Since IE’s problem is its xml parser chokes on xml files that are not passed down using the correct “text/xml” header, you can include a bit of code in the Ajax complete event:
complete: function( xhr, status )
{
alert( "COMPLETE. You got:\n\n" + xhr.responseText ) ;
if( status == 'parsererror' )
{
alert( "There was a PARSERERROR. Luckily, we know how to fix that.\n\n" +
"The complete server response text was " + xhr.responseText ) ;
xmlDoc = null;
// Create the xml document from the responseText string.
// This uses the w3schools method.
// see also
if( window.DOMParser )
{
parser=new DOMParser();
xmlDoc=parser.parseFromString( xhr.responseText,"text/xml" ) ;
}
else // Internet Explorer
{
xmlDoc=new ActiveXObject( "Microsoft.XMLDOM" ) ;
xmlDoc.async = "false" ;
xmlDoc.loadXML( xhr.responseText ) ;
}
$( '#response' ).append( '<p>complete event/xmlDoc: ' + xmlDoc + '</p>' ) ;
$( '#response' ).append( '<p>complete event/status: ' + status + '</p>' ) ;
processXMLDoc( xmlDoc ) ;
}
},
here’s a more complete example
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Reading XML with jQuery</title>
<style>
#response
{
border: solid 1px black;
padding: 5px;
}
</style>
<script src="https://stackoverflow.com/questions/562283/jquery-1.3.2.min.js"></script>
<script>
function processXMLDoc( xmlDoc )
{
var heading = $(xmlDoc).find('heading').text() ;
$( '#response' ).append( '<h1>' + heading + '</h1>' ) ;
var bodyText = $(xmlDoc).find('body').text() ;
$( '#response' ).append( '<p>' + bodyText + '</p>' ) ;
}
$(document).ready(function()
{
jQuery.ajax({
type: "GET",
url: "a.xml", // ! watch out for same
// origin type problems
dataType: "xml", // 'xml' passes it through the browser's xml parser
success: function( xmlDoc, status )
{
// The SUCCESS EVENT means that the xml document
// came down from the server AND got parsed successfully
// using the browser's own xml parsing caps.
processXMLDoc( xmlDoc );
// IE gets very upset when
// the mime-type of the document that
// gets passed down isn't text/xml.
// If you are missing the text/xml header
// apparently the xml parse fails,
// and in IE you don't get to execute this function AT ALL.
},
complete: function( xhr, status )
{
alert( "COMPLETE. You got:\n\n" + xhr.responseText ) ;
if( status == 'parsererror' )
{
alert( "There was a PARSERERROR. Luckily, we know how to fix that.\n\n" +
"The complete server response text was " + xhr.responseText ) ;
xmlDoc = null;
// Create the xml document from the responseText string.
// This uses the w3schools method.
// see also
if( window.DOMParser )
{
parser=new DOMParser();
xmlDoc=parser.parseFromString( xhr.responseText,"text/xml" ) ;
}
else // Internet Explorer
{
xmlDoc=new ActiveXObject( "Microsoft.XMLDOM" ) ;
xmlDoc.async = "false" ;
xmlDoc.loadXML( xhr.responseText ) ;
}
$( '#response' ).append( '<p>complete event/xmlDoc: ' + xmlDoc + '</p>' ) ;
$( '#response' ).append( '<p>complete event/status: ' + status + '</p>' ) ;
processXMLDoc( xmlDoc ) ;
}
},
error: function( xhr, status, error )
{
alert( 'ERROR: ' + status ) ;
alert( xhr.responseText ) ;
}
});
});
</script>
</head>
<body>
<div>
<h1><a href="http://think2loud.com/reading-xml-with-jquery/">Reading XML with jQuery</a></h1>
<p>
<a href="http://docs.jquery.com/Ajax/jQuery.ajax#options">#1 jQuery.ajax ref</a>
</p>
</div>
<p>Server says:</p>
<pre id="response">
</pre>
</body>
</html>
contents of a.xml
<?xml version="1.0"?> <note> <to>Tove</to> <from>Jani</from> <heading>Reminder</heading> <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body> </note>
It extends this example.