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Adding Additional Web Browsers

If you must add a Web browser definition that is not included in the standard Siebel application, then 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 must 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 Mozilla). For information about this procedure, see Adding a 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 that are based on a browser that is already defined. For information about this procedure, see Adding a Web Browser.

Required Browser Capabilities

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

• User-Agent. This capability names the browser.
• Accept. This capability indicates the 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 an HTML5 browser sent to a Web application might include the following lines:

Accept: image/gif, image/x-xbitmap, image/jpeg, image/pjpeg, */*

User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0

Both the User-Agent and Accept capabilities must be included because at run time the User-Agent is checked to identify the browser. If the User-Agent is not recognized, then the values for the Accept parameter in the header are 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, then it must include the Parent capability.

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

To add a parent Web browser

1. Navigate to the Administration - Web Browser screen, then the Browsers view.
2. In the Browser list, create a new record, and complete the necessary fields.

   NOTE:  If there is an existing browser that contains most of the appropriate capabilities, then you can copy it, and make changes to it. To do so, click the cogwheel icon, and select Copy Record.

3. Drill down on the Name field for the record.
4. In the Capabilities list, create records for each of the capabilities of the browser.

Adding a Child Web Browser

Complete the following procedure to add a child Web browser.

To add a child Web browser

1. Navigate to the Administration - Web Browser screen, then the Browsers view.
2. Note the name of the parent browser (the browser on which you base the new browser).
3. Create a new record, and complete the necessary fields.
4. Drill down on the Name field for record.
5. In the Capabilities list, create the following 3 records:
   • For the first record, select the Parent capability in the Add Capabilities dialog box, and enter the parent browser you identify in Step 2 in the Capability Value field.
   • For the second record, select the User-Agent capability in the Add Capabilities dialog box, and enter the appropriate user-agent in the Capability Value field.
   • For the third record, select the Accept capability in the Add Capabilities dialog box, and enter the types of documents that the browser can open in the Capability Value field.
6. In the Capabilities list, add any additional capabilities that are not included in the parent browser or that differ from those inherited from the parent browser.