111 avankest 621: <li>
1.203 avankest 622: <p>If <var>method</var> is one of <code>CONNECT</code>,
623: <code>TRACE</code>, or <code>TRACK</code> the user agent
624: <em class="ct">should</em> raise a <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception
625: and terminate these steps.</p>
1.117 avankest 626:
1.203 avankest 627: <p class="note">Allowing these methods poses a security risk.
628: [<cite><span>HTTPVERBSEC</span></cite>]</p>
1.111 avankest 629: </li>
630:
1.203 avankest 631: <li><p>Let <var title="">url</var> be a <span>URL</span>.</p></li>
632:
633: <li><p>Let <span>URL character encoding</span> of <var title="">url</var> be
1.113 avankest 634: UTF-8.</p></li>
635:
1.203 avankest 636: <li><p><span title="Resolve a URL">Resolve <var title="">url</var></span>
637: relative to the <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> base URL</span>.
638: If the algorithm returns an error raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code>
639: exception and terminate these steps.</p></li>
640:
641: <!-- Presto and Gecko override the encoding. WebKit does not. Trident
642: does not support non-ASCII URLs. This matters for the <query> component,
643: see HTML5. -->
644:
645: <li><p>Drop <code><fragment></code> from <var title="">url</var>.</p></li>
646:
647: <li><p>If <var title="">url</var> contains an unsupported <code><scheme></code>
648: raise a <code>NOT_SUPPORTED_ERR</code> and terminate these
649: steps.</p></li>
650:
651: <li><p>If the <code>"user:password"</code> format in the
652: <code>userinfo</code> production is not supported for the relevant scheme
653: and <var title="">url</var> contains this format raise a
654: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and terminate these steps.</p></li>
655:
656: <li><p>If <var title="">url</var> contains the <code>"user:password"</code>
657: format let <var>temp user</var> be the user part and
658: <var>temp password</var> be the password part.</p></li>
659:
660: <li><p>If <var title="">url</var> just contains the <code>"user"</code>
661: format let <var>temp user</var> be the user part.</p></li>
662:
663: <li><p>If the <span>origin</span> of <var title="">url</var> is not
664: <span>same origin</span> with the
665: <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> origin</span> the user agent
666: <em class="ct">should</em> raise a <code>SECURITY_ERR</code> exception
667: and terminate these steps.</p></li>
668:
669: <li><p>Let <var>async</var> be the value of the <var>async</var>
670: argument or <code>true</code> if it was omitted.</p></li>
671:
672: <li>
673: <p>If the <var>user</var> argument was not omitted follow these sub
674: steps:</p>
1.90 avankest 675:
1.203 avankest 676: <ol>
677: <li><p>If the syntax of <var>user</var> does not match the syntax
678: specified by the relevant authentication scheme, raise a
679: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate the overall set of
680: steps.</p></li>
1.163 avankest 681:
1.203 avankest 682: <li><p>If <var>user</var> is <code>null</code> let <var>temp user</var>
683: be null.</p></li>
1.90 avankest 684:
1.203 avankest 685: <li><p>Otherwise let <var>temp user</var> be <var>user</var>.</p></li>
686: </ol>
1.88 avankest 687:
1.203 avankest 688: <p class="note">These steps override anything that may have been set by
689: the <var title="">url</var> argument.</p>
690: </li>
1.88 avankest 691:
1.128 avankest 692: <li>
1.203 avankest 693: <p>If the <var>password</var> argument was not omitted follow these sub
694: steps:</p>
695:
696: <ol>
697: <li><p>If the syntax of <var>password</var> does not match the syntax
698: specified by the relevant authentication scheme, raise a
699: <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate the overall set of
700: steps.</p></li>
1.167 avankest 701:
1.203 avankest 702: <li><p>If <var>password</var> is <code>null</code> let
703: <var>temp password</var> be null.</p></li>
704:
705: <li><p>Otherwise let <var>temp password</var> be
706: <var>password</var>.</p></li>
707: </ol>
708:
709: <p class="note">These steps override anything that may have been set by
710: the <var title="">url</var> argument.</p>
1.128 avankest 711: </li>
1.88 avankest 712:
1.203 avankest 713: <li><p><span title="abort send()">Abort the <code>send()</code> algorithm</span>.</p></li>
714:
715: <li><p>The user agent <em class="ct">should</em> cancel any network
716: activity for which the object is responsible.</p></li>
717: <!-- we can hardly require it... -->
718:
719: <li>
720: <p>Set variables associated with the object as follows:</p>
721:
722: <ul>
723: <li><p>Set the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> to false.</p></li>
724:
725: <li><p>Set <span>response entity body</span> to null.</p></li>
726:
727: <li><p>Empty the list of <span>author request headers</span>.</p>
728:
729: <li><p>Set the <span>request method</span> to <var>method</var>.</p></li>
730:
731: <li><p>Set the <span>request URL</span> to <var title="">url</var>.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 732:
1.203 avankest 733: <li><p>Set the <span>request username</span> to <var>temp user</var>.</p></li>
1.12 avankest 734:
1.203 avankest 735: <li><p>Set the <span>request password</span> to <var>temp password</var>.</p></li>
1.12 avankest 736:
1.203 avankest 737: <li><p>Set the <span>asynchronous flag</span> to true if <var>async</var> is
738: <code>true</code>. Otherwise set it to false.</p></li>
739: </ul>
740: </li>
1.58 avankest 741:
1.203 avankest 742: <li><p>Switch the the state to
743: <span title="OPENED state">OPENED</span>.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 744:
1.203 avankest 745: <li><p><span>Dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event</span>.</p></li>
746: </ol>
1.14 avankest 747:
1.203 avankest 748: <p class="note">A future version or extension of this specification will
749: define a way of doing cross-origin requests.</p>
1.58 avankest 750:
1.14 avankest 751:
1.203 avankest 752: <h4>The <code title="">setRequestHeader()</code> method</h4>
1.12 avankest 753:
1.203 avankest 754: <!-- XXX authors
755: The <code>setRequestHeader()</code> method can be used to set new request
1.184 avankest 756: headers and append to request headers already in the list.</p>
1.203 avankest 757: -->
1.45 avankest 758:
1.203 avankest 759: <p>As indicated in the algorithm below certain headers cannot be set and
760: are left up to the user agent. In addition there are certain other headers
761: the user agent will take control of if they are not set by the author as
762: indicated at the end of the <code>send()</code> method section.</p>
763:
764: <p class="note">The <code>setRequestHeader()</code> method appends a
765: value if the HTTP header given as argument is already part of the
766: <span>author request headers</span> list.</p>
767:
768: <p>When the
769: <dfn id="setrequestheader" title="setrequestheader"><code>setRequestHeader(<var>header</var>,
770: <var>value</var>)</code></dfn> method is invoked, the user agent
771: <em class="ct">must</em> run the following steps (unless otherwise
772: indicated):</p>
1.14 avankest 773:
1.203 avankest 774: <ol>
775: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="OPENED state">OPENED</span> raise
776: an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
777: steps.</p></li>
778:
779: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is true raise an
780: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
781: steps.</p></li>
782:
783: <li><p>If <var>header</var> does not match the <code>field-name</code>
784: production raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
785: steps.</p></li>
786:
787: <li>
788: <p>If the <var>value</var> argument does not match the
789: <code>field-value</code> production raise a <code>SYNTAX_ERR</code> and
790: terminate these steps.</p>
791:
792: <p class="note">The empty string is legal and represents the empty
793: header value.</p>
794: </li>
795:
796: <li>
797: <p>For security reasons, these steps <em class="ct">should</em> be
798: terminated if <var>header</var> is an
799: <span>ASCII case-insensitive</span> match for one of the following
800: headers:</p>
801:
802: <ul>
803: <li><code>Accept-Charset</code></li>
804: <li><code>Accept-Encoding</code></li>
805: <li><code>Authorization</code></li>
806: <li><code>Connection</code></li>
807: <li><code>Content-Length</code></li>
808: <li><code>Cookie</code></li>
809: <li><code>Cookie2</code></li>
810: <li><code>Content-Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
811: <li><code>Date</code></li>
812: <li><code>Expect</code></li>
813: <li><code>Host</code></li>
814: <li><code>Keep-Alive</code></li>
815: <li><code>Referer</code></li>
816: <li><code>TE</code></li>
817: <li><code>Trailer</code></li>
818: <li><code>Transfer-Encoding</code></li>
819: <li><code>Upgrade</code></li>
820: <li><code>User-Agent</code></li>
821: <li><code>Via</code></li>
822: </ul>
1.96 avankest 823:
1.203 avankest 824: <p>… or if the start of <var>header</var> is an
825: <span>ASCII case-insensitive</span> match for <code>Proxy-</code> or
826: <code>Sec-</code> (including when <var>header</var> is just
827: <code>Proxy-</code> or <code>Sec-</code>).</p>
828:
829: <p class="note">The above headers are not allowed to be set as they are
830: better controlled by the user agent as it knows best what value they
831: should have. Header names starting with <code>Sec-</code> are not
832: allowed to be set to allow new headers to be minted in the future that
833: are guaranteed not to come from <code>XMLHttpRequest</code>. (Older
834: clients would however still be vulnerable as they allow such headers to
835: be set.)</p>
836: </li>
1.14 avankest 837:
1.203 avankest 838: <li><p>If <var>header</var> is not in the
839: <span>author request headers</span> list append <var>header</var> with
840: its associated <var>value</var> to the list and terminate these
841: steps.</p></li>
842:
843: <li><p>If <var>header</var> is in the <span>author request headers</span>
844: list either use multiple headers, combine the values or use a combination
845: of those (section 4.2, RFC 2616).
846: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p></li>
847: <!-- XXX it seems UAs always combine the values -->
848: </ol>
1.45 avankest 849:
1.203 avankest 850: <p class="note">See also the <code>send()</code> method regarding user
851: agent header handling for caching, authentication, proxies, and
852: cookies.</p>
1.14 avankest 853:
1.203 avankest 854: <div class="example">
855: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.14 avankest 856: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
857: client.open('GET', 'demo.cgi');
858: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'one');
859: client.setRequestHeader('X-Test', 'two');
860: client.send();
861:
862: // ...would result in the following header being sent:
863: ...
864: X-Test: one, two
1.58 avankest 865: ...</code></pre>
1.203 avankest 866: </div>
867:
868:
869: <h4>The <code title="">send()</code> method</h4>
1.12 avankest 870:
1.203 avankest 871: <p>The <code>send()</code> method initiates the request and its optional
1.204 avankest 872: argument provides the <span>request entity body</span>.</p>
1.12 avankest 873:
1.203 avankest 874: <p class="note">Authors are encouraged to ensure that they have specified
875: the <code>Content-Type</code> header via <code>setRequestHeader()</code>
876: before invoking <code>send()</code> with a non-<code>null</code>
877: <var>data</var> argument.</p>
878:
879: <p>When the
880: <dfn id="send" title="send"><code>send(<var>data</var>)</code></dfn>
881: method is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the
882: following steps (unless otherwise noted). This algorithm gets aborted when
883: the <code>open()</code> or <code>abort()</code> method is invoked. When
884: the
885: <dfn title="abort send()" id="abort-send-algorithm"><code>send()</code> algorithm is aborted</dfn>
886: the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> terminate the algorithm after
887: finishing the step it is on.</p>
888:
889: <p class="note">The <code title="">send()</code> algorithm can only be
890: aborted when the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is true and only after the
891: method call has returned.</p>
1.181 avankest 892:
1.203 avankest 893: <ol>
894: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="OPENED state">OPENED</span> raise
895: an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
896: steps.</p></li>
897:
898: <li><p>If the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> is true raise an
899: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
900: steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 901:
1.203 avankest 902: <li>
903: <p>If the <span>request method</var> is <code>GET</code> or
904: <code>HEAD</code> act as if <var>data</var> is <code>null</code>.</p>
1.96 avankest 905:
1.203 avankest 906: <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has not been omitted and is not
1.204 avankest 907: <code>null</code> use it for the <span>request entity body</span>
908: observing the following rules:</p>
1.203 avankest 909:
910: <dl class="switch">
911: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>DOMString</code></dt>
912:
913: <dd>
914: <p>Encode <var>data</var> using UTF-8 for transmission.</p>
915:
916: <p>If a <code>Content-Type</code> header is set using
917: <code>setRequestHeader()</code> and its value is not malformed, set
918: the <code>charset</code> parameter of that header, by either
919: changing the <code>charset</code> parameter (if one is present) or
920: appending one, to <code>UTF-8</code>.</p>
921:
922: <p>If no <code>Content-Type</code> header has been set using
923: <code>setRequestHeader()</code> set a <code>Content-Type</code>
924: request header with a value of
925: <code>text/plain;charset=UTF-8</code>.</p>
1.208 ! avankest 926:
! 927: <!-- XXX not all UAs modify Content-Type -->
1.203 avankest 928: </dd>
929:
930: <dt><var>data</var> is a <code>Document</code>
931:
932: <dd>
1.208 ! avankest 933: <p>Let <var>tempdata</var> be the result of following the
! 934: <span>XML fragment serialization algorithm</span> for a
! 935: <code>Document</code> on <var>data</var> and encode it using
1.203 avankest 936: <code><var>data</var>.inputEncoding</code> or UTF-8 if
1.208 ! avankest 937: <code><var>data</var>.inputEncoding</code> is <code>null</code>.
! 938: Re-raise any exception this algorithm raises.</p>
! 939:
! 940: <p>Let <var>data</var> be <var>tempdata</var>.</p>
1.203 avankest 941:
942: <p class="note">If the document cannot be serialized the
943: <code>document.innerHTML</code> algorithm raises an
944: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
945:
946: <p>If a <code>Content-Type</code> header is set using
947: <code>setRequestHeader()</code> and its value is not malformed, set
948: the <code>charset</code> parameter of that header, by either
949: changing the <code>charset</code> parameter (if one is present) or
1.208 ! avankest 950: appending one, to the encoding used to encode <var>data</var>.</p>
1.203 avankest 951:
952: <p>If no <code>Content-Type</code> header has been set using
953: <code>setRequestHeader()</code> set a <code>Content-Type</code>
954: request header with a value of
955: <code>application/xml;charset=<var>charset</var></code> where
1.208 ! avankest 956: <var>charset</var> is the encoding used to encode <var>data</var>.</p>
1.203 avankest 957:
958: <p class="note">Subsequent changes to the <code>Document</code> have
959: no effect on what is submitted.</p>
1.208 ! avankest 960:
! 961: <!-- XXX not all UAs modify Content-Type
! 962: different algorithm for HTML? -->
1.203 avankest 963: </dd>
964:
965: <dt><var>data</var> is not a <code>DOMString</code> or
966: <code>Document</code></dt>
967:
968: <dd><p>Use the stringification mechanisms of the host language on
969: <var>data</var> and treat the result as if <var>data</var> is a
1.208 ! avankest 970: <code>DOMString</code>. Re-raise any exceptions the stringification
! 971: mechanism raises.</p></dd>
! 972:
! 973: <!-- XXX do we need to state this? -->
1.203 avankest 974: </dl>
1.58 avankest 975:
1.203 avankest 976: <p>If the <var>data</var> argument has been omitted, or is
1.204 avankest 977: <code>null</code>, no <span>request entity body</span> is used in the
978: request.</p>
1.203 avankest 979: </li>
1.202 avankest 980:
1.203 avankest 981: <li><p>If the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is false release the
982: <span>storage mutex</span>.</p></li>
1.103 avankest 983:
1.203 avankest 984: <li><p>If the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is true set the
985: <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> to true.</p></li>
1.118 avankest 986:
1.203 avankest 987: <li><p>Set the <span>error flag</span> to false.</p></li>
1.145 avankest 988:
1.203 avankest 989: <li>
990: <dl>
991: <dt>If the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is false</dt>
992: <dd>
993: <ol>
994: <li>
995: <p>Make a request to <span>request URL</span>, using HTTP method
996: <span>request method</span>, user <span>request username</span>
997: (if non-null) and password <span>request password</span> (if
1.204 avankest 998: non-null), taking into account the <span>request entity body</span>,
999: list of <span>author request headers</span> and the rules listed at
1000: the end of this section.</p>
1.203 avankest 1001:
1002: <p>If there are cookies to be set, run these substeps:</p>
1003:
1.118 avankest 1004: <ol>
1.203 avankest 1005: <li><p>Wait until ownership of the <span>storage mutex</span> can
1006: be taken.</p></li>
1007:
1008: <li><p>Take ownership of the <span>storage mutex</span>.</p></li>
1009:
1010: <li><p>Update the cookies.
1011: [<cite><span>COOKIES</span></cite>]</p></li>
1012:
1013: <li><p>Release the <span>storage mutex</span> so that it is once
1014: again free.</p></li>
1015: </ol>
1.118 avankest 1016:
1.203 avankest 1017: <p>While making the request also follow the
1018: <span>request event rules</span>.</p>
1.118 avankest 1019:
1.203 avankest 1020: <p>When the request is completed and has not been terminated by the
1021: <span>request event rules</span> go to the next step.</p>
1022: </li>
1023: <!--
1024: This cannot involve any task queue whatsoever because that would
1025: mean other tasks on the task queue might get processed as well which
1026: is counter to the whole idea of doing things synchronous.
1027: -->
1028:
1029: <li>
1030: <p>If the overall algorithm has not been terminated at this stage
1031: the request was successful. Run these substeps:</p>
1.118 avankest 1032:
1.203 avankest 1033: <ol>
1034: <li><p>Switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>.</p></li>
1.118 avankest 1035:
1.203 avankest 1036: <li><p><span>Dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event</span>.</p></li>
1.118 avankest 1037: </ol>
1.203 avankest 1038:
1039: <p class="note">The <code>send()</code> method call will now be
1040: returned by virtue of this algorithm ending.</p>
1041: </li>
1042: </ol>
1043: </dd>
1044:
1045: <dt>If the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is true</dt>
1046: <dd>
1047: <ol>
1048: <li>
1049: <p><span>Dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event</span>.</p>
1050:
1051: <p class="note">The state does not change. The event is dispatched
1052: for historical reasons.</p>
1053: </li>
1054:
1055: <li><p>Return the <code>send()</code> method call, but continue
1056: running the steps in this algorithm.</p></li>
1057:
1058: <li>
1059: <p>Make a request to <span>request URL</span>, using HTTP method
1060: <span>request method</span>, user <span>request username</span>
1061: (if non-null) and password <span>request password</span> (if
1.204 avankest 1062: non-null), taking into account the <span>request entity body</span>,
1063: list of <span>author request headers</span> and the rules listed at
1064: the end of this section.</p>
1.118 avankest 1065:
1.203 avankest 1066: <p>If there are cookies to be set, run these substeps:</p>
1.117 avankest 1067:
1.203 avankest 1068: <ol>
1069: <li><p>Wait until ownership of the <span>storage mutex</span> can
1070: be taken.</p></li>
1071:
1072: <li><p>Take ownership of the <span>storage mutex</span>.</p></li>
1073:
1074: <li><p>Update the cookies.
1075: [<cite><span>COOKIES</span></cite>]</p></li>
1076:
1077: <li><p>Release the <span>storage mutex</span> so that it is once
1078: again free.</p></li>
1079: </ol>
1080:
1081: <p>While processing the request
1082: <span title="queue a task">queue tasks</span>, as data becomes
1083: available and when the user interferes with the request, to follow
1084: the <span>request event rules</span> using the
1085: <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> networking task source</span> as
1086: <span>task source</span>.</p>
1087:
1088: <p>The <span>task</span> that is
1089: <span title="queue a task">queued</span> by the
1090: <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> networking task source</span> once
1091: the request is completed (i.e. no network errors or aborting of the
1092: algorithm occurred) is to <span>queue a task</span> to run these
1093: substeps rather than following the
1094: <span>request event rules</span>:</p>
1.121 avankest 1095:
1.203 avankest 1096: <ol>
1097: <li><p>Switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1098:
1.203 avankest 1099: <li><p><span>Dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event</span>.</p></li>
1100: </ol>
1101:
1102: <p class="note">The <span>task</span> for these substeps is
1103: <span title="queue a task">queued</span> on the
1104: <span><code>XMLHttpRequest</code> event task source</span>.</p>
1105: </li>
1106: </ol>
1107: </dd>
1108: </dl>
1109: </li>
1110: </ol>
1.60 avankest 1111:
1.203 avankest 1112: <hr>
1113:
1114: <p>While executing the request certain events can influence the behavior
1115: of the <code>XMLHttpRequest</code> object. These are called the
1116: <dfn>request event rules</dfn>:</p>
1.118 avankest 1117:
1.203 avankest 1118: <dl class="switch">
1119: <dt>If the response is an HTTP redirect</dt>
1.118 avankest 1120:
1.203 avankest 1121: <dd>
1122: <p>If the redirect does not violate security (it is
1123: <span>same origin</span> for instance), infinite loop precautions, and
1124: the scheme is supported, transparently follow the redirect while
1125: observing the <span>request event rules</span>.</p>
1126:
1127: <p class="note">HTTP places requirements on the user agent regarding the
1.204 avankest 1128: preservation of the <span>request method</span> and
1129: <span>request entity body</span> during redirects, and also requires
1130: users to be notified of certain kinds of automatic redirections.</p>
1.118 avankest 1131:
1.203 avankest 1132: <!-- XXX HTTP needs fixing here -->
1.118 avankest 1133:
1.203 avankest 1134: <p>Otherwise, run these steps:</p>
1.121 avankest 1135:
1.203 avankest 1136: <ol>
1137: <li><p>Set the <span>response entity body</span> to null.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 1138:
1.203 avankest 1139: <li><p>Set the the <span>error flag</span> to true.</p></li>
1.121 avankest 1140:
1.203 avankest 1141: <li><p>Empty the list of <span>author request headers</span>.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 1142:
1.203 avankest 1143: <li><p>Switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>.</p></li>
1.186 avankest 1144:
1.203 avankest 1145: <li><p>If the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is false raise a
1146: <code>NETWORK_ERR</code> exception and terminate the overall set of
1147: steps.</p></li>
1.118 avankest 1148:
1.203 avankest 1149: <li><p>If the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is true
1150: <span>queue a task</span> to
1151: <span>dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event</span>.</p></li>
1.118 avankest 1152:
1.203 avankest 1153: <li><p>Terminate the overall set of steps.</p></li>
1154: </ol>
1.118 avankest 1155:
1.203 avankest 1156: <p class="note">It is likely that a future version of this specification
1157: will dispatch an <code>error</code> event here as well.</p>
1158: </dd>
1.118 avankest 1159:
1.203 avankest 1160: <dt>If the user cancels the download</dt>
1161: <dd>
1162: <p>Run these steps:</p>
1.118 avankest 1163:
1.203 avankest 1164: <ol>
1165: <li><p>Set the <span>response entity body</span> to null.</p></li>
1.118 avankest 1166:
1.203 avankest 1167: <li><p>Set the the <span>error flag</span> to true.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 1168:
1.203 avankest 1169: <li><p>Empty the list of <span>author request headers</span>.</p></li>
1.118 avankest 1170:
1.203 avankest 1171: <li><p>Switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>.</p></li>
1.153 avankest 1172:
1.203 avankest 1173: <li><p>If the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is false raise a
1174: <code>ABORT_ERR</code> exception and terminate the overall set of
1175: steps.</p></li>
1.118 avankest 1176:
1.203 avankest 1177: <li><p>If the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is true
1178: <span>queue a task</span> to
1179: <span>dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event</span>.</p></li>
1.153 avankest 1180:
1.203 avankest 1181: <li><p>Terminate the overall set of steps.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1182: </ol>
1.14 avankest 1183:
1.203 avankest 1184: <p class="note">It is likely that a future version of this specification
1185: will dispatch an <code>abort</code> event here as well.</p>
1.8 avankest 1186: </dd>
1.12 avankest 1187:
1.203 avankest 1188: <dt>In case of network errors</dt>
1189: <dd>
1190: <p>In case of DNS errors, timeout, TLS negotiation failure, or other
1191: type of network errors, do not request user interaction and run these
1192: steps:</p>
1193:
1194: <p class="note">This does not include HTTP responses that indicate some
1195: type of error, such as HTTP status code 410.</p>
1.12 avankest 1196:
1.203 avankest 1197: <ol>
1198: <li><p>Set the <span>response entity body</span> to null.</p></li>
1199:
1200: <li><p>Set the the <span>error flag</span> to true.</p></li>
1201:
1202: <li><p>Empty the list of <span>author request headers</span>.</p></li>
1203:
1204: <li><p>Switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>.</p></li>
1205:
1206: <li><p>If the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is false raise a
1207: <code>NETWORK_ERR</code> exception and terminate the overall set of
1208: steps.</p></li>
1209:
1210: <li><p>If the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is true
1211: <span>queue a task</span> to
1212: <span>dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event</span>.</p></li>
1213:
1214: <li><p>Terminate the overall set of steps.</p></li>
1215: </ol>
1216:
1217: <p class="note">It is likely that a future version of this
1218: specification will dispatch an <code>error</code> event here as
1219: well.</p>
1220: </dd>
1221:
1222: <dt>Once all HTTP headers have been received and the
1223: <span>asynchronous flag</span> is true</dt>
1.5 avankest 1224: <dd>
1.203 avankest 1225: <p>If all HTTP headers have been received, while receiving the message
1226: body (if any), run these steps:</p>
1227:
1228: <ol>
1229: <li><p>Switch the state to <span title="HEADERS_RECEIVED state">HEADERS_RECEIVED</span>.</p></li>
1230:
1231: <li><p><span>Queue a task</span> to
1232: <span>dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event</span>.</p></li>
1233: </ol>
1234: </dd>
1.60 avankest 1235:
1.203 avankest 1236: <dt>Once the first byte (or more) of the response entity body has been
1237: received and the <span>asynchronous flag</span> is true</dt>
1238: <dt>If there is no response entity body and the
1239: <span>asynchronous flag</span> is true</dt>
1240: <dd>
1.60 avankest 1241: <ol>
1.203 avankest 1242: <li><p>Switch the state to <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span>.</p></li>
1243:
1244: <li><p><span>Queue a task</span> to
1245: <span>dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event</span>.</p></li>
1.60 avankest 1246: </ol>
1.5 avankest 1247: </dd>
1.203 avankest 1248: </dl>
1249:
1250: <hr>
1251:
1252: <p>If the user agent allows the user to configure a proxy it
1253: <em class="ct">should</em> modify the request appropriately;
1254: i.e. connect to the proxy host instead of the origin server, modify the
1255: <code>Request-Line</code> and
1256: send <code>Proxy-Authorization</code> headers as specified.</p>
1257:
1258: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP Authentication it
1259: <em class="ct">should</em> consider requests originating from this
1260: object to be part of the protection space that includes the accessed
1261: URIs and send <code>Authorization</code> headers and handle <code>401
1262: Unauthorized</code> requests appropriately. If authentication fails,
1263: and <var>stored user</var> and <var>stored password</var> are not
1264: provided, user agents <em class="ct">should</em> prompt the user for
1265: credentials. If authentication fails, and <var>stored user</var> and
1266: <var>stored password</var> are provided, user agents
1267: <em class="ct">must not</em> prompt the user for credentials.
1268: [<cite><span>RFC2617</span></cite>]</p>
1269:
1270: <p class="note">Users are not prompted if credentials are provided
1271: through the <code>open()</code> API so that authors can implement their
1272: own user interface.</p>
1273:
1274: <p>If the user agent supports HTTP State Management it
1275: <em class="ct">should</em> persist, discard and send cookies (as received
1276: in the <code>Set-Cookie</code> and <code>Set-Cookie2</code> response
1277: headers, and sent in the <code>Cookie</code> header) as applicable.
1278: [<cite><span>COOKIES</span></cite>]</p>
1279:
1280: <p>If the user agent implements a HTTP cache it <em class="ct">should</em>
1281: respect <code>Cache-Control</code> request headers set by
1282: <code>setRequestHeader()</code> (e.g., <code>Cache-Control: no-cache</code>
1283: bypasses the cache). It <em class="ct">must not</em> send
1284: <code>Cache-Control</code> or <code>Pragma</code> request headers
1285: automatically unless the user explicitly requests such behavior
1286: (e.g. by (force-)reloading the page).</p>
1287:
1288: <p>For <code>304 Not Modified</code> responses that are a result of a
1289: user agent generated conditional request the user agent
1290: <em class="ct">must</em> act as if the server gave a <code>200 OK</code>
1291: response with the appropriate content. The user agent
1292: <em class="ct">must</em> allow <code>setRequestHeader()</code> to
1293: override automatic cache validation by setting request headers (e.g.,
1294: <code>If-None-Match</code>, <code>If-Modified-Since</code>), in which
1295: case <code>304 Not Modified</code> responses <em class="ct">must</em> be
1296: passed through. [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1297:
1298: <p>If the user agent implements server-driven content-negotiation
1299: it <em class="ct">should</em> set <code>Accept-Encoding</code> and
1300: <code>Accept-Charset</code> headers as appropriate.
1301: Unless set through <code>setRequestHeader()</code> user agents
1302: <em class="ct">should</em> set the <code>Accept</code> and
1303: <code>Accept-Language</code> headers as well. If <code>Accept</code> is
1304: set by the user agent it <em class="ct">must</em> have the value
1305: <code>*/*</code>. Responses <em class="ct">must</em> have the
1306: content-encodings automatically decoded.
1307: [<cite><span>RFC2616</span></cite>]</p>
1308:
1309: <p>Besides the <span>author request headers</span> user agents
1310: <em class="ct">should not</em> include additional request headers other
1311: than those mentioned above or other than those authors are not allowed
1312: to set using <code>setRequestHeader()</code>. This ensures that authors
1313: have a reasonably predictable API.</p>
1314:
1315:
1316: <h4>The <code title="">abort()</code> method</h4>
1317:
1318: <p>When the <dfn id="abort"><code>abort()</code></dfn> method is invoked,
1319: the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following steps (unless
1320: otherwise noted):</p>
1.12 avankest 1321:
1.203 avankest 1322: <ol>
1323: <li><p><span title="abort send()">Abort the <code>send()</code> algorithm</span>.</p></li>
1324:
1325: <li><p>The user agent <em class="ct">should</em> cancel any network
1326: activity for which the object is responsible.</p></li>
1327:
1328: <li><p>Set the <span>response entity body</span> to null.</p></li>
1329:
1330: <li><p>Set the <span>error flag</span> to true.</p></li>
1331:
1332: <li><p>Empty the list of <span>author request headers</span>.</p></li>
1333:
1334: <li>
1335: <p>If the state is <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>,
1336: <span title="OPENED state">OPENED</span> with the
1337: <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> being false, or
1338: <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> go to the next step.</p>
1.12 avankest 1339:
1.203 avankest 1340: <p>Otherwise run these substeps:</p>
1.58 avankest 1341:
1342: <ol>
1.203 avankest 1343: <li><p>Switch the state to <span title="DONE state">DONE</span>.</p></li>
1.170 avankest 1344:
1.203 avankest 1345: <li><p>Set the <span><code>send()</code> flag</span> to false.</p></li>
1.96 avankest 1346:
1.203 avankest 1347: <li><p><span>Dispatch a <code>readystatechange</code> event</span>.</p></li>
1.58 avankest 1348: </ol>
1.203 avankest 1349: </li>
1350:
1351: <li>
1352: <p>Switch the state to <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span>.</p>
1353:
1354: <p class="note">No <code>readystatechange</code> event is dispatched.</p>
1355:
1356: <p class="note">It is likely that a future version of this specification
1357: will dispatch an <code title="">abort</code> event here.</p>
1358: </li>
1359: </ol>
1360:
1361:
1362:
1.205 avankest 1363: <h3 id="response">Response</h3>
1.203 avankest 1364:
1365:
1366: <h4>The <code title="">status</code> attribute</h4>
1367:
1368: <p>The <dfn id="status"><code>status</code></dfn> attribute
1369: <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP status code sent by the server
1370: (typically <code>200</code> for a successful request). Otherwise, if not
1371: available, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise an
1372: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
1.24 avankest 1373:
1.203 avankest 1374: <!-- XXX define in terms of states -->
1375:
1376:
1377: <h4>The <code title="">statusText</code> attribute</h4>
1378:
1379: <p>The <dfn id="statustext"><code>statusText</code></dfn> attribute
1380: <em class="ct">must</em> return the HTTP status text sent by the server
1381: (appears after the status code). Otherwise, if not available (request is
1382: not initiated for instance), the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> raise
1383: an <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception.</p>
1384:
1385: <!-- XXX define in terms of states -->
1386:
1387:
1388: <h4>The <code title="">getResponseHeader()</code> method</h4>
1389:
1390: <p>When the
1391: <dfn id="getresponseheader" title="getresponseheader"><code>getResponseHeader(<var>header</var>)</code></dfn>
1392: is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the following
1393: steps:</p>
1394:
1395: <ol>
1396: <li><p>If the state is <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span> or
1397: <span title="OPENED state">OPENED</span> raise an
1398: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
1399: steps.</p></li>
1400:
1401: <li><p>If <var>header</var> does not match the <code>field-name</code>
1402: production return <code>null</code> and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1403:
1404: <li><p>If the <span>error flag</span> is true return <code>null</code>
1405: and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1406:
1407: <li><p>If <var>header</var> is an <span>ASCII case-insensitive</span>
1408: match for <code>Set-Cookie</code> or <code>Set-Cookie2</code> return
1409: <code>null</code> and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1410:
1411: <li><p>If <var>header</var> is an <span>ASCII case-insensitive</span>
1412: match for multiple HTTP response headers, return the values of these
1413: headers as a single concatenated string separated from each other by a
1414: U+002C COMMA U+0020 SPACE character pair and terminate these
1415: steps.</p></li>
1416:
1417: <li><p>If <var>header</var> is an <span>ASCII case-insensitive</span>
1418: match for a single HTTP response header, return the value of that header
1419: and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1420:
1421: <li><p>Return <code>null</code>.</p></li>
1422: </ol>
1423:
1424: <div class="example">
1425: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.5 avankest 1426: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 1427: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 1428: client.send();
1.12 avankest 1429: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.179 avankest 1430: if(this.readyState == 2) {
1.203 avankest 1431: print(client.getResponseHeader("Content-Type"));
1.12 avankest 1432: }
1433: }
1.5 avankest 1434:
1435: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.58 avankest 1436: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1.203 avankest 1437: </div>
1.12 avankest 1438:
1439:
1.203 avankest 1440: <h4>The <code title="">getAllResponseHeaders()</code> method</h4>
1.14 avankest 1441:
1.203 avankest 1442: <p>When the
1443: <dfn id="getallresponseheaders"><code>getAllResponseHeaders()</code></dfn>
1444: method is invoked, the user agent <em class="ct">must</em> run the
1445: following steps:</p>
1.58 avankest 1446:
1.203 avankest 1447: <ol>
1448: <li><p>If the state is <span title="UNSENT state">UNSENT</span> or
1449: <span title="OPENED state">OPENED</span> raise an
1450: <code>INVALID_STATE_ERR</code> exception and terminate these
1451: steps.</p></li>
1452:
1453: <li><p>If the <span>error flag</span> is true return the empty string and
1454: terminate these steps.</p></li>
1455:
1456: <li><p>Return all the HTTP headers, excluding headers that are an
1457: <span>ASCII case-insensitive</span> match for <code>Set-Cookie</code> or
1458: <code>Set-Cookie2</code>, as a single string, with each header line
1459: separated by a U+000D CR U+000A LF pair excluding the status line, and
1460: with each header name and header value separated by a
1461: U+003A COLON U+0020 SPACE pair.</p></li>
1462: </ol>
1.58 avankest 1463:
1.203 avankest 1464: <div class="example">
1465: <pre><code>// The following script:
1.1 avankest 1466: var client = new XMLHttpRequest();
1.14 avankest 1467: client.open("GET", "test.txt", true);
1.5 avankest 1468: client.send();
1.12 avankest 1469: client.onreadystatechange = function() {
1.179 avankest 1470: if(this.readyState == 2) {
1.203 avankest 1471: print(this.getAllResponseHeaders());
1.12 avankest 1472: }
1473: }
1.1 avankest 1474:
1.5 avankest 1475: // ...should output something similar to the following text:
1.203 avankest 1476: Date: Sun, 24 Oct 2004 04:58:38 GMT
1477: Server: Apache/1.3.31 (Unix)
1478: Keep-Alive: timeout=15, max=99
1479: Connection: Keep-Alive
1480: Transfer-Encoding: chunked
1481: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8</code></pre>
1482: </div>
1483:
1484:
1485: <h4>Response Entity Body</h4>
1486:
1487: <p>The <dfn id="response-entity-body">response entity body</dfn> is the
1488: fragment of the <span>entity body</span> received so far
1489: (<span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span> state) or the complete
1490: <span>entity body</span> (<span title="DONE state">DONE</span> state). If
1491: there is no <span>entity body</span> the
1492: <span>response entity body</span> is null.</p>
1493:
1494: <hr>
1495:
1496: <p>The <dfn id="text-response-entity-body">text response entity body</dfn>
1497: is a <code>DOMString</code> representing the
1498: <span>response entity body</span>. The
1499: <span>text response entity body</span> is the return value of the
1500: following algorithm:</p>
1501:
1502: <ol>
1503: <li><p>If the <span>response entity body</span> is null return the empty
1504: string and terminate these steps.</p>
1505:
1506: <li><p>Let <var>charset</var> be null.</p></li>
1507:
1508: <li><p>If there is no <code>Content-Type</code> header or there is a
1509: <code>Content-Type</code> header which contains a MIME type that is
1510: <code>text/xml</code>, <code>application/xml</code> or ends in
1511: <code title="">+xml</code> (ignoring any parameters) use the rules set
1512: forth in the XML specifications to determine the character encoding. Let
1513: <var>charset</var> be the determined character encoding.
1514: [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>]</p></li>
1515:
1516: <li><p>If the <code>Content-Type</code> header contains a
1517: <code>text/html</code> MIME type follow the rules set forth in the
1518: HTML 5 specification to determine the character encoding. Let
1519: <var>charset</var> be the determined character encoding.
1520: [<cite><span>HTML5</span></cite>]</p></li>
1521:
1522: <li>
1523: <p>If the MIME type specified by the <code>Content-Type</code> header
1524: contains a <code>charset</code> parameter and <var>charset</var> is
1525: null let <var>charset</var> be the value of that parameter.</p>
1526:
1527: <p class="note">The algorithms described by the XML and HTML
1528: specifications already take <code>Content-Type</code> into account.</p>
1529: </li>
1530:
1531: <li>
1532: <!-- This stuff is copied from HTML5. Thanks Hixie! -->
1533: <p>If <var>charset</var> is null then, for each of the rows in the
1534: following table, starting with the first one and going down, if the first
1535: bytes of <var>bytes</var> match the bytes given in the first column, then
1536: let <var>charset</var> be the encoding given in the cell in the second
1537: column of that row. If there is no match <var>charset</var> remains
1538: null.</p>
1539:
1540: <table>
1541: <thead>
1542: <tr>
1543: <th>Bytes in Hexadecimal
1544: <th>Description
1545: <tbody><!-- UTF-32 is dead
1546: <tr>
1547: <td>00 00 FE FF
1548: <td>UTF-32BE BOM
1549: <tr>
1550: <td>FF FE 00 00
1551: <td>UTF-32LE BOM-->
1552: <tr>
1553: <td>FE FF
1554: <td>UTF-16BE BOM
1555: <tr>
1556: <td>FF FE
1557: <td>UTF-16LE BOM
1558: <tr>
1559: <td>EF BB BF
1560: <td>UTF-8 BOM<!-- nobody uses this
1561: <tr>
1562: <td>DD 73 66 73
1563: <td>UTF-EBCDIC
1564: -->
1565: </table>
1566: </li>
1567:
1568: <li><p>If <var>charset</var> is null let <var>charset</var> be
1569: UTF-8.</p></li>
1570:
1571: <li><p>Return the result of decoding the response entity body using
1572: <var>charset</var>. Replace bytes or sequences of bytes that are not
1573: valid according to the <var>charset</var> with a single U+FFFD
1574: REPLACEMENT CHARACTER character.</p></li>
1575: </ol>
1576:
1577: <p class="note">Authors are strongly encouraged to encode their resources
1578: using UTF-8.</p>
1579:
1580: <hr>
1581:
1582: <p>The <dfn id="xml-response-entity-body">XML response entity body</dfn>
1583: is either a <code>Document</code> representing the
1584: <span>response entity body</span> or <code>null</code>. The
1585: <span>XML response entity body</span> is the return value of the following
1586: algorithm:</p>
1.12 avankest 1587:
1.203 avankest 1588: <ol>
1589: <li><p>If the <span>response entity body</span> is null terminate these
1590: steps and return <code>null</code>.</p></li>
1.12 avankest 1591:
1.203 avankest 1592: <li><p>If a <code>Content-Type</code> is present and it does not contain
1593: a MIME type (ignoring any parameters) that is <code>text/xml</code>,
1594: <code>application/xml</code> or ends in <code title="">+xml</code> terminate
1595: these steps and return <code>null</code>. (Do not terminate these steps if
1596: there is no <code>Content-Type</code> header at all.)</p></li>
1597:
1598: <li>
1599: <p>Parse the <span>response entity body</span> into a document tree
1600: following the rules from the XML specifications. Let the result be
1601: <var>parsed document</var>. If this fails (unsupported character
1602: encoding, namespace well-formedness error, et cetera) terminate these
1603: steps return <code>null</code>. [<cite><span>XML</span></cite>]</p>
1604:
1605: <p class="note">Scripts in the resulting document tree will not be
1606: executed, resources referenced will not be loaded and no associated XSLT
1607: will be applied.</p>
1608: </li>
1.88 avankest 1609:
1.203 avankest 1610: <li><p>Return an object implementing the <code>Document</code>
1611: interface representing the <var>parsed document</var>.</p></li>
1612: </ol>
1.12 avankest 1613:
1614:
1.203 avankest 1615: <h4>The <code title="">responseText</code> attribute</h4>
1.12 avankest 1616:
1.203 avankest 1617: <p>The <dfn id="responsetext"><code>responseText</code></dfn> attribute
1618: <em class="ct">must</em> return the result of running the following
1619: steps:</p>
1.79 avankest 1620:
1.203 avankest 1621: <ol>
1622: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="LOADING state">LOADING</span>
1623: or <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> return the empty string and
1624: terminate these steps.</p></li>
1.75 avankest 1625:
1.203 avankest 1626: <li><p>Return the <span>text response entity body</span>.</p></li>
1627: </ol>
1.12 avankest 1628:
1629:
1.203 avankest 1630: <h4>The <code title="">responseXML</code> attribute</h4>
1.12 avankest 1631:
1.203 avankest 1632: <p>The <dfn id="responsexml"><code>responseXML</code></dfn> attribute
1633: <em class="ct">must</em> return the result of running the following
1634: steps:</p>
1.12 avankest 1635:
1.203 avankest 1636: <ol>
1637: <li><p>If the state is not <span title="DONE state">DONE</span> return
1638: <code>null</code> and terminate these steps.</p></li>
1.12 avankest 1639:
1.203 avankest 1640: <li><p>Return the <span>XML response entity body</span>.</p></li>
1641: </ol>
1.121 avankest 1642:
1.12 avankest 1643:
1.203 avankest 1644: <h3 id="exceptions">Exceptions</h3>
1.24 avankest 1645:
1.203 avankest 1646: <!-- XXX HTML5 assumes Web DOM Core will define these -->
1.32 avankest 1647:
1.138 avankest 1648: <p>Several algorithms in this specification may result in an exception
1649: being thrown. These exceptions are all part of the group
1.185 avankest 1650: <code>ExceptionCode</code> and use the <code>DOMException</code> object,
1.138 avankest 1651: which is defined in DOM Level 3 Core. In addition this specification
1652: extends the <code>ExceptionCode</code> group with several new
1653: constants as indicated below. [<cite><span>DOM3Core</span></cite>]</p>
1.203 avankest 1654:
1.193 avankest 1655: <p class="note">Thus, exceptions used by this specification and not
1656: defined in this section are defined by DOM Level 3 Core.</p>
1.31 avankest 1657:
1.138 avankest 1658: <pre class="idl">const unsigned short <span>SECURITY_ERR</span> = 18;
1.199 avankest 1659: const unsigned short <span>NETWORK_ERR</span> = 19;
1660: const unsigned short <span>ABORT_ERR</span> = 20;</pre>
1.31 avankest 1661:
1.138 avankest 1662: <p>The <dfn id="security-err"><code>SECURITY_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1663: raised if an attempt is made to perform an operation or access some data
1664: in a way that would be a security risk or a violation of the user agent's
1665: security policy.</p>
1666:
1667: <!-- http://lists.w3.org/Archives/Public/public-webapi/2006May/0027.html -->
1668:
1.33 avankest 1669: <p>The <dfn id="network-err"><code>NETWORK_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1.138 avankest 1670: raised when a network error occurs in synchronous requests.</p>
1.121 avankest 1671:
1.138 avankest 1672: <p>The <dfn id="abort-err"><code>ABORT_ERR</code></dfn> exception is
1673: raised when the user aborts a request in synchronous requests.</p>
1.203 avankest 1674:
1.199 avankest 1675: <p class="note">These exceptions might be folded into an update of
1676: DOM Level 3 Core in due course, as they are appropriate for other API
1677: specifications as well.</p>
1.121 avankest 1678:
1679:
1.203 avankest 1680:
1.29 avankest 1681: <h2 class="no-num" id="notcovered">Not in this Specification</h2>
1682:
1.143 avankest 1683: <p><em>This section is non-normative.</em></p>
1.29 avankest 1684:
1.72 avankest 1685: <p>This specification does not include the following features which are
1686: being considered for a future version of this specification:</p>
1.29 avankest 1687:
1688: <ul>
1689: <li><code>load</code> event and <code>onload</code> attribute;</li>
1690: <li><code>error</code> event and <code>onerror</code> attribute;</li>
1691: <li><code>progress</code> event and <code>onprogress</code> attribute;</li>
1692: <li><code title="">abort</code> event and <code>onabort</code> attribute;</li>
1693: <li>Timers have been suggested, perhaps an <code>ontimeout</code>
1694: attribute;</li>
1695: <li>Property to disable following redirects;</li>
1.30 avankest 1696: <li><code title="">responseXML</code> for <code>text/html</code>
1697: documents;</li>
1.203 avankest 1698: <li>Cross-origin <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code>;</li>
1.87 avankest 1699: <li><code>responseBody</code> to deal with byte streams;</li>
1.114 avankest 1700: <li><code>overrideMimeType</code> to fix up MIME types;</li>
1.87 avankest 1701: <li><code>getRequestHeader()</code> and
1702: <code>removeRequestHeader()</code>.</li>
1.29 avankest 1703: </ul>
1704:
1.203 avankest 1705:
1706:
1.1 avankest 1707: <h2 class="no-num" id="bibref">References</h2>
1.203 avankest 1708:
1.177 avankest 1709: <p>Unless marked "Non-normative" these references are normative.</p>
1.11 avankest 1710:
1.6 avankest 1711: <dl>
1.203 avankest 1712: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-cookies=">COOKIES</dfn>]</dt>
1713: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2109">HTTP State Management
1714: Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, February
1715: 1997.</dd>
1716: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2965">HTTP State Management
1717: Mechanism</a></cite>, D. Kristol, L. Montulli, editors. IETF, October
1718: 2000.</dd>
1719:
1720: <!-- XXX These specs do not match reality. Also, the latter obsoletes the
1721: former -->
1722:
1.155 avankest 1723: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-dom2events">DOM2Events</dfn>]</dt>
1724: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-2-Events/">Document
1.160 avankest 1725: Object Model (DOM) Level 2 Events Specification</a></cite>, T. Pixley,
1726: editor. W3C, November 2000.</dd>
1.155 avankest 1727:
1.145 avankest 1728: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-dom3core">DOM3Core</dfn>]</dt>
1.11 avankest 1729: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-Core">Document Object
1.92 avankest 1730: Model (DOM) Level 3 Core Specification</a></cite>, A. Le Hors, P. Le
1.139 avankest 1731: Hégaret, L. Wood, G. Nicol, J. Robie, M. Champion, S. Byrne,
1732: editors. W3C, April 2004.</dd>
1.11 avankest 1733:
1.117 avankest 1734: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-ecmascript">ECMAScript</dfn>]</dt>
1.92 avankest 1735: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/standards/Ecma-262.htm">ECMAScript
1736: Language Specification</a></cite>, Third Edition. ECMA, December 1999.</dd>
1.171 avankest 1737:
1.145 avankest 1738: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-html5">HTML5</dfn>]</dt>
1.171 avankest 1739: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/html/wg/html5/">HTML 5</a></cite>
1740: (work in progress), I. Hickson, D. Hyatt, editors. W3C, 2008.</dd>
1.142 avankest 1741: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.whatwg.org/specs/web-apps/current-work/">HTML 5</a></cite>
1.171 avankest 1742: (work in progress), I. Hickson, editor. WHATWG, 2008.</dd>
1.198 avankest 1743:
1744: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-httpverbsec">HTTPVERBSEC</dfn>]</dt>
1745: <dd>(Non-normative) <cite><a href="http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/867593">Multiple
1746: vendors' web servers enable HTTP TRACE method by default</a></cite>,
1747: US-CERT.</dd>
1748: <dd>(Non-normative) <cite><a href="http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/288308">Microsoft
1749: Internet Information Server (IIS) vulnerable to cross-site scripting via
1750: HTTP TRACK method</a></cite>, US-CERT.</dd>
1751: <dd>(Non-normative) <cite><a href="http://www.kb.cert.org/vuls/id/150227">HTTP
1752: proxy default configurations allow arbitrary TCP connections</a></cite>,
1753: US-CERT.</dd>
1754:
1.145 avankest 1755: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2119">RFC2119</dfn>]</dt>
1.117 avankest 1756: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2119">Key words for use in RFCs to
1757: Indicate Requirement Levels</a></cite>, S. Bradner. IETF, March 1997.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1758:
1.145 avankest 1759: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2616">RFC2616</dfn>]</dt>
1.11 avankest 1760: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2616">Hypertext Transfer Protocol
1.92 avankest 1761: -- HTTP/1.1</a></cite>, R. Fielding, J. Gettys, J. Mogul, H. Frystyk, L.
1762: Masinter, P. Leach, T. Berners-Lee, editors. IETF, June 1999.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1763:
1.37 avankest 1764: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc2617">RFC2617</dfn>]</dt>
1.11 avankest 1765: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc2617">HTTP Authentication: Basic
1.92 avankest 1766: and Digest Access Authentication</a></cite>, P. Hallam-Baker, J.
1767: Hostetler, S. Lawrence, P. Leach, A. Luotonen, L. Stewart, editors. IETF,
1768: June 1999.</dd>
1.12 avankest 1769:
1.37 avankest 1770: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-rfc3986">RFC3986</dfn>]</dt>
1.11 avankest 1771: <dd><cite><a href="http://ietf.org/rfc/rfc3986">Uniform Resource Identifier
1.92 avankest 1772: (URI): Generic Syntax</a></cite>, T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, L. Masinter,
1773: editors. IETF, January 2005.</dd>
1.184 avankest 1774:
1.203 avankest 1775: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-webidl">WebIDL</dfn>]</dt>
1.200 avankest 1776: <dd><cite><a href="http://dev.w3.org/2006/webapi/WebIDL/">Web
1.203 avankest 1777: IDL</a></cite> (work in progress), C. McCormack, editor. W3C, 2009.</dd>
1.181 avankest 1778:
1.92 avankest 1779: <dt>[<dfn id="ref-xml">XML</dfn>]</dt>
1780: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml/">Extensible Markup Language
1.203 avankest 1781: (XML) 1.0 (Fifth Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, J. Paoli, C.
1782: Sperberg-McQueen, E. Maler, F. Yergeau, editors. W3C, November 2008.</dd>
1.92 avankest 1783: <dd><cite><a href="http://www.w3.org/TR/xml-names/">Namespaces in XML
1.117 avankest 1784: (Second Edition)</a></cite>, T. Bray, D. Hollander, A. Layman, R. Tobin,
1785: editors. W3C, August 2006.</dd>
1.1 avankest 1786: </dl>
1.11 avankest 1787:
1.203 avankest 1788:
1789:
1.130 avankest 1790: <h2 class="no-num" id="acknowledgments">Acknowledgments</h2>
1.11 avankest 1791:
1.159 avankest 1792: <p>The editor would like to thank
1.12 avankest 1793:
1.163 avankest 1794: Addison Phillips,
1.159 avankest 1795: Ahmed Kamel,
1796: Alex Hopmann,
1797: Alex Vincent,
1798: Alexey Proskuryakov,
1799: Asbjørn Ulsberg,
1800: Boris Zbarsky,
1801: Björn Höhrmann,
1802: Cameron McCormack,
1803: Christophe Jolif,
1804: Charles McCathieNevile,
1805: Dan Winship,
1806: David Håsäther,
1807: Dean Jackson,
1808: Denis Sureau,
1809: Doug Schepers,
1810: Douglas Livingstone,
1811: Elliotte Harold,
1812: Eric Lawrence,
1.196 avankest 1813: Erik Dahlström,
1.163 avankest 1814: Geoffrey Sneddon,
1.159 avankest 1815: Gideon Cohn,
1816: Gorm Haug Eriksen,
1817: Hallvord R. M. Steen,
1818: Håkon Wium Lie,
1819: Ian Davis,
1820: Ian Hickson,
1821: Ivan Herman,
1822: Jeff Walden,
1823: Jens Lindström,
1824: Jim Deegan,
1825: Jim Ley,
1826: Joe Farro,
1827: Jonas Sicking,
1828: Julian Reschke,
1829: Karl Dubost,
1.175 avankest 1830: Lachlan Hunt,
1.159 avankest 1831: Maciej Stachowiak,
1832: Magnus Kristiansen,
1833: Marc Hadley,
1834: Marcos Caceres,
1835: Mark Baker,
1.203 avankest 1836: Mark Birbeck,
1.159 avankest 1837: Mark Nottingham,
1838: Mohamed Zergaoui,
1839: Pawel Glowacki,
1840: Robin Berjon,
1841: Ruud Steltenpool,
1842: Simon Pieters,
1843: Stewart Brodie,
1844: Sunava Dutta,
1.186 avankest 1845: Thomas Roessler,
1.203 avankest 1846: Tom Magliery, and
1.159 avankest 1847: Zhenbin Xu
1.181 avankest 1848:
1.159 avankest 1849: for their contributions to this specification.</p>
1.12 avankest 1850:
1.1 avankest 1851: <p>Special thanks to the Microsoft employees who first implemented the
1.143 avankest 1852: <code title="">XMLHttpRequest</code> interface, which was first widely
1853: deployed by the Windows Internet Explorer browser.</p>
1.12 avankest 1854:
1.143 avankest 1855: <p>Special thanks also to the WHATWG for drafting an initial version of
1856: this specification in their Web Applications 1.0 document (now renamed to
1857: HTML 5). [<cite><span>HTML5</span></cite>]</p>
1.12 avankest 1858:
1.143 avankest 1859: <p>Thanks also to all those who have helped to improve this specification
1860: by sending suggestions and corrections. (Please, keep bugging us with your
1.22 avankest 1861: issues!)</p>
1.1 avankest 1862: </body>
1863: </html>
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