ASP.NET 2.0 Cookbook, 2nd Edition

21.5. Dynamically Creating Browser-Specific Stylesheets

Problem

You need to vary the look and feel of your application pages depending on the platform (Mac or Windows) being used.

Solution

Place an asp:Literal control in the head section of the .aspx file, and then set the text property of the control to an HTML style element created programmatically in the code-behind. Use the properties of the Request.Browser object to determine the platform type and control the generation of the style element.

In the .aspx file, place an asp:Literal control in the head section.

In the code-behind class for the page, use the .NET language of your choice to:

1. Use the Platform property of the Request.Browser object to obtain the browser’s platform.

2. Check the platform string for the presence of the substring, such as "mac“, which indicates whether the browser is running on a Mac platform.

3. Based on the platform, programmatically create the HTML style element.

4. Set the Text property of the asp:Literal control in the head section of the .aspx file to the created HTML style elements.

The .aspx file used for this example is shown in Example 21-13. The code-behind is shown in Examples 21-14 (VB) and 21-15 (C#).

Discussion

HTML is not always rendered the same. Different browsers and platforms render the HTML in various ways. This sometimes requires using a different stylesheet as a function of the browser or platform the browser is running on (Windows, Mac, etc.) to get the same visual effect. Refer to the Platform