WML & WMLScript: A Beginner's Guide

by Kris Jamsa Dr (Conducted by)

Overview

Create real-world Wireless applications--even if you've never worked with WML or WMLScript before--using this hands-on introductory resource. You'll get full details on WAP, and learn to build applications that will run on your Web-enabled cellular phone. From formatting text, displaying images, and creating wireless bitmap files, this beginner's guide provides you with all the tools you need to construct your own wireless Web site and other WML-based applications.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780072192940
Publisher:	McGraw-Hill Companies, The
Publication date:	01/01/2001
Series:	Beginner's Guides (Osborne)
Pages:	466
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.25(h) x 1.01(d)

About the Author

Kris Jamsa, Ph.D., MBA, is the author of more than 90 computer books, with cumulative sales of several million copies. Jamsa holds a Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the United States Air Force Academy, a Masters degree in computer science from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, a Ph.D. in computer science with an emphasis in operating systems from Arizona State University, and a Masters of Business Administration from San Diego State University.

In 1992, Jamsa and his wife, Debbie, founded Jamsa Press, a computer-book publishing company. After expanding the company's presence to 70 countries and 28 languages, Jamsa sold Jamsa Press to a larger publishing house. Today, Jamsa is the founder of WirelessLookup.com, a company that puts people and businesses on the Wireless Web. Jamsa is also very active in analyzing emerging technologies.

Jamsa lives on a ranch in Houston, Texas, with his wife, their three dogs, and five horses. When he is not in front of his PC, Kris is normally riding and jumping his horse Robin Hood.

Read an Excerpt

Module 1: Getting Started on the Wireless Web

For years, computer users have made extensive use of the World Wide Web to find information, send and receive electronic mail, buy and sell stocks, use e-commerce to shop, and more. To "surf" the World Wide Web, users use a browser, such as Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator, to view the contents of specific Web sites. The Wireless Web extends content much like you find on the traditional World Wide Web to Web-enabled cellular phones and other handheld devices. This module will introduce you to the Wireless Web. Throughout this module you will find, with the exception that you are viewing sites on your cellular phone, that the Wireless Web is very similar to the traditional World Wide Web. To view sites on the Wireless Web, you use a special program called a microbrowser, which resides within a Web-enabled phone. Like sites on the traditional World Wide Web, sites on the Wireless Web have unique addresses, which look very much like traditional Web addresses. If you do not yet have a Web-enabled phone, this module will show you how to download a phone simulator, a program you can run on your PC, that lets you view Wireless Web sites.

What You Need to Access the Wireless Web

To "surf" the Wireless Web, you need a device that contains a microbrowser -special software that is capable of displaying a Wireless Web site. If you have a new cellular phone, your phone quite likely contains a built-in microbrowser. In other words, it is "Web enabled." If you are shopping for a new phone, you will find that almost all newer phones are Web enabled.

With a Web-enabled phone in hand, you must normally contact your cellular-phone provider to have them turn on (enable) your phone's access to the Wireless Web. Normally, there is no charge to enable the Wireless Web for your account. However, when you use your phone to surf the Wireless Web, your phone company will charge your account on a per-minute basis, just as if you were placing a voice call using your phone.

If you do not yet have a Web-enabled phone, you can download phonesimulator software to your PC. As shown in Figure 1-1, the phone simulator software behaves as a Web-enabled phone. Thus, using your PC's connection to the Internet and the phone simulator, you can traverse the Wireless Web. Later in this module, you will learn how to download and install various phone simulators. As you create your own WML applications, you should test each application using each of the simulators. As, your applications become more complex, you will find that different simulators implement various Wireless Markup Language (WML) tags differently. Because users may access your Wireless applications using different phones, you should get into the habit of testing your applications with the various simulators.

1-Minute Drill

• What is a Web-enabled phone?
• What is a microbrowser?

Previewing the Wireless Web

Although the Wireless Web is still very much in its infancy, you can find a variety of useful sites on the Wireless Web today. This section examines several sites you should visit and bookmark.

Wireless Search Engines

just as you use search engines, such as Yahoo, Google, and Excite, to locate information on the World Wide Web, you will also find various Wireless search engines, as shown in Figure 1-2....

Table of Contents

Module 1 Getting Started on the Wireless Web
Module 2 Creating Your First WML Application
Module 3 Formatting Output
Module 4 Working with Multiple Cards and Variables
Module 5 Performing User Input Operations
Module 6 Building Real-World WML Applications
Module 7 Automating WML Applications Using WMLScript
Module 8 Using the WMLScript Libraries
Module 9 Building Real-World WMLScript Applications
Module 10 Advanced Concepts
Appendix A Answers to Mastery Checks
Appendix B WML Language Reference
Appendix C Wireless References on the World Wide Web