property readyState

    var factory = shell.serviceManager.maxiXML.factory;
    var domObject = factory.createDOMDocumentFromPath("c:\documents and settings\johndoe\my documents\document.xml, false);

    var request = shell.serviceManager.maxiXML.xmlHTTPRequest;
    request.open("GET","http://aol.musicnow.com/rss/genre/");
    request.onreadystatechange = function()
    {
        if(request.readyState == 2)
        {
            alert('Request has Been Sent');
        }
        else if(request.readyState == 4)
        {
            alert('Request has Completed');
        }                        
    }