BlackBerry Simulators: Enabling JavaScript and CSS

Posted 2008-01-19 in Mobile Web by Johann.

I always get a number of hits from BlackBerry browsers. Fortunately, free BlackBerry emulators are available so I can make sure my sites work as expected.

Installing a BlackBerry Simulator

You need to download one or more “BlackBerry Device Simulators” and the “Email and MDS Services Simulator Package.” Downloading is free after registration.

I had no problems installing multiple device simulators on my computer so you can download simulators for all of the BlackBerry devices you can identify in your log files.

After installation, run the “MDS” application from the “BlackBerry Email and MDS Services Simulators 4.1.4” folder and then start any of the device simulators.

You will be asked to set up your virtual BlackBerry the first time you run a simulator.

Enabling JavaScript and CSS

The BlackBerry browser lets you change several aspects of how the device displays web pages.

1. Loading JavaScript.
2. Displaying tables.
3. Using colors.
4. Support of Cascading Style Sheets.
5. What CSS media type to load (handheld or screen).

First, select “Applications.”

Then, select “Browser.”

After loading the browser, select “Options.”

Select “Browser Configuration.”

Configure the browser. In this example, I have JavaScript and CSS on. Unfortunately, I have no idea of how the average BlackBerry browser is configured. I would recommend that you identify a small number of sessions and see whether JavaScript and CSS files are loaded.

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