>Is this an argument against MIME typing?
Not at all!
>My real point: METADATA ISN'T JUST FOR SEARCHING. (Sorry about the caps
>but it's an important point.)
Agree 100%. However, MIME is not a complete descriptor of file
type unfortunately.
I can't tell if an executable will run on my machine, a streaming audio clip
will fit my bandwidth, or such since this information isn't MIME encoded.
>Sorry for the tone. I just think there's a very easy, obvious, trivial,
>already-allowed-but-not-officially-supported, and VERY WIDELY USED
>standard called MIME, and the arguments I've seen against it are
>fallacious and misdirected.
I *never* argued against using MIME-types!
They are merely incomplete.
I argued *for* including a markup language component
-- because the "type" of a file is inadequately represented by MIME-type
-- because the "contents" of a file isn't adequately represented by filenames.
-- because "searching" requires some sort of "search key" which
somehow abstracts
or represents both the "type" and the "contents" of a file.
The idea of including a MIME-header as part of every file is perfectly
reasonable, was never in dispute! -- you can just throw the file at a browser
and it'll display it. This is a Good Thing.
>I still think putting XML right IN the header, encoding it to remove
>linefeeds, is going to be extremely icky.
I don't see that the headers will be so very long:
X-MIME-Header: exe/mac
X-Comment: dunno if exe/mac really exists...
X-Freenet-Header: <EXE type="mac" subtype="68K"></EXE>
here's a longer one
X-MIME-Header: audio/mp3s
X-Freenet-Header: <AUDIO type="mp3s" mode="STEREO"
rate="33000"><ARTIST>The Beatles<ALBUM>Abbey Road<TRACK>The
End</TRACK></ALBUM></ARTIST></AUDIO>
Is there a limit on Header: fields in, say, standard HTML? I have
the RFC here but didn't see it.
I AM sorry for coming off as pugnacious... I don't have any specific
technical ax to grind,
but I imagine all these objects floating around
in this freenet and I immediately ask:
"how will I name these objects?"
and "how will I find these objects?"
I have to confess, however, I haven't quite figured out where in the code
the naming appears...
/t
...get extreme internet radio at <http://extremeNY.com/radio>...
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