contents

preface xiii
acknowledgments xv
about this book xviii Part 1  Fundamentals of Ajax   1
1  Embracing Ajax   3
1.1 Ajax as a disruptive technology 4
Redefining the user’s workflow 5
Redefining web application architecture 7
1.2 Ajax in ten minutes 9
Introducing XMLHttpRequest 9
Instantiating XMLHttpRequest 10
Sending a request 11
Processing the response 13
Other XMLHttpRequest methods and properties 14
1.3 Making Ajax simple using frameworks 16
Making requests with Prototype’s Ajax.Request object 18
Simplifying Ajax responses 21
1.4 Summary 24
2  How to talk Ajax   26
2.1 Generating server-side JavaScript 27
Evaluating server-generated code 27
Utilizing good code-generation practices 30
2.2 Introducing JSON 34
Generating JSON on the server 36
Round-tripping data using JSON 40
2.3 Using XML and XSLT with Ajax 44
Parsing server-generated XML 44
Better XML handling with XSLT and XPath 50
2.4 Using Ajax with web services 56
2.5 Summary 63
3  Object-oriented JavaScript and Prototype    64
3.1 Object-oriented JavaScript 66
Object fundamentals 66
Functions are first class 68
Object constructors and methods 76
Writing a JavaScript class: a button 82
3.2 The Prototype library 97
Generally useful functions and extensions 98
Array extensions 100
The Hash class 102
Binding context objects to functions 103
Object-oriented Prototype 105
Rewriting the Button class with Prototype 112
3.3 Summary 116
4  Open source Ajax toolkits   117
4.1 The Dojo toolkit 118
Asynchronous requests with Dojo 119
Automatic form marshaling with Dojo 123
4.2 Prototype 125
Asynchronous requests with Prototype 125
Automatic updating with Prototype 131
Periodic updating with Prototype 134
4.3 jQuery 136
jQuery Basics 136
Asynchronous loading with jQuery 140
Fetching dynamic data with jQuery 145
4.4 DWR 150
Direct Web Remoting with DWR 151
4.5 Summary 159
Part 2  Ajax Best Practices   161
5  Handling events   163
5.1 Event-handling models 165
Basic event-handling registration 165
Advanced event handling 169
5.2 The Event object and event propagation 172
The Event object 172
Event propagation 173
5.3 Using Prototype for event handling 178
The Prototype Event API 179
5.4 Event types 180
Mouse events 181
Keyboard events 182
The change event 185
Page events 186
5.5 Putting events into practice 189
Validating text fields on the server 190
Posting form elements without a page submit 195
Submitting only changed elements 198
5.6 Summary 201
6  Form validation and submission   202
6.1 Client-side validation 203
Validating on the client side 203
Instant validation 209
Cross-field validation 211
6.2 Posting data 218
Anatomy of a POST 218
Posting data to a server 220
Posting form data to a server 223
Detecting form data changes 227
6.3 Summary 233
7  Content navigation   234
7.1 Principles of website navigation 235
Finding the needle in the haystack 235
Making a better needle-finder 237
Navigation and Ajax 238
7.2 Traditional web-based navigation 241
A simple navigation menu 241
DHTML menus 243
7.3 Borrowing navigational aids from the desktop app 247
The qooxdoo tab view 248
The qooxdoo toolbar and windows 250
The qooxdoo tree widget 254
7.4 Between the desktop and the Web 259
The OpenRico Accordion control 259
Building an HTML-friendly tree control 263
7.5 Summary 270
8  Handling back, refresh, and undo   271
8.1 Removing access to the browser’s navigation controls 272
Removing the toolbars 272
Capturing keyboard shortcuts 274
Disabling the right-click context menu 275
Preventing users from navigating history or refreshing 276
8.2 Working with a browser’s navigation controls 280
Using the JavaScript history object 280
Hashes as bookmarks 281
Introducing the Really Simple History (RSH) framework 283
Using RSH to maintain state at the client level 284
Using RSH to maintain state at the server level 289
8.3 Handling undo operations 293
When to provide undo capability 294
Implementing an undo stack 295
Extending the undo stack for more complex actions 300
8.4 Summary 309
9  Drag and drop 311
9.1 JavaScript drag-and-drop frameworks   313
9.2 Drag and drop for Ajax 314
Drag-and-drop Ajax shopping cart 314
Manipulating data in lists 321
The Ajax shopping cart using ICEfaces 326
9.3 Summary 335
10  Being user-friendly   336
10.1 Combating latency 338
Countering latency with feedback 338
Showing progress 345
Timing out Ajax requests 351
Dealing with multiple clicks 355
10.2 Preventing and detecting entry errors 359
Displaying proactive contextual help 359
Validating form entries 366
10.3 Maintaining focus and layering order 374
Maintaining focus order 375
Managing stacking order 381
10.4 Summary 387
11  State management and caching   388
11.1 Maintaining client state 390
11.2 Caching server data 392
Exchanging Java class data 393
Prefetching 402
11.3 Persisting client state
Storing and retrieving user state with JSON 406
Persisting JSON strings through AMASS 409
11.4 Summary 413
12  Open web APIs and Ajax   415
12.1 The Yahoo! Developer Network 416
Yahoo! Maps 417
The cross-server proxy 421
Yahoo! Maps Geocoding 430
Yahoo! Traffic 436
12.2 The Google Search API 443
Google search 443
12.3 Flickr photos 454
Flickr identification 455
Flickr photos and thumbnails 459
12.4 But wait! As they say, there’s more... 464
Amazon services 64
eBay services 464
MapQuest 465
NOAA/National Weather Service 465
More, more, more... 465
12.5 Summary 465
13  Mashing it up with Ajax   466
13.1 Introducing the Trip-o-matic application 467
Application purpose 467
Application overview and requirements 468
13.2 The Trip-o-matic data file 469
What format should we use? 469
The trip data format 470
Setting up Flickr photo sets 471
13.3 The TripomaticDigester class 473
The dependency check 473
The TripomaticDigester constructor 474
Digesting the trip data 475
Loading the points of interest 476
Collecting element text 477
13.4 The Tripomatic application class 479
The Tripomatic class and constructor 480
Creating the content elements 482
Filling in the trip data 484
Showing the map 487
Loading the thumbnails 488
Displaying the photos 491
13.5 The Trip-o-matic application page 492
The Trip-o-matic HTML document 492
Tripping along with style 494
13.6 Summary 496

 
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