+ +
+

User Agent Class

+

The User Agent Class provides functions that help identify information +about the browser, mobile device, or robot visiting your site. In +addition you can get referrer information as well as language and +supported character-set information.

+ +
+

Using the User Agent Class

+
+

Initializing the Class

+

Like most other classes in CodeIgniter, the User Agent class is +initialized in your controller using the $this->load->library function:

+
$this->load->library('user_agent');
+
+
+

Once loaded, the object will be available using: $this->agent

+
+
+

User Agent Definitions

+

The user agent name definitions are located in a config file located at: +application/config/user_agents.php. You may add items to the various +user agent arrays if needed.

+
+
+

Example

+

When the User Agent class is initialized it will attempt to determine +whether the user agent browsing your site is a web browser, a mobile +device, or a robot. It will also gather the platform information if it +is available.

+
$this->load->library('user_agent');
+
+if ($this->agent->is_browser())
+{
+        $agent = $this->agent->browser().' '.$this->agent->version();
+}
+elseif ($this->agent->is_robot())
+{
+        $agent = $this->agent->robot();
+}
+elseif ($this->agent->is_mobile())
+{
+        $agent = $this->agent->mobile();
+}
+else
+{
+        $agent = 'Unidentified User Agent';
+}
+
+echo $agent;
+
+echo $this->agent->platform(); // Platform info (Windows, Linux, Mac, etc.)
+
+
+
+
+
+

Class Reference

+
+
+class CI_User_agent
+
+
+is_browser([$key = NULL])
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $key (string) – Optional browser name
    • +
+
Returns:

TRUE if the user agent is a (specified) browser, FALSE if not

+
Return type:

bool

+
+

Returns TRUE/FALSE (boolean) if the user agent is a known web browser.

+
if ($this->agent->is_browser('Safari'))
+{
+        echo 'You are using Safari.';
+}
+elseif ($this->agent->is_browser())
+{
+        echo 'You are using a browser.';
+}
+
+
+
+

Note

+

The string “Safari” in this example is an array key in the list of browser definitions. +You can find this list in application/config/user_agents.php if you want to add new +browsers or change the stings.

+
+
+ +
+
+is_mobile([$key = NULL])
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $key (string) – Optional mobile device name
    • +
+
Returns:

TRUE if the user agent is a (specified) mobile device, FALSE if not

+
Return type:

bool

+
+

Returns TRUE/FALSE (boolean) if the user agent is a known mobile device.

+
if ($this->agent->is_mobile('iphone'))
+{
+        $this->load->view('iphone/home');
+}
+elseif ($this->agent->is_mobile())
+{
+        $this->load->view('mobile/home');
+}
+else
+{
+        $this->load->view('web/home');
+}
+
+
+
+ +
+
+is_robot([$key = NULL])
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $key (string) – Optional robot name
    • +
+
Returns:

TRUE if the user agent is a (specified) robot, FALSE if not

+
Return type:

bool

+
+

Returns TRUE/FALSE (boolean) if the user agent is a known robot.

+
+

Note

+

The user agent library only contains the most common robot definitions. It is not a complete list of bots. +There are hundreds of them so searching for each one would not be very efficient. If you find that some bots +that commonly visit your site are missing from the list you can add them to your +application/config/user_agents.php file.

+
+
+ +
+
+is_referral()
+
+++ + + + + + +
Returns:TRUE if the user agent is a referral, FALSE if not
Return type:bool
+

Returns TRUE/FALSE (boolean) if the user agent was referred from another site.

+
+ +
+
+browser()
+
+++ + + + + + +
Returns:Detected browser or an empty string
Return type:string
+

Returns a string containing the name of the web browser viewing your site.

+
+ +
+
+version()
+
+++ + + + + + +
Returns:Detected browser version or an empty string
Return type:string
+

Returns a string containing the version number of the web browser viewing your site.

+
+ +
+
+mobile()
+
+++ + + + + + +
Returns:Detected mobile device brand or an empty string
Return type:string
+

Returns a string containing the name of the mobile device viewing your site.

+
+ +
+
+robot()
+
+++ + + + + + +
Returns:Detected robot name or an empty string
Return type:string
+

Returns a string containing the name of the robot viewing your site.

+
+ +
+
+platform()
+
+++ + + + + + +
Returns:Detected operating system or an empty string
Return type:string
+

Returns a string containing the platform viewing your site (Linux, Windows, OS X, etc.).

+
+ +
+
+referrer()
+
+++ + + + + + +
Returns:Detected referrer or an empty string
Return type:string
+

The referrer, if the user agent was referred from another site. Typically you’ll test for this as follows:

+
if ($this->agent->is_referral())
+{
+        echo $this->agent->referrer();
+}
+
+
+
+ +
+
+agent_string()
+
+++ + + + + + +
Returns:Full user agent string or an empty string
Return type:string
+

Returns a string containing the full user agent string. Typically it will be something like this:

+
Mozilla/5.0 (Macintosh; U; Intel Mac OS X; en-US; rv:1.8.0.4) Gecko/20060613 Camino/1.0.2
+
+
+
+ +
+
+accept_lang([$lang = 'en'])
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $lang (string) – Language key
    • +
+
Returns:

TRUE if provided language is accepted, FALSE if not

+
Return type:

bool

+
+

Lets you determine if the user agent accepts a particular language. Example:

+
if ($this->agent->accept_lang('en'))
+{
+        echo 'You accept English!';
+}
+
+
+
+

Note

+

This method is not typically very reliable since some browsers do not provide language info, +and even among those that do, it is not always accurate.

+
+
+ +
+
+languages()
+
+++ + + + + + +
Returns:An array list of accepted languages
Return type:array
+

Returns an array of languages supported by the user agent.

+
+ +
+
+accept_charset([$charset = 'utf-8'])
+
+++ + + + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $charset (string) – Character set
    • +
+
Returns:

TRUE if the character set is accepted, FALSE if not

+
Return type:

bool

+
+

Lets you determine if the user agent accepts a particular character set. Example:

+
if ($this->agent->accept_charset('utf-8'))
+{
+        echo 'You browser supports UTF-8!';
+}
+
+
+
+

Note

+

This method is not typically very reliable since some browsers do not provide character-set info, +and even among those that do, it is not always accurate.

+
+
+ +
+
+charsets()
+
+++ + + + + + +
Returns:An array list of accepted character sets
Return type:array
+

Returns an array of character sets accepted by the user agent.

+
+ +
+
+parse($string)
+
+++ + + + + + +
Parameters:
    +
  • $string (string) – A custom user-agent string
    • +
+
Return type:

void

+
+

Parses a custom user-agent string, different from the one reported by the current visitor.

+
+ +
+ +
+
+ + +