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| author | Mitja Felicijan <mitja.felicijan@gmail.com> | 2023-05-26 00:40:40 +0200 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Mitja Felicijan <mitja.felicijan@gmail.com> | 2023-05-26 00:40:40 +0200 |
| commit | 43b0708769eb61392050045b881f8e6ba39c5b66 (patch) | |
| tree | 3939579a13b8325325d5ebb8e05324a41ed78a6d /content/posts/2021-12-30-wap-mobile-web-before-the-web.md | |
| parent | 49e7e7d555a6cd9810d81561fa3e98e3d64502be (diff) | |
| download | mitjafelicijan.com-43b0708769eb61392050045b881f8e6ba39c5b66.tar.gz | |
Massive update to posts, archetypes
Added a archetypes for creating notes and posts so it auto-populates
fields.
Fixed existing posts so they align with the rule of 80 columns now.
Diffstat (limited to 'content/posts/2021-12-30-wap-mobile-web-before-the-web.md')
| -rw-r--r-- | content/posts/2021-12-30-wap-mobile-web-before-the-web.md | 79 |
1 files changed, 63 insertions, 16 deletions
diff --git a/content/posts/2021-12-30-wap-mobile-web-before-the-web.md b/content/posts/2021-12-30-wap-mobile-web-before-the-web.md index 6664639..1ee82b5 100644 --- a/content/posts/2021-12-30-wap-mobile-web-before-the-web.md +++ b/content/posts/2021-12-30-wap-mobile-web-before-the-web.md | |||
| @@ -1,15 +1,24 @@ | |||
| 1 | --- | 1 | --- |
| 2 | title: Wireless Application Protocol and the mobile web before the web | 2 | title: Wireless Application Protocol and the mobile web before the web |
| 3 | url: wap-mobile-web-before-the-web.html | 3 | url: wap-mobile-web-before-the-web.html |
| 4 | date: 2021-12-30 | 4 | date: 2021-12-30T12:00:00+02:00 |
| 5 | draft: false | 5 | draft: false |
| 6 | --- | 6 | --- |
| 7 | 7 | ||
| 8 | ## A little stroll down the history lane | 8 | ## A little stroll down the history lane |
| 9 | 9 | ||
| 10 | About two weeks ago, I watched this outstanding documentary on YouTube [Springboard: the secret history of the first real smartphone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9_Vh9h3Ohw) about the history of smartphones and phones in general. It brought back so many memories. I never had an actual smartphone before the Android. The closest to smartphone was [Sony Ericsson P1](https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_p1-1982.php). A fantastic phone and I broke it in Prague after a party and that was one of those rare occasions where I was actually mad at myself. But nevertheless, after that phone, the next one was an Android one. | 10 | About two weeks ago, I watched this outstanding documentary on YouTube |
| 11 | [Springboard: the secret history of the first real smartphone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9_Vh9h3Ohw) | ||
| 12 | about the history of smartphones and phones in general. It brought back so many | ||
| 13 | memories. I never had an actual smartphone before the Android. The closest to | ||
| 14 | smartphone was [Sony Ericsson P1](https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_p1-1982.php). | ||
| 15 | A fantastic phone and I broke it in Prague after a party and that was one of | ||
| 16 | those rare occasions where I was actually mad at myself. But nevertheless, | ||
| 17 | after that phone, the next one was an Android one. | ||
| 11 | 18 | ||
| 12 | Before that, I only owned normal phones from Nokia and Siemens etc. Nothing special, actually. These are the phones we are talking about. Before 2007. Apple and Android phones didn't exist yet. | 19 | Before that, I only owned normal phones from Nokia and Siemens etc. Nothing |
| 20 | special, actually. These are the phones we are talking about. Before 2007. | ||
| 21 | Apple and Android phones didn't exist yet. | ||
| 13 | 22 | ||
| 14 | These phones were rocking: | 23 | These phones were rocking: |
| 15 | 24 | ||
| @@ -25,19 +34,43 @@ Let's take a look at these beauties. | |||
| 25 | 34 | ||
| 26 | ## WAP - Wireless Application Protocol | 35 | ## WAP - Wireless Application Protocol |
| 27 | 36 | ||
| 28 | Not that one! We are talking about Wireless Application Protocol and not Cardi B's song 😃 | 37 | Not that one! We are talking about Wireless Application Protocol and not |
| 38 | Cardi B's song 😃 | ||
| 29 | 39 | ||
| 30 | WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol. It is a protocol designed for micro-browsers, and it enables the access of internet in the mobile devices. It uses the mark-up language WML (Wireless Markup Language and not HTML), WML is defined as XML 1.0 application. Furthermore, it enables creating web applications for mobile devices. In 1998, WAP Forum was founded by Ericson, Motorola, Nokia and Unwired Planet whose aim was to standardize the various wireless technologies via protocols. [(source)](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/wireless-application-protocol/) | 40 | WAP stands for Wireless Application Protocol. It is a protocol designed for |
| 41 | micro-browsers, and it enables the access of internet in the mobile devices. | ||
| 42 | It uses the mark-up language WML (Wireless Markup Language and not HTML), WML | ||
| 43 | is defined as XML 1.0 application. Furthermore, it enables creating web | ||
| 44 | applications for mobile devices. In 1998, WAP Forum was founded by Ericson, | ||
| 45 | Motorola, Nokia and Unwired Planet whose aim was to standardize the various | ||
| 46 | wireless technologies via protocols. | ||
| 47 | [(source)](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/wireless-application-protocol/) | ||
| 31 | 48 | ||
| 32 | WAP protocol was resulted by the joint efforts of the various members of WAP Forum. In 2002, WAP forum was merged with various other forums of the industry, resulting in the formation of Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). [(source)](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/wireless-application-protocol/) | 49 | WAP protocol was resulted by the joint efforts of the various members of WAP |
| 50 | Forum. In 2002, WAP forum was merged with various other forums of the industry, | ||
| 51 | resulting in the formation of Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). | ||
| 52 | [(source)](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/wireless-application-protocol/) | ||
| 33 | 53 | ||
| 34 | These were some wild times. Devices had tiny screens and data transmission rates were abominable. But they were capable of rendering WML (Wireless Markup Language). This was very similar to HTML, actually. It is a markup language, after all. | 54 | These were some wild times. Devices had tiny screens and data transmission rates |
| 55 | were abominable. But they were capable of rendering WML (Wireless Markup | ||
| 56 | Language). This was very similar to HTML, actually. It is a markup language, | ||
| 57 | after all. | ||
| 35 | 58 | ||
| 36 | These pages could be served by [Apache](https://apache.org/) and could be generated by CGI scripts on the backend. The only difference was the limited markup language. | 59 | These pages could be served by [Apache](https://apache.org/) and could be |
| 60 | generated by CGI scripts on the backend. The only difference was the limited | ||
| 61 | markup language. | ||
| 37 | 62 | ||
| 38 | ## WML - Wireless Markup Language | 63 | ## WML - Wireless Markup Language |
| 39 | 64 | ||
| 40 | Just like web browsers use HTML for content structure, older mobile device browsers use WML - if you need to support really old mobile phones using WML browsers, you will need to know about it. WML is XML-based (an XML vocabulary just like XHTML and MathML, but not HTML) and does not use the same metaphor as HTML. HTML is a single document with some metadata packed away in the head, and a body encapsulating the visible page. With WML, the metaphor does not envisage a page, but rather a deck of cards. A WML file might have several pages or cards contained within it. [(source)](https://www.w3.org/wiki/Introduction_to_mobile_web) | 65 | Just like web browsers use HTML for content structure, older mobile device |
| 66 | browsers use WML - if you need to support really old mobile phones using WML | ||
| 67 | browsers, you will need to know about it. WML is XML-based (an XML vocabulary | ||
| 68 | just like XHTML and MathML, but not HTML) and does not use the same metaphor | ||
| 69 | as HTML. HTML is a single document with some metadata packed away in the head, | ||
| 70 | and a body encapsulating the visible page. With WML, the metaphor does not | ||
| 71 | envisage a page, but rather a deck of cards. A WML file might have several | ||
| 72 | pages or cards contained within it. | ||
| 73 | [(source)](https://www.w3.org/wiki/Introduction_to_mobile_web) | ||
| 41 | 74 | ||
| 42 | ```html | 75 | ```html |
| 43 | <?xml version="1.0"?> | 76 | <?xml version="1.0"?> |
| @@ -53,7 +86,10 @@ There is an amazing tutorial on [Tutorialpoint about WML](https://www.tutorialsp | |||
| 53 | 86 | ||
| 54 | ## Converting Digg to WML | 87 | ## Converting Digg to WML |
| 55 | 88 | ||
| 56 | This task is completely useless and not really feasible nowadays, but I had to give it a try for old-time sake. Since the data is already there in a form of RSS feed, I could take this feed and parse it and create a WML version of the homepage. | 89 | This task is completely useless and not really feasible nowadays, but I had to |
| 90 | give it a try for old-time sake. Since the data is already there in a form of | ||
| 91 | RSS feed, I could take this feed and parse it and create a WML version of the | ||
| 92 | homepage. | ||
| 57 | 93 | ||
| 58 | We will need: | 94 | We will need: |
| 59 | 95 | ||
| @@ -130,17 +166,25 @@ with open('www/index.wml', 'w+') as fp: | |||
| 130 | fp.write(html) | 166 | fp.write(html) |
| 131 | ``` | 167 | ``` |
| 132 | 168 | ||
| 133 | This script will create a folder `www` and in the folder `www/images` for storing resized images. | 169 | This script will create a folder `www` and in the folder `www/images` for |
| 170 | storing resized images. | ||
| 134 | 171 | ||
| 135 | > Be sure you don't use SSL and use just normal HTTP for serving the content. These old phones will have problems with TLS 1.3 etc. | 172 | > Be sure you don't use SSL and use just normal HTTP for serving the content. |
| 173 | > These old phones will have problems with TLS 1.3 etc. | ||
| 136 | 174 | ||
| 137 | If you look at the python file, I convert all the images into tiny B&W images. They should be WBMP (Wireless BitMaP) but I choose JPEGs for this, and it seems to work properly. | 175 | If you look at the python file, I convert all the images into tiny B&W images. |
| 176 | They should be WBMP (Wireless BitMaP) but I choose JPEGs for this, and it | ||
| 177 | seems to work properly. | ||
| 138 | 178 | ||
| 139 | Because I currently don't have a phone old enough to test it on, I used an emulator. And it was really hard to find one. I found [WAP Proof](http://wap-proof.sharewarejunction.com/) on shareware junction, and it did the job well enough. I will try to find and actual device to test it on. | 179 | Because I currently don't have a phone old enough to test it on, I used an |
| 180 | emulator. And it was really hard to find one. I found [WAP Proof](http://wap-proof.sharewarejunction.com/) | ||
| 181 | on shareware junction, and it did the job well enough. I will try to find and | ||
| 182 | actual device to test it on. | ||
| 140 | 183 | ||
| 141 | <video src="/assets/wap/emulator.mp4" controls></video> | 184 | <video src="/assets/wap/emulator.mp4" controls></video> |
| 142 | 185 | ||
| 143 | If you are using Nginx to serve the contents, add a directive to the hosts file that will automatically server `index.wml` file. | 186 | If you are using Nginx to serve the contents, add a directive to the hosts file |
| 187 | that will automatically server `index.wml` file. | ||
| 144 | 188 | ||
| 145 | ```nginx | 189 | ```nginx |
| 146 | server { | 190 | server { |
| @@ -150,4 +194,7 @@ server { | |||
| 150 | 194 | ||
| 151 | ## Conclusion | 195 | ## Conclusion |
| 152 | 196 | ||
| 153 | Well, this was pointless, but very fun! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. I will try to find an old phone to test it on. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments. | 197 | Well, this was pointless, but very fun! I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. |
| 198 | I will try to find an old phone to test it on. If you have any questions, | ||
| 199 | feel free to ask in the comments. | ||
| 200 | |||
