Dynamic simulation of a responsive web page

1. A computer-implemented method for simulating a structured document as it would appear on different types of media devices, the method comprising:

receiving, via a user interface, a user request to render, in a web browser executing on a first type of media device, a structured document in a layout specific to a second type of media device having a different display requirement than the first type of media device, the second type of media device being selected from a plurality of predefined types of media devices;

determining a visual layout of a browser presentation of the structured document in accordance with a style property encoded in a set of presentation semantics associated with and specific to the second type of media device; and

sending the laid out structured document including the style property specific to the second type of media device to the web browser for rendering on the first type of media device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

identifying a media-dependent style rule encoded in the set of presentation semantics associated with the structured document;

determining that the display requirement of the second type of media device satisfies the media-dependent style rule; and

in response to the determination, deleting the media-dependent style rule from the set of presentation semantics and preserving the corresponding style property;

wherein the style property corresponds to the satisfied media-dependent style rule.

3. The method of claim 2 , further comprising retrieving the set of presentation semantics from a style sheet file associated with the structured document, wherein the style sheet file has the media-dependent style rule encoded therein.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the display requirement of the second type of media device includes at least one feature selected from a group consisting of: a maximum width of a rendering surface of the second type of media device, a maximum display resolution of the second type of media device, and a display orientation of the second type of media device.

5. The method of claim 2 , further comprising repeating, for each of a plurality of media-dependent style rules, the acts of identifying the media-dependent style rule, determining that the display requirement of the second type of media device satisfies the media-dependent style rule and determining the visual layout.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the structured document is a web page.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the laid out structured document is rendered within a viewport that is larger than a display requirement of the second type of media device.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing, via the user interface, a list of the plurality of predefined types of media devices.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the structured document is encoded in HyperText Markup Language (HTML).

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the set of presentation semantics is encoded in Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) language.

11. A data processing system for simulating a structured document as it would appear on different types of media devices, the system comprising:

a storage; and

a processor operatively coupled to the storage and configured to carry out a process comprising:

receiving, via a user interface, a user request to render, in a web browser executing on a first type of media device, a structured document in a layout specific to a second type of media device having a different display requirement than the first type of media device, the second type of media device being selected from a plurality of predefined types of media devices, the structured document being stored in the storage;

determining a visual layout of a browser presentation of the structured document in accordance with a style property encoded in a set of presentation semantics associated with and specific to the second type of media device and stored in the storage; and

sending the laid out structured document including the style property specific to the second type of media device to the web browser for rendering on the first type of media device.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the process further comprises:

identifying a media-dependent style rule encoded in the set of presentation semantics associated with the structured document;

determining that the display requirement of the second type of media device satisfies the media-dependent style rule; and

in response to the determination, deleting the media-dependent style rule from the set of presentation semantics and preserving the corresponding style property;

wherein the style property corresponds to the satisfied media-dependent style rule.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the process further comprises retrieving the set of presentation semantics from a style sheet file associated with the structured document, and wherein the style sheet file has the media-dependent style rule encoded therein.

14. The system of claim 12 , wherein the display requirement of the second type of media device includes at least one feature selected from a group consisting of: a maximum width of a rendering surface of the second type of media device, a maximum display resolution of the second type of media device, and a display orientation of the second type of media device.

15. The system of claim 12 , wherein the process further comprises repeating, for each of a plurality of media-dependent style rules, the acts of identifying the media-dependent style rule, determining that the display requirement of the second type of media device satisfies the media-dependent style rule and determining the visual layout.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the structured document is a web page.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the laid out structured document is rendered within a viewport that is larger than the display requirement of the second type of media device.

18. The system of claim 11 , wherein the process further comprises providing, via the user interface, a list of the plurality of predefined types of media devices.

19. A non-transitory computer program product encoded with instructions that when executed by one or more processors cause a process to be carried out for simulating a structured document as it would appear on different types of media devices, the process comprising:

receiving, via a user interface, a user request to render, in a web browser executing on a first type of media device, a structured document in a layout specific to a second type of media device having a different display requirement than the first type of media device, the second type of media device being selected from a plurality of predefined types of media devices;

determining a visual layout of a browser presentation of the structured document in accordance with a style property encoded in a set of presentation semantics associated with and specific to the second type of media device; and

sending the laid out structured document including the style property specific to the second type of media device to the web browser for rendering on the first type of media device.

20. The non-transitory computer program product of claim 19 , wherein the process further comprises:

identifying a media-dependent style rule encoded in the set of presentation semantics associated with the structured document;

determining that the display requirement of the second type of media device satisfies the media-dependent style rule; and

in response to the determination, deleting the media-dependent style rule from the set of presentation semantics and preserving the corresponding style property;

wherein the style property corresponds to the satisfied media-dependent style rule.