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Q: browscap.ini property definitions ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   0 Comments )
Question  
Subject: browscap.ini property definitions
Category: Computers > Internet
Asked by: garyk-ga
List Price: $20.00
Posted: 12 Mar 2003 12:45 PST
Expires: 11 Apr 2003 13:45 PDT
Question ID: 175278
Browscap.ini is the browser capabilities database for IIS and other
web servers. In a typical file each user agent has an AK and SK
property associated with it. What are these properties for? For
example, I know cookies means the browser supports cookies. What does
the browser support when AK or SK are set to true as opposed to false.
Thank you in advance for your efforts.
Answer  
Subject: Re: browscap.ini property definitions
Answered By: mmastrac-ga on 22 Mar 2003 12:37 PST
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
AK and SK are two properties that apply to early MSIE browsers (3.0x).
 They were sent as part of the user agent to give more info about how
the browser was customized.  They have not been used for quite some
time.

When a browser was customized using the IE Administration Kit
(http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ieak/default.asp) the user agent
contains the string "AK;" and this flag is true.  This could be used
for a sysadmin to ensure that all of the client browsers were running
the corporate customized version of IE.  Microsoft no longer sent this
flag after IE3.0x, however.

SK specifies that the browser is the Internet Explorer Starter Kit. 
It was a version of IE that Microsoft sold as an upgrade to Windows NT
and '95.  This product is long gone.  The only remaining trace of it
is a french Microsoft site:
http://www.microsoft.com/catalog/display.asp?subid=27&site=208.

For modern websites and browser detection applications, these flags
are ignored.  Most APIs that read browscap.ini files will not expose
these in any way, as the information does not have any relevance.

Request for Answer Clarification by garyk-ga on 22 Mar 2003 14:10 PST
I maintain and distribute a browscap.ini file via my website at
http://www.garykeith.com. The creation of the file is an automated
process that runs in VB6 against my SQL Server database of user
agents.

As a result of the above process AK and SK are included in every user
agent. I could eliminate them, or code around them so they're only
included in the early IE releases. But for now I think I'll just leave
things as-is and be thankful I finally know what both flags are/were
for. Does that sound like a solid plan of action to you?

Clarification of Answer by mmastrac-ga on 23 Mar 2003 14:20 PST
I agree - I would recommend leaving them in for MSIE3.x releases and
omitting them for all other browsers and MSIE versions.

Good luck!
garyk-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars and gave an additional tip of: $10.00
I never expected such a detailed answer but from looking at other
answers you've provided it seems you're developing a good reputation
for providing lots of details. That's what the tip is for.

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