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, RTP 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[2] (they are not registered with IANA). Subtypes that begin with vnd. are vendor-specific; subtypes in the personal or vanity tree begin with prs..[3]
Contents |
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
application: Multipurpose filesapplication/x-www-form-urlencodedForm Encoded Data XDapplication/EDI-X12: EDI X12 data; Defined in RFC 1767application/EDIFACT: EDI EDIFACT data; Defined in RFC 1767application/javascript: JavaScript; Defined in RFC 4329application/octet-stream: Arbitrary binary data[4]. Generally speaking this type identifies files that are not associated with a specific application. Contrary to past assumptions by software packages such as Apache this is not a type that should be applied to unknown files. In such a case, a server or application should not indicate a content type, as it may be incorrect, but rather, should omit the type in order to allow the recipient to guess the type.[5]application/ogg: Ogg, a multimedia bitstream container format; Defined in RFC 5334application/pdf: Portable Document Format, PDF has been in use for document exchange on the Internet since 1993; Defined in RFC 3778application/xhtml+xml: XHTML; Defined by RFC 3236application/xml-dtd: DTD files; Defined by RFC 3023application/json: JavaScript Object Notation JSON; Defined in RFC 4627application/zip: ZIP archive files; Registered[6]
- Type
audio: Audioaudio/basic: mulaw audio at 8KHz, 1 channel; Defined in RFC 2046audio/mpeg: MP3 or other MPEG audio; Defined in RFC 3003audio/ogg: Ogg Vorbis, Speex, Flac and other audio; Defined in RFC 5334audio/vorbis: Vorbis encoded audio; Defined in RFC 5215audio/x-ms-wma: Windows Media Audio; Documented in Microsoft KB 288102audio/vnd.rn-realaudio: RealAudio; Documented in RealPlayer Customer Support Answer 2559audio/x-wav: WAV audio
- Type
imageimage/gif: GIF image; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046image/jpeg: JPEG JFIF image; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046image/png: Portable Network Graphics; Registered[7], Defined in RFC 2083image/svg+xml: SVG vector image; Defined in RFC 3023image/tiff: Tag Image File Format; Defined in RFC 3302image/vnd.microsoft.icon: ICO image; Registered[8]
- Type
messagemessage/http
- Type
model: 3D models - Type
multipart: Archives and other objects made of more than one partmultipart/mixed: MIME E-mail; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046multipart/alternative: MIME E-mail; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046multipart/related: MIME E-mail; Defined in RFC 2387 and used by MHTML (HTML mail)multipart/form-data: MIME Webform; Defined in RFC 2388multipart/signed: Defined in RFC 1847multipart/encrypted: Defined in RFC 1847
- Type
text: Human-readable text and source codetext/css: Cascading Style Sheets; Defined in RFC 2318text/csv: Comma-separated values; Defined in RFC 4180text/html: HTML; Defined in RFC 2854text/javascript(Obsolete): JavaScript; Defined in and obsoleted by RFC 4329 in order to discourage its usage in favor ofapplication/javascripttext/plain: Textual data; Defined in RFC 2046 and RFC 3676text/xml: Extensible Markup Language; Defined in RFC 3023
- Type
video: Videovideo/mpeg: MPEG-1 video with multiplexed audio; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046video/mp4: MP4 video; Defined in RFC 4337video/ogg: Ogg Theora or other video (with audio); Defined in RFC 5334video/quicktime: QuickTime video; Registered[9]video/x-ms-wmv: Windows Media Video; Documented in Microsoft KB 288102
- Type
vnd: Vendor Specific Files [10]application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text: OpenDocument Text; Registered [11]application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet: OpenDocument Spreadsheet; Registered [12]application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation: OpenDocument Presentation; Registered [13]application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics: OpenDocument Graphics; Registered [14]application/vnd.ms-excel: Microsoft Excel filesapplication/vnd.ms-powerpoint: Microsoft Powerpoint filesapplication/msword: Microsoft Word filesapplication/vnd.mozilla.xul+xml: Mozilla XUL files
- Type
x: Non-standard files[10]application/x-dvi: Digital Video files in DVI formatapplication/x-httpd-php: PHP filesapplication/x-httpd-php-source: PHP source filesapplication/x-latex: LaTeX filesapplication/x-shockwave-flash: Adobe Flash files; Documented in Adobe TechNote tn_4151 and Adobe TechNote tn_16509application/x-stuffit: StuffIt archive filesapplication/x-rar-compressed: RAR archive filesapplication/x-tar: Tarball files
- Type
x-pkcs: PKCS standard filesapplication/x-pkcs12: p12 filesapplication/x-pkcs12: pfx filesapplication/x-pkcs7-certificates: p7b filesapplication/x-pkcs7-certificates: spc filesapplication/x-pkcs7-certreqresp: p7r filesapplication/x-pkcs7-mime: p7c filesapplication/x-pkcs7-mime: p7m filesapplication/x-pkcs7-signature: p7s files
References
- ^ "Internet Media Type registration, consistency of use". W3C. 2002-06-03. http://www.w3.org/2001/tag/2002/0129-mime. Retrieved 2006-11-29.
- ^ 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 2006-11-29.
- ^ 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 2008-06-14.
- ^ http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2046
- ^ http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec7.html#sec7.2.1
- ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/zip
- ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/image/png
- ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/image/vnd.microsoft.icon
- ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/video/quicktime
- ^ a b "ContentType". http://www.asptutorial.info/sscript/ContentType.asp. Retrieved 2008-04-24.
- ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text
- ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet
- ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation
- ^ http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics
See also
External links
- IANA MIME media types list
- RFC 2045, RFC 2046 - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME), parts 1 and 2
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