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An Internet media type^[1] is a two-part identifier for file formats on the Internet. The identifiers were originally defined in RFC 2046 for use in email sent through SMTP, but their use has expanded to other protocols such as HTTP, RTP and SIP. These types were called MIME types, and are sometimes referred to as Content-types, after the name of a header in several protocols whose value is such a type. The original name MIME type referred to usage to identify non-ASCII parts of email messages composed using the MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) specification. Without MIME types, email clients would not be able to understand if an attachment file were a PNG file or a spreadsheet and would not be able to show the attachment appropriately.

A media type is composed of two or more parts: A type, a subtype, and one or more optional parameters. For example, subtypes of text have an optional charset parameter that can be included to indicate the character encoding e.g. text/html; charset=UTF-8), and subtypes of multipart type often define a boundary between parts. Allowed charset values are defined in the list of IANA character sets.

Types or subtypes that begin with x- are non-standard^[2] (they are not registered with IANA). Subtypes that begin with vnd. are vendor-specific;^[3] subtypes in the personal or vanity tree begin with prs.^[4]. New media types can be created with the procedures outlined in RFC 4288.

In addition to email clients, web browsers also support various media types. This enables the browser to display or output files that are not in HTML format. Media type specification is also an important information source for search engines for the classification of data files on the web.

There are many registered media types, such as GIF graphics files and PostScript files. It is also possible to define custom media types.

List of common media types[link]

IANA manages a registry of media types and character encodings. The organization makes a list ^[5] available to the public. It includes the following types:

[edit] Type application

For Multipurpose files:

• application/atom+xml: Atom feeds
• application/ecmascript: ECMAScript/JavaScript; Defined in RFC 4329 (equivalent to application/javascript but with stricter processing rules)
• application/EDI-X12: EDI X12 data; Defined in RFC 1767
• application/EDIFACT: EDI EDIFACT data; Defined in RFC 1767
• application/json: JavaScript Object Notation JSON; Defined in RFC 4627
• application/javascript: ECMAScript/JavaScript; Defined in RFC 4329 (equivalent to application/ecmascript but with looser processing rules) It is not accepted in IE 8 or earlier - text/javascript is accepted but it is defined as obsolete in RFC 4329. The "type" attribute of the <script> tag in HTML5 is optional and in practice omitting the media type of JavaScript programs is the most interoperable solution since all browsers have always assumed the correct default even before HTML5.
• application/octet-stream: Arbitrary binary data.^[6] 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.^[7]
• application/ogg: Ogg, 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/postscript: PostScript; Defined in RFC 2046
• application/rdf+xml: Resource Description Framework; Defined by RFC 3870
• application/rss+xml: RSS feeds
• application/soap+xml: SOAP; Defined by RFC 3902
• application/font-woff: Web Open Font Format; (candidate recommendation; use application/x-font-woff until standard is official)
• application/xhtml+xml: XHTML; Defined by RFC 3236
• application/xml-dtd: DTD files; Defined by RFC 3023
• application/xop+xml:XOP
• application/zip: ZIP archive files; Registered^[8]
• application/x-gzip: Gzip

[edit] Type audio

For Audio.

• audio/basic: mulaw audio at 8 kHz, 1 channel; Defined in RFC 2046
• audio/L24: 24bit Linear PCM audio at 8-48kHz, 1-N channels; Defined in RFC 3190
• audio/mp4: MP4 audio
• audio/mpeg: MP3 or other MPEG audio; Defined in RFC 3003
• audio/ogg: Ogg Vorbis, Speex, Flac and other audio; Defined in RFC 5334
• audio/vorbis: Vorbis encoded audio; Defined in RFC 5215
• audio/x-ms-wma: Windows Media Audio; Documented in MS kb288102^[9]
• audio/x-ms-wax: Windows Media Audio Redirector; Documented in MS kb288102^[9]
• audio/vnd.rn-realaudio: RealAudio; Documented in RealPlayer Help^[10]
• audio/vnd.wave: WAV audio; Defined in RFC 2361
• audio/webm: WebM open media format

[edit] Type image

• image/gif: GIF image; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046
• image/jpeg: JPEG JFIF image; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046
• image/pjpeg: JPEG JFIF image; Associated with Internet Explorer; Listed in ms775147(v=vs.85) - Progressive JPEG, initiated before global browser support for progressive JPEGs (Microsoft and Firefox).
• image/png: Portable Network Graphics; Registered,^[11] Defined in RFC 2083
• image/svg+xml: SVG vector image; Defined in SVG Tiny 1.2 Specification Appendix M
• image/tiff: Tag Image File Format (only for Baseline TIFF); Defined in RFC 3302
• image/vnd.microsoft.icon: ICO image; Registered^[12]

[edit] Type message

• message/http: Defined in RFC 2616
• message/imdn+xml: IMDN Instant Message Disposition Notification; Defined in RFC 5438
• message/partial: Email; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046
• message/rfc822: Email; EML files, MIME files, MHT files, MHTML files; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046

[edit] Type model

For 3D models.

• model/example: Defined in RFC 4735
• model/iges: IGS files, IGES files; Defined in RFC 2077
• model/mesh: MSH files, MESH files; Defined in RFC 2077, SILO files
• model/vrml: WRL files, VRML files; Defined in RFC 2077
• model/x3d+binary: X3D ISO standard for representing 3D computer graphics, X3DB binary files
• model/x3d+vrml: X3D ISO standard for representing 3D computer graphics, X3DV VRML files
• model/x3d+xml: X3D ISO standard for representing 3D computer graphics, X3D XML files

[edit] Type multipart

For archives and other objects made of more than one part.

• multipart/mixed: MIME Email; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046
• multipart/alternative: MIME Email; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046
• multipart/related: MIME Email; Defined in RFC 2387 and used by MHTML (HTML mail)
• multipart/form-data: MIME Webform; Defined in RFC 2388
• multipart/signed: Defined in RFC 1847
• multipart/encrypted: Defined in RFC 1847

[edit] Type text

For human-readable text and source code.

• text/cmd: commands; subtype resident in Gecko browsers like Firefox 3.5
• text/css: Cascading Style Sheets; Defined in RFC 2318
• text/csv: Comma-separated values; Defined in RFC 4180
• text/html: HTML; Defined in RFC 2854
• text/javascript (Obsolete): JavaScript; Defined in and obsoleted by RFC 4329 in order to discourage its usage in favor of application/javascript. However, text/javascript is allowed in HTML 4 and 5 and, unlike application/javascript, has cross-browser support. The "type" attribute of the <script> tag in HTML5 is optional and there is no need to use it at all since all browsers have always assumed the correct default (even in HTML 4 where it was required by the specification).
• text/plain: Textual data; Defined in RFC 2046 and RFC 3676
• text/vcard: vCard (contact information); Defined in RFC 6350
• text/xml: Extensible Markup Language; Defined in RFC 3023

[edit] Type video

For video.

• video/mpeg: MPEG-1 video with multiplexed audio; Defined in RFC 2045 and RFC 2046
• video/mp4: MP4 video; Defined in RFC 4337
• video/ogg: Ogg Theora or other video (with audio); Defined in RFC 5334
• video/quicktime: QuickTime video; Registered^[13]
• video/webm: WebM Matroska-based open media format
• video/x-matroska: Matroska open media format
• video/x-ms-wmv: Windows Media Video; Documented in Microsoft KB 288102
• video/x-flv: Flash video (FLV files)

List of common media subtype prefixes[link]

[edit] Prefix vnd

For vendor-specific files.

• application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.text: OpenDocument Text; Registered^[14]
• application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.spreadsheet: OpenDocument Spreadsheet; Registered^[15]
• application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.presentation: OpenDocument Presentation; Registered^[16]
• application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics: OpenDocument Graphics; Registered^[17]
• application/vnd.ms-excel: Microsoft Excel files
• application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet: Microsoft Excel 2007 files
• application/vnd.ms-powerpoint: Microsoft Powerpoint files
• application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation: Microsoft Powerpoint 2007 files
• application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document: Microsoft Word 2007 files
• application/vnd.mozilla.xul+xml: Mozilla XUL files
• application/vnd.google-earth.kml+xml: KML files (e.g. for Google Earth)^[18]

[edit] Prefix x

For non-standard files.

• application/x-www-form-urlencoded Form Encoded Data; Documented in HTML 4.01 Specification, Section 17.13.4.1
• application/x-dvi: device-independent document in DVI format
• application/x-latex: LaTeX files
• application/x-font-ttf: TrueType Font No registered MIME type, but this is the most commonly used
• application/x-shockwave-flash: Adobe Flash files for example with the extension .swf
• application/x-stuffit: StuffIt archive files
• application/x-rar-compressed: RAR archive files
• application/x-tar: Tarball files
• text/x-gwt-rpc: GoogleWebToolkit data
• text/x-jquery-tmpl: jQuery template data
• application/x-javascript:
• application/x-deb: deb (file format), a software package format used by the Debian project
• audio/x-aac: .aac audio files
• application/x-mpegURL: .m3u8 variant playlist

[edit] Prefix x-pkcs

For 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

See also[link]

• XML and MIME
• mime.types file

References[link]

External links[link]

• IANA MIME media types list
• IANA character sets
• RFC 2045, RFC 2046 - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME), parts 1 and 2
• RFC 4288 - Media Type Specifications and Registration Procedures