Basic Ajax Syntax

/*
------------------
Basic Ajax Syntax
------------------

The basic framework of an Ajax-enabled web page. The following
JavaScript shows how to send a request for an XML file and how
to receive that request. Of course, in a real life scenario,
you'll have to implement better error trapping and actually do
something with the XML that gets returned.
*/


// Function to "handle" the response
function myHandler()
{
// Was the request successful?
if (this.readyState == 4 && this.status == 200)
{
// Did the request return a result?
if (this.responseXML != null && this.responseXML.getElementById("stuff").firstChild.data)
{
doSomething(this.responseXML.getElementById("stuff").firstChild.data);
}
}
}

var myRequest; // Variable to hold request object

if (window.XMLHttpRequest)
{
myRequest = new XMLHttpRequest(); // Standards-compliant browsers
} else if (window.ActiveXObject)
{
myRequest = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP"); // For IE
}

myRequest.onreadystatechange = myHandler;

// "getStuff.php" can be anything that returns an XML file
myRequest.open("GET", "getStuff.php", true);