Re: push data from server to client web browser

[Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen <ravn@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Nathan Andelin skrev:
> > From: Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
> > The AJAX technologies are all about getting the browser to
> > process server pushes.
> >     
>
> The problem with a statement like that is that somebody will interpret it to mean that a servlet or cgi program can initiate a conversation with a browser, and send something to it, similar to the way a batch program can send an email message to thousands of different smtp servers around the globe.
>   
Well, it _IS_ about pushing data from the server to the client when the 
server wants to.  How this actually is done is another matter, and it is 
very correct that this MUST be initiated by the client.

> Even with AJAX, browsers are in control of the conversation.  The browser makes an asynchronous request.  A request may be initiated by a timer event and run in the background.  The request doesn't necessarily require a user driven event such as a mouse click or keypress.  But the browser is always the one initiating the request-response cycle.  The server is only responding.
>   
Well, you can also put it that the client tells the server "I am ready, 
just give me what you want when you want" and then awaits server data.  
That is how I like to look at it :)

/Thorbjørn