Getting a browser's name client-side

Question

Is there any object or method that returns data about the browser, client-side?

For example, I need to detect if the browser is IE (Interner Explorer). Following is the code snippet.

function isInternetExplorer() {     if(navigator.appName.indexOf("Microsoft Internet Explorer") != -1)     {         return true;     }     return false; } 

Is there a better way?

Answer 1

JavaScript side - you can get browser name like these ways...

if(window.navigator.appName == "") OR if(window.navigator.userAgent == "") 

Answer 2

This is pure JavaScript solution. Which I was required.
I tried on different browsers. It is working fine. Hope it helps.

How do I detect the browser name ?

You can use the navigator.appName and navigator.userAgent properties. The userAgent property is more reliable than appName because, for example, Firefox (and some other browsers) may return the string "Netscape" as the value of navigator.appName for compatibility with Netscape Navigator.

Note, however, that navigator.userAgent may be spoofed, too – that is, clients may substitute virtually any string for their userAgent. Therefore, whatever we deduce from either appName or userAgent should be taken with a grain of salt.

var nVer = navigator.appVersion; var nAgt = navigator.userAgent; var browserName  = navigator.appName; var fullVersion  = ''+parseFloat(navigator.appVersion);  var majorVersion = parseInt(navigator.appVersion,10); var nameOffset,verOffset,ix;  // In Opera, the true version is after "Opera" or after "Version" if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Opera"))!=-1) {    browserName = "Opera";    fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+6);    if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Version"))!=-1)       fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+8); } // In MSIE, the true version is after "MSIE" in userAgent else if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("MSIE"))!=-1) {    browserName = "Microsoft Internet Explorer";    fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+5); } // In Chrome, the true version is after "Chrome"  else if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Chrome"))!=-1) {    browserName = "Chrome";    fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+7); } // In Safari, the true version is after "Safari" or after "Version"  else if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Safari"))!=-1) {    browserName = "Safari";    fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+7);    if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Version"))!=-1)       fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+8); } // In Firefox, the true version is after "Firefox"  else if ((verOffset=nAgt.indexOf("Firefox"))!=-1) {     browserName = "Firefox";     fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+8); } // In most other browsers, "name/version" is at the end of userAgent  else if ( (nameOffset=nAgt.lastIndexOf(' ')+1) < (verOffset=nAgt.lastIndexOf('/')) ) {     browserName = nAgt.substring(nameOffset,verOffset);     fullVersion = nAgt.substring(verOffset+1);     if (browserName.toLowerCase()==browserName.toUpperCase()) {        browserName = navigator.appName;     } } // trim the fullVersion string at semicolon/space if present if ((ix=fullVersion.indexOf(";"))!=-1)     fullVersion=fullVersion.substring(0,ix); if ((ix=fullVersion.indexOf(" "))!=-1)     fullVersion=fullVersion.substring(0,ix);  majorVersion = parseInt(''+fullVersion,10); if (isNaN(majorVersion)) {     fullVersion  = ''+parseFloat(navigator.appVersion);      majorVersion = parseInt(navigator.appVersion,10); }  document.write(''                 +'Browser name  = '+browserName+'<br>'                 +'Full version  = '+fullVersion+'<br>'                 +'Major version = '+majorVersion+'<br>'                 +'navigator.appName = '+navigator.appName+'<br>'                 +'navigator.userAgent = '+navigator.userAgent+'<br>'); 

From the source javascripter.net