(function() { var createRequest = function() { var request; try { //support IE7+, Firefox, Chrome, Safari and Opera. request = new XMLHttpRequest(); } catch(tryMS) { try { request = new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP"); } catch(otherMS) { try { // support IE6 and IE5 request = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP"); } catch(failed) { request = null; } } } return request; } var checkText = function() { var request = createRequest(); var obj = this; if(request === null) { alert("Unable to create request!"); } else { var url = "json/test.json?id=" + Math.random(); request.onreadystatechange = function() { if(request.readyState == 4 && request.status == 200) { var json = JSON.parse(request.responseText), text = obj.value; document.getElementById("prompt").innerHTML = json[text]; } } request.open("GET", url, true); request.send(null); } } document.getElementById("text").onkeyup = checkText; })(); \\------------jquery $(function() { $("#text").keyup(function() { var $domText = $(this); $.ajax( { async: true, cache: false, type: "get", url: "json/test.json", dataType: "json", success: function(data) { $("#prompt").html(data[$domText.val()]); } }); }); });