From 8697555125c57ae64a0c9b78514b4aac4fd523de Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Mitja Felicijan Date: Tue, 27 Jun 2023 14:50:20 +0200 Subject: Massive formatting and added figcaption --- .../2021-12-30-wap-mobile-web-before-the-web.md | 87 +++++++++++----------- 1 file changed, 44 insertions(+), 43 deletions(-) (limited to 'content/posts/2021-12-30-wap-mobile-web-before-the-web.md') 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 1ee82b5..6c598fe 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 @@ -7,14 +7,15 @@ draft: false ## A little stroll down the history lane -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. +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. 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. @@ -34,42 +35,42 @@ Let's take a look at these beauties. ## WAP - Wireless Application Protocol -Not that one! We are talking about Wireless Application Protocol and not -Cardi B's song 😃 +Not that one! We are talking about Wireless Application Protocol and not Cardi +B's song 😃 -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, +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. +wireless technologies via protocols. [(source)](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/wireless-application-protocol/) -WAP protocol was resulted by the joint efforts of the various members of WAP +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). +resulting in the formation of Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). [(source)](https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/wireless-application-protocol/) -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, +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. -These pages could be served by [Apache](https://apache.org/) and could be +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. ## WML - Wireless Markup Language -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. +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) ```html @@ -82,7 +83,8 @@ pages or cards contained within it. ``` -There is an amazing tutorial on [Tutorialpoint about WML](https://www.tutorialspoint.com/wml/index.htm). +There is an amazing tutorial on [Tutorialpoint about +WML](https://www.tutorialspoint.com/wml/index.htm). ## Converting Digg to WML @@ -166,24 +168,24 @@ with open('www/index.wml', 'w+') as fp: fp.write(html) ``` -This script will create a folder `www` and in the folder `www/images` for +This script will create a folder `www` and in the folder `www/images` for storing resized images. > 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. -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. +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. -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. +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. -If you are using Nginx to serve the contents, add a directive to the hosts file +If you are using Nginx to serve the contents, add a directive to the hosts file that will automatically server `index.wml` file. ```nginx @@ -195,6 +197,5 @@ server { ## Conclusion 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. - +I will try to find an old phone to test it on. If you have any questions, feel +free to ask in the comments. -- cgit v1.2.3