There are two different classifications for the types of browser properties tracked by BrowserHawk referred to as basic and extended properties.
Basic properties are properties that cannot vary across browsers of the same type, version, and platform. Put another way, basic properties are those properties that will always be the same for a particular browser type and version running on the same platform, regardless of the end user's settings.
Examples of basic properties include the Browser, Version, Platform, DHTML, IFrames, StyleSheets, and Tables properties. The return result for these properties will always be the same for every user with IE 7.0 on Windows XP. Likewise the return result will be the same for every user with Netscape 8 on UNIX. This is because basic properties reflect the fundamental capabilities of the browser, which generally cannot be changed, disabled, or customized by the end user.
Since basic properties cannot be changed, there values are known and reflected in the Master BDF. Therefore basic properties are detected instantly on the server-side, without any need to perform any special checks on the browser.
Extended properties, unlike basic properties, are properties that can (and typically do) vary across users with the same browser type, version and platform, depending on the user's settings. Detection of extended properties represents some of BrowserHawk's most powerful capabilities, including detection of disabled settings (cookies, ActiveX, JavaScript, etc), plug-ins, connection speeds, firewalls and open ports, screen sizes, and much more.
Some examples of extended properties include ActiveXEnabled, CookiesEnabled, JavaScriptEnabled, Height, Width, Plugin_Flash, and ConnectionSpeed.
Unlike basic properties, extended properties are checked on the browser (client-side) instead of on the server. BrowserHawk automatically handles sending the appropriate client-side tests to the browser, making these checks transparent to the end user, and seamless to your web site or application.
See the Detecting Extended Properties section for more information about important preferences and options involved in performing extended property detection.
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