ASP Browser CapabilitiesComponent

ASP Browser Capabilities Component

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

When a browser connects to a server, it sends an HTTP User Agent header to the server. This header contains information about the browser.

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

If the browser type and version number in the header match the information in the "Browsercap.ini" file, we can use the BrowserType object to list the properties of the matching browser. If they do not match, the object sets each property to "UNKNOWN".

Syntax

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

ASP Browser Capabilities Example

The following example creates a BrowserType object in an ASP file and displays some information about the current browser's capabilities:

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

Show Example »

Browscap.ini File

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

This section is not a tutorial on how to maintain the Browscap.ini file; we only provide some basic knowledge and concepts about "Browsercap.ini" to give you a general understanding of the file.

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

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

Parameter Description
comments Optional. Any code line starting with a semicolon is ignored by the BrowserType object.
HTTPUserAgentHeader Optional. Specifies the HTTP User Agent header associated with the browser-property value declaration set in propertyN. Wildcards are allowed.
browserDefinition Optional. Specifies the HTTP User Agent header-string of a browser used as the parent browser. The current browser's definition inherits all property values declared in the parent browser's definition.
propertyN Optional. Specifies browser properties. The following table lists some possible properties:
  • ActiveXControls - Supports ActiveX® controls?
  • Backgroundsounds - Supports background sounds?
  • Cdf - Supports Channel Definition Format for webcasts?
  • Tables - Supports tables?
  • Cookies - Supports cookies?
  • Frames - Supports frames?
  • Javaapplets - Supports 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 on which the browser runs
  • Version - Specifies the version number of the browser
valueN Optional. Specifies the value of propertyN. Can be a string, an integer (prefixed with #), or a boolean value.
defaultPropertyN Optional. Specifies the name of a browser property. If none of the defined HTTPUserAgentHeader values match the HTTP User Agent header sent by the browser, a default value is assigned to this property.
defaultValueN Optional. Specifies the value of defaultPropertyN. Can be a string, an integer (prefixed with #), or a boolean value.

The "Browscap.ini" file may look 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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