onreadystatechange within a function

[ted_chou12]

Hi, below are part of my code, but there is something that i don't quite understand:

//ajax initial variables...
//codes:
function ajaxphotocmt(vari) {ajax_request.onreadystatechange = function() {//Call a function when the state changes.
if(ajax_request.readyState == 4) {stringarray = ajax_request.responseText.split(";seDp#");
photocomment.title.value = stringarray[0]; alert();
photocomment.message.innerHTML = stringarray[1];}}
varis = vari.split(";");
if (varis[0] == "edit") {
ajax_request.open("GET", "../admin/ajaxvars.php?ajaxvar=photocommentedit&id=" + varis[1], true);
ajax_request.send(null);}}

The code works in this order, but not the other way:

//ajax initial variables...
//codes:
function ajaxphotocmt(vari) {
varis = vari.split(";");
if (varis[0] == "edit") {ajax_request.onreadystatechange = function() {//Call a function when the state changes.
if(ajax_request.readyState == 4) {stringarray = ajax_request.responseText.split(";seDp#");
photocomment.title.value = stringarray[0]; alert();
photocomment.message.innerHTML = stringarray[1];}}
ajax_request.open("GET", "../admin/ajaxvars.php?ajaxvar=photocommentedit&id=" + varis[1], true);
ajax_request.send(null);}}

Can someone please explain to me what is the reason behind it (I am a new to ajax, so i may not know some of the technical things )

Thanks,

Ted