source: trunk/www.guidonia.net/wp/wp-content/plugins/minimax/doc/readme.txt@ 44

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What is minimax?

It's a minimal Ajax library. You can read files in the same 
domain but it cannot read from other domains or in a page in a computer 
reading from a file in the same computer, it has to run in a Webserver.

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How to use minimax?

First you need to declare minimax.js, and it has to be in the same server 
where the page is. Second, you have to declare the instance of minimax

var minimax = new minimax('url', 'div');

where URL is the URL where we are going to get the contents, and 'div' is 
the id for the div where we are going to put the results. You can set 'div' 
as false so it wouldn't put the text in the page, but even then you can get 
the result.

Second, sometimes we can get data asyncronously, sometimes not. If you have to
get those data syncronosuly we should create a semaphore. Create a hidden input
and declare the semaphore for each instance that would use it.

<script>
        var mx = new minimax('url', 'div');
</script>
<input type='hidden' id='semaphore' />
<script>
        mx.setSemaphore('semaphore');
</script>

The input container has to be declared befor we create the semaphore in the 
minimax instance.

Third, if you want a trobbler (something to be show while geting data) you can 
declare it like two states from the same div. You need to know CSS, sorry.

mx.setTrobbler('trobbler_div', 'class_on', 'class_off');

where 'trobbler' is the id of the div, 'class_on' and 'class_off' are the
classes to switch when start the to read data (on) and stop reading data (off).

<style>
        div#trobbler {
    //any css data
        }
        div.on#trobbler {
    visibility : visible;
        }

        div.off#trobbler {
    visibility : hidden;
        }
</style>
<input type='hidden' id='semaphore' />
<div id='trobbler' class='off'>Reading...</div>
<div id='mx_data'>Loading...</div>
<script>
        var mx = new minimax('url', 'mx_data');
        mx.setTrobbler('trobbler', 'on', 'off');
</script>

And to get data you can use post('post') or get().

<div id='mx_data'>Loading...</div>
<script>
        var mx = new minimax('url', 'mx_data');
        mx.post('data1=1&amp;data2=2');
</script>

The contest of <div id='mx_data'> would change, using the result from the url.

If you want to get the data in a variable, insted of write it in the div, you can
use the variable xhr of the instance.

<script>
        var mx = new minimax('url', false); //false div, so, don't write
        mx.get();
        mx.xhr.onload = function() { //when there is an answer
                var xml  = mx.xhr.responseXML;
                var text = mx.xhr.responseText;
        }
</script>
                
And if you want to change the div (or span) where the text would go, you can
use setDiv()
                
<span id='new-span'>Old-text</span>
<script>
        var mx = new minimax('url', false); //false div, so, don't write
        mx.setDiv('new-span');
        mx.get();       
</script>
                
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Contact
                
Ideas? Comments?
email me: sebaxtian at gawab dot com
www.sebaxtian.com