Testing for ajax compatibility and then getting the data readyState completes the handshake 4 is completed
var request;
if(window.XMLHttpRequest) {
request = new XMLHttpRequest();
}
else{
request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
}
request.open("GET", "data.txt");
request.onreadystatechange = function() {
if(request.readyState === 4 && request.status === 200){
console.log(request);
var modify = document.getElementsByTagName('ul')
[1].getElementsByTagName('li');
modify[2].innerHTML = request.responseText;
}
};
request.send();