XMLHttpRequest object

XMLHttpRequest object

XMLHttpRequest object

The XMLHttpRequest object is used to exchange data with the server in the background.

The XMLHttpRequest object is a developer's dream because you can:

• Update the page without reloading it
• Request data from the server after the page has been loaded
• Receive data from the server after the page has been loaded
• Send data to the server in the background

To learn more about XMLHttpRequest objects, learn from our XML DOM tutorial.

XMLHttpRequest instance

When you type a character in the input field below, an XMLHttpRequest is sent to the server - a recommendation to return the name (files from the server):

Create an XMLHttpRequest object

All modern browsers (IE7 Plus, Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera) have built-in XMLHttpRequest objects.

Create the syntax of the XMLHttpRequest object:

ActiveX objects were used in older versions of Internet Explorer (IE5 and IE6):

In the next chapter, we'll use the XMLHttpRequest object to get the XML information back from the server.