© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 1
Ajax
Asynchronous JavaScript + XML
Mark Andreessen, Netscape, 1995: “MS Windows will be reduced to
a poorly debugged set of device drivers running under Netscape
Navigator, with desktop-style applications running inside the browser”.
This did not happen until 10 years later (true/false?)
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 2
Asynchronous JavaScript + XML
• Ajax isn’t a technology.
• It’s really several technologies. Ajax incorporates:
– standards-based presentation using XHTML;
– CSS, dynamically manipulated using JavaScript;
– dynamic display and interaction using the Document
Object Model (DOM). Web page exposed as DOM object;
– data interchange using XML (nowadays JSON);
– asynchronous data retrieval using XMLHttpRequest, a
JavaScript object, a.k.a “Web remoting”;
– JavaScript binding everything together;
– Server no longer performs display logic, only
business logic.
• Acronym originated by Jesse James Garrett in 2005:
https://immagic.com/eLibrary/ARCHIVES/GENERAL/ADTVPATH
/A050218G.pdf
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 3
Some History and Browsers Supporting Ajax
• The XMLHttpRequest object (XHR) is the main element of Ajax
programming.
• Microsoft first implemented the XMLHttpRequest object in
Internet Explorer 5 (IE5) for Windows as an ActiveX object
in March 1999, making it the first Ajax-enabled browser.
• Similar functionality is covered in a recommended W3C
standard, Document Object Model (DOM) Level 3 Load and Save
Specification (April 2004):
http://www.w3.org/TR/DOM-Level-3-LS
• Engineers on the Mozilla project implemented a compatible
native version for Mozilla 1.0 (included in Netscape 7,
Firefox 1.0 and later releases). Apple has done the same
starting with Safari 1.2.
• Other browsers supporting XMLHttpRequest include:
– Opera 7.6+, Apple Safari 1.2+, all mobile browsers
• XMLHttpRequest moved to W3C in 2006 and back to WHATWG in
2012 as XMLHttpRequest Living Standard:
– https://xhr.spec.whatwg.org/
An Example Using Ajax – Google Maps
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 4
Initial screen zoom 3 times drag map and zoom
See: https://maps.google.com
Notice that the page is never explicitly refreshed. View source and search
for XMLHttpRequest; you will find multiple occurrences. (found 2 times on
maps.google.com)
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 5
Mashup Example –
www.zillow.com
A combination of satellite
photos with records of home
sale prices placed on top of
the appropriate houses
Found 4+ references of
XMLHttpRequest
A “mash-up” is a web application that consumes (“remixes”)
content from different sources and aggregates them to create a new application
A Mash-Up Combines Multiple Sources of Data
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 6
Characteristics of Ajax Applications
• They are applications (or Apps), not just web
sites
• They allow for smooth, continuous interaction
• “Live” content
• Visual Effects
• Animations, dynamic icons
• Single keystrokes can lead to server calls
• New Widgets (selectors, buttons, tabs, lists)
• New Styles of Interaction (drag-and-drop,
keyboard shortcuts, double-click)
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 7
Comparing Traditional vs. AJAX Websites
Traditional
• Interface construction is
mainly the responsibility
of the server
• User interaction is via
form submissions
• An entire page is required
for each interaction
(bandwidth)
• Application is unavailable
while an interaction is
processing (application
speed)
Ajax
• Interface is manipulated
by client-side JavaScript
manipulations of the
Document Object Model
(DOM)
• User interaction via HTTP
requests occur ‘behind the
scenes’
• Communication can be
restricted to data only
• Application is always
responsive
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 8
How to Recognize an Ajax Application
Internally
“View Source” in the browser and search for:
• Javascript code that invokes:
– XMLHttpRequest or
• JavaScript that “loads” other JavaScript code
(files with .js extension)
• XML code passed as text strings to a server,
such as ‘
• Javascript
The javascript file does all of the work
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 30
Imported JavaScript-script01.js
window.onload = initAll;
var xhr = false;
function initAll() {
document.getElementById("makeTextRequest").onclick = getNewFile;
document.getElementById("makeXMLRequest").onclick = getNewFile;}
function getNewFile() {
makeRequest(this.href); return false;}
function makeRequest(url) {
if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();}
else { if (window.ActiveXObject) {
try { xhr = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); }
catch (e) { }
} }
if (xhr) { xhr.onreadystatechange = showContents;
xhr.open("GET", url, true); xhr.send(null); }
else { document.getElementById("updateArea").innerHTML = "Sorry, but I couldn't
create an XMLHttpRequest"; } }
function showContents() {
if (xhr.readyState == 4) {
if (xhr.status == 200) {
var outMsg = (xhr.responseXML &&
xhr.responseXML.contentType=="text/xml") ?
xhr.responseXML.getElementsByTagName("choices")[0].textContent : xhr.responseText;
} else { var outMsg = "There was a problem with the request " + xhr.status; }
document.getElementById("updateArea").innerHTML = outMsg; } }
On page load the onclick event is set to call the function
When the click is made, getNewFile and makerequest are executed.
showContents waits for a successful return of an
file; it then prints the result in the browser
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 31
Browser Output
Result of clicking on the
first link
Result of clicking on the
second link
http://csci571.com/ajaxexamples/simple/script01.html
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 32
Second Ajax Example – Using Ajax to Download Files from Flickr
• Here is the html file, which basically loads script02.js
• Here is script02.js
window.onload = initAll;
var xhr = false;
function initAll() {
if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(); }
else { if (window.ActiveXObject) {
try { xhr = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } catch (e) { } } }
if (xhr) { xhr.onreadystatechange = showPictures;
xhr.open("GET", "flickrfeed.xml", true); xhr.send(null); }
else { alert("Sorry, but I couldn't create an XMLHttpRequest"); } }
function showPictures() {
var tempDiv = document.createElement("div");
var pageDiv = document.getElementById("pictureBar");
if (xhr.readyState == 4) {
if (xhr.status == 200) {
tempDiv.innerHTML = xhr.responseText;
var allLinks = tempDiv.getElementsByTagName("a");
for (var i=1; i
OTHER STUFF
Each
This application uses the second link so
the showPictures loop starts with 1 rather
than 0 and increments by 2; each link contains
the thumbnail image inside it; every
thumbnail is a link back to the original photo
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 34
Browser Output
http://csci571.com/ajaxexamples/simple/script02.html
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 35
Third Ajax Example - Refreshing Server Data
• This extension retrieves a new version of the data from the server,
refreshing the page; here is the html accessing javascript
• And here is the source for script03.js
window.onload = initAll;
var xhr = false;
function initAll() { same as previously except it calls getPix }
function getPix() { xhr.open("GET", "flickrfeed.xml", true);
xhr.onreadystatechange = showPictures; xhr.send(null);setTimeout("getPix()",5 * 1000); }
function showPictures() {
var tempDiv = document.createElement("div");
var tempDiv2 = document.createElement("div");
if (xhr.readyState == 4) {
if (xhr.status == 200) {
tempDiv.innerHTML = xhr.responseText;
var allLinks = tempDiv.getElementsByTagName("a");
for (var i=1; i
A Gentle Introduction to JavaScript
http://csci571.com/ajaxexamples/simple/script04.html
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 38
The stylesheet
#previewWin {
background-color: #FF9;
width: 400px;
height: 100px;
font: .8em arial, helvetica, sans-serif;
padding: 5px;
position: absolute;
visibility: hidden;
top: 10px;
left: 10px;
border: 1px #CC0 solid;
clip: auto;
overflow: hidden;
}
#previewWin h1, #previewWin h2 {
font-size: 1.0em;
}
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 39
The javascript source
window.onload = initAll;
var xhr = false;
var xPos, yPos;
function initAll() {
var allLinks = document.getElementsByTagName("a");
for (var i=0; i< allLinks.length; i++) {
allLinks[i].onmouseover = showPreview; } }
function showPreview(evt) { getPreview(evt); return false; }
function hidePreview() {
document.getElementById("previewWin").style.visibility = "hidden"; }
function getPreview(evt) {
if (evt) { var url = evt.target; }
else { evt = window.event; var url = evt.srcElement; }
xPos = evt.clientX; yPos = evt.clientY;
if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {
xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(); }
else { if (window.ActiveXObject) {
try { xhr = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } catch (e) { } } }
if (xhr) { xhr.onreadystatechange = showContents;
xhr.open("GET", url, true); xhr.send(null);
} else { alert("Sorry, but I couldn't create an XMLHttpRequest"); } }
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 40
The javascript source cont’d
function showContents() {
var prevWin = document.getElementById("previewWin");
if (xhr.readyState == 4) {
prevWin.innerHTML = (xhr.status == 200) ? xhr.responseText : "There was
a problem with the request " + xhr.status;
prevWin.style.top = parseInt(yPos)+2 + "px";
prevWin.style.left = parseInt(xPos)+2 + "px";
prevWin.style.visibility = "visible";
prevWin.onmouseout = hidePreview; }}
Notes: initall goes through all of the links and adds an onmouseover event;
showPreview( ) and hidePreview( ) are both needed; the latter sets the preview window
back to hidden;
In getPreview( ), depending upon the browser, the URL is in either evt.target or
in window.event.srcElement; the (x,y) position is extracted;
In showContents( ) the data is placed in prevWin.innerHTML from responseText;
The preview window is placed just below and to the right of the cursor position that triggered the call
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 41
Fifth Ajax Example, Auto Completion
Initial screen
Autocomplete attribute is set to off to prevent browsers
from trying to autocomplete the field
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 42
The stylesheet
body, #searchfield {
font: 1.2em arial, helvetica, sans-serif;
}
.suggestions {
background-color: #FFF;
padding: 2px 6px;
border: 1px solid #000;
}
.suggestions:hover {
background-color: #69F;
}
#popups {
position: absolute;
}
#searchField.error {
background-color: #FFC;
}
© 2007-2021 Marco Papa & Ellis Horowitz 43
The JavaScript Source
window.onload = initAll;
var xhr = false; var statesArray = new Array();
function initAll() {
document.getElementById("searchField").onkeyup = searchSuggest;
if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { xhr = new XMLHttpRequest(); }
else { if (window.ActiveXObject) {
try { xhr = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } catch (e) { } }}
if (xhr) {
xhr.onreadystatechange = setStatesArray;
xhr.open("GET", "us-states.xml", true); xhr.send(null);
} else { alert("Sorry, but I couldn't create an XMLHttpRequest"); }}
function setStatesArray() {
if (xhr.readyState == 4) {
if (xhr.status == 200) {
if (xhr.responseXML) {
var allStates = xhr.responseXML.getElementsByTagName("item");
for (var i=0; i