Is it possible to check timeout on jQuery.post()?

Question

I have this code requesting some folder info from a mysql DB:

function gotoDir(pmcat_id, pcat_id){
    $('#slideshowContainer').html('<img class="loader" src="/javascript/ajax-loader.gif">');
    $.post("/publish/includes/content.includes/functions.slideshow.php", 
        {  updateSlideshowDir: 1, pmcat_id: pmcat_id, pcat_id: pcat_id },
        function(data){
             $('#pageSlideshow').html(data.content);
        }, "json"
    );
}

Sometimes the post request times out because of bad internet connection. Is it possible to set a timeout check on $.post() ? Ex: if $.post() uses more then X ms, reload the request.

UPDATE: Looks like I found a solution:

function gotoDir(pmcat_id, pcat_id){
    $('#slideshowContainer').html('<img class="loader" src="/javascript/ajax-loader.gif">');
    $.ajax({
        type:"post",
        url:"/publish/includes/content.includes/functions.slideshow.php",
        data: { updateSlideshowDir: 1, pmcat_id: pmcat_id, pcat_id: pcat_id },
        dataType: "json",
        success:function(data) {
            if (data == null){
            alert('ajax failed. reloading...');
            gotoDir(pmcat_id, pcat_id);
        } else {
            $('#pageSlideshow').html(data.content);
        }
        }        
    });
}

Is this a OK way to do this? :S

Answer 1

You should use $.ajax() and $.ajaxError(), then with "ajaxComplete" you can check if your request timedout, or succeded.

Source: jQuery API

Answer 2

$.ajax has all the functions you need to accomplish what you are asking for:

function gotoDir(pmcat_id, pcat_id) {
    $('#slideshowContainer').html('<img class="loader" src="/javascript/ajax-loader.gif">');
    $.ajax({
        type: "POST",
        url: "/publish/includes/content.includes/functions.slideshow.php",
        data: { updateSlideshowDir: 1, pmcat_id: pmcat_id, pcat_id: pcat_id },
        dataType: "json",
        timeout: 500, // in milliseconds
        success: function(data) {
            // process data here
        },
        error: function(request, status, err) {
            if(status == "timeout") {
                gotoDir(pmcat_id, pcat_id);
            }
        }
    });
}

Please note that you don't need to set the timeout option unless you want to trigger the error method after a specific time you want to set.