Internet media type

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An Internet media type,[1] originally called a MIME type after MIME and sometimes a Content-type after the name of a header in several protocols whose value is such a type, is a two-part identifier for file formats on the Internet. The identifiers were originally defined in RFC 2046 for use in e-mail sent through SMTP, but their use has expanded to other protocols such as HTTP and SIP.

A media type is composed of at least two parts: a type, a subtype, and one or more optional parameters. For example, subtypes of text type have an optional charset parameter that can be included to indicate the character encoding, and subtypes of multipart type often define a boundary between parts.

Types or subtypes that begin with "x-" are nonstandard -- they cannot be registered with IANA.[2] Subtypes that begin with vnd. are vendor-specific; subtypes in the personal or vanity tree begin with prs..[3]

Contents

[edit] List of common media types

IANA manages a registry of media types and character encodings. The organization makes a list available to the public through the Web. Some of the more notable media types used on the Web are listed below:

  • Type x: Non-standard files[8]
    • application/x-dvi: Digital Video files in DVI format
    • application/x-httpd-php: PHP files
    • application/x-httpd-php-source: PHP source files
    • application/x-latex: LATEX files
    • application/x-shockwave-flash: Adobe Flash files; Documented in Adobe TechNote tn_4151 and Adobe TechNote tn_16509
    • application/x-stuffit: StuffIt archive files
    • application/x-rar-compressed: RAR archive files
    • application/x-tar: Tarball files

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Internet Media Type registration, consistency of use". W3C. 2002-06-03. http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/2002/0129-mime. Retrieved on 2006-11-29. 
  2. ^ Freed, N. (November 1996). "RFC 2045 - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies". IETF. http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2045#section-6.3. Retrieved on 2006-11-29. 
  3. ^ Freed, N.; Klensin, J. (December 2005). "RFC 4288 - Media Type Specifications and Registration Procedures". IETF. http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4288#section-3.2. Retrieved on 2008-06-14. 
  4. ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/zip
  5. ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/image/png
  6. ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/image/vnd.microsoft.icon
  7. ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/video/quicktime
  8. ^ a b "ContentType". http://www.asptutorial.info/sscript/ContentType.asp. Retrieved on 2008-04-24. 

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

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