Read XML file using JavaScript in Chrome

Question

I need to load and read an XML file using JavaScript.

The following code works fine in Firefox, IE and Opera:

function loadXMLDoc(dname) {
  var xmlDoc

  // Internet Explorer
  try {
    xmlDoc = new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.XMLDOM')
  }
  catch (e) {
    // Firefox, Opera, etc.
    try {
      xmlDoc = document.implementation.createDocument('', '', null)
    }
    catch (e) {
      alert(e.message)
    }
  }

  try {
    xmlDoc.async = false
    xmlDoc.load(dname)
    return xmlDoc
  }
  catch (e) {
    alert(e.message)
  }

  return null
}

But executing this code in Chrome gives me this error:

Object# has no method "load"

Answer 1

Legacy Code

document.implementation.createDocument does not work on Chrome and Safari.

Use XMLHttpRequest instead when possible:

function loadXMLSync(url) {
  try {
    // Prefer XMLHttpRequest when available
    var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest()
    xhr.open('GET', url, false)
    xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'text/xml')
    xhr.send()

    return xhr.responseXML
  }
  catch (e) {
    // XMLHttpRequest not available, fallback on ActiveXObject
    try {
      var activex = new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.XMLDOM')
      activex.async = false
      activex.load(url)

      return activex
    }
    catch (e) {
      // Neither XMLHttpRequest or ActiveXObject are available
      return undefined
    }
  }
}

---

Modern Browsers

If you're targeting modern browsers (> IE6), just use XMLHttpRequest:

function loadXMLSync(url) {
  var xhr = new XMLHttpRequest()

  xhr.open('GET', url, false)
  xhr.setRequestHeader('Content-Type', 'text/xml')
  xhr.send()

  return xhr.responseXML
}