javascript ajax request without framework

Question

Does anyone know how to make ajax request function that works cross-browser WITHOUT using a javascript framework like jQuery, etc.?

Answer 1

The XMLHttpRequest object isn't actually all that complicated to use. To be broadly compatible, you have to play a bit of a game to create the object, but after that it's fairly straightforward for simple operations.

Microsoft has examples on the MSDN page for XMLHttpRequest, including a function for creating the object in a cross-browser way that supports early versions of IE. Here's their example:

function getXMLHttpRequest() 
{
    if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {
        return new window.XMLHttpRequest;
    }
    else {
        try {
            return new ActiveXObject("MSXML2.XMLHTTP.3.0");
        }
        catch(ex) {
            return null;
        }
    }
}

function handler()
{
    if (oReq.readyState == 4 /* complete */) {
        if (oReq.status == 200) {
            alert(oReq.responseText);
        }
    }
}

var oReq = getXMLHttpRequest();

if (oReq != null) {
    oReq.open("GET", "http://localhost/test.xml", true);
    oReq.onreadystatechange = handler;
    oReq.send();
}
else {
    window.alert("AJAX (XMLHTTP) not supported.");
}

I'm not suggesting the above exemplifies best practices (Microsoft seems to have their MSDN examples largely written by very, very inexperienced engineers), but it gives you a starting point. For instance, the above requires that the response status be 200 for success, where of course the HTTP specification is clear that anything the 200 <= n <= 299 range is "success".