Browser detection

Elefant includes a basic browser detection function based on the user agent of the client, via the detect() function. This is handy for use in device- or browser-specific layout changes, and in providing alternate execution paths for different devices.

Usage

In PHP, it's as simple as:

<?php

if (detect ('ipad')) {
    $page->add_script ('/js/for-ipad-only.js');
} elseif (detect ('iphone')) {
    $page->add_script ('/js/for-iphone-only.js');
} elseif (detect ('android')) {
    $page->add_script ('/js/for-android-only.js');
} else {
    $page->add_script ('/js/for-everything-else.js');
}

?>

Similarly, in a template, you can use it like this:

{% if detect('mobile') %}
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/mobile.css" />
{% else %}
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="/css/default.css" />
{% end %}

Options

detect() is very simple, but allows you to detect any of the following browsers. Note that these are the strings you pass to detect(), and aliases are listed after the first on one line.

  • msie, ie
  • firefox, ff, moz
  • chrome
  • safari
  • webkit
  • opera
  • opera mini
  • opera mobi
  • ios
  • iphone
  • ipad
  • android
  • iemobile
  • webos
  • blackberry
  • googlebot
  • bot
  • mobile
  • tablet

Notes

It's good to know some edge cases that may surprise you in detect(). Here are some notes to better understand how it works:

  • mobile and tablet matches are not exhaustive, they only list the common platforms.
  • iPods are reported as mobile devices in the user agent string, so detect() reports that to be true as well.
  • Android reports true for both mobile and tablet.
  • Some matches might be seen as false-positives, such as Chrome matching Safari. In these cases, look at other detection options. For example, you may want to specify webkit instead of a particular browser.
  • No version detection. For IE version-specific needs, use conditional comments in your HTML, or use a string like msie 10.
  • Other lowercase strings that are not listed above can be used as well, for example wap, or smartphone.

Next: Hooks, Elefant's event system

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This documentation was generated by the Elefant Documentation Project. We're always open to new contributions *wink* *wink*