Mime::Type

- NAME
- SYNOPSIS
- DESCRIPTION
- METHODS
- SEE ALSO
- AUTHOR
- VERSION

# NAME

     MIME::Type - Definition of one MIME type

# SYNOPSIS

     use MIME::Types;
     my $mimetypes = MIME::Types->new;
     my MIME::Type $plaintext = $mimetype->type('text/plain');
     print $plaintext->mediaType;   # text
     print $plaintext->subType;     # plain

     my @ext = $plaintext->extensions;
     print "@ext"                   # asc txt c cc h hh cpp

     print $plaintext->encoding     # 8bit
     if($plaintext->isBinary)       # false
     if($plaintext->isAscii)        # true

     print MIME::Type->simplified('x-appl/x-zip') #  'appl/zip'

# DESCRIPTION

MIME types are used in MIME entities, for instance as part of e-mail and HTTP traffic. Sometimes real knowledge about a mime-type is need. Objects of `MIME::Type` store the information on one such type.

This module is built to conform to the MIME types of RFC's 2045 and 2231. It follows the collection kept at http://www.ltsw.se/knbase/internet/mime.htp

# METHODS

new OPTIONS
  Create a new `MIME::Type` object which manages one mime type.

       OPTION                    DEFAULT
       type                      <obligatory>
       simplified                <derived from type>
       extensions                undef
       encoding                  <depends on type>
       system                    undef

  - type => STRING
    The type which is defined here. It consists of a type and a sub-type, both case-insensitive. This module will return lower-case, but accept upper-case.

  - simplified => STRING
    The mime types main- and sub-label can both start with `x-`, to indicate that is a non-registered name. Of course, after registration this flag can disappear which adds to the confusion. The simplified string has the `x-` thingies removed and are translated to lower-case.

  - extensions => REF-ARRAY
    An array of extensions which are using this mime.

  - encoding => '7bit'|'8bit'|'base64'|'quoted-printable'
    How must this data be encoded to be transported safely. The default depends on the type: mimes with as main type `text/` will default to `quoted-printable` and all other to `base64`.

  - system => REGEX
    Regular expression which defines for which systems this rule is valid. The REGEX is matched on `$^O`.

type
  Returns the long type of this object, for instance `'text/plain'`

simplified [STRING]
  (Instance method or Class method) Returns the simplified mime type for this object or the specified STRING. Mime type names can get officially registered. Until then, they have to carry an `x-` preamble to indicate that. Of course, after recognition, the `x-` can disappear. In many cases, we prefer the simplified version of the type.

  Examples:

       my $mime = MIME::Type->new(type => 'x-appl/x-zip');
       print $mime->simplified;                     # 'appl/zip'
       print $mime->simplified('text/plain');       # 'text/plain'
       print MIME::Type->simplified('x-xyz/x-abc'); # 'xyz/abc'

mediaType
  The media type of the simplified mime. For `'text/plain'` it will return `'text'`.

  For historical reasons, the `'mainType'` method still can be used to retreive the same value. However, that method is deprecated.

subType
  The sub type of the simplified mime. For `'text/plain'` it will return `'plain'`.

isRegistered
  Mime-types which are not registered by IANA nor defined in RFCs shall start with an `x-`. This counts for as well the media-type as the sub-type. In case either one of the types starts with `x-` this method will return false.

extensions
  Returns a list of extensions which are known to be used for this mime type.

encoding
  Returns the type of encoding which is required to transport data of this type safely.

system
  Returns the regular expression which can be used to determine whether this type is active on the system where you are working on.

isBinary
  Returns true when the encoding is base64.

isAscii
  Returns false when the encoding is base64, and true otherwise. All encodings except base64 are text encodings.

isSignature
  Returns true when the type is in the list of known signatures.

# SEE ALSO

the MIME::Types manpage

# AUTHOR

Mark Overmeer (mimetypes@overmeer.net). All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.

# VERSION

This code is beta version 0.16.

Copyright (c) 2001 Mark Overmeer. All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.