[XML-DEV Mailing List Archive Home] [By Thread] [By Date] [Recent Entries] [Reply To This Message]

Re: Media type (MIME) of XML in MS Word? in Notepad? when comp

• To: XML Dev ML <xml-dev@l...>
• Subject: Re: Media type (MIME) of XML in MS Word? in Notepad? when compressed? etc
• From: Henri Sivonen <hsivonen@i...>
• Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2006 14:27:47 +0300
• In-reply-to: <B8415163A689094689542C617ECA0366C5FD49@I...>
• References: <B8415163A689094689542C617ECA0366C5FD49@I...>

On Jun 12, 2006, at 13:55, Costello, Roger L. wrote:

> Henri Sivonen said that if I take this simple XML:
>
> <?xml version="1.0"?>
>
> <root>
>
>       Blah
>
> </root>
>
> and put it into Word, then the media type (MIME) is:
>
>       application/msword
That's because the outer wrapper is then a Word file. It isn't  
something you can feed to XML parser.

Of course, I am assuming that you are saving as .doc. If you save as  
plain text, the same consideration apply as for Notepad.

> Conversely, if I put the same XML into Notepad, then the media type  
> (MIME) is:
>
>       application/xml
>
> Why is that?
In that case, there is no editor-specific wrapper format, so the  
result is suitable for feeding to an XML parser. However, I also said  
that text/plain is appropriate if you don't intend the file to be  
processed as XML but want it processed as plain text (perhaps for the  
purpose of discussing XML).

> Why is it that if I put XML into one editor (Word) I get a media  
> type that is specific to the editor, whereas if I put XML into  
> another editor (Notepad) then I get a media type that is  
> independent of the editor?
Because one editor applies an editor-specific wrapper format and the  
other does not.

> Suppose that I put the XML into Wordpad, what is the media type?
Depends on how you save.

> What are the general rules for determining the media type of XML?
If the data object is suitable for feeding to an XML parser, the type  
is application/xml or a more specific type. A more specific type such  
as application/xhtml+xml or application/atom+xml is appropriate if  
the document is suitable for processing by a specialized UA (in this  
case for XHTML and Atom respectively).

-- 
Henri Sivonen
hsivonen@i...
http://hsivonen.iki.fi/

• References:
  • RE: Media type (MIME) of XML in MS Word? in Notepad? when compressed? etc
    • From: "Costello, Roger L." <costello@m...>

• Prev by Date: RE: Media type (MIME) of XML in MS Word? in Notepad? when compressed? etc
• Next by Date: Security ALERT
• Previous by thread: RE: Media type (MIME) of XML in MS Word? in Notepad? when compressed? etc
• Next by thread: Security ALERT
• Index(es):
  • Date
  • Thread