Re: lynx-dev mime-types, server responsibility, etc..

[Ismael Cordeiro]

On Sat, 2 Jan 1999 address@hidden wrote:

> > and apparently the browser can request an appropriate MIME encapsulation
> > for files.
> > 
> Hmmm. There's a grain of truth in what he says.  If your .mailcap file
> contains lines for "application/x-Shrinkit" and "application/x-Binary II"
> (ugh! whitespace!), Lynx will send an "Accept" command (this may be what
> he means by "request") for those types. Absent that "Accept", the server
> may feel justified in defaulting to text/plain.

I hope I won't be considered pedantic by saying this, but if the HTTP server
doesn't send in the Content-type field the mime type you defined an action
for in your .mailcap file the action won't be taken. For example, I have

application/x-bzip2; bzcat %s | $PAGER

in my .mailcap. That allows Lynx to read files compressed with bzip2,
uncompressing them on the fly. However if the HTTP server doesn't have the
bz2 extension set to application/x-bzip2 and, consequently, doesn't send
application/x-bzip2 in the Content-type field, bzcat won't be called and the
file will be displayed in its compressed form.

Ismael
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