One function to load varrious php pages with jQuery and AJAX - php

Question

I have the following code that i need some help with, i am trying achieve the same thing with jQuery. I have found some solutions that come close but as yet i am still searching for the perfect solution.
function getData(dataSource, divID)
{
if(XMLHttpRequestObject) {
var obj = document.getElementById(divID);
XMLHttpRequestObject.open("GET", dataSource);
XMLHttpRequestObject.onreadystatechange = function()
{
if (XMLHttpRequestObject.readyState == 4 &&
XMLHttpRequestObject.status == 200) {
obj.innerHTML = XMLHttpRequestObject.responseText;
}
}
XMLHttpRequestObject.send(null);
}
}
Right now i am triggering the function with:
<input type = "button" value = "TEST" onclick = "getData('subject_selectAJAX.php?course_id=1', 'ajax')">
I would like to achieve the same thing with jQuery. I think the following function although wrong gets close, my problem is that the url changes depending on where the user is within the course. course_select.php is initially loaded into the #ajax div, which then would be replaced with subject_select.php?course_id="whatever" followed by topic_select.php?subject_id="whatever"
function getData() {
//generate the parameter for the php script
$.ajax({
url: "something.php", //i want this to be passed to the function
type: "GET",
data: data,
cache: false,
success: function (html) {
//add the content retrieved from ajax and put it in the #ajax div
$('#ajax').html(html);
//display the body with fadeIn transition
$('#ajax').fadeIn('slow');
}
});
}
I would love some help with this, i'm currently getting confused pretty sure it is something that would help other Ajax jQuery newbies.

Answer 1

This seems to work although i'm sure it could be much cleaner and i would still like to add some sort of loading graphic for slower connections.
<script type="text/javascript">
function getData( url, id ){
$.ajax({
type: "GET",
url: url,
data: "id=" + id,
cache: false,
success: function(html){
$('#ajax').hide();
//add the content retrieved from ajax and put it in the #content div
$('#ajax').html(html);
//display the body with fadeIn transition
$('#ajax').fadeIn('fast');
})
};
</script>