How to prevent ajax requests to follow redirects using jQuery

Question

I use the jQuery ajax functions to access a web service, but the server, instead of returning a response with a status code describing a problem, the request is redirected t

Answer 1

I don't believe it is possible. The underlying library (XHR) makes the new request transparently. That being said, what I have done in these situations (usually a session-timeout type of deal that takes me to a login page) is send back a custom response header. I also have setup a global ajax handler that checks for the presence of that header, and responds appropriately when present (for example, redirecting the whole page to the login screen).

In case you're interested, here's the jQuery code I have to watch for that custom header:

/* redirects main window when AJAX request indicates that the session has expired on the backend. */
function checkSession(event, xhr, ajaxOptions)
{
    if (xhr.readyState == 4)
    {
        if(xhr.getResponseHeader("Login-Screen") != null && xhr.getResponseHeader("Login-Screen").length)
        {
            window.location.href='sessionExpired.html'; //whatever
        }
    }
}

$(document).ajaxComplete(checkSession)