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Difference between revisions of "optiPoint application module Programming WML applications"

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The following table shows the data sent to the server in the HTTP header.  
 
The following table shows the data sent to the server in the HTTP header.  
 
To show a typical scenario, the header data display the corresponding CGI environment variable.
 
To show a typical scenario, the header data display the corresponding CGI environment variable.
 +
{| {{DefaultTable}}
 +
! Environment Variable
 +
! Value
 +
! Comment
 +
|-
 +
| <tt>HTTP_ACCEPT</tt>
 +
| text/vnd.wap.wml, application/vnd.wap.wmlc, application/vnd.wap.wbxml, application/vnd.wap.wmlscriptc
 +
| List of the MIME types accepted by the browser.
 +
|-
 +
| <tt>HTTP_ACCEPT_CHARSET</tt>
 +
| utf-8, utf-16, iso-8859-1
 +
| List of the character codes accepted by the browser.
 +
|-
 +
| <tt>HTTP_USER_AGENT</tt>
 +
| SIE-OP410
 +
| Browser type
 +
|-
 +
| <tt>REMOTE_ADDR</tt>
 +
| ''IP Address''
 +
| IP address of the terminal device the application module is connected to.
 +
|-
 +
| <tt>REMOTE_PORT</tt>
 +
| ''Port of the client through which the CGI script was called''
 +
| The port number usually lies in a range from 1.024 upwards and is selected at random by the calling web browser.
 +
|-
 +
| <tt>REQUEST_METHOD</tt>
 +
| ''post'' or ''get''
 +
| The method used to transfer data from the browser to the server.
 +
|-
 +
| <tt>REQUEST_URI</tt>
 +
| ''Path of the script, starting with the document root of the server''
 +
| Also contains data transferred to the server via ''get''.
 +
|-
 +
| <tt>QUERY_STRING</tt>
 +
| ''query string''
 +
| Data sent to the server as a character string, starting with a ''?''.
 +
|}
  
 
== WML ==
 
== WML ==

Revision as of 11:46, 15 August 2006

Construction.png This article or section is currently under construction. In order to avoid editing conflicts, please wait until this message is removed or contact the author (Horst.reinelt 16:35, 14 August 2006 (CEST)).

The target group for this guide to program WML applications are developers creating WML applications for the optiPoint application module.

The guide covers all elements/tags that are part of the WML 1.3 specification. It describes the individual WML elements, their attributes and their interpretation by the WAP browser application as far as it is relevant for the WAP developer.

Of course, this guide does not supersede a WML training manual.

Technical Browser Properties

This chapter specifies the relevant physical properties of the optiPoint application module.

Maximum Data Volume

The following restrictions have to be taken into account when developing WAP pages for the optiPoint application module:

  • The individual cards should not exceed 15 kilobytes (including graphics).
  • A deck should not exceed 80 kilobytes (including graphics).

The optiPoint application module was developed for a wired LAN environment and the HTTP transfer protocol. If the browser is connected via a WAP gateway, WSP can be used instead of HTTP. In this case please consider that some gateways restrict the data volume transferred via WSP. Please also note that WAP gateways usually compile WML pages (i.e. compress them to a binary format). This format considerably reduces the data volume.

Display

wap-browser-apm.png

If the browser is used, the display is divided into a system bar, a URL entry field, the browser window for the WAP content and the application bar with symbols to open the context menu an exit the browser.

The display has a total size of 320 (height) by 240 (width) pixels. If the content is bigger, please take into account that the two scroll bars take a certain part of the available display size. As soon as a vertical scroll bar is shown, the visible width of the browser window is reduced so much that a horizontal scroll bar is also displayed at the bottom of the screen.

If you want to fill the display with a maximum size graphic without triggering the display of scroll bars, rectangles of 230 (width) by 221 (height) pixels or 234 (width) by 192 (height) pixels are available. The difference is due to different threshold values that trigger the generation of scroll bars. In detail, the scroll bar behaviour is as follows: If the maximum height is exceeded, both vertical and horizontal scroll bars are displayed; if only the maximum width is exceeded and the height is smaller than or equals 192 pixels, only a horizontal scroll bar is generated.

The maximum scope for text content is 9 lines (normal font and size). Starting with the 10th line, both a vertical and a horizontal scroll bar are displayed. If a string of characters that cannot be syllabicated exceeds the display width, two things happen: The display is expanded by generating a horizontal scroll bar, and the string of characters is wrapped right in front of the character that exceeds the maximum length.

Using the Browser

The following explains how to use the browser. For detailed information refer to the Operating Manual.

Keyboard and Touchscreen

An alphanumeric keyboard and a touchscreen keypad are available for navigation and data entry. Before you can enter e.g. a URL into the address bar or data into an entry field, the field has to be activated using the touchscreen. Also, task or form elements can only be selected via the context menu, i.e. through the touchscreen.

Certain characters have to be entered via the touchscreen keypad which contains the complete character set. Some special characters (e.g. the * and #) are only available within a submenu of the touchscreen keypad.

Touchscreen Keypad

Starting and Closing the Browser

In the initial state, the optiPoint application module displays the start menu.

Step by Step Description
symbol-browser.png
Select the browser symbol using the touchscreen or the navi key. Once the browser symbol is selected, a second click on the symbol using the touchscreen or the confirmation using the navi key starts the browser, displaying the pre-defined start page.
symbol-cross.png
You can close the browser by clicking on the cross symbol.

By activating the home symbol you return to the start menu and can change to another application. In this case, the browser is not closed, i.e. the browser retains its current status.

Context Menu

Using the context menu (symbol in the application bar) you can:

  • access the browser’s homepage
  • manage the favorites or add the current page to the favorites
  • reload the page, i.e. the deck
  • set user name/password combinations for access to the gateway or proxy
  • use Options to access the softkeys generated via WML

Data Formats / MIME Types

To WAP-enable a web server, the following MIME types have to be defined:

Filename extension MIME Type File Contents
.wml text/vnd.wap.wml WML document in plain text format
.wmlc application/vnd.wap.wmlc WML document in binary format
.wbxml application/vnd.wap.wbxml WML document in binary format
.wbmp image/vnd.wap.wbmp Image in WBMP format (Wireless Bitmap)
.wmlsc application/vnd.wap.wmlscriptc WMLScript in compiled format

Data Formats

Due to its compression, the binary format allows for faster transfer of XML files.

One of the reasons for the considerably smaller file size is that WML elements are represented by defined byte values; in plain text files these are represented as strings, resulting in increased redundancy. The compilation from plain text to binary format can be done in the WAP Gateway or in a separate application. A useful tool is e.g. the WBXML Library.

The filename extensions .wmlc and .wbxml can be used alternatively for the same binary format.

Server Configuration

You can use one of the standard web servers, e.g. Apache or Microsoft IIS to provide WML pages. In addition, dynamic WAP pages can be generated using the same tools as dynamic HTML pages: ASP, CGI/Perl, PHP, JSP, etc.

HTTP

HTTP header

If you want to adapt a WAP application for the optiPoint application module’s browser, it is useful to know the information sent from the client to the server.

The following table shows the data sent to the server in the HTTP header. To show a typical scenario, the header data display the corresponding CGI environment variable.

Environment Variable Value Comment
HTTP_ACCEPT text/vnd.wap.wml, application/vnd.wap.wmlc, application/vnd.wap.wbxml, application/vnd.wap.wmlscriptc List of the MIME types accepted by the browser.
HTTP_ACCEPT_CHARSET utf-8, utf-16, iso-8859-1 List of the character codes accepted by the browser.
HTTP_USER_AGENT SIE-OP410 Browser type
REMOTE_ADDR IP Address IP address of the terminal device the application module is connected to.
REMOTE_PORT Port of the client through which the CGI script was called The port number usually lies in a range from 1.024 upwards and is selected at random by the calling web browser.
REQUEST_METHOD post or get The method used to transfer data from the browser to the server.
REQUEST_URI Path of the script, starting with the document root of the server Also contains data transferred to the server via get.
QUERY_STRING query string Data sent to the server as a character string, starting with a ?.

WML

Internationalization and Special Characters

WTAI (Wireless Telephony Applications Interface)

WMLScript

Browser Error Messages

References

Reference documents

<dirlist dir="opapm"></dirlist>

External links