[jQuery] Returning an XML attribute from success or complete

[jQuery] Returning an XML attribute from success or complete


I am trying to create a function where i can return some values from
an XML file with the $Ajax call.
The XML:
located in the root of my webb application /languagemap.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<Mappings>
<Mapping DisplayName="Chinese" ShortName="zh" Code="4"/>
<Mapping DisplayName="Dutch" ShortName="nl" Code="19"/>
<Mapping DisplayName="English" ShortName="en" Code="9"/>
<Mapping DisplayName="Finnish" ShortName="fi" Code="11"/>
<Mapping DisplayName="French" ShortName="fr" Code="12"/>
<Mapping DisplayName="German" ShortName="de" Code="7"/>
<Mapping DisplayName="Italian" ShortName="it" Code="16"/>
<Mapping DisplayName="Japanese" ShortName="ja" Code="17"/>
<Mapping DisplayName="Russian" ShortName="ru" Code="25"/>
<Mapping DisplayName="Spanish" ShortName="es" Code="10"/>
</Mappings>
The Script:
function callerFunction(languageName) {
    var languageCode = LANGUAGE.getLanguageCode(languageName);
    alert(languageCode);
}
LANGUAGE = {
    getLanguageCode: function(languageShortName) {
        $.ajax({
            type: "GET",
            url: "/languagemap.xml",
            dataType: "xml",
            success: function(xml) {
                $(xml).find('Mapping').each(function(){
                    var displayName = $(this).attr('DisplayName');
                    var shortName = $(this).attr('ShortName');
                    var code = $(this).attr('Code');
                    if(shortName.toLowerCase() == languageShortName.toLowerCase()) {
                        alert(code);
                        return code;
                    }
                });
            },
            error: function(){alert('error');}
        });
    },
    getLanguageDisplayName: function(languageShortName) {
        $.ajax({
            type: "GET",
            url: "/languagemap.xml",
            dataType: "xml",
            success: function(xml) {
                $(xml).find('Mapping').each(function(){
                    var displayName = $(this).attr('DisplayName');
                    var shortName = $(this).attr('ShortName');
                    var code = $(this).attr('Code');
                    if(shortName.toLowerCase() == languageShortName.toLowerCase()) {
                        alert(displayName);
                        return displayName;
                    }
                });
            },
            error: function(){alert('error');}
        });
    }
};
the alert in the success function(s) display the correct value, but
the alert in the caller function yields undefined.
Lookig for suggestions