NAME
    HTTP::BrowserDetect - Determine the Web browser, version, and platform
    from an HTTP user agent string

SYNOPSIS
        use HTTP::BrowserDetect;

        my $browser = new HTTP::BrowserDetect($user_agent_string);

        # Detect operating system
        if ($browser->windows) {
          if ($browser->winnt) ...
          if ($brorwser->win95) ...
        }
        print $browser->mac;

        # Detect browser vendor and version
        print $browser->netscape;
        print $browser->ie;
        if (browser->major(4)) {
            if ($browser->minor() > .5) {
                ...
            }
        }
        if ($browser->version() > 4) {
          ...;
        }
    
        # Process a different user agent string
        $browser->user_agent($another_user_agent_string);

DESCRIPTION
    The HTTP::BrowserDetect object does a number of tests on an HTTP user
    agent string. The results of these tests are available via methods of
    the object.

    This module is based upon the JavaScript browser detection code
    available at
    http://www.mozilla.org/docs/web-developer/sniffer/browser_type.html.

  CREATING A NEW BROWSER DETECT OBJECT AND SETTING THE USER AGENT STRING

    new HTTP::BrowserDetect($user_agent_string)
        The constructor may be called with a user agent string specified.
        Otherwise, it will use the value specified by
        $ENV{'HTTP_USER_AGENT'}, which is set by the web server when calling
        a CGI script.

        You may also use a non-object-oriented interface. For each method,
        you may call HTTP::BrowserDetect::method_name(). You will then be
        working with a default HTTP::BrowserDetect object that is created
        behind the scenes.

    user_agent($user_agent_string)
        Returns the value of the user agent string. When called with a
        parameter, it resets the user agent and reperforms all tests on the
        string. This way you can process a series of user agent strings
        (from a log file, perhaps) without creating a new
        HTTP::BrowserDetect object each time.

  DETECTING BROWSER VERSION

    major($major)
        Returns the integer portion of the browser version. If passed a
        parameter, returns true if it equals the browser major version.

    minor($minor)
        Returns the decimal portion of the browser version as a
        floating-point number less than 1. For example, if the version is
        4.05, this method returns .05; if the version is 4.5, this method
        returns .5. This is a change in behavior from previous versions of
        this module, which returned a string.

        If passed a parameter, returns true if equals the minor version.

        On occasion a version may have more than one decimal point, such as
        'Wget/1.4.5'. The minor version does not include the second decimal
        point, or any further digits or decimals.

    version($version)
        Returns the version as a floating-point number. If passed a
        parameter, returns true if it is equal to the version specified by
        the user agent string.

    beta($beta)
        Returns any the beta version, consisting of any non-numeric
        characters after the version number. For instance, if the user agent
        string is 'Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.0b2; Windows NT)',
        returns 'b2'. If passed a parameter, returns true if equal to the
        beta version. If the beta starts with a dot, it is thrown away.

  DETECTING OS PLATFORM AND VERSION

    The following methods are available, each returning a true or false
    value. Some methods also test for the operating system version. The
    indentations below show the hierarchy of tests (for example, win2k is
    considered a type of winnt, which is a type of win32)

      windows 
        win16 win3x win31  
        win32 
            winme win95 win98
            winnt
                win2k winxp
      dotnet
  
      mac 
        mac68k macppc macosx
  
      os2
  
      unix 
        sun sun4 sun5 suni86 irix irix5 irix6 hpux hpux9 hpux10 
        aix aix1 aix2 aix3 aix4 linux sco unixware mpras reliant 
        dec sinix freebsd bsd
  
      vms

      amiga

    It may not be possibile to detect Win98 in Netscape 4.x and earlier. On
    Opera 3.0, the userAgent string includes "Windows 95/NT4" on all Win32,
    so you can't distinguish between Win95 and WinNT.

    os_string()
        Returns one of the following strings, or undef. This method exists
        solely for compatibility with the HTTP::Headers::UserAgent module.

          Win95, Win98, WinNT, Win2K, WinXP, Mac, Mac OS X, Win3x, OS2, Unix, Linux

  DETECTING BROWSER VENDOR

    The following methods are available, each returning a true or false
    value. Some methods also test for the browser version, saving you from
    checking the version separately.

      netscape nav2 nav3 nav4 nav4up nav45 nav45up navgold nav6 nav6up
      gecko 
      mozilla
      firefox 
      safari
      ie ie3 ie4 ie4up ie5 ie55 ie6
      neoplanet neoplanet2 
      mosaic
      aol aol3 aol4 aol5 aol6
      webtv
      opera opera3 opera4 opera5 opera6 opera7
      lynx links
      emacs
      staroffice
      lotusnotes
      icab
      konqueror
      java
      curl

    Netscape 6, even though its called six, in the userAgent string has
    version number 5. The nav6 and nav6up methods correctly handle this
    quirk. The firefox text correctly detects the older-named versions of
    the browser (Phoenix, Firebird)

    browser_string()
        Returns one of the following strings, or undef.

        Netscape, MSIE, WebTV, AOL Browser, Opera, Mosaic, Lynx

    gecko_version()
        If a Gecko rendering engine is used (as in Mozilla or Firebird),
        returns the version of the renderer (e.g. 1.3a, 1.7, 1.8) This might
        be more useful than the particular browser name or version when
        correcting for quirks in different versions of this rendering
        engine. If no Gecko browser is being used, or the version number
        can't be detected, returns undef.

  DETECTING OTHER