(keitai-l) meta-tags or separate gateways...

Hello,

I am knocking together a j-phone interface to a php/database driven site.
I already have a functional imode interface. I have some questions if
someone would be so kind....

There are two paths I could go down for a jphone interface...

1) have a completely separate interface for jphone, with separate template
files written in mml.... - easy enough to do - but aesthetically
displeasing.... (all those extra template files)

2) write it all using meta-tags - defining variables in the place of most
tags, set to the appropriate tag (html or mml) depending on what is
accessing it (browser sniff and default to jphone if it ain’t anything
else...) . The docomo specific tags can be handled using php functions
anyway, so calling  different functions for jphone is not a problem.... 

Path 2 seems to work ok (on the basis of modifying a half dozen files and
functions) and allows me to have only one set of files and one gateway.
But it is a bit fiddly.... Tweaking by phone / provider is also a bit
harder.... I am not sure it is worth the candle or the loss of
maintainability.... (it's a wee bitty less intuitive to read....)

How have other people handled it? Is it worth running separate gateways?

There is a thread earlier this month regarding whether one can use html
for Jphone  - I was not clear at the thread's conclusion whether html is
converted to mml on the phone, or at the jphone gateway... Could someone
clarify?

Also, how well does jphone handle pulldown menus? imode phones (some of
them at least - the P501i in particular ) seem to hallow about 32 options
in a pulldown - but no more (this is NOT a page memory problem I
think...... - more like a buffer being full)

Finally - can I confirm that your can't sniff a jphone?   (yes yes, I know
- it would get stuck in your nostrils - I mean the browser....)

Thanks for anyone who can help,


Nick
May Ltd