Question

How do I get the raw response returned by the server when using POST/DELETE methods in Backbone (so you can’t get the raw response in fetch/parse like GET)?

Answer 1

You can access the responseText from the server when the ajax call is complete.

The save, fetch, etc methods from Backbone provide the jQuery promise generated by the call to $.ajax.

When this promise has been resolved (e.g. the transaction is complete), you’ll have access to the responseText property on the promise.

var promise = a_model.save();
$.when(promise).then(function(){
    console.log(promise.responseText); // if you're getting XML back it's `responseXML`
});

Here’s the jQuery docs on the jqXHR object which is the promise object you get.

Additionally $.when and .then are described in the Deferred object documentation