The markup sample in Listing 1 demonstrates a use for this new functionality. On AJAX-enabled pages that take advantage of this new functionality, when AJAX content changes, navigation is as seamless as usual, but the user can back up and go forward as if the AJAX navigation was a traditional navigation. At the same time, a new hashChanged event is raised and the hash URL fragment is saved before navigating away from the page. When the hash property is updated, the previous document URL (which may be from the previous hash fragment) is updated in the Address bar and the travelog (and therefore the Back button). To enable AJAX navigations, Internet Explorer?8 Beta 2 in IE8 mode (the default compatibility mode) treats updates to the property like individual, “traditional” navigations. While some Web sites work around this limitation by navigating a hidden IFrame when updating content through AJAX, this technique can decrease performance. Users who are used to the Address bar changing with each new page they navigate to or who rely on the browser's Back and Forward buttons to navigate back and forth a page at a time may find this jarring.
When using the AJAX-enabled features of those applications-such as pan and zoom-neither the Address bar nor the travelog is updated. Subsequently, the “travelog,” or browsing history, isn't updated either.Īs an example, consider a mapping Web site such as Windows Live? Search Maps or Google Maps. On an AJAX-heavy page, the Address bar is not updated with each update. With this convenience, though, come drawbacks that can confuse users. One of the great benefits of implementing AJAX-indeed, one of the main reasons for its existence-is the ability to update page content without navigating to a new page. For example, safer and easier cross-domain communication is now possible through the XDomainRequest object and the W3C's Access Control draft, as well as HTML 5.0's cross-document messaging.įor up-to-the minute information on AJAX and other technologies in Internet Explorer, visit the Internet Explorer Developer Center at. We've also worked on enhancing our communication objects and protocols. These include tools to improve performance and client-side state management: local storage APIs, AJAX navigations, increased connections per host (plus a way to detect the number of connections on a host), and a scriptable connectivity event. In Internet Explorer?8 Beta 2, the maximum number of concurrent connections from a single host process connecting via broadband to a single server has been increased from 2 to 6. Inside this article, you'll find information on all of the AJAX enhancements available in Internet Explorer 8 Beta 2. Plus, the APIs Microsoft has added to Internet Explorer?8 Beta 2 are based on the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) HTML 5.0 or Web Applications Working Group standards. You'll be able to build pages that are faster and more functional, with better end-user experiences. Internet Explorer?8 Beta 2 provides a programming model for AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML) development that is simpler yet more powerful than ever before, spanning browser, Web page, and server interaction.