May I assign to a JS var the content of a remote file?

[george]

I could use iFrame for this, but i don't want to. I have a div I want to fill with content from a file on my servre. My hunch is that somehow I can

var meBox = document.getElementById('maincntnt');var meContent = http://gdawsonportfolio.com/What.txt;meBox.innerHTML = 'meContent';

That middle line is the issue. Is there a way I can do this? A proper syntax or another approach?If there is, my next question is, can I load this file while no events are being triggered or acted upon. IOW, I want to load my content without interferring with client requesting an action. Maybe this is a jQuery goodieTIA

[ShadowMage]

You can use AJAX. I'm not sure how it would handle a text file, but you could always save it as a PHP file even if there isn't any PHP code in it.

[jeffman]

AJAX can send a GET request and receive the entire contents of a text file as a string. No server-side scripting required.

[Ingolme]

I don't think AJAX can get content from another server. You would need a PHP proxy to get the content for AJAX.

[george]

You can use AJAX. I'm not sure how it would handle a text file, but you could always save it as a PHP file even if there isn't any PHP code in it.

I could. But I have not employed php for this site, nor am I using forms. I'm pretty sure I can get the content of a remote file using JavaScript and the full url to the file. After all, we can import java script from a file on another server, and images too. I have used ajax and php to accomplish this in the past. Doing this with php also allows for site scraping, where you catch the content of a remote site's HTML to a variable in php, and then parse that variable to get what you want. But that's hacking, and I avoid it. (It's not hacking when you get a file from your own server.) I just gotta have the shortcut. I'm sure there is a way to assign the content of a remote file to a JavaScript variable directly, without using ajax or php. If I don't get a solution today, I'll use that approach.Thanks

[jeffman]

AJAX 2 will allow cross-site requests. Current AJAX does not. Without using an iFrame, JavaScript has no other way to do a thing like this. Even then, iFrame security has increased lately. I don't remember if you can access the content of an iFrame when the source is another site. If you can, an invisible iFrame wouldn't be a terrible way to go.

[george]

I don't remember if you can access the content of an iFrame when the source is another site.

In my case the files I want are on my own server. I could simply include the content I want as HTML in the Javascript file itself, and assign it to a variable to fill an innerHTML request. I'm looking for the most efficent method. I will try the W3Schools example at http://www.w3schools.com/ajax/tryit.asp?fi...e=tryajax_first, Thanks again Deirdre's Dad