It could be a useful exercise for you to create your own WML program and test it on a live Web server. This requires the following two items:

1. Access to a Web server (IIS or Apache both work well)
2. A development tool to test the programming

For the development tool, we recommend that you download and use the latest version of Openwave's SDK, which is freely available to developers at http://www.openwave.com. Once you install this program, you simply need to specify where the files will be stored.

To tune the Web server, you must add the MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) settings. MIME enables your Web server to handle specific file types. If the file extension is not listed, the Web server will reject any requests for a file of that type.

IIS Setup

1. Click Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Internet Information Service.
2. Right-click on the Web Sites directory and select Properties.
3. Click the HTTP Headers tab.
4. Click the File Types button.
5. Click the New Type button.
6. Enter wml (or wmls ) in the Associated Extension box.
7. Enter text/vnd.wap.wml (or text/vnd.wap.wmlscript ) in the Content Type (MIME) box
8. Click OK -> OK -> OK.
9. Restart IIS.

Apache Setup

1. Click Start -> Find -> Files or Folder and search the C:\ drive for mime.types
2. This file will typically be located under the C:\Program Files\Apache Group\Apache\conf directory.
3. Open the file and find the following lines:
   
       application/vnd.wap.wbxml  wbxml
       application/vnd.wap.wmlc    wmlc
       application/vnd.wap.wmlscriptc   wmlsc
       application/vnd.wap.wbxml    wbxml
   
   
4. After the application/vnd.wap.wmlc wmlc line insert the following lines:
   
   application/vnd.wap.wml        wml
   application/vnd.wap.wmlscript    wmls
   
   
5. You could also edit the existing wmlc and wmlscriptc lines and remove the trailing c.
6. Restart Apache.

As you can see, it is not difficult to get WML running on a Web server. There is no software or hardware to install. The fun and challenging part for you will be creating the WML pages and testing the Web server with either a real PCS or a virtual PCS device.