Tutorial about Detecting User Agent Types and Client Device Capabilities
A major problem faced by mobile application developers is that wireless devices such as cell phones have very different capabilities. One feature that is supported on one cell phone model may not be available on another model.
There are a number of methods for detecting the features and capabilities of a user agent or wireless device. In this tutorial, we focus on two of them. The first method is to make use of HTTP headers such as Accept, User-Agent, Accept-Charset and Accept-Language. The other method is to retrieve information from a UAProf (User Agent Profile) document. UAProf was defined by the Open Mobile Alliance for user agent detection and client device capabilities detection.
Table of Contents
User Agent Detection and Client Device Capabilities Detection
Introduction
Headers in HTTP Requests
The Accept Header -- Find the MIME Media Types that will be Accepted by a User Agent
Common MIME Types List
The User-Agent Header -- Identify a User Agent and Client Device
To Identify a Specific Mobile Device Model with the User-Agent Header
To Differentiate Mobile Devices or User Agents Made by Different Companies with the User-Agent Header
To Determine Whether a User Agent is a Web Browser on a Personal Computer or a Microbrowser on a Mobile Device with the User-Agent Header
The Accept-Charset Header -- Find Character Sets that are Supported by a User Agent
The Accept-Language Header -- Find the Language Preference
The x-wap-profile Header and the Profile Header -- Find the UAProf Document of a Mobile Device
How to Read the Value of an HTTP Header
Retrieving HTTP Headers with ASP
Retrieving HTTP Headers with Java Servlet / JSP
Retrieving HTTP Headers with Perl
Retrieving HTTP Headers with PHP
Using UAProf (User Agent Profile) to Detect User Agent Types and Device Capabilities
Introduction
Where to Find the URL of the UAProf Document of a Mobile Device
UAProf Profile Resolution
Free Library / Tool for Retrieving UAProf Attribute Values
A Simple Way for Retrieving UAProf Attribute Values
UAProf Components and Attributes
Collection Types and Attribute Types in UAProf
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