AJAX onreadystatechange function not always called - javascript

I have a AJAX call to retrieve some XML using the below method. Often when I run the code it does not enter the onreadystatechange function until the last iterations of my foreach loop. I'm assuming this is because the calls to "www.webpage.com/" + arrayValue are taking enough time that before the state is updated to "Ready" and then the next request beings. The method probably only runs for the last iteration of the loop because there is no other request to override it and thus has time to become "Ready". From what I've seen online you can't really do a tradition Wait() statement in javascipt or AJAX to give the calls time to complete. So how can I overcome this issue?
var getXML = new XMLHttpRequest();
myArray.forEach((arrayValue, index) => {
getXML.open("GET", "www.webpage.com/" + arrayValue, true);
getXML.setRequestHeader('Access-Control-Allow-Credentials', true);
getXML.setRequestHeader('Authorization', "Basic " + btoa(":something"));
getXML.send(null);
getXML.onreadystatechange = function () {
if(this.readyState == this.DONE) {
Console.Log("We made it in!");
}
}
});

The problem here is that you are trying to use the same XMLHttpRequest object for multiple requests.
Don't do that. Create a new, clean instance of XMLHttpRequest for each request.
myArray.forEach((arrayValue, index) => {
var getXML = new XMLHttpRequest();
getXML.open("GET", "www.webpage.com/" + arrayValue, true);

Related

How javascript receive callbacks after request when it is single threaded?

I know that there is similar topics, but I cannot find answer to the following question. Why The first piece of code executes callback while the second doesn't.
var XMLHttpRequest = require("xmlhttprequest").XMLHttpRequest;
var xmlHttp = new XMLHttpRequest();
xmlHttp.onreadystatechange = function () {
console.log("Request is ready");
}
xmlHttp.open("GET", "www.google.com", true);
var result = 0;
while(1 < 5) {
}
In the code above Request is ready is printed. But with the following code:
setTimeout(function () {
console.log("Test")
}, 5)
while (1 < 5) {
}
Test is not printed. Why this is happening? I thought that onreadystatechange will push this function to be executed when the request is ready, but because we have an infinite loop the looper will not check the queue (because looper loops on the main thread and it is busy). This logic works on the second example, but not on the first. Obviously I am missing something.
Thanks in advance.
There's no asynchronous event in the first case: open triggers the first state change and synchronously calls the onreadystatechange callback.
The "Request is ready" log is done before the loop is entered.
If you add the xmlHttp.send and you call a non cached URL, you'll notice the callback isn't called for the other changes, because those ones are really asynchronous.

Problems understanding/using callback function

In this discussion and in chat I understood that a callback is the only way to go!
"
Get from the server a link with ajax, write the link in a variable, open an xml with this link, doing some stuff with the xml: is callback the only way?
"
I'm trying to understand what a callback is. I read some blog, but I still have problems.
What I have now in JS is
1) a function to open an xml.
2) function to request the link of the xml in first function
Can someone provide an example in PLAIN JAVASCRIPT of how to nest these two functions?
The server generate the link of the xml because I'm making a multi user web site and every user has it's own xml. So I need to ask the server what is the link of the xml and then open it. Is there an easy way to achieve this? I need plain javascript no jquery.
Thanks!
In general, a "callback" is a function which will be executed at a later time when an asynchronous process is completed.
So you might start by defining the function that should happen when the data is retrieved from the server (the "second" function, intuitively, but you should define it first because it's the business functionality you're looking to achieve and not just an implementation concern). Something as simple as:
var doSomethingWithTheData = function () {
// do, well, something with the data
};
This assumes that you have the data, which you don't yet. But the AJAX call will get that data. You can now use this function as your callback for the AJAX call. Taking the AJAX example from MDN, you might have this:
var httpRequest;
if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // Mozilla, Safari, ...
httpRequest = new XMLHttpRequest();
} else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE 8 and older
httpRequest = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}
httpRequest.onreadystatechange = doSomethingWithTheData;
// perform the AJAX request
The httpRequest object will contain the response from the server after the AJAX call is executed and completed. (Remember that this happens asynchronously, so it won't contain the response on the immediate next line of code. It will at some later time which you don't control. Hence the need for the callback.)
I recommend walking through that full MDN article to get all the details, particularly on handling errors and such. But the data you're looking for (assuming nothing went wrong) would be in httpRequest.ResponseText. So, also assuming your variables are scoped to allow this (you can modify that as needed):
var doSomethingWithTheData = function () {
var data = httpRequest.ResponseText;
// do, well, something with the data
};
Excuse me, #David
var httpRequest;
if (window.XMLHttpRequest) { // Mozilla, Safari,
httpRequest = new XMLHttpRequest();
} else if (window.ActiveXObject) { // IE 8 and older
httpRequest = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}
var url = "http://myserver.mydomain/getMyUsersXMLUrl?user=pete";
httpRequest.open("GET", url, true); // next ajax to retrieve XML - File
httpRequest.onreadystatechange = function() {
if (httpRequest.readyState == 4) { // response received
var response = httpRequest.responseText; // this should contain you url
httpRequest.open("GET", response, true); // next ajax to retrieve XML - File
// and the same as for the first request
}
}
If You just need to download a xml you dont need a callback . Just take a look at jquery and ajax. Retrieving a callback from a server is not possible . JSONP does deal with callbacks that are called by the server (actually they arent ) Butter you wont need it. I think you are messaging the xhttprequestobject
A callback function is simply a piece of executable code passed as a parameter to another piece of code. For example:
function first (arr, predicate) {
// no predicate supplied, return first element
if (!predicate) return arr[0];
for (var i = 0; i < arr.length; i++) {
// return first element satisfying predicate
if (predicate(arr[i])) return arr[i];
}
// no element satisfying predicate, return null
return null;
}
// second parameter is an anonymous function
// will alert 4, as it's the first element which will return true
alert(first([1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6], function(n) { return n > 3; }));
Callbacks are useful for asynchronous tasks, or for library functions which need extra customization at runtime.

Memory leaks when using AJAX JSON call

In my javascript application I have big memory leak when making AJAX call to retrieve JSON object. Code is really simple:
function getNewMessage()
{
new_message = []; // this is global variable
var input_for_ball = [];
var sum;
var i;
var http = new XMLHttpRequest();
http.open("GET", url + "/random_ball.json", false);
http.onreadystatechange = function()
{
if(http.readyState === 4 && http.status === 200)
{
var responseTxt = http.responseText;
input_for_ball = JSON.parse('[' + responseTxt + ']');
}
}
http.send(null);
new_message = input_for_ball;
}
This is called every 1 milisecond and as you see, its synchronous call. This function costs me 1MB every 1 second.
When I use instead of AJAX just assigning to variable like:
input_for_ball = JSON.parse('[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]');
then its everything perfect. So error must be in my implementation of AJAX call. This happened when I use jQuery AJAX call too.
UPDATE 12/03/2013
As Tom van der Woerdt mentioned below, this really was intended behavior. So as Matt B. suggested, I have rewrote some code to make asynchronous calls possible and it helped a lot. Now my application memory consuming is stable and small.
I don't think it's the AJAX call, but the closure which is costing you memory. Your onreadystatechange function references the http object (so a reference to this will be kept with the anonymous function).
I think your code matches the pattern in example 1 in this link http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/web/library/wa-memleak/
If you've not come across closures in javascript before, they're well worth reading up on - understanding them explains a lot of behaviour which doesn't seem to make sense at first glance.

How to add callback to AJAX variable assignment

I've got a variable responce which is assigned via an AJAX function send(). When I make the assignment...
responce = send();
response returns before send does giving me back an undefined how can I add a callback to prevent this from happening?
EDIT: a clarification on what I'm asking..
It's still returning undefined. I'm assigning the variable with the function send send returns onreadystatechange however when my code is executing.. response returns as undefined before send() can return. How do I stop the code under response from running on till response has been assigned sends value?
EDIT2:
The following code is my send function...
function send(uri)
{
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open("POST",uri,true);
xhr.onreadystatechange = function (send){
if(xhr.readyState == 4){
return xhr.responseText;
}
}
xhr.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded;charset=utf-8");
xhr.send(null);
}
You are using Ajax in a asynchronous manner, but you are treating it to be synchronous.
Asynchronous calls goes off to do its job while the rest of the code after the initial send call executes. You are getting undefined because the code is not returning anything.
If you look at the XMLHttpRequest object, the 3rd argument in the open method is the asynchronous flag.
open("method", "URL"[, asyncFlag[, "userName"[, "password"]]])
Setting it to true [default is left off] will make an asynchronous call. Setting it to false will make it synchronous.
The problem with using synchronous calls is it locks up the user's browser until the call is returned. That means animated gifs stuff, browser timers stop, and so on. If the server takes forever to respond, the user can not do anything.
The best solution is to avoid using synchronous calls. Use the call back to continue the code execution flow.
So based on your edit, I will edit my response with a basic solution
function send(uri, callback)
{
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open("POST",uri,true);
xhr.onreadystatechange = function (send){
if(xhr.readyState == 4){ //You really should check for status here because you can get 400, 500, etc
callback(xhr.responseText);
//return
}
}
xhr.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded;charset=utf-8");
xhr.send(null);
}
function myFunction(){
var myUrl = "foo.php";
//show a loading message or soemthing
var someDiv = document.getElementById("loadingMessage");
someDiv.style.display = "block";
//Second half of your function that handles what you returned.
function gotData( value ){
someDiv.style.display = "none";
alert(value);
}
send(myUrl, gotData);
}
If you really want to do synchronous and you do not mind locking up a user's browser
function send(uri, callback)
{
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open("POST",uri,false);
xhr.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded;charset=utf-8");
xhr.send(null);
if(xhr.status==200){
return xhr.responseText;
}
else{
return null;
}
}
I presume you are talking about the XMLHTTPRequest.send() method, rather than a framework's wrapper.
send does not return anything. It will always return undefined.
To get the HTTP response, you need to monitor onreadystatechange, as countless StackOverflow answers and internet tutorials (e.g. this one) demonstrate.
you must assign the value to your response on readystatechange event of your request, something like this:
req.onreadystatechange = function(){
if (req.readyState===4) { // checks if data is already loaded.
callback(req.responseText,req.status); //call your callback function with response and status as parameters.
}
};
try this:
function send(uri, callback)
{
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
xhr.open("POST",uri,true);
xhr.onreadystatechange = function (send){
if(xhr.readyState == 4 and callback){
callback();
}
}
xhr.setRequestHeader("Content-Type", "application/x-www-form-urlencoded;charset=utf-8");
xhr.send(null);
}
send("uri here", function(){
//whatever needs to be done after request
})

Javascript: xmlhttprequest randomly stuck at Ready State 1

I've been working on a Windows gadget (meaning the "browser" is Internet Explorer) that queries specified subnet addresses for information. Now, it sometimes does this at a relatively quick pace (roughly every 5 seconds) and it works well enough. However, sometimes it will get stuck at ready state 1 and will just stay there forever. Whenever the gadget tries to redo the function for getting the xmlhttprequest and getting information from it it will stay at state 1. This is easily replicable when opening multiple instances of the gadget and then closing all but one of them. At that point, the one that's still open will almost always get stuck in this state. I feel like it might have something to do with them all accessing the same website, or it may just have to do with xmlhttprequests being stopped mid-transmission and that preventing another from working. Below is the relevant code.
//Reference to this for the inner function
var me = this;
var request = new XMLHttpRequest();
request.onreadystatechange = onReadyStateChange;
var url = this.url;
//Make the URL random to prevent being cached
url += ("&a=" + ((new Date()).getTime()));
Trace(DEBUG_COMM, "Sase.updateStatus url: " + url);
request.open("GET", url, true);
request.send(); // fire off the request, calls httpRequestReadyStateChange as things continue
Trace(DEBUG_COMM, "Request sent" + request.readyState);
function onReadyStateChange() {Trace(DEBUG_COMM, "Sase.httpRequestReadyStateChange: state=" + request.readyState);
if (4 == request.readyState) {
Trace(DEBUG_COMM, "Sase.httpRequestReadyStateChange: status=" + request.status);
if (request.status == 200) {
Trace(DEBUG_COMM, "retrieved html: " + request.responseText);
var results = request.responseText;
var resultsString = request.responseText.toString();
Trace(DEBUG_COMM, "results String: " + resultsString);
me.ParseStatusData(resultsString);
}
else {
//me.commError(request.status);
}
request = null;
}
}
Well it looks like I figured it out. I had a feeling it was an unresolved request, since it only happens when instances of it are closed (meaning that if one of them is closed while in communication with the server it stays in communication forever and no one else can access the server) and it appears that is the case. I made some modifications to the code in multiple areas and basically what it comes down to is when the gadget closes it makes sure to abort all of the requests. The requests are now instance variables (to allow for the aborting of them), but are still made new everytime they are needed.
For those who stumble across this and need a concrete code example, here you go.
I had the same problem and the solution was to re-use the XMLHttpRequest object, to ensure that any previous request was cancelled before initiating a new one. This won't work if you want to have multiple AJAX requests flying around but in my case triggering a new request meant that the last one was no longer needed.
All of the requests on my page went through the same XMLHttpRequest wrapper method which looked like this;
//Declare the XMLHttpRequest object to be re-used
var global_xHttpRequest = null;
function xmlHttpHandler(type, params, complete, postData) {
//Prevents an issue where previous requests get stuck and new ones then fail
if (global_xHttpRequest == null) {
global_xHttpRequest = new XMLHttpRequest();
} else {
global_xHttpRequest.abort();
}
//Parse out current URL
var baseURL = window.location.host;
var svc = "https://" + baseURL + "/processAction?";
var url = svc + params;
global_xHttpRequest.open(type, url, true);
//Add the callback
global_xHttpRequest.onreadystatechange = complete;
global_xHttpRequest.send(postData);
}
Which can be used like this:
xmlHttpHandler("GET", params, completeFnc);

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