XML http request with a URL

Question

I want to retrieve an XML from a URL and store it in a variable xmlDoc.

I have the following:

if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {// code for IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Safari
                xmlhttp=new XMLHttpRequest();
            } else {// code for IE6, IE5
                xmlhttp=new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
            }

            xmlhttp.open("GET","localhost:8080/rest/xml",false);
            xmlhttp.send();
            xmlDoc=xmlhttp.responseXML;

But I am not getting the XML file, is there something I need to add?

You should probably look at some examples, ajax requests are async, so you have to listen for the onreadystate event to capture the response — adeneo
– adeneo, Commented Jan 15, 2014 at 17:42

Greg Burghardt · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-15 17:57:48Z

2

The open method is passing false as the last parameter, making this a synchronous request. The OP's original code is correct, except for one thing: the URL.

xmlhttp.open("GET","http://localhost:8080/rest/xml",false);

Or if you want to make the URL agnostic to the protocol of the current page:

xmlhttp.open("GET","//localhost:8080/rest/xml",false);

answered Jan 15, 2014 at 17:57

Greg Burghardt

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5 Comments

orpqK Over a year ago

Hi Greg, i was testing it on local. Now I am testing it with a URL a user uploaded earlier. (cdn.florianbussmann.de/stackoverflow/21140602_catalog.xml). I added the "//" infront of it. It still didnt work. It works fine locally, as in I saved the XML file into my folder, and just called it by the name "21140602_catalog.xml"

Greg Burghardt Over a year ago

You might be butting your head against the Same Domain Policy. You can only make AJAX requests to URLs in the same domain that the current web page is in. That could be why it works locally but not with the other URL.

orpqK Over a year ago

Ok I see, so if my code is uploaded onto the same domain as the .XML file, then it will be able to access it?

orpqK Over a year ago

I found this: anyorigin.com you think I can use this? but it is in JSON?

Greg Burghardt Over a year ago

@Jenny: That is correct. If your HTML page is served from the same domain name as the XML file, the AJAX request should work.

Piyush Ashtt · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-15 17:58:01Z

0

before sending, attach a callback like this.

  xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function()
      {
      if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status==200)
        {
        xmlDoc=xmlhttp.responseText;
        }else if (xmlhttp.readyState==4 && xmlhttp.status != 200)
        {
         alert("error-" + xmlhttp.responseText);
        }
      }

edited Jan 15, 2014 at 17:58

answered Jan 15, 2014 at 17:43

Piyush Ashtt

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3 Comments

Piyush Ashtt Over a year ago

Why do you want to use Synchronous ?? why not async ?

orpqK Over a year ago

So change it to xhr.open(); then add the code you posted before Send()?

Piyush Ashtt Over a year ago

I meant xmlhttp.open("GET","localhost:8080/rest/xml",true); .. read the above answer too, may be the URL is wrong

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