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Adding Additional Web Browsers

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If you need to add a Web browser definition that is not included in the standard Siebel application, you can choose between the following two methods.

• Add a parent browser definition. This definition includes all of the browser capabilities. Use this method if you need to add a completely new browser (such as Opera), or a major upgrade release of an existing browser (such as future releases of Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape). For information about this procedure, see To add a parent Web browser.
• Add a child browser definition. Child browser definitions inherit the capabilities of the parent browser, and add additional capabilities as necessary. Use this method for adding interim releases based on a browser that is already defined. For example, a "dot" release, such as 5.7 or 5.8. For information about this procedure, see To add a child Web browser.

Required Browser Capabilities

For a browser to work correctly, it must include two capabilities that allow the browser to be identified at runtime. The required capabilities are:

• User-Agent. This capability names the browser.
• Accept. This capability indicates what types of documents the browser can open.

These capabilities are part of HTTP standard information and appear in HTTP request headers sent from a browser. For example, a request from a Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 browser sent to a Web application might include the following lines:

Accept: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, application/vnd.ms-powerpoint, application/vnd.ms-excel, application/msword, */*

User-Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.5; Windows NT 4.0)

In this example, the value for the User-Agent capability would be Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.5; Windows NT 4.0).

Both the User-Agent and Accept capabilities must be included. This is because at runtime, the User-Agent is checked to identify the browser. If the User-Agent is not recognized, the values for the Accept parameter in the header will be compared to the Accept parameters of the browsers listed in the Web Browser Administration screen, to find the browser with the most closely matching Accept parameters.

In addition to the User-Agent and Accept capabilities, if a browser is based on an existing parent browser, it must include the Parent capability.

NOTE:  Parent browsers frequently do not have the User-Agent and Accept capabilities. This is because parent browsers are intended to serve as containers of other capabilities that can be inherited. If a browser does not have its own User Agent and Accept capabilities, then it is acting as a parent of another browser that has these capabilities.

Adding a Web Browser

Whether you are adding a parent browser or a child browser, the process is similar. However, in the case of a parent browser, you add all detailed components, and in the case of a child browser, you base the browser on an existing browser.

NOTE:  Although a parent browser may contain the User-Agent and Accept capabilities, it does not have to. If you use parent browsers as templates for child browsers, do not include these two capabilities in the parent browser template.

To add a parent Web browser

1. From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > Web Browser Administration > Browsers.
2. In the Browser list, add a new record.
3. Complete a name and description for the new browser.
4. Click the Capabilities view tab.
5. In the Capabilities list, add records for each of the capabilities for this browser.

NOTE:  If there is an existing browser that contains most of the appropriate capabilities, you can copy it and then make changes. To do so, in Step 2, click the menu button and choose Copy Record instead of New Record.

To add a child Web browser

1. From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > Web Browser Administration > Browsers.
2. Scroll through the list of browsers and identify the parent browser (that is, the one on which you will base the new browser).
3. Add a new record.
4. Complete a name and description for the new browser.
5. Click the Capabilities view tab.
6. In the Capabilities list, add these three records:
   • Parent. Set the capability value to the parent browser you identified in Step 2.
   • User-Agent. Enter the appropriate User-Agent.
   • Accept. Enter the types of documents that can be opened by the browser.
7. Add any additional capabilities that are not included in the parent browser or that differ from those inherited from parent browser.

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