POST Request: Process HTML5 form with Ajax
The following example demonstrates an HTML5 form saving data via an Ajax API call using the POST method. The ajax call will be processed by an REST resource written in xml.
Prerequisite
Basic knowledge of the following technologies.
- HTML5
- XML
- SQL
On Client Side
When the end-user inputs the data in the form and clicks the submit button the form data is sent with the HTTP POST method, this data onsubmit function catches the data and with the help of the xhr.send request sends the data to the respective URL.
<form id="x-login-form">
<div class="form-group">
<label for="xuser">Username</label>
<input type="text" name="iuser" class="form-control" />
</div>
<div class="form-group">
<label for="xpass">Password</label>
<input type="password" name="xpass" class="form-control" />
</div>
<input type="submit" class="btn btn-danger" value="Submit" class="form-control" />
</form>
Javascript ajax to resource form.xml
//get the form from DOM (Document object model)
var form = document.getElementById('x-login-form');
form.onsubmit = function(event){
var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest();
var data = new FormData(form);
//open the request
xhr.open('POST','http://localhost:7000/tests/v1.0/form')
//send the form data
xhr.send(data);
//Dont submit the form.
return false;
}
On the Network
The form-data format for sending data over the network to the server.
On Server Side
The parameters sent in the POST request are received and replaced with their corresponding $ symbols. These $ variables must match the exact names of the POST params that are sent in the request. Here's the resource form.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
<Resource xmlns="http://xml.metamug.net/resource/1.0" v="1.0">
<Request method="POST">
<Desc> Create a User </Desc>
<Sql>
INSERT INTO USER (user, pass, comment)
values ($iuser, $xpass, $comment)
</Sql>
</Request>
</Resource>
In the Database
If you query the user table, you can find the data just saved from the form.
select * from user;
What Next?
This example demonstrated POST method. The next example shows how to use the GET ajax call results.