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FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions about CGI Programming
Section - 3.6 Can I get browser details and return different pages?

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Why do you want to do this?

Well-written HTML will display correctly in any browser, so the correct
answer to this question is to design a template for your output in good
HTML, and make sure your output is correct.

If you insist on a different answer, you can use the HTTP_USER_AGENT
environment variable.  This requires care, and can lead to unexpected
results.   For example, checking for "Mozilla" and serving a frameset
to it ensures that you *also* serve the frameset to early (Non-Frame)
Netscapes, me-too browsers (notably Microsoft[1]) and others who have
chosen to lie to you about their browser.

Note also that not every User Agent is a browser.   Your page may be
read by a user agent you've never heard of, and then displayed by
100 different browsers.   Or retrieved by different browsers from
a cache.   Another reason to write good HTML, and not try to
devise a clever or koool substitute.

[1] At the time of writing, only Netscape 2+ supported frames, and
    some authors considered them koool.  That's changed, but the same
    general principle still holds.


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Top Document: FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions about CGI Programming
Previous Document: 3.5 Subject: How can I get the hostname of the remote user?
Next Document: 3.7 Can I trace where a user has come from/is going to?

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Send corrections/additions to the FAQ Maintainer:
Nick Kew <nick@webthing.com>





Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:12 PM