Ajax Bible by Steve Holzner Ph.D.

Preface     xiii
Acknowledgments     xvii
Fundamental Ajax     1
Essential Ajax     3
What Does "Ajax" Mean?     6
What Can You Do with Ajax?     8
Create Ajax live searches     8
Create an Ajax-enabled calculator     9
Talk with Ajax chat applications     10
Crunch numbers with spreadsheets     12
Browse Amazon     12
Get the answer with Ajax autocomplete     13
Log in with Ajax     15
Download images     17
Drag and drop with Ajax     18
Play games with Ajax     21
Modify Web pages on the fly     24
Add interactivity to maps     29
E-mail the Ajax way     30
Summary     32
Know Your JavaScript     33
What Is JavaScript's Place in Ajax?     33
A Brief History of JavaScript     36
Getting Started with JavaScript     37
Fixing errors     39
Commenting your code     42
Putting your code in external script files     43
Responding to browser events     44
Creating JavaScript Functions     47
Passing arguments to functions     52
Returning values from functions     57
Storing Your Data in Variables     60
Operating on Your Data with Operators     62
Making Decisions with the If Statement     65
Executing Different Code in Different Browsers     68
Working with Loops     73
Looping with the for loop     74
Looping with the while loop     75
Connecting JavaScript to HTML Buttons     79
Summary     81
Creating Ajax Applications     83
Writing Ajax     83
Setting up the application     86
Writing the JavaScript     87
Creating an XMLHttpRequest object     87
Opening the XMLHttpRequest object     92
Handling data downloads     95
Getting your data     98
Downloading the data     100
More ways to create XMLHttpRequest objects     101
Interacting with Server-Side Code     103
Passing Data to Server-Side Scripts     106
Passing data to the server with GET     106
Passing data to the server with POST     110
Using Ajax with XML     115
Creating the XML      117
Downloading the XML     118
Summary     125
Serious Ajax Programming     127
Working with Multiple Concurrent XMLHttpRequest Requests     128
Using multiple XMLHttpRequest objects     130
Storing XMLHttpRequest objects in an array     134
Using inner functions     138
Handling JavaScript Sent from the Server     145
Returning JavaScript     145
Returning JavaScript objects     149
Connecting to Google Suggest     151
Calling Another Domain in Ajax     159
A Login Example     160
Working with Ajax and Head Requests     163
Getting all head data     163
Getting specific head data     166
Eliminate Caching     167
Summary     168
Ajax in Depth     169
Introducing Ajax Frameworks     171
Using the Ajax Utility Library     171
Get text from the server with getText     175
Get XML from the server with getXml     180
Post data to the server and get text back     187
Post data to the server and get XML back     193
Using libXmlRequest to Download XML     203
Using AjaxLib to Download XML     207
Summary     209
More Advanced Ajax Frameworks     211
Using the Majax Framework     211
Using the Sack Framework     216
Using the XHConn Framework     221
Using the uniAjax Framework     226
Using the AjaxGear Framework     229
Using the AjaxRequest Framework     234
Using the Http Framework to Avoid Caching     239
Using the Sarissa Framework to Handle XML     242
Using the Interactive Website Framework to Handle XML     247
Summary     250
Using Server-Side Ajax Frameworks     251
Working with PHP-Based Frameworks     251
Using Sajax and PHP     251
Using Xajax and PHP     260
Using LibAjax and PHP     265
Working with Java-Based Frameworks     271
Using Direct Web Remoting and Java     271
Using Ajax Tags and Java     276
Using SWATO with Java     279
Working with Ajax and Ruby on Rails     281
Downloading text with Ajax     282
Accessing downloaded data in code     288
Summary     294
Ajax and the DOM, XML, CSS, and Dynamic HTML      295
The DOM and Event Handling     297
Introducing the DOM     297
Appending Elements Using the DOM     299
Replacing Elements Using the DOM     305
Creating an Ajax-Enabled Shopping Cart     310
Creating a cross-browser mouse event object     315
Handling mouse down events     320
Handling mouse move events     323
Handling mouse up events     325
Downloading Images with Ajax     328
Handling Ajax Timeouts     333
Summary     337
XML and Ajax     339
Creating XML     339
Handling XML with JavaScript     344
Retrieving Data from an XML Document     349
Handling White Space in the Mozilla, Netscape, and Firefox Web Browsers     359
Handling White Space in a Cross-Browser Way     361
Accessing XML Data Directly     365
Accessing XML Attribute Values     371
Validating Your XML     375
Summary     378
Cascading Style Sheets and Ajax     379
Ajax-Enabled Menus     379
Creating the styles     382
Working with the mouse     388
Downloading the menu items      395
Showing a menu     396
Handling menu item clicks     398
Hiding a menu     400
Getting Text Noticed in Ajax Applications     401
Scrolling Text     405
Styling Text Using CSS     407
Styling Colors and Backgrounds Using CSS     411
Styling Locations in Web Pages     416
Summary     418
Dynamic HTML and Ajax     419
Creating Mouseovers     419
Using Dynamic Styles     423
Using document.write     427
Using Dynamic HTML Methods to Update Part of a Page     434
Using Dynamic HTML Properties to Update Part of a Page     437
Using Text Ranges to Update Part of a Page     443
Using createElement to Create New Elements on the Fly     447
Creating Dynamic Tables     452
Catching the User's Attention with Animation     457
Summary     464
Advanced Ajax     465
Introducing Ajax and PHP     467
Getting Started with PHP     467
Sending text back to the browser     469
Sending XML back to the browser     471
Commenting Your PHP     474
Working with Variables      475
Interpolating Variables in Strings     485
Working with Arrays     487
Creating arrays     488
Copying arrays     491
Handling Your Data with Operators     492
Making Choices with the if Statement     494
Using else statements     497
Using elseif statements     498
Using Switch Statements     499
Using loop Statements     501
Looping with the for loop     501
Looping with the while loop     503
Looping with the do...while loop     505
Looping with the foreach loop     506
Summary     508
PHP: Functions and HTML Controls     509
Working with Functions     509
Passing data to functions     512
Setting up default arguments     514
Creating variable-length argument lists     515
Returning values from functions     518
Returning multiple values from a function     519
Handling HTML Controls     522
Working with text fields     524
Working with checkboxes     527
Working with radio buttons     531
Working with list boxes     533
Working with password controls     538
Working with Image Maps     540
Uploading Files     544
Summary     550
Handling User Input in PHP     551
Displaying All the Data in a Form     552
Looking at Server Variables     556
Getting User Input in Arrays     560
Wrapping PHP Applications in a Single Page     563
Using Hidden Controls to Check Whether a Page Has Been Seen Before     567
Validating User Input, Numbers, and Text     568
Validating user input     568
Validating numbers     577
Validating text     582
Handling HTML Sent by the User     586
Summary     589
Ajax and Security     591
Protecting Against Malicious Users     591
JavaScript insertion     592
Looking at the Security Issues with Proxy Servers     600
Handling Security in Ajax Applications     601
Easy password protection     601
Server-side user authentication     605
Protecting Passwords Using Public and Private Keys     619
Summary     630
Filters, MVC, and Ajax     631
Restricting Access with Filters      631
Logging User Access with Filters     642
Restricting Access Based on Time of Day     654
Model-View-Controller Applications     660
The controller     660
The view     664
The model     665
Installing the MVC Application     666
Accessing MVC with Ajax     666
Summary     668
Index     669