The HttpRequest Object

http://www.w3schools.com/dom/dom_http.asp

The HttpRequest object provides client-side communication with a server.

The HttpRequest object

With the httpRequest object you can send a request from the client to the server.

If you are using JavaScript in IE 5.0, you can create the httpRequest object with the following code:

var xmlHTTP = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP")

If you are using VBScript you create the httpRequest object with the following code:

set xmlHTTP = CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP")

The httpRequest object is not a part of the W3C DOM standard.

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Get XML

How to get an xml file from the server using the httpRequest object (works only in IE):

var xmlHttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP") xmlHttp.open("GET", "note.xml", false) xmlHttp.send() xmlDoc=xmlHttp.responseText

Try it Yourself

Netscape compatible code:

xmlHttp = new XMLHttpRequest(); xmlHttp.open("GET", "note.xml", false); xmlHttp.send(null); xmlDoc = xmlHttp.responseText;

Try it Yourself

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Send XML

You can also send an xml document to an ASP page on the server, analyze the request, and send back the result.

var xmlHttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP") xmlHttp.open("POST", "demo_dom_http.asp", false) xmlHttp.send(xmlDoc) document.write(xmlHttp.responseText)

The ASP page, written in VBScript:

set xmldoc = Server.CreateObject("Microsoft.XMLDOM") xmldoc.async=false xmldoc.load(request) for each x in xmldoc.documentElement.childNodes if x.NodeName = "to" then name=x.text next response.write(name)

You send the result back to the client using the response.write property.

Try it Yourself

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Important Note

At the moment, the Microsoft XMLHTTP object can only be run in the BROWSER.

SERVER code that attempts to use the XMLHTTP to communicate with other Web servers, may function incorrectly or perform poorly.

This is a bug in the HTTPRequest object. For more information read Microsoft's Knowledge Base article Q237906.

The rumor is that Microsoft will have this bug fixed in an upcoming release of the XML Library. In the meantime, you may have to use a commercially available ASPHTTP component.

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The httpRequest Properties

Property	Description
readyState	Returns the state of the document
responseBody	Returns the response as an array of unsigned bytes
responseStream	Returns the response as an IStream
responseText	Returns the response as a string
responseXML	Returns the response as an xml document
status	Returns the status code as a number
statusText	Returns the status as a string

The httpRequest Methods

Property	Description
abort()	Cancel the current http request
getAllResponseHeaders()	Returns the value of the http headers
getResponseHeader(headerName)	Returns the value of one specified http header
open(method, url, async, userid, password)	Opens http request, and specifies the information
send()	Send the http request to the server
setRequestHeader(headerName,headerValue)	Specifies the name