How do you detect support for VML or SVG in a browser

Question

I\'m writing a bit of javascript and need to choose between SVG or VML (or both, or something else, it\'s a weird world). Whilst I know that for now that only IE supports VM

Answer 1

For VML detection, here's what google maps does (search for "function Xd"):

function supportsVml() {
    if (typeof supportsVml.supported == "undefined") {
        var a = document.body.appendChild(document.createElement('div'));
        a.innerHTML = '';
        var b = a.firstChild;
        b.style.behavior = "url(#default#VML)";
        supportsVml.supported = b ? typeof b.adj == "object": true;
        a.parentNode.removeChild(a);
    }
    return supportsVml.supported
}

I see what you mean about FF: it allows arbitrary elements to be created, including vml elements (). It looks like it's the test for the adjacency attribute that can determine if the created element is truly interpreted as a vml object.

For SVG detection, this works nicely:

function supportsSvg() {
    return document.implementation.hasFeature("http://www.w3.org/TR/SVG11/feature#Shape", "1.0")
}