On Sat 05 Apr 2003 19:17, Steffen Barszus posted as excerpted below: > > 3. Why are these called html files when they only contain binary? > > huh ?
I expect what he is referring to is the http header mime-type tags. The images, altho binary, are served as text/html. That's NOT such a good thing, as depending on the d/l agent, it may "cook" the file, treating it as ascii or whatever and changing CR and/or LF sequences to display better on the appropriate platform. Even if the file isn't "cooked" by being handled in text mode when it is binary, many browsers will attempt to display the raw binary, as it's listed as text/html, not application/octet-stream, as it should be, which would ordinarily invoke the save-as dialog automatically. If the direct URL to the file itself had been given, it might have been one thing. However, the URL was to a proper HTML page, with that and other binaries listed. Thus, one really needed a browser to properly view the listing page, b4 getting the binary. Thus, using a standard browser would be the ordinary thing to do. However, because the mime-type is wrongly identified, then clicking on or otherwise activating the appropriate link will normally attempt to parse and display the new page, as is normal with text/html, rather than save the unmodified file to disk, as is normal with application/octet-stream, the proper identification. -- Duncan "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety." -- Benjamin Franklin
