An HTML reader can be software designed to view HTML documents without a web browser, a component in an application, or a program to capture HTML code. It can be used on devices without functional web browsers, for reading electronic books, viewing dynamic reports, or extracting HTML code.
An HTML (HyperText Markup Language) reader can be any of three types of computer software. The term is commonly used to mean a program that has been designed to view HTML documents, but without the heavy-duty components and online requirements of a web browser. An HTML reader can also be a component or programming library, sometimes included in an operating system, that can be called from within an application to process an HTML document. “HTML reader” is also the name given to a program or programming component intended to capture HTML code from a stream, either online or embedded in a file, so that the underlying code can be studied.
The wide range of different devices that have some online connectivity and are also used as mobile platforms means that there are different hardware profiles that may not always be suitable for running a full web browser. Also, there are some device operating systems that do not have functional web browser ports. Using a lightweight HTML reader in these cases can give a device user the ability to read HTML documents without the need to run complex interpreters or background scripting engines.
Another use of HTML reader software is to provide a clean interface for reading HTML documents that may not necessarily be considered websites and may not be online. Electronic books, or ebooks, are sometimes published in HTML format because an HTML reader is very easy to obtain and use on a variety of platforms. In an office environment, an HTML reader can be used to view dynamic reports or documents generated in larger, more complex programs without requiring the user to understand how to use the larger suite of office programs.
In a programming environment, an HTML reader can be a software component integrated into a larger, separately developed application. For example, some web browsers use a player for some of the rendering in the main window before more complex view engines change the formatting. Through the use of a reader, any input stream that has been written in HTML can easily be converted into a properly formatted string which can then be processed or displayed.
An HTML reader can also be a program or programming object designed to connect to a remote server or scan a file with the intention of extracting HTML code that might otherwise be stripped by a more formal program or obfuscated within a format owner. This can be used to see how an HTML document is constructed, or it can be used to capture input from a server that is using HTML as part of a communication protocol. The use of a reader in these situations is sometimes necessary when the source program tries to hide or protect the HTML code used.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
