A Browser Definition File (BDF) is used to store detailed information on each defined browser and its capabilities. BDF files are used by the BrowserHawk Editor to enable you to create, view, and even customize your browser definitions if you prefer.
When you save a BDF file with the BrowserHawk Editor, it automatically generates a new Browser Definition Data File (BDD) file for you. This BDD file represents the same data contained in the BDF, however it is specially formatted for rapid access by the BrowserHawk component.
To summarize, you use the Editor to work with BDF files. When you save your file, it is automatically exported in the BDD format to be read by the BrowserHawk component.
When working with the BrowserHawk Editor, you will spend most of your time either viewing, customizing, or testing a BDF file to ensure it recognizes browser user agents which you expect to visit your web site. If you choose to save your changes in the BrowserHawk Editor, it updates the opened BDF to reflect the changes you have made.
When you create an instance of the BrowserHawk component in your web scripts, it uses the information stored in your BDD as the source for its browser capability information. BrowserHawk matches the browser hitting your web page with a browser definition contained in the Master BDF, and returns a BrowserHawk object reflecting all the capabilities of that browser.
It is easy to see that the heart of BrowserHawk are the browser definition data files. Therefore you should make a point to keep this information up-to-date, either through your own customizations or through the updates provided by cyScape (requires an active Support and Maintenance plan). BrowserHawk’s integrated download feature makes updating your definition files a breeze!
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