Re: distinguishing browser types
lilley (lilley@afs.mcc.ac.uk)
Mon, 24 Apr 1995 05:54:29 +0500
>
> >> Rick Silterra writes:
> >> > I wonder if someone could point me to some code that
> >> > would show how to serve up data tailored to a particular browser.
> >> > Specifically, I would like to serve a file with
> >> > some tables as <PRE> blocks for browsers that do not get tables
> >> > yet, and html3 table stuff for browsers that do.
>
> Note that you can do some clever things which combine both Tables and
> <pre>'s, but that's not always sufficient. We have a package we use that
> acts as a "meta-server" and let's you #if your HTML code based on the
> browser feature you wish to use (among other things). It acts as an
> extension to your existing server. We're considering productizing it if
> there is interest.
>
> >On Fri, 21 Apr 1995, Dan Connolly wrote:
> >> Please don't key on the browser name (User-Agent) for this
> >> functionality. The HTTP protocol has included a facility for
> >> format negociation for several years. I hear the Apache group
> >> has implemented it in their revision of the httpd 1.3 server.
>
> As I understand (correct me if I'm wrong), that facility let's you
> negotiate on a broad scale - e.g. HTML2.0 vs. 3.0 or particular file
> formats. That however, is not really the major issue. We just finished a
> site which has some pages which make heavy use of Tables and Forms
> (http://www.salemfive.com/salemfive/calcs.html). We tested it with
> Netscape 1.1, Arena .96 and Mosaic 2.5b2. We ended up having conditionals
> based on whether the browser supports Tables, whether it supports Tables
> within Tables (that crashes/hangs the Cern and NCSA browsers), whether it
> supports Forms within Tables and whether it supports Images within Tables.
>
> Content negotiation is certainly necessary, but it isn't sufficient.
>
> Which leads me to another question. Are there any browsers out there that
> actually set the Accept fields based on the helper applications? I know
> Netscape doesn't. It makes it rather difficult to determine what formats
> can be sent to a browser.
>
>
> Kee Hinckley Utopia Inc. - Cyberspace Architects=81 617/721-6100
> nazgul@utopia.com http://www.utopia.com/
>
> I'm not sure which upsets me more: that people are so unwilling to accept
> responsibility for their own actions, or that they are so eager to regulate
> everyone else's.
>
>
--
Chris Lilley
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