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><A
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>Shared MIME-info Database</A
></H1
><DIV
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><A
NAME="AEN3"
></A
><H3
CLASS="corpauthor"
> <A
HREF="http://www.freedesktop.org"
TARGET="_top"
> X Desktop Group
</A
>
</H3
><H3
CLASS="author"
><A
NAME="AEN6"
>Thomas Leonard</A
></H3
><DIV
CLASS="affiliation"
><DIV
CLASS="address"
><P
CLASS="address"
><CODE
CLASS="email"
><<A
HREF="mailto:tal197 at users.sf.net"
>tal197 at users.sf.net</A
>></CODE
></P
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CLASS="TOC"
><DL
><DT
><B
>Table of Contents</B
></DT
><DT
>1. <A
HREF="index.html#AEN14"
>Introduction</A
></DT
><DD
><DL
><DT
>1.1. <A
HREF="index.html#AEN16"
>Version</A
></DT
><DT
>1.2. <A
HREF="index.html#AEN19"
>What is this spec?</A
></DT
><DT
>1.3. <A
HREF="index.html#AEN30"
>Language used in this specification</A
></DT
></DL
></DD
><DT
>2. <A
HREF="x34.html"
>Unified system</A
></DT
><DD
><DL
><DT
>2.1. <A
HREF="x34.html#s2_layout"
>Directory layout</A
></DT
><DT
>2.2. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN124"
>The source XML files</A
></DT
><DT
>2.3. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN288"
>The MEDIA/SUBTYPE.xml files</A
></DT
><DT
>2.4. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN299"
>The glob files</A
></DT
><DT
>2.5. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN320"
>The magic files</A
></DT
><DT
>2.6. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN370"
>The XMLnamespaces files</A
></DT
><DT
>2.7. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN376"
>The icon files</A
></DT
><DT
>2.8. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN383"
>The treemagic files</A
></DT
><DT
>2.9. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN411"
>The mime.cache files</A
></DT
><DT
>2.10. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN428"
>Storing the MIME type using Extended Attributes</A
></DT
><DT
>2.11. <A
HREF="x34.html#subclassing"
>Subclassing</A
></DT
><DT
>2.12. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN446"
>Recommended checking order</A
></DT
><DT
>2.13. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN465"
>Non-regular files</A
></DT
><DT
>2.14. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN477"
>Content types for volumes</A
></DT
><DT
>2.15. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN484"
>URI scheme handlers</A
></DT
><DT
>2.16. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN489"
>Security implications</A
></DT
><DT
>2.17. <A
HREF="x34.html#AEN493"
>User modification</A
></DT
></DL
></DD
><DT
>3. <A
HREF="x497.html"
>Contributors</A
></DT
><DT
><A
HREF="b518.html"
>References</A
></DT
></DL
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="sect1"
><H1
CLASS="sect1"
><A
NAME="AEN14"
>1. Introduction</A
></H1
><DIV
CLASS="sect2"
><H2
CLASS="sect2"
><A
NAME="AEN16"
>1.1. Version</A
></H2
><P
> This is version 0.21 of the Shared MIME-info Database specification, last updated 2 October 2018.</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="sect2"
><H2
CLASS="sect2"
><A
NAME="AEN19"
>1.2. What is this spec?</A
></H2
><P
> Many programs and desktops use the MIME system[<SPAN
CLASS="citation"
>MIME</SPAN
>]
to represent the types of files. Frequently, it is necessary to work out the
correct MIME type for a file. This is generally done by examining the file's
name or contents, and looking up the correct MIME type in a database.
</P
><P
> It is also useful to store information about each type, such as a textual
description of it, or a list of applications that can be used to view or edit
files of that type.
</P
><P
> For interoperability, it is useful for different programs to use the same
database so that different programs agree on the type of a file and
information is not duplicated. It is also helpful for application authors to
only have to install new information in one place.
</P
><P
> This specification attempts to unify the MIME database systems currently in
use by GNOME[<SPAN
CLASS="citation"
>GNOME</SPAN
>], KDE[<SPAN
CLASS="citation"
>KDE</SPAN
>] and
ROX[<SPAN
CLASS="citation"
>ROX</SPAN
>], and provide room for future extensibility.
</P
><P
> The MIME database does NOT store user preferences (such as a user's preferred
application for handling files of a particular type). It may be used to store
static information, such as that files of a certain type may be viewed with
a particular application.
</P
></DIV
><DIV
CLASS="sect2"
><H2
CLASS="sect2"
><A
NAME="AEN30"
>1.3. Language used in this specification</A
></H2
><P
> The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD",
"SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be
interpreted as described in RFC 2119[<SPAN
CLASS="citation"
>RFC-2119</SPAN
>].
</P
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