jQuery AJAX Methods

jQuery AJAX Methods

AJAX is the art of exchanging data with a server, and update parts of a web page - without reloading the whole page.
The following table lists all the jQuery AJAX methods:

Method	Description
$.ajax()	Performs an async AJAX request
$.ajaxPrefilter()	Handle custom Ajax options or modify existing options before each request is sent and before they are processed by $.ajax()
$.ajaxSetup()	Sets the default values for future AJAX requests
$.ajaxTransport()	Creates an object that handles the actual transmission of Ajax data
$.get()	Loads data from a server using an AJAX HTTP GET request
$.getJSON()	Loads JSON-encoded data from a server using a HTTP GET request
$.getScript()	Loads (and executes) a JavaScript from a server using an AJAX HTTP GET request
$.param()	Creates a serialized representation of an array or object (can be used as URL query string for AJAX requests)
$.post()	Loads data from a server using an AJAX HTTP POST request
ajaxComplete()	Specifies a function to run when the AJAX request completes
ajaxError()	Specifies a function to run when the AJAX request completes with an error
ajaxSend()	Specifies a function to run before the AJAX request is sent
ajaxStart()	Specifies a function to run when the first AJAX request begins
ajaxStop()	Specifies a function to run when all AJAX requests have completed
ajaxSuccess()	Specifies a function to run when an AJAX request completes successfully
load()	Loads data from a server and puts the returned data into the selected element
serialize()	Encodes a set of form elements as a string for submission
serializeArray()	Encodes a set of form elements as an array of names and values

jQuery - AJAX load() Method

jQuery load() Method

The jQuery load() method is a simple, but powerful AJAX method.
The load() method loads data from a server and puts the returned data into the selected element.
Syntax:

$(selector).load(URL,data,callback);

The required URL parameter specifies the URL you wish to load.
The optional data parameter specifies a set of querystring key/value pairs to send along with the request.
The optional callback parameter is the name of a function to be executed after the load() method is completed.
Here is the content of our example file: "demo_test.txt":

<h2>jQuery and AJAX is FUN!!!</h2>
<p id="p1">This is some text in a paragraph.</p>

The following example loads the content of the file "demo_test.txt" into a specific <div> element:

Example

$("#div1").load("demo_test.txt");

Try it yourself »

It is also possible to add a jQuery selector to the URL parameter.
The following example loads the content of the element with id="p1", inside the file "demo_test.txt", into a specific <div> element:

Example

$("#div1").load("demo_test.txt #p1");

Try it yourself »

The optional callback parameter specifies a callback function to run when the load() method is completed. The callback function can have different parameters:

• responseTxt - contains the resulting content if the call succeed
• statusTxt - contains the status of the call
• xhr - contains the XMLHttpRequest object

The following example displays an alert box after the load() method completes. If the load() method has succeed, it displays "External content loaded successfully!", and if it fails it displays an error message:

Example

$("button").click(function(){
  $("#div1").load("demo_test.txt",function(responseTxt,statusTxt,xhr){
    if(statusTxt=="success")
      alert("External content loaded successfully!");
    if(statusTxt=="error")
      alert("Error: "+xhr.status+": "+xhr.statusText);
  });
});

Try it yourself »

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jQuery AJAX Reference

For a complete overview of all jQuery AJAX methods, please go to our jQuery AJAX Reference.

jQuery - AJAX Introduction

AJAX is the art of exchanging data with a server, and updating parts of a web page - without reloading the whole page.

jQuery AJAX Example

Let jQuery AJAX Change This Text

Try it yourself »

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What is AJAX?

AJAX = Asynchronous JavaScript and XML.
In short; AJAX is about loading data in the background and display it on the webpage, without reloading the whole page.
Examples of applications using AJAX: Gmail, Google Maps, Youtube, and Facebook tabs.
You can learn more about AJAX in our AJAX tutorial.

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What About jQuery and AJAX?

jQuery provides several methods for AJAX functionality.
With the jQuery AJAX methods, you can request text, HTML, XML, or JSON from a remote server using both HTTP Get and HTTP Post - And you can load the external data directly into the selected HTML elements of your web page!

	Without jQuery, AJAX coding can be a bit tricky! Writing regular AJAX code can be a bit tricky, because different browsers have different syntax for AJAX implementation. This means that you will have to write extra code to test for different browsers. However, the jQuery team has taken care of this for us, so that we can write AJAX functionality with only one single line of code.

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jQuery AJAX Methods

In the next chapters we will look at the most important jQuery AJAX methods.