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How do I extend JQuery's ajax done() method?

I have a jQuery ajax function like this:
jQuery.ajax({
url : '/blabla',
method : 'post',
data: {
bla : bla
}
}).done(function(data) {
// do lots of stuff
});
.. and I want to be able to add a check that the data passed into the done callback function doesn't have a session_timed_out value in it. Say I have many functions similar to the one above but they all do different things, but they ALL need to check if the session timed out first. Is there a proper way to extend done() so it initially checks for a timeout? I tried to do something like this but it failed:
var myAjax = function(options,callback){
var defaults = {
done: function(data){ //hijack the success handler?
if(check(data)){
callback(data);
}
}
};
jQuery.extend(options,defaults);
return jQuery.ajax(options);
}
When I use this extended function it works like before, meaning the check never gets called because it seems to be superseded by the done() callback in the actual implementation, which I guess makes sense. So I want to know if there is a way to "decorate" or extend done() function so it initially checks for the session timeout first. Or will I need to manually add this same session check to all of my ajax done's?

This snippet overrides the jQuery ajax method so you can add an extra check when it successfully returns.
(function($) {
var yourCustomCheck = function(ajaxRes) {
// Do whatever you need and return a boolean
};
var oldAjax = $.ajax;
$.ajax = function(opts) {
return $.Deferred(function() {
var _def = this;
oldAjax.call(this, opts).done(function(res) {
console.log("this is done first");
if(yourCustomCheck.call(this, res)) _def.resolve(res);
else _def.reject("timeout");
}).fail(function() {
_def.reject();
});
})
}
})(jQuery);
After this, you can use $.ajax() normally..
$.ajax({
.....
}).done(function(res) {
console.log("ok");
}).fail(function() {
console.log("no ok");
});
Here is a jsfiddle with a working example: https://jsfiddle.net/jormaechea/kffyo7qL/1/

You could chain a timeout checker:
jQuery.ajax({
url : '/blabla',
method : 'post',
data: {
bla : bla
}
}).then(timeoutCheck).then(function(data) {
// do lots of stuff
}, function(err) {
// handle error
});
function timeoutCheck(data) {
if (check(data)) {
return data;
} else {
// return a rejected promise to turn fulfilled into reject
return jQuery.Deferred.reject(new Error("timeout"));
}
}
Or, you could put this in your own ajax wrapper.
jQuery.ajaxT = function() {
return jQuery.ajax.apply(jQuery, arguments).then(timeoutCheck);
}
jQuery.ajaxT(...).then(function(results) {
// handle returned data here
// the timeoutCheck has already been done
}, function(err) {
// handle any errors here
});
Then, any ajax call you initiated with jQuery.ajaxT() would automatically have the timeoutCheck added to it's promise logic. If the ajax call succeeds and the timeout check passes, then the promise is fulfilled. If the ajax call succeeds and the timeout check fails, then the promise rejected.

How to await the ajax request?

I am trying to write a JS code that will cancel the "btn_submit" buttons .onclick event if the given number already exists in the database. I use AJAX to query the DB for the given number and to determine if the should send the data to a .php site which will upload the question. To determine this I need the numOfRows variable's value, but because I set it in AJAX it will stay on 0. The validation() function will finish before my AJAX query finishes and this causes the problem that will always state that the given number does not exist in the DB (numOfRows will always stay on 0).
How can I await the AJAX query's finish before I compare the numOfRows to 0 in my validation() function's ending lines? If the number already exists in the DB, I need to return false to this line:
document.getElementById("btn_submit").onclick = validation;
Thank you!
var textAreaList;
var numOfRows = 0;
var finished = false;
document.getElementById("btn_submit").onclick = validation;
textAreaList = document.getElementsByClassName("text_input");
function validation() {
loadNumRows();
try {
document.getElementById('failure').hidden = true;
}
catch(e) {
console.log(e.message);
}
textAreaList = document.getElementsByClassName("text_input");
var failValidation = false;
for (var i = 0; i < textAreaList.length; i++) {
console.log(textAreaList[i]);
if (textAreaList[i].value == "") {
textAreaList[i].style.border = "2px solid #ff0000";
failValidation = true;
} else {
textAreaList[i].style.border = "2px solid #286C2B";
}
}
return !(failValidation || numOfRows != 0);
}
function loadNumRows(){
$.ajax({
url: 'php/SeeIfNumberExists?number=' + document.getElementById('number_inp').value,
type: "GET",
cache: false,
success: function (html) {
numOfRows = parseInt(html);
}
});
}

use of async/await with a transpilers like Babel to get it working in older browsers. You’ll also have to install this Babel preset and polyfill from npm:
npm i -D babel-preset-env babel-polyfill
Then
function getData(ajaxurl) {
return $.ajax({
url: ajaxurl,
type: 'GET',
});
};
async function test() {
try {
const res = await getData('https://api.icndb.com/jokes/random')
console.log(res)
} catch(err) {
console.log(err);
}
}
test();
or the .then callback is just another way to write the same logic.
getData(ajaxurl).then((res) => {
console.log(res)
});

Using async: false is an extremely bad idea, and defeats the whole purpose of using AJAX at the first place — AJAX is meant to be asynchronous. If you want to wait for a response from your script when you make the AJAX call, simply use deferred objects and promises:
var validation = function () {
var numberCheck = $.ajax({
url: 'php/SeeIfNumberExists?number=' + $('#number_inp').val(),
type: "GET"
});
// Listen to AJAX completion
numberCheck.done(function(html) {
var numOfRows = parseInt(html),
textAreaList = $('.text_input'),
finished = false;
// Rest of your code starts here
try {
document.getElementById('failure').hidden = true;
}
catch(e) {
console.log(e.message);
}
// ... and the rest
});
}
// Bind events using jQuery
$('#btn_submit').click(validation);
I see in your code that you are using a mixture of both native JS and jQuery — it helps if you stick to one :)

Never use async:false its dangerous, your app might misbehave.
You can use await only when your response returns a promise.
Unfortunately jQuery ajax doesn't return Promise when its completed.
But you can use promise in ajax request and return the promise when its done.
function asyncAjax(url){
return new Promise(function(resolve, reject) {
$.ajax({
url: url,
type: "GET",
dataType: "json",
beforeSend: function() {
},
success: function(data) {
resolve(data) // Resolve promise and when success
},
error: function(err) {
reject(err) // Reject the promise and go to catch()
}
});
});
}
We have converted ajax call into promise so now we can use await.
try{
const result = await asyncAjax('your url');
} catch(e){
console.log(e);
}

this works for me
async function doAjax() {
const result = await $.ajax({
url: "https://api.exchangerate-api.com/v4/latest/USD",
type: 'GET',
});
return result;
}
async function tt(){
var res = await doAjax()
var money = res.rates.INR
console.log(money)
}
tt()

(I acknowledge this is not the best way to go about things, but this is the quickest way to get your code working as is. Really though, you should rethink how you are pulling the numOfRows value so that it will work with truly asynchronous Ajax. All that being said...):
Start by setting async : false in the $.ajax call. The A in Ajax stands for asynchronous. That means, execution continues rather than waiting for it to return. You want to turn that off (i.e. make it synchronous). Actually, that should be the whole solution given the code you have there.
$.ajax({
url: 'php/SeeIfNumberExists?number=' + document.getElementById('number_inp').value,
type: "GET",
async: false,
cache: false,
success: function (html) {
numOfRows = parseInt(html);
}
});
One caveat from the docs for $.ajax:
Cross-domain requests and dataType: "jsonp" requests do not support synchronous operation. Note that synchronous requests may temporarily lock the browser, disabling any actions while the request is active. As of jQuery 1.8, the use of async: false with jqXHR ($.Deferred) is deprecated; you must use the success/error/complete callback options instead of the corresponding methods of the jqXHR object such as jqXHR.done() or the deprecated jqXHR.success().

How can jQuery deferred be used?

jQuery 1.5 brings the new Deferred object and the attached methods .when, .Deferred and ._Deferred.
For those who haven't used .Deferred before, I've annotated the source for it.
What are the possible usages of these new methods, how do we go about fitting them into patterns?
I have already read the API and the source, so I know what it does. My question is how can we use these new features in everyday code?
I have a simple example of a buffer class that calls AJAX requests in order. (Next one starts after the previous one finishes).
/* Class: Buffer
* methods: append
*
* Constructor: takes a function which will be the task handler to be called
*
* .append appends a task to the buffer. Buffer will only call a task when the
* previous task has finished
*/
var Buffer = function(handler) {
var tasks = [];
// empty resolved deferred object
var deferred = $.when();
// handle the next object
function handleNextTask() {
// if the current deferred task has resolved and there are more tasks
if (deferred.isResolved() && tasks.length > 0) {
// grab a task
var task = tasks.shift();
// set the deferred to be deferred returned from the handler
deferred = handler(task);
// if its not a deferred object then set it to be an empty deferred object
if (!(deferred && deferred.promise)) {
deferred = $.when();
}
// if we have tasks left then handle the next one when the current one
// is done.
if (tasks.length > 0) {
deferred.done(handleNextTask);
}
}
}
// appends a task.
this.append = function(task) {
// add to the array
tasks.push(task);
// handle the next task
handleNextTask();
};
};
I'm looking for demonstrations and possible uses of .Deferred and .when.
It would also be lovely to see examples of ._Deferred.
Linking to the new jQuery.ajax source for examples is cheating.
I am particularly interested in what techniques are available when we abstract away whether an operation is synchronously or asynchronously done.

The best use case I can think of is in caching AJAX responses. Here's a modified example from Rebecca Murphey's intro post on the topic:
var cache = {};
function getData( val ){
// return either the cached value or jqXHR object wrapped Promise
return $.when(
cache[ val ] ||
$.ajax('/foo/', {
data: { value: val },
dataType: 'json',
success: function( resp ){
cache[ val ] = resp;
}
})
);
}
getData('foo').then(function(resp){
// do something with the response, which may
// or may not have been retrieved using an
// XHR request.
});
Basically, if the value has already been requested once before it's returned immediately from the cache. Otherwise, an AJAX request fetches the data and adds it to the cache. The $.when/.then doesn't care about any of this; all you need to be concerned about is using the response, which is passed to the .then() handler in both cases. jQuery.when() handles a non-Promise/Deferred as a Completed one, immediately executing any .done() or .then() on the chain.
Deferreds are perfect for when the task may or may not operate asynchronously, and you want to abstract that condition out of the code.
Another real world example using the $.when helper:
$.when($.getJSON('/some/data/'), $.get('template.tpl')).then(function (data, tmpl) {
$(tmpl) // create a jQuery object out of the template
.tmpl(data) // compile it
.appendTo("#target"); // insert it into the DOM
});

Here is a slightly different implementation of an AJAX cache as in ehynd's answer.
As noted in fortuneRice's follow-up question, ehynd's implementation didn't actually prevent multiple identical requests if the requests were performed before one of them had returned. That is,
for (var i=0; i<3; i++) {
getData("xxx");
}
will most likely result in 3 AJAX requests if the result for "xxx" has not already been cached before.
This can be solved by caching the request's Deferreds instead of the result:
var cache = {};
function getData( val ){
// Return a promise from the cache (if available)
// or create a new one (a jqXHR object) and store it in the cache.
var promise = cache[val];
if (!promise) {
promise = $.ajax('/foo/', {
data: { value: val },
dataType: 'json'
});
cache[val] = promise;
}
return promise;
}
$.when(getData('foo')).then(function(resp){
// do something with the response, which may
// or may not have been retreived using an
// XHR request.
});

A deferred can be used in place of a mutex. This is essentially the same as the multiple ajax usage scenarios.
MUTEX
var mutex = 2;
setTimeout(function() {
callback();
}, 800);
setTimeout(function() {
callback();
}, 500);
function callback() {
if (--mutex === 0) {
//run code
}
}
DEFERRED
function timeout(x) {
var dfd = jQuery.Deferred();
setTimeout(function() {
dfd.resolve();
}, x);
return dfd.promise();
}
jQuery.when(
timeout(800), timeout(500)).done(function() {
// run code
});
When using a Deferred as a mutex only, watch out for performance impacts (http://jsperf.com/deferred-vs-mutex/2). Though the convenience, as well as additional benefits supplied by a Deferred is well worth it, and in actual (user driven event based) usage the performance impact should not be noticeable.

This is a self-promotional answer, but I spent a few months researching this and presented the results at jQuery Conference San Francisco 2012.
Here is a free video of the talk:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juRtEEsHI9E

Another use that I've been putting to good purpose is fetching data from multiple sources. In the example below, I'm fetching multiple, independent JSON schema objects used in an existing application for validation between a client and a REST server. In this case, I don't want the browser-side application to start loading data before it has all the schemas loaded. $.when.apply().then() is perfect for this. Thank to Raynos for pointers on using then(fn1, fn2) to monitor for error conditions.
fetch_sources = function (schema_urls) {
var fetch_one = function (url) {
return $.ajax({
url: url,
data: {},
contentType: "application/json; charset=utf-8",
dataType: "json",
});
}
return $.map(schema_urls, fetch_one);
}
var promises = fetch_sources(data['schemas']);
$.when.apply(null, promises).then(
function () {
var schemas = $.map(arguments, function (a) {
return a[0]
});
start_application(schemas);
}, function () {
console.log("FAIL", this, arguments);
});

Another example using Deferreds to implement a cache for any kind of computation (typically some performance-intensive or long-running tasks):
var ResultsCache = function(computationFunction, cacheKeyGenerator) {
this._cache = {};
this._computationFunction = computationFunction;
if (cacheKeyGenerator)
this._cacheKeyGenerator = cacheKeyGenerator;
};
ResultsCache.prototype.compute = function() {
// try to retrieve computation from cache
var cacheKey = this._cacheKeyGenerator.apply(this, arguments);
var promise = this._cache[cacheKey];
// if not yet cached: start computation and store promise in cache
if (!promise) {
var deferred = $.Deferred();
promise = deferred.promise();
this._cache[cacheKey] = promise;
// perform the computation
var args = Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments);
args.push(deferred.resolve);
this._computationFunction.apply(null, args);
}
return promise;
};
// Default cache key generator (works with Booleans, Strings, Numbers and Dates)
// You will need to create your own key generator if you work with Arrays etc.
ResultsCache.prototype._cacheKeyGenerator = function(args) {
return Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments).join("|");
};
Here is an example of using this class to perform some (simulated heavy) calculation:
// The addingMachine will add two numbers
var addingMachine = new ResultsCache(function(a, b, resultHandler) {
console.log("Performing computation: adding " + a + " and " + b);
// simulate rather long calculation time by using a 1s timeout
setTimeout(function() {
var result = a + b;
resultHandler(result);
}, 1000);
});
addingMachine.compute(2, 4).then(function(result) {
console.log("result: " + result);
});
addingMachine.compute(1, 1).then(function(result) {
console.log("result: " + result);
});
// cached result will be used
addingMachine.compute(2, 4).then(function(result) {
console.log("result: " + result);
});
The same underlying cache could be used to cache Ajax requests:
var ajaxCache = new ResultsCache(function(id, resultHandler) {
console.log("Performing Ajax request for id '" + id + "'");
$.getJSON('http://jsfiddle.net/echo/jsonp/?callback=?', {value: id}, function(data) {
resultHandler(data.value);
});
});
ajaxCache.compute("anID").then(function(result) {
console.log("result: " + result);
});
ajaxCache.compute("anotherID").then(function(result) {
console.log("result: " + result);
});
// cached result will be used
ajaxCache.compute("anID").then(function(result) {
console.log("result: " + result);
});
You can play with the above code in this jsFiddle.

1) Use it to ensure an ordered execution of callbacks:
var step1 = new Deferred();
var step2 = new Deferred().done(function() { return step1 });
var step3 = new Deferred().done(function() { return step2 });
step1.done(function() { alert("Step 1") });
step2.done(function() { alert("Step 2") });
step3.done(function() { alert("All done") });
//now the 3 alerts will also be fired in order of 1,2,3
//no matter which Deferred gets resolved first.
step2.resolve();
step3.resolve();
step1.resolve();
2) Use it to verify the status of the app:
var loggedIn = logUserInNow(); //deferred
var databaseReady = openDatabaseNow(); //deferred
jQuery.when(loggedIn, databaseReady).then(function() {
//do something
});

You can use a deferred object to make a fluid design that works well in webkit browsers. Webkit browsers will fire resize event for each pixel the window is resized, unlike FF and IE which fire the event only once for each resize. As a result, you have no control over the order in which the functions bound to your window resize event will execute. Something like this solves the problem:
var resizeQueue = new $.Deferred(); //new is optional but it sure is descriptive
resizeQueue.resolve();
function resizeAlgorithm() {
//some resize code here
}
$(window).resize(function() {
resizeQueue.done(resizeAlgorithm);
});
This will serialize the execution of your code so that it executes as you intended it to. Beware of pitfalls when passing object methods as callbacks to a deferred. Once such method is executed as a callback to deferred, the 'this' reference will be overwritten with reference to the deferred object and will no longer refer to the object the method belongs to.

You can also integrate it with any 3rd-party libraries which makes use of JQuery.
One such library is Backbone, which is actually going to support Deferred in their next version.

I've just used Deferred in real code. In project jQuery Terminal I have function exec that call commands defined by user (like he was entering it and pressing enter), I've added Deferreds to the API and call exec with arrays. like this:
terminal.exec('command').then(function() {
terminal.echo('command finished');
});
or
terminal.exec(['command 1', 'command 2', 'command 3']).then(function() {
terminal.echo('all commands finished');
});
the commands can run async code, and exec need to call user code in order. My first api use pair of pause/resume calls and in new API I call those automatic when user return promise. So user code can just use
return $.get('/some/url');
or
var d = new $.Deferred();
setTimeout(function() {
d.resolve("Hello Deferred"); // resolve value will be echoed
}, 500);
return d.promise();
I use code like this:
exec: function(command, silent, deferred) {
var d;
if ($.isArray(command)) {
return $.when.apply($, $.map(command, function(command) {
return self.exec(command, silent);
}));
}
// both commands executed here (resume will call Term::exec)
if (paused) {
// delay command multiple time
d = deferred || new $.Deferred();
dalyed_commands.push([command, silent, d]);
return d.promise();
} else {
// commands may return promise from user code
// it will resolve exec promise when user promise
// is resolved
var ret = commands(command, silent, true, deferred);
if (!ret) {
if (deferred) {
deferred.resolve(self);
return deferred.promise();
} else {
d = new $.Deferred();
ret = d.promise();
ret.resolve();
}
}
return ret;
}
},
dalyed_commands is used in resume function that call exec again with all dalyed_commands.
and part of the commands function (I've stripped not related parts)
function commands(command, silent, exec, deferred) {
var position = lines.length-1;
// Call user interpreter function
var result = interpreter.interpreter(command, self);
// user code can return a promise
if (result != undefined) {
// new API - auto pause/resume when using promises
self.pause();
return $.when(result).then(function(result) {
// don't echo result if user echo something
if (result && position === lines.length-1) {
display_object(result);
}
// resolve promise from exec. This will fire
// code if used terminal::exec('command').then
if (deferred) {
deferred.resolve();
}
self.resume();
});
}
// this is old API
// if command call pause - wait until resume
if (paused) {
self.bind('resume.command', function() {
// exec with resume/pause in user code
if (deferred) {
deferred.resolve();
}
self.unbind('resume.command');
});
} else {
// this should not happen
if (deferred) {
deferred.resolve();
}
}
}

The answer by ehynds will not work, because it caches the responses data. It should cache the jqXHR which is also a Promise.
Here is the correct code:
var cache = {};
function getData( val ){
// return either the cached value or an
// jqXHR object (which contains a promise)
return cache[ val ] || $.ajax('/foo/', {
data: { value: val },
dataType: 'json',
success: function(data, textStatus, jqXHR){
cache[ val ] = jqXHR;
}
});
}
getData('foo').then(function(resp){
// do something with the response, which may
// or may not have been retreived using an
// XHR request.
});
The answer by Julian D. will work correct and is a better solution.

Extjs: two parallel ajax call

my code creates two ajax call at the same time (i assume the parallelism would be more efficient). I want to load a table if both calls succeed. What's the proper way of doing this?

var succeeded = {};
function callBackOne(){
succeeded.one = true;
// your other stuff
if (succeeded.two) { bothHaveSucceeded());
}
function callBackTwo(){
succeeded.two = true;
// your other stuff
if (succeeded.one) { bothHaveSucceeded());
}

I'd use a delayed task personally:
var success = {
one: false,
two: false
};
// Task
var task = new Ext.util.DelayedTask(function(){
// Check for success
if (success.one && success.two) {
// Callback
doCallback();
} else {
task.delay(500);
}
});
task.delay(500);
// First
Ext.Ajax.request({
...
success: function() {
success.one = true;
}
...
});
// Second
Ext.Ajax.request({
...
success: function() {
success.two = true;
}
...
});
The task acts like a thread and will check on the status of the requests and sleep for every 500ms until they both complete.

Old question, but well, as I stumbled upon it...
I'd use the excellent async library by Caolan, particularly here you'll want to use async.parallel.
The examples written on the GitHub doc are worth a read.
https://github.com/caolan/async#parallel

Share an integer variable that each callback checks:
// count variable
var numReturns = 0;
// same call back used for each Ajax request:
function callback() {
numReturns++;
if (numReturns === 2) {
progress();
}
}
If you need different callbacks, have each callback fire an event which does the same thing.

How to refactor this Javascript anonymous function?

We have this anonymous function in our code, which is part of the jQuery's Ajax object parameters and which uses some variables from the function it is called from.
this.invoke = function(method, data, callback, error, bare) {
$.ajax({
success: function(res) {
if (!callback) return;
var result = "";
if (res != null && res.length != 0)
var result = JSON2.parse(res);
if (bare)
{ callback(result); return; }
for (var property in result) {
callback(result[property]);
break;
}
}
});
}
I have omitted the extra code, but you get the idea. The code works perfectly fine, but it leaks 4 Kbs on each call in IE, so I want to refactor it to turn the anonymous function into a named one, like this.onSuccess = function(res) { .. }.
The problem is that this function uses variables from this.invoke(..), so I cannot just take it outside of its body. How do I correctly refactor this code, so that it does not use anonymous functions and parent function variables?
Update. I am thinking of creating a separate object, initializing it with the same parameters, and pass its onSuccess function as a parameter for jQuery's Ajax object. Although I suspect that it will still leak memory.
Update 2. I have found a few links suggesting that the actual leak might be caused by jQuery.
Simple jQuery Ajax call leaks memory in Internet Explorer
Memory leak involving jQuery Ajax requests
Still it was good to find a way to refactor this.
Update 3. I will wait for a more generic solution, before accepting an answer.

You can add extra params to the ajax request that can be accessed in the success callback:
this.invoke = function(method, data, callback, error, bare) {
$.ajax({
success: onSuccess,
invokedata: {
callback: callback,
bare: bare
}
});
};
var onSuccess = function(res) {
var callback = this.invokedata.callback,
bare = this.invokedata.bare;
if (!callback) return;
var result = "";
if (res != null && res.length != 0)
var result = JSON2.parse(res);
if (bare){
callback(result);
return;
}
for (var property in result) {
callback(result[property]);
break;
}
}

+1 for excellent, excellent question - I feel your pain - this is really nicely factored as it is.
One suggestion (and maybe this is what you meant by your update)...define a wrapper for onSuccess and make it return the function you want to assign. Then call the outer function and assign it to the "success" option, passing the values it needs. Those values will be pre-assigned to the variables in the inner function. Not actually sure if this will help - you still end up with an anonymous function - but worth a try
this.invoke = function(method, data, callback, error, bare) {
$.ajax({
success: onSuccess(callback, bare);
});
};
var onSuccess = function(callback, bare) {
return function() {
if (!callback) return;
var result = "";
if (res != null && res.length != 0)
var result = JSON2.parse(res);
if (bare)
{ callback(result); return; }
for (var property in result) {
callback(result[property]);
break;
}
}
}