Hello Manu
On 4/6/07, Manu Sporny <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Charles Iliya Krempeaux wrote:
>> Hmm, reading that gives me the impression that parameters are defined
>> when media types are registered, and aren't something we can add to
>> suit our needs.
>
> I don't believe that is the case.
>
> I believe (according to the spec) you are free to create your own
> Content Type parameters.
I disagree, you could break backwards compatibility if you start tacking
on parameters that are not defined in the MIME-type (which is used in
the Accept and Content-Type fields):
"When sending data to older HTTP applications, implementations SHOULD
only use media type parameters when they are required by that
type/subtype definition."[1]
I can't find any statement in the literature that says that you can add
parameters that are not in the "Required" or "Optional" listing.
Furthermore, RFC 2045 states:
"Use of non-registered media types is discouraged." [1]
"MIME implementations must ignore any parameters whose names they do not
recognize."[2]
I believe this means that web browsers should ignore any parameters
whose names they do not recognize. That means if it isn't in the
MIME-Type specification, it should be ignored by any implementation
reading a field containing the MIME-Type.
In short - if it isn't registered with the Mime-Type - you shouldn't be
using it.
-- manu
[1] http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec3.html#sec3.7
[2] http://rfc.net/rfc2045.html#p10
I don't think we are disagreeing.
You are saying that it says we SHOULD NOT use them. And I'm not arguing that.
But "SHOULD NOT" is NOT the same a "MUST NOT".
And therefore, despite the encouragement (from the spec) to NOT make
up your own Content Type parameters, you still could. And if you did,
you would still be complying with the spec.
--
Charles Iliya Krempeaux, B.Sc.
charles @ reptile.ca
supercanadian @ gmail.com
developer weblog: http://ChangeLog.ca/
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