Beginning WAP: Wireless Markup Language & Wireless Markup Language Script

Aimed at the novice Web designer or developer, Beginning WAP, WML, and WMLScript is an approachable and effective introduction to the standards that you'll need to learn to start building wireless Web applications and Web sites for the next generation of cellular telephones and Internet devices.

Two of the book's stronger features are the clear and understandable presentation style, and the hands-on focus on what works and doesn't in Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) development. Very little knowledge on the part of the reader is assumed, so that all of the basics of what WAP is and how the Wireless Markup Language (WML) makes use of XML to deliver content to cell phones are explained thoroughly. Short examples of WML in action help bring you up to speed on this new programming paradigm.

Beginning WAP uses the Phone.com UP.SDK emulator in examples. (Although Phone.com, having been bought by Openwave.com, no longer exists as an independent company, rest assured that the information on WAP is still up to date.) The book also looks at the fundamentals of WMLScript, the wireless scripting language that's based on JavaScript/ECMAScript. From here, it's on to a simple ASP-powered Web application that delivers travel information to WAP devices from a database using WML, XML, and XSLT.

WML is an emerging standard--one of the better chapters in this book examines the features that work (and don't) in the current generation of WAP-enabled devices and "emulators" (software programs that mimic the look and feel of the real thing). One chapter uses photos of actual devices displaying the same WML, and the results might surprise you. (Don't expect to use WML tables or WMLScript across every WAP device--for now, at least.)

Designed to give you what you need to understand and use today's wireless standards, Beginning WAP is a good place to get a handle on creating content and software for a new generation of wireless devices that'll transform the Internet as we know it. --Richard Dragan

Topics covered:

• Introduction to the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP)
• The Openwave.com/Phone.com UP.SDK cell-phone emulator
• Survey of markup languages (SGML, XML, and XHTML)
• Basic XML tutorial, including schemas and well-formed vs. valid XML
• Document Type Definitions (DTDs)
• Wireless Markup Language (WML) tutorial
• Decks and cards
• Compiling WML
• Formatting text
• Hyperlinks, and navigating between cards (anchors and events)
• WML images, tables, and variables
• User input with input boxes and option lists
• WMLScript tutorial (functions, variables, and control structures)
• Sample WMLScript applications
• Error handling
• Math and script manipulation in WMLScript
• User and timer events
• Openwave.com/Phone.com WML extensions
• Usability guidelines for wireless applications
• WML incompatibilities on different WAP devices
• Introduction to Active Server Pages (ASPs) and ActiveX Data Objects (ADOs) used with WAP, XML, and XSLT
• Installing the Nokia, Ericsson, Microsoft, and Motorola WAP SDKs/tools
• WML and WMLScript reference