The basic idea of AJAX is to open up a new line of communication between the client and server, where data can be transferred asynchronously, usually as XML.  Since the data transfer is asynchronous, the UI on the page does not have to ‘wait’ for the transfer to complete.  This allows the end user to continue to use the page as normal, while bytes are being transferred in the background.   The combination of the client-side power of JavaScript and the structured data capabilities of XML give Web developers the ability to communicate with a Web server without having to incur the expense of a complete page postback.



Once the response is received by the browser, the developer is free to use and manipulate the data as needed. A frequent example of this is using client-side JavaScript to combine the XML results returned by the web server with DHTML to alter what the end user sees in the browser.

Why AJAX is Important
In today’s Internet world, speed is a key ingredient to building a successful presentation layer of your application.  In addition, Web applications are becoming more complex, and in many cases require loading large amounts of data.  Because AJAX allows you to split up your page into smaller portions of information that can be loaded and manipulated separately (without the need to reload the entire Webpage) end users are seamlessly receiving larger amounts of information and more robust pages. This is important because it provides the end user with a more familiar Windows – like, rich experience, without the very noticeable interruptions caused by postbacks.

AJAX and Innobate Web Development

The recent realization by developers that AJAX is an important tool in their arsenal has created an industry – wide reaction, causing many development tool companies to  jump  on the AJAX bandwagon.  As the leader in rich presentation layer technologies, Innobate  delivered AJAX features in 2003, well before the term ‘AJAX' was coined.  In fact, our customers have been enjoying the benefits of AJAX for almost 2 years.

Our Web Data Components feature  XML Load – On – Demand, is based on AJAX Technology.  XML Load – On – Demand allows developers to supply large datasets to their clients, in a piecemeal fashion.  This allows the page to load incredibly quickly, and grabs data only as it is required.  In a hierarchical grid, that means that only top level rows will be sent to the client for the initial request.  When the row is expanded, the grid will then retrieve the child rows from the server (via an AJAX style request).  By setting the Web Data Componet’s RowsRange property, developers have the ability to split up a large number of rows into smaller chunks delivered via AJAX.  Rows are only fetched when they are scrolled into view which allows you to give clients the same Page Load time performance, whether they are viewing 10 records or 1,000 records.

Data updating is another feature of the Web Data Component which takes advantage of AJAX.  Row based data can be added, updated and deleted from the grid without doing a postback.  This feature provides asynchronous data updating from the Web Data Component, maximizing browser responsiveness and providing an interruption free data editing experience to users.

Future Impacts

The sudden popularity of AJAX in the developer community has made it clear that this technology is ready for mainstream use.  Each day, another clever use of this asynchronous communication pops up.  Innobate  will continue to look for areas where we can boost performance in our toolset by leveraging this powerful technology.