Simple ajax form using javascript no jQuery

Question

I\'m working with a form for which the mark-up I can\'t change & can\'t use jQuery. Currently the form post the results to a new window. Is it possible to change this to

Answer 1

The following is a far more elegant solution of the other answer, more fit for modern browsers.

My reasoning is that if you need support for older browser you already most likely use a library like jQuery, and thus making this question pointless.

/**
 * Takes a form node and sends it over AJAX.
 * @param {HTMLFormElement} form - Form node to send
 * @param {function} callback - Function to handle onload. 
 *                              this variable will be bound correctly.
 */

function ajaxPost (form, callback) {
    var url = form.action,
        xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();

    //This is a bit tricky, [].fn.call(form.elements, ...) allows us to call .fn
    //on the form's elements, even though it's not an array. Effectively
    //Filtering all of the fields on the form
    var params = [].filter.call(form.elements, function(el) {
        //Allow only elements that don't have the 'checked' property
        //Or those who have it, and it's checked for them.
        return typeof(el.checked) === 'undefined' || el.checked;
        //Practically, filter out checkboxes/radios which aren't checekd.
    })
    .filter(function(el) { return !!el.name; }) //Nameless elements die.
    .filter(function(el) { return el.disabled; }) //Disabled elements die.
    .map(function(el) {
        //Map each field into a name=value string, make sure to properly escape!
        return encodeURIComponent(el.name) + '=' + encodeURIComponent(el.value);
    }).join('&'); //Then join all the strings by &

    xhr.open("POST", url);
    // Changed from application/x-form-urlencoded to application/x-form-urlencoded
    xhr.setRequestHeader("Content-type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded");

    //.bind ensures that this inside of the function is the XHR object.
    xhr.onload = callback.bind(xhr); 

    //All preperations are clear, send the request!
    xhr.send(params);
}

The above is supported in all major browsers, and IE9 and above.