Re: Problem with browscap
Do you have register_globals set to "On"? Try $_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT'].
This variable exists independent from the browscap.ini file. You only need browscap.ini for the get_browser() function to work correctly.
This should work: $browser = get_browser($_SERVER['HTTP_USER_AGENT']);
Re: Problem with browscap
There are also the bugs in both browscap.dll and PHP's get_browser(), which my files also support, to contend with. And of course there are always spoofed user agents. User agents that claim to be one thing, but in fact are often badly behaved bots masquerading as well behaved bots like Googlebot.
Re: Problem with browscap
Microsoft has abandoned browscap.ini as a means of browser detection in favor of more sophisticated and better methods, there are still a large number of people who continue to rely upon browscap.ini for all sorts of purposes. With the data from my database being available in so many different formats it's easy to use it in any situation where accurate user agent detection is important.