Using jQuery and JSON with AJAX responseText?

Question

Ok, I'm a bit new when it comes to jQuery and json. If I'm using json as my return type, can I still retrieve responseText from an XMLHttpRequest object?

here's the code that i'm using:

json response: {"clients": []}

$.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        url: "/myurl/whatever.php",
        data: myData,
        dataType: "json",

     success: function(msg){
      status.html(msg[0]);
        },
     error: function(msg) {
             status.html("Error: " + msg[0]);
     }

        });

is the use of msg[0] correct if i want to output the json response or am i missing something?

how can i still use the above code with XMLHttpRequest to get the status, responseText, etc.

thanks, all!

Answer 1

If you're using json, then you get a json object back, not an XML object. You can output it directly, without using [0].

Answer 2

As far as I know, the call to $.ajax returns a XHR object, and from that the responseText can be extracted, e.g.:

var xhr = $.ajax( {
                        url:' someInfo.php',
                        data: 'which=squirrels',
                        asynch: true
                } );

var resp = xhr.responseText;

The response text will contain a json string, which would need to be converted to an object to be of any use.

If you want to use the response as a json object directly within your success: function, do as @cloudhead suggested, and use msg. The dataType : "json" in your options takes care of the conversion for you.