How to make Apache(with PHP) detect WAP browser access automatically?

d2army

Hi there everyone

I am trying to figure out if there is away to make my Apache(with PHP) server automatically detect what kind of browser is accessing it to figure out which page to send it.

For instance, if someone types in www.google.com on its cell-phone, the google server knows that a WAP browser is requesting and will thus send back a wml file, and if a normal browser access the same URL www.google.com, it will send back a normal HTML file.

I am wondering if there is a way to do this form of detection in my Apache 2.0 server?

Thanks in advance!

dalecosp

Don't know for sure, but try accessing a PHP page with

echo $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'];

in it with your phone, it might tell ya somethin'

neerav

You can check in the Accept header if the browser accepts "text/vnd.wap.wml" However, newer cell phone browsers can also or only accept text/html or some simply will accept / and a few don't even set the Accept header!! so that's not the surefire way to determine if it's a cell phone.

I think the surefire way is to use wurfl. It's a sourceforge project and is as complete a database on cell phone capabilities you'll find anywhere. They also keep updating the database. I've been trying to use it, and it's supposed to be easy to use, but it's still a step or two above my level. You should give it a try.

If you just want something dead simple, do a search here for "wap wml". You'll find a 20+ line "if" statement that will cover most common brands of cell phones.

d2army

Originally posted by dalecosp
Don't know for sure, but try accessing a PHP page with
echo $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'];
in it with your phone, it might tell ya somethin' [/B]

Hi there dalecosp!

I tried what you did, and a cell microbrowser does show something different for HTTP_USER_AGENT. If I use my Samsung Nokia 3390 to browse a page, the HTTP_USER_AGENT shows up as:

AU-MIC/2.0
MMP/2.0

But I am not sure if this is the same for all phones, or maybe just for Nokia phones? If I use a normal browser, the HTTP_USER_AGENT usually shows something like "Mozilla.....", even for IE.

Thanks
D2

d2army

Originally posted by neerav
You can check in the Accept header if the browser accepts "text/vnd.wap.wml" However, newer cell phone browsers can also or only accept text/html or some simply will accept / and a few don't even set the Accept header!! so that's not the surefire way to determine if it's a cell phone.

I think the surefire way is to use wurfl. It's a sourceforge project and is as complete a database on cell phone capabilities you'll find anywhere. They also keep updating the database. I've been trying to use it, and it's supposed to be easy to use, but it's still a step or two above my level. You should give it a try.

If you just want something dead simple, do a search here for "wap wml". You'll find a 20+ line "if" statement that will cover most common brands of cell phones.

Hi Neerav,

I am still looking for that 20+ if block you are talking about. I will post here when I find it.

Thanks
D2

dalecosp

Originally posted by d2army
If I use a normal browser, the HTTP_USER_AGENT usually shows something like "Mozilla.....", even for IE.

Thanks
D2

Heh, I dunno if they never told ya, but M$ never created anything except marketing material*.

*Well, that might be a slight exaggeration. Google for "Why I Hate Microsoft site:euronet.nl" for a thought-provoking (and M$ provoking) rant on this and other peculiarities of the world we computer in...

neerav

Here's the thread It took all of 10 seconds. 😃 And the thread title gives it away!

Remember, this "if" statement is not fool proof. The user agents of pc web browsers are non standard (brower, OS, version, compatibilty are anywhere in the string), can be easily changed, and cannot be trusted. However, the user agents of cell phones are quite standardized and downright easy to use in comparison, barring a few.

If you are using a Nokia, then the beginning of the user agent string SHOULD be "Nokia3390/x.x...blah,blah." Similarly, most, but not all Samsung useragents will start out with "Sam..." I have seen a better if statement which lists a few dozen cell phone manufacturers using the first three letters of this. Can't find it right now.

Or you can make an if statement of your own. I can give you the 1000+ unique useragents that have visited my wap site. Out of that, there are about 250 unique models, and when you remove the model numbers, it should be quite a short list. (/me seen trying to figure out how to dump a mysql table...)

And if you come up with something useful, share it here, because I've also been trying the same for a while now.

dalecosp

Originally posted by neerav
(/me seen trying to figure out how to dump a mysql table...)

$ mysqldump tablename > foofile.sql

😃

neerav

Originally posted by dalecosp
$ mysqldump tablename > foofile.sql
😃 [/B]

neerav's solution: click "export" in phpmyadmin!! 😃 😃

Should I provide the whole dump here (330 unique models without their various software versions)?

dalecosp

Probably a link to the data on your site or server would be more appropriate 🙂