[Resolved] detect CSS version?

mzanimephp

Hi, does anyone here know where I can find a simple PHP script to detect what version of CSS the users browser has?

If the user has CSS-2 or above I want it to show my code, if the user has less than 2 (or maybe no support at all) then hide my code.

Thanks in advance.

mzanimephp

Is this not possible?

laserlight

You could try messing around with $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'] and [man]get_browser/man, but I dont think it will work, or be reliable if it does work.

Weedpacket

Of course, the point of CSS is that sites that use it degrade in older browsers anyway, remaining legible even if the browser isn't supporting the whole CSS thing.

Of course, some browsers have buggy implementations of CSS, which is why so many CSS sites have to devote space to "CSS hacks" that rely on bugs in various browsers and versions of browsers to get them to ignore bits or interpret bits differently.

And even if a browser claims to support a certain version of CSS (most don't bother - IE doesn't, nor does Mozilla, and that pretty much covers the field 🙂) there's a chance it doesn't.

And, as hinted at, browsers don't usually say anything about what level of CSS they support or how much of it. And if the browser doesn't say, the server's not going to know.

laserlight's suggestion is about the best you can do. You could google around and find a table that lists client types and which CSS features they support, but I don't think the end result will really be worth the hassle.

Pages that use decently-written CSS2 or even CSS3 should look fine in Lynx without taking any of the CSS out.

mzanimephp

Thanks for the reply. Hiding parts of the rendered CSS is not my problem. I have a PHP CSS-swapper on my site where it changes the backgrounds/colors -- but on a text-only browser (or PDA with no colors) that aspect of the site would only take up space and not have any real value.

So thats why I wanted to hide this segment of my HTML code from browsers that don't even render CSS. It would be pointless because CSS is what gives me my colors.

So if I understand you correctly most browsers don't even say what version of CSS they support, if they even tell you at all? Is there no way to use PHP to get this info from a browser?

Moonglobe

theoretically, you could use media="handheld", but right now most handhelds dont even know that that media query is part of the spec, so they use screen. in future though, you may be able to do

<link media="handheld" />

Weedpacket

Originally posted by mzanimephp
So if I understand you correctly most browsers don't even say what version of CSS they support, if they even tell you at all? Is there no way to use PHP to get this info from a browser?

That's right; most don't bother to say they support CSS in the same way that most don't bother to say they support Javascript, or PNG, or even what version of HTML they support.

And if the browser isn't going to say, there's no way to use PHP to force it to talk.

porco

I don't know if I am on about the same thing as you guys but I generally just have a very tiny javascript function to peel off mozilla users (for example). Basically if Mozilla give them that css, else give them the default. So say if you wanted to give the latest firebird a certain css then the easiest way is to identify it locally on the machine with this same javascript and feed it what it does best.

I think the idea that everything has to be done in php is a bit odd, it takes extra time to fetch from the server and some things are best done client side to save the server and the network from clogging with inane requests. PHP 'can' do a lot of this stuff but every technology in the right place, after all.

Look laterally for answers if you can.

But I may have missed the mark on your subject sorry. If so ignore 🙂

Weedpacket

Originally posted by porco
But I may have missed the mark on your subject sorry. If so ignore 🙂

Not really; guessing what a given browser supports by looking at its user-agent string and trying to remember which browsers support how much of which CSS/HTML/DOM/JS standards is pretty much the best you can do.

Doing it at the server, though, has the advantages of (a) more thorough checks being possible (which you can cache in a session for speed), (b) reduce bandwidth consumption (because you're only serving what needs serving), and (c) - and this is the most important factor for the current application - doesn't rely on Javascript being installed and enabled on the client.

mzanimephp

Originally posted by Weedpacket
doesn't rely on Javascript being installed and enabled on the client.

Yes I want my site to be very reverse compatible, I know about the <media="handheld"> datatype, but that still leaves the problem for text-based browsers like Lynx.

But thanks guys, now I know that PHP is not an option for sniffing CSS version -- since most browsers don't even say what version they support to begin with.