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Author Local homepage for faster startup of browser on k790/800.
mikeri
K800 Black
Joined: Sep 16, 2006
Posts: 5
From: Oslo, Norway
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Posted: 2006-09-17 03:41
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Hello.

I finally found out how to make a "saved page" the homepage/startpage in the browser on my k800, and want to share this with other users. I'm sorry if this is already covered in some other threads, I did try searching for it here witout finding anything, though. I don't know how this will work on other SE models.

Anyway, this will achieve two things; faster startup of the browser, and less gprs traffic for you wich in turn means less cost.

First save a HTML page of your choice. (I just saved the "about:blank" from IE) on your handset. I don't know if it will work with an empty file. Adding a local "portal" with searches like the one in Opera could also be a good idea, but I havent gotten that far yet myself. Note the name of the saved page.

Then, change the homepage by entering Settings - Connectivity - Internet profiles (your prefered profile should be chosen here) - More - Advanced - and ofcourse change homepage.

Set the name to whatever you want. Remember, this will appear at the top of to "Go to" menu item in the browser.

And now, the tricky part, (before you learn how, anyway) the URL: file:///usb/Webpage/saved_pages/[the_name_of_the_page_you_saved].

I hope this can be of some usefullness to some of you. Cheers!

[ This Message was edited by: mikeri on 2006-09-17 02:45 ]
Sirhackalot
Z800
Joined: Aug 10, 2004
Posts: 463
From: Bermuda, Uk
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Posted: 2006-09-17 04:11
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Ever heard of cache? Well your phone automatically saves page content for efficiency.
:Edit:
I take that back, not a bad idea max!!
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[ This Message was edited by: Sirhackalot on 2006-09-17 04:06 ]
max_wedge
Xperia Neo Black
Joined: Aug 29, 2004
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From: Australia
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Posted: 2006-09-17 04:22
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still, it means you can design your own start page. The trick works on most SE handsets from K750 onwards.
mikeri
K800 Black
Joined: Sep 16, 2006
Posts: 5
From: Oslo, Norway
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Posted: 2006-09-17 16:35
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Sirhackalot, I know what caching is, I am not a n00b. There are html/xml tags for disabling cache, and a lot of branded phones tend to be pre-set with dynamic pages as their homepage.

My NetCom (Norwegian provider) branded set always insisted on connecting to their wap portal (easily changable, but anyway...) on browser start. It -never- loaded from the internal cache. This created a delay that in the worst cases lasted for up to 10 seconds or more, if you include loading of the whole page. If I cancelled the connection before the downlading started, the browser quit, and sent my back to the main screen. Frustrating for users that are obsessed with responsiveness.

By pointing to a local saved pages, you will be assured that the phone will never need to connect and download (even though it says "connecting" for half a second or so) when firing up the browser.

So forgive me for my ignorance, but for me this trick has helped a lot. Now i click the browser button, and after one second, it's ready for use. And, as max_wedge pointed out, you don't need to have a web-space for having your own start-page.
jadler
K800 Black
Joined: May 27, 2003
Posts: 165
From: Stockholm, Sweden
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Posted: 2006-09-20 14:19
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Thanks Mikeri, great idea!

I tested this, hacked up a simple HTML file straight in the phone using MobyExplorer and saved it on the memory card of my K800i, and noticed that the browser would not find it. The address you have is for a file in phone memory. Do you, or anyone else, know the (browser) address for files on the card?

Also, does anyone have the file system address for the start page on unbranded phones?

I plan on making a simple start page similar to the Opera one, but I guess that it is not possible to include history and bookmarks, even with Javascript.
Johan Adler, Stockholm, Sweden
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mikeri
K800 Black
Joined: Sep 16, 2006
Posts: 5
From: Oslo, Norway
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Posted: 2006-09-21 00:12
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jadler,

try to replace "usb" with "card" in the URL when pointing to a page saved on the memory stick.

I'm afraid you're right concerning a dynamic local page, it can't be done. (afaik) Personally, I'm more than happy with a fast Google-search. And you do ofcourse know that a Google query pops up when you press the 3-key.
jadler
K800 Black
Joined: May 27, 2003
Posts: 165
From: Stockholm, Sweden
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Posted: 2006-09-21 08:32
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@mikeri

Javascript works fine, but as I understand it (have not coded in javascript in years) I do not have access to history URL:s or titles from javascript. There was no problem getting e.g. navigator.userAgent though:

SonyEricssonK800i/R1ED
Browser/NetFront/3.3
Profile/MIDP-2.0
Configuration/CLDC-1.1

According to Access the browser understands ECMA Script 262 3rd edition, and according to ecma-international.org this is the official vendor-neutral specification for what is usually called JavaScript. News to me, but I guess some of you knew this already.

Mikeri, would you mind if I make a generic start page, write a readme with instructions (of course giving you credit), zip it up and upload it on my server, link from here?
Johan Adler, Stockholm, Sweden
photo blog, K800i
=johan.adler
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altemyr
X1 Silver
Joined: Jan 21, 2002
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From: Stockholm, Sweden
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Posted: 2006-09-21 09:23
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What is the internal address to the internal start page you get when you select the internet icon on the desktop menu? (The one with the google search entry)
altemyr
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Joined: Jan 21, 2002
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Posted: 2006-09-21 10:03
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An alternative to the saved_pages location is to create a index.xhtml file, as complex as you like, with images, icons and subpages and store them in a subdirectory of the others folder in the phone. On the K800, the address will be file:///usb/other/your_folder_name/index.xhtml
Of course, this requires some xml skills, but in the end, you will have a really cool customised startpage, located on the phone.
Replace usb with card for memory stick locations. Also, note that the folder name is "other" regardless of which language that is active in the phone.
jadler
K800 Black
Joined: May 27, 2003
Posts: 165
From: Stockholm, Sweden
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Posted: 2006-09-21 10:43
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Quote:

On 2006-09-21 09:23:06, altemyr wrote:
What is the internal address to the internal start page you get when you select the internet icon on the desktop menu? (The one with the google search entry)



I asked the same question earlier, still no answer. That is currently the major reason that I tried to get the URL of the previous page in history. (Going to the internal start page, then to my own start page, letting it display the URL of the previous page, but no luck so far. Have not tried document.referrer yet, but as the internal start page does not link to my start page I doubt that it will work.)

By the way, I think 'Other' should be capitalized, as in
file:///card/Other/myStartPage/start.html
-- but I have not tested it on my phone yet, it is in USB file transfer mode for start page transfer.

Addition: Have a test version at http://usr.se/src/mobile/ -- will update in a few minutes.
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Johan Adler
Stockholm, Sweden
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[ This Message was edited by: jadler on 2006-09-21 09:47 ]

[ This Message was edited by: jadler on 2006-09-21 11:25 ]
altemyr
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Posted: 2006-09-21 13:12
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Quote:

On 2006-09-21 10:43:08, jadler wrote:
:
By the way, I think 'Other' should be capitalized, as in
file:///card/Other/myStartPage/start.html
-- but I have not tested it on my phone yet, it is in USB file transfer mode for start page transfer.



Actually, it works with "other" (non-capitalized). I believe that "Other" with capital O is the captiondisplayed in the file manager if you choose english menu language ("Annat" in swedish language version), but since the file:// URI is language independent, "other" is the actual directory name here. If you connect the phone to a PC using Bluetooth or USB cable, the name will appear localized, i.e. as "Other" or "Annat" though. Strange... It's possible that all versions work.
jadler
K800 Black
Joined: May 27, 2003
Posts: 165
From: Stockholm, Sweden
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Posted: 2006-09-21 13:58
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Crap!

My K800i bugged out again, can not access Programs (or Games) folder, and all my email settings are deleted.

It will be a bit difficult to update the zip archive on my site for a while, did it with MobyExplorer, which I now can not access.
Johan Adler, Stockholm, Sweden
photo blog, K800i
=johan.adler
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mikeri
K800 Black
Joined: Sep 16, 2006
Posts: 5
From: Oslo, Norway
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Posted: 2006-09-21 21:22
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I'm sorry to hear about your phone Jadler, and hope it'll be fixed soon.

Great initiative with that start page project! Good to see someone picked up where I "left".
jadler
K800 Black
Joined: May 27, 2003
Posts: 165
From: Stockholm, Sweden
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Posted: 2006-09-23 15:06
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Still no luck with my phone. I keep reporting in another thread about my attempts at fixing it.

I keep updating this local start page, though, but on my computer instead.

Tried making a text field and make the entered URL autoload, as in Opera Mini, but no luck with javascript doing that for me yet. Anyone else knows how?

I also wonder if I can change the T9 input, telling the phone to expect an URL. Is this possible in HTML?
Johan Adler, Stockholm, Sweden
photo blog, K800i
=johan.adler
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jadler
K800 Black
Joined: May 27, 2003
Posts: 165
From: Stockholm, Sweden
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Posted: 2006-09-23 22:38
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My phone and I are back in business.

http://www.esato.com/board/viewtopic.php?topic=131296&start=16 for details...

Uploaded the current pages, raw and zip, to http://usr.se/src/mobile/ as before. Added accesskeys, in case anyone uses them.

@altemyr: You are quite right, other does not need to be capitalized.

I will keep working on this project, at least a while longer. The links I add are the ones that are useful to me, quite a few are Swedish, but then a bunch of other links are more generic. You will want to edit the files before transferring them to your phone. Please let me know if something is not working properly, if something can be done in a better way, or if you have other ideas or suggestions.

Johan
Johan Adler, Stockholm, Sweden
photo blog, K800i
=johan.adler
contact page
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