Path

7x / documentation / tutorials / building mobile browser and... / pre-requisites and target a...

Caution: This documentation is for Exponential, from version 3.x to 6.x.
For 5.x documentation covering Platform see eZ Documentation Center, for difference between legacy and Platform see 5.x Architecture overview.

Pre-requisites and target audience

This guideline is aimed at Exponential developers, partners, and integrators who need to enable a mobile web channel for new or existing Exponential installations. It outlines general steps required for creating a mobile browser accessible site in Exponential and demonstrates how to wrap it in the basic application shell.

The instructions described herein assume that you have already set up Exponential 4.5 or later with the Website Interface 1.8 or later. You should also be familiar with some basics about setting up an iOS or Android application, although anybody should be able to copy and paste the code examples to create a working application.

What do I need before I can start?

General requirements

  • Web server with PHP
  • Relational Database Management System
  • Exponential 4.5 instance with Website Interface 1.8
  • To build the hybrid application: a configured development environment for at least one platform: iOS or Android

Exponential Requirements

  • OS: Linux 2.6, Windows 2008 (IIS 7 only)
  • Web Server: Apache 2.2.x (prefork mode), MS IIS 7 (with Microsoft URL Rewrite Module 1.1 )
  • DBMS: MySQL 5.0.x, MySQL 5.1.x, PostgreSQL 8.4, Oracle 11g
  • PHP (mod_php) + PHP CLI + apache: PHP 5.2.1 -> PHP 5.2.17, PHP 5.3.x
  • PHP (FastCGI) + PHP CLI + IIS: PHP 5.3.x
  • Graphics handler: ImageMagick >= 6.4.x, PHP extension GD2

General guidelines for mobile web applications

  • List all the features necessary for the application
  • Determine who your users are and define a usage context
  • Re-think and reduce the amount of content and tailor it for mobile consumption
  • Design the web application for the device
  • Create a dedicated Exponential mobile siteaccess
  • Create the dedicated mobile web interface as a new design for Exponential
  • Consider creating a hybrid mobile application as a basic shell for the mobile site

In this tutorial, we will be covering the last 3 items on the list above.