Spanky's Place

Category Technical

I've been working on some code to autodetect browser plugins, and let me tell you this is a gigantic pain in the rear. Modern, standards-compliant browsers aren't that difficult; but figuring out plugins on Microsoft Internet Explorer is about as much fun as having major dental work. Come to think of it, at least with dental work you get Nitrous Oxide and gonzo pain killers. Not so with MSIE.

I have just about figured it out and gotten it working (I'll post the solution later). For the masochists among you, here is a challenge: Write some client-side code (no ASP, Domino, or CGI magic allowed), that will detect and report to the user all of the plugins installed in their browser. In addition, make your code such that it will redirect the user to a new page if their browser doesn't have the correct "required" plugins or plugin versions. Now make this code run in MSIE 5+, Firefox 1+, and Netscape 4.6+.

If you succeed, give yourself a big pat on the back, because you will have accomplished something great.

Alternatively, you can just sit there with a worm on your tongue and wait for me to finish testing and post the stuff I'm working on now. It is very nearly finished, I just have a few "bugs" (like the PANIC: STOP) to work out.

-Devin