Not-Device Detection javascript, perl and php code

While server based detection using mod_rewrite or similar will provide a much better level of performance, sometimes you just want to handle it from within a script. Below are examples in javascript, perl and php so you can choose your language/environment. I would strongly recommend using a server side script (e.g. perl or php) but I’ve included a javascript version for reference. Of course if you’re cutting edge then you could run the javascript on the server-side too.

I hope you find this code useful. If you find any bugs or logical errors please let me know.

NOTE: This code is designed to support 3 key classes of device – PC, iPhone and POM (Plain Old Mobile). See the comments by the winmo detection that shows where you may like to extend this for other high-end devices (e.g. Windows Mobile or Symbian).

Javascript Example:

/**
 *  Copyright © 2009
 *  Rob Manson, Sean McCarthy and http://MOBusiness.com.au
 *
 *  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 *  (at your option) any later version.
 *
 *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 *  GNU General Public License for more details.
 *
 *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 *  along with this program.  If not, see .
 *
 *  Javascript Not-Device Detection Function
 *  Find out what type of device this is
 *  returns string - either pc, pom or iphone
 */
function _not_device_detection() {
    var ua = navigator.userAgent;
    var qs = window.location.search.substring(1);
    var agent = "error";
    var re = {
        "pcswitch" : new RegExp("pc", "i"),
        "pomswitch" : new RegExp("pom", "i"),
        "iphoneswitch" : new RegExp("iphone", "i"),
        "iphone" : new RegExp("iP(hone|od)(;|\s)", "i"),
        "winmo" : new RegExp("Windows\s+CE", "i"),
        "linux" : new RegExp("Linux", "i"),
        "windows" : new RegExp("Windows", "i"),
        "mac" : new RegExp("OS\s+(X|9)", "i"),
        "solaris" : new RegExp("Solaris", "i"),
        "bsd" : new RegExp("BSD", "i")
    };
    if (qs.match(re.pcswitch)) {
        /* This assumes you have a single query string value of "pc" */
        agent = "pc";
    } else if (qs.match(re.pomswitch)) {
        /* This assumes you have a single query string value of "pom" */
        agent = "pom";
    } else if (qs.match(re.iphoneswitch)) {
        /* This assumes you have a single query string value of "iphone" */
        agent = "iphone";
    } else if (ua.match(re.iphone)) {
        /* This user agent should be an iPhone/iPod */
        agent = "iphone";
    } else if (ua.match(re.winmo)) {
        /* This user agent should be a Windows Mobile device - you may want a special class for this and possibly high-end Symbian too */
        agent = "pom";
    } else if (
        (!ua.match(re.linux)) &&
        (!ua.match(re.windows)) &&
        (!ua.match(re.mac)) &&
        (!ua.match(re.solaris)) &&
        (!ua.match(re.bsd))
    ) {
        /* This user agent is not Linux, Windows, a Mac, Solaris or BSD */
        agent = "pom";
    } else {
        /* Otherwise assume it's a PC */
        agent = "pc";
    }
    return agent;
}

Perl Example:

######################################################################################################
##  Copyright © 2009
##  Rob Manson, Sean McCarthy and http://MOBusiness.com.au
##
##  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
##  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
##  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
##  (at your option) any later version.
##
##  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
##  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
##  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
##  GNU General Public License for more details.
##
##  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
##  along with this program.  If not, see .

##
## Perl Not-Device Detection method 
## Find out what type of device this is
## returns string - either pc, pom or iphone
######################################################################################################
sub _not_device_detection() {
    # either pass in \%ENV or pack the UA and QUERY into a hashref and pass that in
    my $env = shift;
    my $ua = $env->{HTTP_USER_AGENT};
    my $qs = $env->{QUERY_STRING};
    my $agent = "error";
    if ($qs =~ /^pc$/i) {
        # This assumes you have a single query string value of "pc"
        $agent = "pc";
    } elsif ($qs =~ /^pom$/i) {
        # This assumes you have a single query string value of "pom"
        $agent = "pom";
    } elsif ($qs =~ /^iphone$/i) {
        # This assumes you have a single query string value of "iphone"
        $agent = "iphone";
    } elsif ($ua =~ /iP(hone|od)(;|\s)/i) {
        # This user agent should be an iPhone/iPod 
        $agent = "iphone";
    } elsif ($ua =~ /Windows\s+CE/i) {
        # This user agent should be a Windows Mobile device - you may want a special class for this and possibly high-end Symbian too
        $agent = "pom";
    } elsif (
        (!$ua =~ /Linux/i) &&
        (!$ua =~ /Win/i) &&
        (!$ua =~ /OS\s+(X|9)/i) &&
        (!$ua =~ /Solaris/i) &&
        (!$ua =~ /BSD/i)
    ) {
        # This user agent is not Linux, Windows, a Mac, Solaris or BSD 
        $agent = "pom";
    } else {
        # Otherwise assume it's a PC
        $agent = "pc";
    }
    return $agent;
}

PHP Example:

/**
 *  Copyright © 2009
 *  Rob Manson, Sean McCarthy and http://MOBusiness.com.au
 *
 *  This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 *  it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 *  the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 *  (at your option) any later version.
 *
 *  This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 *  GNU General Public License for more details.
 *
 *  You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 *  along with this program.  If not, see .
 * 
 * PHP Not-Device Detection Function
 * Find out what type of device this is
 * returns string - either pc, pom or iphone
 */
function _not_device_detection() {
    $ua = $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'];
    $qs = $_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'];
    $agent = "error";
    if (preg_match('/^pc$/i', $qs)) {
        /* This assumes you have a single query string value of "pc" */
        $agent = "pc";
    } else if (preg_match('/^pom$/i', $qs)) {
        /* This assumes you have a single query string value of "pom" */
        $agent = "pom";
    } else if (preg_match('/^iphone$/i', $qs)) {
        /* This assumes you have a single query string value of "iphone" */
        $agent = "iphone";
    } else if (preg_match('/.*iP(hone|od)(;|\s).*$/i', $ua)) {
        /* This user agent should be an iPhone/iPod */
        $agent = "iphone";
    } else if (preg_match('/Windows\s+CE/i', $ua)) {
        /* This user agent should be a Windows Mobile device - you may want a special class for this and possibly high-end Symbian too */
        $agent = "pom";
    } else if (
        (!preg_match('/Linux/i', $ua)) and
        (!preg_match('/Win/i', $ua)) and
        (!preg_match('/OS\s+(X|9)/i', $ua)) and
        (!preg_match('/Solaris/i', $ua)) and
        (!preg_match('/BSD/i', $ua))
    ) {
        /* This user agent is not Linux, Windows, a Mac, Solaris or BSD */
        $agent = "pom";
    } else {
        /* Otherwise assume it's a PC */
        $agent = "pc";
    }
    return $agent;
}