Load a remote page using an HTTP request. This is jQuery's low-level AJAX implementation. See $.get, $.post etc. for higher-level abstractions that are often easier to understand and use, but don't offer as much functionality (such as error callbacks). $.ajax() returns the XMLHttpRequest that it creates. In most cases you won't need that object to manipulate directly, but it is available if you need to abort the request manually. '''Note:''' If you specify the dataType option described below, make sure the server sends the correct MIME type in the response (eg. xml as "text/xml"). Sending the wrong MIME type can lead to unexpected problems in your script. See [[Specifying the Data Type for AJAX Requests]] for more information. Supported datatypes are (see dataType option): "xml": Returns a XML document that can be processed via jQuery. "html": Returns HTML as plain text, included script tags are evaluated. "script": Evaluates the response as Javascript and returns it as plain text. "json": Evaluates the response as JSON and returns a Javascript Object $.ajax() takes one argument, an object of key/value pairs, that are used to initalize and handle the request. These are all the key/values that can be used: (String) url - The URL to request. (String) type - The type of request to make ("POST" or "GET"), default is "GET". (String) dataType - The type of data that you're expecting back from the server. No default: If the server sends xml, the responseXML, otherwise the responseText is passed to the success callback. (Boolean) ifModified - Allow the request to be successful only if the response has changed since the last request. This is done by checking the Last-Modified header. Default value is false, ignoring the header. (Number) timeout - Local timeout to override global timeout, eg. to give a single request a longer timeout while all others timeout after 1 second. See $.ajaxTimeout() for global timeouts. (Boolean) global - Whether to trigger global AJAX event handlers for this request, default is true. Set to false to prevent that global handlers like ajaxStart or ajaxStop are triggered. (Function) error - A function to be called if the request fails. The function gets passed tree arguments: The XMLHttpRequest object, a string describing the type of error that occurred and an optional exception object, if one occured. (Function) success - A function to be called if the request succeeds. The function gets passed one argument: The data returned from the server, formatted according to the 'dataType' parameter. (Function) complete - A function to be called when the request finishes. The function gets passed two arguments: The XMLHttpRequest object and a string describing the type of success of the request. (Object|String) data - Data to be sent to the server. Converted to a query string, if not already a string. Is appended to the url for GET-requests. See processData option to prevent this automatic processing. (String) contentType - When sending data to the server, use this content-type. Default is "application/x-www-form-urlencoded", which is fine for most cases. (Boolean) processData - By default, data passed in to the data option as an object other as string will be processed and transformed into a query string, fitting to the default content-type "application/x-www-form-urlencoded". If you want to send DOMDocuments, set this option to false. (Boolean) async - By default, all requests are sent asynchronous (set to true). If you need synchronous requests, set this option to false. (Function) beforeSend - A pre-callback to set custom headers etc., the XMLHttpRequest is passed as the only argument. Key/value pairs to initialize the request with. Load and execute a JavaScript file.

$.ajax({
  type: "GET",
  url: "test.js",
  dataType: "script"
})

Save some data to the server and notify the user once its complete.

$.ajax({
  type: "POST",
  url: "some.php",
  data: "name=John&location=Boston",
  success: function(msg){
    alert( "Data Saved: " + msg );
  }
});

Loads data synchronously. Blocks the browser while the requests is active. It is better to block user interaction by other means when synchronization is necessary.

var html = $.ajax({
 url: "some.php",
 async: false
}).responseText;

Sends an xml document as data to the server. By setting the processData option to false, the automatic conversion of data to strings is prevented.

var xmlDocument = [create xml document];
$.ajax({
  url: "page.php",
  processData: false,
  data: xmlDocument,
  success: handleResponse
});