MCS comes with a built-in repository that contains a large number of devices from desktop PCs to PDAs and mobile phones. The repository contains information about devices stored as device policies. This information is used by MCS when generating pages tailored to the requesting device.
MCS comes with a built-in repository that contains a large number of devices from desktop PCs to PDAs and mobile phones. The repository contains information about devices stored as device policies. This information is used by MCS when generating pages tailored to the requesting device.
You can view the attributes for devices in the repository using a workbench Device Repository view. You can also make changes to policy values and identification patterns using the Device Repository editor.
When you create a new web project, you need to associate the project with a single device repository file, so you can create layout variants and theme variants for the project.
The device information can be stored in a file system directory (within device repository files), or in a database accessible through JDBC. The MCS runtime can use the device repository held in a directory, or in a JDBC compliant database, whereas the MCS policy editors can only access the device information kept in a device repository file. By default, the MCS runtime uses the directory-based device repository.
A device repository file is a compressed XML file containing attributes of the devices. Device repository files have the extension .mdpr. The device repository directory can contain a number of .mdpr files, each providing a different version of the device information and you can choose one to suit the requirements of your project. The repository can also be imported to a JDBC database to get optimum performance. The directory-based and JDBC database-based repositories allow MCS to dynamically (i.e. without restating an MCS instance) update the device information used at runtime. Refer to the topics entitled Managing the device information and Device repository manager CLI for further information.
Because new devices are always being added by manufacturers, and over several hundred attributes are recorded for many devices, the MCS repository is continually reviewed and updated. You can obtain updates to the device information over the Web using the Mobile Portal Toolkit Import wizard. As an alternative to the Mobile Portal Toolkit interface to the device update service, you can use the mcsUpdateClient command line utility to download the latest version of an update to the device information. The drManager command line utility allows administrators to manage the device repository. Refer to the topics entitled Device repository update CLI and Device repository manager CLI for further information.
Each set of device policies has a parent set. If a policy does not exist for the child entry, the parent entry is searched and the fallback value is used. Fallback is recursive, so that policies may be inherited across a number of 'generations'.
In addition to the device policies that are built in to MCS, you can add custom policies in a special Custom category. You may have your own requirements for the way certain devices or groups of devices are handled.
These changes, together with any changes you have made to policy values or identification patterns, are kept in a custom section of the repository.
In policy, layout and theme editors you can choose a set of custom policies designed to target a variant or variants at specific devices.