distinguishing browser types

Dan Connolly (connolly@w3.org)
Fri, 21 Apr 1995 13:13:27 +0500

Rick Silterra writes:
> I wonder if someone could point me to some code that
> would show how to serve up data tailored to a particular browser.
> Specifically, I would like to serve a file with
> some tables as <PRE> blocks for browsers that do not get tables
> yet, and html3 table stuff for browsers that do.

Please don't key on the browser name (User-Agent) for this
functionality. The HTTP protocol has included a facility for
format negociation for several years. I hear the Apache group
has implemented it in their revision of the httpd 1.3 server.

Some folks are working on a draft that explains format negociation
in detail... sorry it's not available. For now, please
see the http spec:

http://www.w3.org/hypertext/WWW/Protocols/HTTP1.0/HTTP1.0-ID_38.html#HEADING112

Dan