An
Internet media type, originally called a
MIME type after
MIMEMultipurpose Internet Mail Extensions is an Internet standard that extends the format of e-mail to support:* Text in character sets other than ASCII* Non-text attachments* Message bodies with multiple parts...
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 formatA file format is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for...
s on the
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
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,
RTPRTP may refer to:* Broadcasting** Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, the Portuguese public broadcasting corporation*** RTP1*** RTP2* Politics** Rally of the Togolese People, the ruling political party in Togo** Royal Thai Police* Technology...
and
SIPThe Session Initiation Protocol is a signaling protocol, widely used for controlling multimedia communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . Other feasible application examples include video conferencing, streaming multimedia distribution, instant messaging,...
.
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 encodingA character encoding system consists of a code that pairs each character from a given repertoire with something else, such as a sequence of natural numbers, octets or electrical pulses, in order to facilitate the transmission of data through telecommunication networks or storage of text in...
,
and subtypes of
multipart type often define a
boundary between parts.
Types or subtypes that begin with
x- are nonstandard (they are not registered with
IANAThe Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is the entity that oversees global IP address allocation, root zone management for the Domain Name System , media types, and other Internet Protocol related assignments...
).
Discussion
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An
Internet media type, originally called a
MIME type after
MIMEMultipurpose Internet Mail Extensions is an Internet standard that extends the format of e-mail to support:* Text in character sets other than ASCII* Non-text attachments* Message bodies with multiple parts...
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 formatA file format is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file.Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for...
s on the
InternetThe Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standardized Internet Protocol Suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
.
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,
RTPRTP may refer to:* Broadcasting** Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, the Portuguese public broadcasting corporation*** RTP1*** RTP2* Politics** Rally of the Togolese People, the ruling political party in Togo** Royal Thai Police* Technology...
and
SIPThe Session Initiation Protocol is a signaling protocol, widely used for controlling multimedia communication sessions such as voice and video calls over Internet Protocol . Other feasible application examples include video conferencing, streaming multimedia distribution, instant messaging,...
.
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 encodingA character encoding system consists of a code that pairs each character from a given repertoire with something else, such as a sequence of natural numbers, octets or electrical pulses, in order to facilitate the transmission of data through telecommunication networks or storage of text in...
,
and subtypes of
multipart type often define a
boundary between parts.
Types or subtypes that begin with
x- are nonstandard (they are not registered with
IANAThe Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is the entity that oversees global IP address allocation, root zone management for the Domain Name System , media types, and other Internet Protocol related assignments...
). Subtypes that begin with
vnd. are vendor-specific; subtypes in the personal or vanity tree begin with
prs..
List of common media types
IANAThe Internet Assigned Numbers Authority is the entity that oversees global IP address allocation, root zone management for the Domain Name System , media types, and other Internet Protocol related assignments...
manages a registry of media types and
character encodingA character encoding system consists of a code that pairs each character from a given repertoire with something else, such as a sequence of natural numbers, octets or electrical pulses, in order to facilitate the transmission of data through telecommunication networks or storage of text in...
s. 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 files
application/x-www-form-urlencoded Form Encoded Data XD-
application/EDI-X12: EDIElectronic Data Interchange refers to the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents from one computer system to another, i.e. from one trading partner to another trading partner...
X12ASC X12 is the official designation of the U.S. national standards body for the development and maintenance of Electronic Data Interchange standards. The group was founded in 1979, and is an accredited standards committee under the American National Standards Institute...
data; Defined in RFC 1767
-
application/EDIFACT: EDIElectronic Data Interchange refers to the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents from one computer system to another, i.e. from one trading partner to another trading partner...
EDIFACTUnited Nations/Electronic Data Interchange For Administration, Commerce and Transport is the international EDI standard developed under the United Nations...
data; Defined in RFC 1767
-
application/javascript: JavaScriptJavaScript is an object-oriented scripting language used to enable programmatic access to objects within both the client application and other applications. It is primarily used in the form of client-side JavaScript, implemented as an integrated component of the web browser, allowing the...
; Defined in RFC 4329
-
application/octet-stream: Arbitrary binary data. Generally speaking this type identifies files that are not associated with a specific application. Contrary to past assumptions by software packages such as ApacheThe Apache HTTP Server, commonly referred to as Apache , is a web server notable for playing a key role in the initial growth of the World Wide Web. In 2009 it became the first web server to surpass the 100 million web site milestone...
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.
-
application/ogg: OggOgg is a free, open standard container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The creators of the Ogg format claim that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.The name ‘Ogg’ refers to the...
, a multimedia bitstream container format; Defined in RFC 5334
-
application/pdf: Portable Document Format, PDF has been in use for document exchange on the Internet since 1993; Defined in RFC 3778
-
application/xhtml+xml: XHTMLExtensible Hypertext Markup Language, or XHTML, is a family of XML markup languages that mirror or extend versions of the widely used Hypertext Markup Language , the language in which web pages are written....
; Defined by RFC 3236
-
application/xml-dtd: DTDDocument Type Definition is a set of markup declarations that define a document type for SGML-family markup languages . A DTD is a kind of XML schema....
files; Defined by RFC 3023
-
application/json: JavaScript Object Notation JSONJSON, short for JavaScript Object Notation, is a lightweight computer data interchange format. It is a text-based, human-readable format for representing simple data structures and associative arrays ....
; Defined in RFC 4627
-
application/zip: ZIPThe ZIP file format is a data compression and archive format. A ZIP file contains one or more files that have been compressed to reduce file size, or stored as-is...
archive files; Registered
- Type
audio: AudioSound is a travelling wave which is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.- Perception of sound...
-
audio/basic: mulaw audio at 8KHz, 1 channel; Defined in RFC 2046
-
audio/mpeg: MP3MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression. It is a common audio format for consumer audio storage, as well as a de facto standard of digital audio compression for the transfer and playback of music on...
or other MPEG audio; Defined in RFC 3003
-
audio/ogg: OggOgg is a free, open standard container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The creators of the Ogg format claim that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.The name ‘Ogg’ refers to the...
VorbisVorbis is a free software / open source project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation . The project produces an audio format specification and software implementation for lossy audio compression...
, SpeexSpeex is a patent-free audio compression format designed for speech and also a free software speech codec that may be used on VoIP applications and podcasts. It is based on the CELP speech coding algorithm. Speex claims to be free of any patent restrictions and is licensed under the revised BSD...
, FlacFree Lossless Audio Codec is a file format for lossless audio data compression. During compression, FLAC does not lose quality from the audio stream, as lossy compression formats such as MP3, AAC, and Vorbis do. Josh Coalson is the primary author of FLAC.FLAC reduces bandwidth and storage...
and other audio; Defined in RFC 5334
-
audio/vorbis: VorbisVorbis is a free software / open source project headed by the Xiph.Org Foundation . The project produces an audio format specification and software implementation for lossy audio compression...
encoded audio; Defined in RFC 5215
-
audio/x-ms-wma: Windows Media AudioWindows Media Audio is an audio data compression technology developed by Microsoft. The name can be used to refer to its audio file format or its audio codecs. It is a proprietary technology that forms part of the Windows Media framework. WMA consists of four distinct codecs...
; Documented in Microsoft KB 288102
-
audio/vnd.rn-realaudio: RealAudioRealAudio is a proprietary audio format developed by RealNetworks. It uses a variety of audio codecs, ranging from low-bitrate formats that can be used over dialup modems, to high-fidelity formats for music. It can also be used as a streaming audio format, that is played at the same time as it is...
; Documented in http://real.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/real.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=2559&p_created=&p_sid=uz4Tpoti&p_lva=1085179956&p_sp=2559&p_li=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MSZwX3Byb2RzPTMsMTEmcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PTIuMTEmcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLmFfaWQmcF9wYWdlPTEmcF9zZWFyY2hfdGV4dD0yNTU5cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9zb3J0X2J5PSZwX2dyaWRzb3J0PSZwX3Jvd19jbnQ9MyZwX3Byb2RzPTMsMTEmcF9jYXRzPSZwX3B2PTIuMTEmcF9jdj0mcF9zZWFyY2hfdHlwZT1hbnN3ZXJzLnNlYXJjaF9ubCZwX3BhZ2U9MSZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PU1JTUU*&p_prod_lvl1=3&p_prod_lvl2=11&tabName=tab0&p_topview=1RealPlayer Customer Support Answer 2559]
-
audio/x-wav: WAVWAV , short for Waveform audio format, also known as Audio for Windows, is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs. It is an application of the RIFF bitstream format method for storing data in “chunks”, and thus is also close to the 8SVX and the AIFF...
audio
- Type
image
-
image/gif: GIFThe Graphics Interchange Format is a bitmap image format that was introduced by CompuServe in 1987 and has since come into widespread usage on the World Wide Web due to its wide support and portability....
image; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046
-
image/jpeg: JPEGIn computing, JPEG is a commonly used method of compression for photographic images. The degree of compression can be adjusted, allowing a selectable tradeoff between storage size and image quality...
JFIF image; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046
-
image/png: Portable Network Graphics; Registered, Defined in RFC 2083
-
image/svg+xml: SVG vector image; Defined in RFC 3023
-
image/tiff: Tag Image File Format; Defined in RFC 3302
-
image/vnd.microsoft.icon: ICOThe ICO file format is an image file format used for icons in Microsoft Windows. The CUR file format for cursors is almost identical, as the only differences are the identification byte and a specification of a hotspot in the header....
image; Registered
- Type
message
- Type
model: 3D models
- Type
multipart: Archives and other objects made of more than one part
-
multipart/mixed: MIME E-mailElectronic mail, often abbreviated as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use...
; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046
-
multipart/alternative: MIME E-mailElectronic mail, often abbreviated as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use...
; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046
-
multipart/related: MIME E-mailElectronic mail, often abbreviated as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages, designed primarily for human use...
; Defined in RFC 2387 and used by MHTMLMHTML, short for MIME HTML, is a web page archive format used to bind resources which are typically represented by external links together with HTML code into a single file. The content of an MHTML file is encoded as if it were an HTML e-mail message, using the MIME type...
(HTML mail)
-
multipart/form-data: MIME Webform; Defined in RFC 2388
-
multipart/signed: Defined in RFC 1847
-
multipart/encrypted: Defined in RFC 1847
- Type
text: Human-readable textWriting is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and the recording of language via a non-textual medium such as magnetic tape audio.In Eurasia writing began as a...
and source codeIn computer science, source code is any collection of statements or declarations written in some human-readable computer programming language...
-
text/css: Cascading Style SheetsCascading Style Sheets is a style sheet language used to describe the presentation semantics of a document written in a markup language...
; Defined in RFC 2318
-
text/csv: Comma-separated valuesA comma-separated values file is used for the digital storage of data structured in a table of lists form, where each associated item in a group is in association with others also separated by the commas of its set. Each line in the CSV file corresponds to a row in the table. Within a line,...
; Defined in RFC 4180
-
text/html: HTMLHTML, which stands for Hyper Text Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages. It provides a means to create structured documents by denoting structural semantics for text such as headings, paragraphs, lists etc as well as for links, quotes, and other items. It allows images...
; Defined in RFC 2854
-
text/javascript (Obsolete): JavaScriptJavaScript is an object-oriented scripting language used to enable programmatic access to objects within both the client application and other applications. It is primarily used in the form of client-side JavaScript, implemented as an integrated component of the web browser, allowing the...
; Defined in and obsoleted by RFC 4329 in order to discourage its usage in favor of application/javascript
-
text/plain: Textual data; Defined in RFC 2046 and RFC 3676
-
text/xml: Extensible Markup Language; Defined in RFC 3023
- Type
video: VideoVideo is the technology of electronically capturing, recording, processing, storing, transmitting, and reconstructing a sequence of still images representing scenes in motion.-History:...
-
video/mpeg: MPEG-1MPEG-1 is a standard for lossy compression of video and audio. It is designed to compress VHS-quality raw digital video and CD audio down to 1.5 Mbit/s without excessive quality loss, making Video CDs, digital cable/satellite TV and digital audio broadcasting possible.Today, MPEG-1 has become...
video with multiplexed audio; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046
-
video/mp4: MP4 video; Defined in RFC 4337
-
video/ogg: OggOgg is a free, open standard container format maintained by the Xiph.Org Foundation. The creators of the Ogg format claim that it is unrestricted by software patents and is designed to provide for efficient streaming and manipulation of high quality digital multimedia.The name ‘Ogg’ refers to the...
TheoraTheora is a royalty-free, open standard, lossy video compression technology being developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation alongside their other open media efforts, most notably the Vorbis audio codec and the Ogg container....
or other video (with audio); Defined in RFC 5334
-
video/quicktime: QuickTimeQuickTime is a multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, media clips, sound, text, animation, music, and interactive panoramic images. It is available for Mac OS classic , Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows operating systems...
video; Registered
-
video/x-ms-wmv: Windows Media VideoWindows Media Video is a compressed video file format for several proprietary codecs developed by Microsoft. The original codec, known as WMV, was originally designed for Internet streaming applications, as a competitor to RealVideo. The other codecs, such as WMV Screen and WMV Image, cater for...
; Documented in Microsoft KB 288102
- Type
vnd: Vendor Specific Files
-
application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text: OpenDocumentThe OpenDocument Format is an XML-based file format for representing electronic documents such as spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents....
Text; Registered
-
application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet: OpenDocumentThe OpenDocument Format is an XML-based file format for representing electronic documents such as spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents....
Spreadsheet; Registered
-
application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation: OpenDocumentThe OpenDocument Format is an XML-based file format for representing electronic documents such as spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents....
Presentation; Registered
-
application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics: OpenDocumentThe OpenDocument Format is an XML-based file format for representing electronic documents such as spreadsheets, charts, presentations and word processing documents....
Graphics; Registered
-
application/vnd.ms-excel: Microsoft ExcelMicrosoft Excel is a spreadsheet-application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables and a macro programming language called VBA...
files
-
application/vnd.ms-powerpoint: Microsoft PowerpointMicrosoft PowerPoint is a presentation program developed by Microsoft. It is part of the Microsoft Office suite, and runs on Microsoft Windows and Apple's Mac OS X computer operating systems....
files
-
application/msword: Microsoft WordMicrosoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , Atari ST , SCO UNIX, OS/2, and Microsoft...
files
-
application/vnd.mozilla.xul+xml: MozillaMozilla is a term used in a number of ways in relation to the now-defunct Netscape Communications Corporation and its related application software, including the Mozilla.org group and its successor the Mozilla Foundation....
XULIn computer programming, XUL , the XML User Interface Language, is an XML user interface markup language which operates in Mozilla cross-platform applications such as Firefox and Flock...
files
- Type
x: Non-standard files
-
application/x-dvi: Digital Video files in DVI format
-
application/x-httpd-php: PHPPHP, or PHP: Hypertext Preprocessor, is a widely used, general-purpose scripting language that was originally designed for web development, to produce dynamic web pages. It can be embedded into HTML and generally runs on a web server, which needs to be configured to process PHP code and create web...
files
-
application/x-httpd-php-source: PHP source files
-
application/x-latex: LaTeXLaTeX is a document markup language and document preparation system for the TeX typesetting program. Within the typesetting system, its name is styled as ....
files
-
application/x-shockwave-flash: Adobe FlashAdobe Flash is a multimedia platform originally acquired by Macromedia and currently developed and distributed by Adobe Systems. Since its introduction in 1996, Flash has become a popular method for adding animation and interactivity to web pages...
files; Documented in Adobe TechNote tn_4151 and Adobe TechNote tn_16509
-
application/x-stuffit: StuffItStuffIt is a family of computer software utilities for archiving and compressing files on the Macintosh and Microsoft Windows platforms: it was originally produced for the Macintosh. An old version for Linux and Sun Solaris 2.7 or later is also available...
archive files
-
application/x-rar-compressed: RAR archive files
-
application/x-tar: Tarball files
- Type
x-pkcs: PKCS standard files
-
application/x-pkcs12: p12 files
-
application/x-pkcs12: pfx files
-
application/x-pkcs7-certificates: p7b files
-
application/x-pkcs7-certificates: spc files
-
application/x-pkcs7-certreqresp: p7r files
-
application/x-pkcs7-mime: p7c files
-
application/x-pkcs7-mime: p7m files
-
application/x-pkcs7-signature: p7s files
External links