Question

I am new to JavaScript. I need to test the output of XMLHttpRequest.responseText on a given URL. What is the simplest way to do it?

var url = "http://m.google.com/"; <br>
var xmlHttp = new XMLHttpRequest(); <br>
xmlHttp.open('GET', url, true); <br>
document.getElementById('main-content').innerHTML = xmlHttp.responseText; <br>

main-content is a <div> tag. The last line of code will replace the contents of the <div> tag with output of xmlHttp.responseText.

Now, when I open m.google.com in my regular browse and select “View Source”, what part of the source gets placed within the <div> tag. Or let’s stay I have to test this code in – where do I write this code?

Actually, I have an Android app that displays this HTML code result in a WebView.

Answer 1

Skip your frustrations and employ jQuery. It’s an industry standard and almost every employer asks if you have experience with it.

$.get({
 url:'url.html',
 data:{},
 success:function(evt){console.log(evt);}
});

However, if you want a go a more difficulte route:

var url = "http://m.google.com/"; 
var xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest(); 
xmlhttp.open("GET", url,true);

 // subscribe to this event before you send your request.
 xmlhttp.onreadystatechange=function() {
  if (xmlhttp.readyState==4) {
   //alert the user that a response now exists in the responseTest property.
   alert(xmlhttp.responseText);
   // And to view in firebug
   console.log('xhr',xmlhttp)
  }
 }
 xmlhttp.send(null)