asked on

javascript

Is there any way using javascript i can detect the browser settings like tools/internet options-- settings/check for newer version of stored pages---every visit to the page,never etc.
I have an apllication which does not allow the user to login with some of these settings set .How can i check there settings and code in a way which allows then to login the application?

LordOfPorts

There is a Navigator object http://www.javascriptkit.com/jsref/navigator.shtml that provides some browser related information however Javascript does not have the ability to read a user's settings from the "Internet Options".

ysfx

Another common practice is to test to see if a similar functionality fails. For example, store a cookie value then pull the value again. If the value is the same, cookie is enabled else disabled.

akohli

ASKER

Can i get a code example or if there is any other way(other than javascript) to fetch the user settings of internet options?

LordOfPorts

The code snippet below has an example of using the Navigator object to read the available browser information, reading and setting cookies, and using the <noscript> HTML tag that is accessed when the user does not have JavaScript enabled.

Short of installing a custom written, e.g. in Java, C++, etc., plug-in on the user's browser (with a user's explicit permission) there is no way to detect the settings from "Internet Options" as they are stored in e.g. the registry, local files, etc. so accessing them through JavaScript would be a breach of security.

What you can do is first identify the cause of your application not working for some users, i.e. is JavaScript not enabled and therefore your application does not work in which case you would use the <noscript> tag to inform the user that your application requires JavaScript in order to function properly; does the application require a specific browser in which case try using the navigator object to identify which browser the user has.

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
 
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
    <title>Detecting Browser/Setting Cookie</title>
</head>
<body>
 
<!-- The noscript tag will be accessed if the browser does not support JavaScript -->
<noscript>
 <h2>JavaScript is not enabled.</h2>
</noscript>
 
<script type="text/javascript">
// Using the Navigator object
 
document.write("appCodeName: " + navigator.appCodeName + "<br />");
document.write("appName: " + navigator.appName + "<br />");
document.write("appVersion: " + navigator.appVersion + "<br />");
document.write("cookieEnabled: " + navigator.cookieEnabled + "<br />");
document.write("userAgent: " + navigator.userAgent + "<br />");
document.write("Supported MIME Types<br />");
for(var i = 0; i < navigator.mimeTypes.length; i++) {
    document.write("&nbsp;" + navigator.mimeTypes[i].type + "<br />");
}
 
</script>
 
<script type="text/javascript">
// Using cookies
 
if(!document.cookie) {
    // No cookie has been set yet
    alert('No cookie has been detected');
    
    // Set the cookie for 3 days
    var dtDate = new Date();
    dtDate.setTime(dtDate.getTime() + (3 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000));
    var sExpirationDate = "expires=" + dtDate.toGMTString();
 
    document.cookie = "user:name;" + sExpirationDate;
}
else {
    // Found cookie, show value
    alert(document.cookie);
}
 
</script>
 
</body>
</html>

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akohli

ASKER

thanks for the reply...i know the user is facing the problem because he does not have any particular "check for newer versions of web page"" option clicked,but is there any (without using javascript) other way using which we can come to know about user's Internet options (this particular settings)

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LordOfPorts

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akohli

ASKER

Thans again for the reply...i am little confused...seeing the articles it says its better to use http header than meta tags,where and how should i write the http header.Like u sent the two lines for meta,can u also send the code that is to be written for http header.In the article it says http header is generated by the server,if so then where and how should i make the settings for not caching the page...

akohli

ASKER

i am using websphere...

LordOfPorts

How to set the http header server-side depends on the scripting language you are using and while I am not familiar with websphere this EE thread appears to have the exact steps https://www.experts-exchange.com/questions/21423506/cache-issue-in-websphere.html