Catching server side errors inside Ajax form submission

Question

Hi,

I am working with a Java application, and I have ajax form submission from a modal window. I would like the code to load either success or error page in the modal depending on the server side processing results. The following code is working for the success scenario only.

            $.ajax({
                type: "POST",
                url: action,
                data: params,
                success: function() {
                    $("#p_content").load("/test.jsp?id=12345");
                }
            });

I am fairly new to ajax, but from what I understand it is not enough to add the "error:" portion to the script above, it will not detect errors in my servlet code. Is there any way I can read a request parameter from inside this function? Or perhaps I can use something else? Please help!

Thanks, natasha

Answer 1

Your servlet should return the appropriate HTTP status code when something unexpected occurs (usually 500). jQuery will invoke your error callback function when the server responds with a problematic status code.

Answer 2

If you cannot avoid sending an apparent HTTP success code (1xx, 2xx or 3xx) even when an error occurs server-side, then jQuery will always call your success function. You'll need to inspect the data sent back in you client-side (JS) code, to determine what you do with the returned information in the browser.