ASP Browser Capabilities Component

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ASP Browser Capabilities Component

The ASP Browser Capabilities component creates a BrowserType object that determines the type, capabilities and version number of a visitor's browser.

When a browser connects to a server, a User Agent header is also sent to the server. This header contains information about the browser.

The BrowserType object compares the information in the header with information in a file on the server called "Browscap.ini".

If there is a match between the browser type and version number in the header and the information in the "Browscap.ini" file, the BrowserType object can be used to list the properties of the matching browser. If there is no match for the browser type and version number in the Browscap.ini file, it will set every property to "UNKNOWN".

Syntax

<%
Set MyBrow=Server.CreateObject("MSWC.BrowserType")
%>

ASP Browser Capabilities Example

The example below creates a BrowserType object in an ASP file, and displays some of the capabilities of your browser:

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>
<%
Set MyBrow=Server.CreateObject("MSWC.BrowserType")
%>

<table border="0" width="100%">
<tr>
<th>Client OS</th><th><%=MyBrow.platform%></th>
</tr><tr>
<td >Web Browser</td><td ><%=MyBrow.browser%></td>
</tr><tr>
<td>Browser version</td><td><%=MyBrow.version%></td>
</tr><tr>
<td>Frame support?</td><td><%=MyBrow.frames%></td>
</tr><tr>
<td>Table support?</td><td><%=MyBrow.tables%></td>
</tr><tr>
<td>Sound support?</td><td><%=MyBrow.backgroundsounds%></td>
</tr><tr>
<td>Cookies support?</td><td><%=MyBrow.cookies%></td>
</tr><tr>
<td>VBScript support?</td><td><%=MyBrow.vbscript%></td>
</tr><tr>
<td>JavaScript support?</td><td><%=MyBrow.javascript%></td>
</tr>
</table>

</body>
</html>

Output:

Client OS	WinNT
Web Browser	IE
Browser version	5.0
Frame support?	True
Table support?	True
Sound support?	True
Cookies support?	True
VBScript support?	True
JavaScript support?	True

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The Browscap.ini File

The "Browscap.ini" file is used to declare properties and to set default values for browsers.

This section is not a tutorial on how to maintain "Browscap.ini" files, it only shows you the basics; so you get an idea what the file is all about.

The "Browscap.ini" file can contain the following:

[;comments]
[HTTPUserAgentHeader]
[parent=browserDefinition]
[property1=value1]
[propertyN=valueN]
[Default Browser Capability Settings]
[defaultProperty1=defaultValue1]
[defaultPropertyN=defaultValueN]

Parameter	Description
comments	Optional. Any line that starts with a semicolon are ignored by the BrowserType object
HTTPUserAgentHeader	Optional. Specifies the HTTP User Agent header to associate with the browser-property value statements specified in propertyN. Wildcard characters are allowed
browserDefinition	Optional. Specifies the HTTP User Agent header-string of a browser to use as the parent browser. The current browser's definition will inherit all of the property values declared in the parent browser's definition
propertyN	Optional. Specifies the browser properties. The following table lists some possible properties: ActiveXControls - Support ActiveX controls? Backgroundsounds - Support background sounds? Cdf - Support Channel Definition Format for Webcasting? Tables - Support tables? Cookies - Support cookies? Frames - Support frames? Javaapplets - Support Java applets? Javascript - Supports JScript? Vbscript - Supports VBScript? Browser - Specifies the name of the browser Beta - Is the browser beta software? Platform - Specifies the platform that the browser runs on Version - Specifies the version number of the browser
valueN	Optional. Specifies the value of propertyN. Can be a string, an integer (prefix with #), or a Boolean value
defaultPropertyN	Optional. Specifies the name of the browser property to which to assign a default value if none of the defined HTTPUserAgentHeader values match the HTTP User Agent header sent by the browser
defaultValueN	Optional. Specifies the value of defaultPropertyN. Can be a string, an integer (prefix with #), or a Boolean value

A "Browscap.ini" file might look something like this:

;IE 5.0
[IE 5.0]
browser=IE
Version=5.0
majorver=#5
minorver=#0
frames=TRUE
tables=TRUE
cookies=TRUE
backgroundsounds=TRUE
vbscript=TRUE
javascript=TRUE
javaapplets=TRUE
ActiveXControls=TRUE
beta=False

;DEFAULT BROWSER
[*]
browser=Default
frames=FALSE
tables=TRUE
cookies=FALSE
backgroundsounds=FALSE
vbscript=FALSE
javascript=FALSE

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ASP Browser Capabilities Component