How to use jQuery's ajax function?

How can I use the $.ajax() function to display output in real time. Right now I am using it in this context:

$.ajax({
    type: 'get',
    url: 'process.php',
    data: 'foo=boo',
    success: function(output) {
        $('div#results').html(output);
    }
});

The above displays the output recived from the PHP script only AFTER the script has fully executed. So if in the php script you had the following:

echo 'Hello for the first time';
// some code
echo 'Hello again';
// some code
echo 'Are you still here?';

The output would be all those echos all at one. Instead, is there any way I can update the output received from the PHP script one after another as the requests are being fulfilled by PHP in real time?

I know how to update things in real time when working entirely in the realm of JavaScript, for example: checking if the input being typed is at least 10 characters long using the keyup() event as a trigger to check after every entered key and displaying a message to enter something more which disappears as soon as the 10th character is typed.

But how to do something like this when the output is coming from a PHP file? is 开发者_如何学运维it even possible?

Reason why I need to do this is because I would like to have a status screen that shows how much progress has been made and what part of a task the script is currently handling, like how desktop apps have.

It is not possible. You should split this task in to parts - one is long running task that updates it's status in database, and other task that just fetches status from database and displays progress to users.

Umm, nope. Thats not possible. The best you can do is, Try breaking down your php file and calling multiple ajax requests for each of those files.