The HttpRequest object

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

Examples

readyState
How to return the state of the document. This property changes as the document is being loaded.

responseText
How to return the request as a string.

status
How to return the status of the operation, as a code.

statusText
How to return the status of the operation, as a string.

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.

Get XML

How to get an xml file from the server using the httpRequest object.

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

Try it Yourself

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

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.

The httpRequest Properties

The httpRequest Methods

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