function readTheFile() {

                    if (window.XMLHttpRequest) {

                        xmlhttp = new XMLHttpRequest();

                    } else {

                        xmlhttp = new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");

                    }

                    xmlhttp.open("GET", "http://hostname/textfile", false);
                    xmlhttp.send();

                    var text = xmlhttp.responseText;
                    document.getElementById("text").innerHTML=("Text: " + text);

}