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Hi Roger--
A couple of comments:
Costello, Roger L. wrote:
> Hi Folks,
>
snip
>
>
> *Why is MIME Type Important?*
>
> * *
>
> It would appear that MIME types are redundant. After all a file
> extension can tell you what kind of data a file contains, right? True.
> However, when you send a file across the Web, a file looses its file
> extension, only the contents are sent, not the filename (or file
> extension).
>
This makes it sound as if the "problem" is simply that the file
extension is stripped off when the file is sent over the internet (and
hence could be fixed by simply sending the extension as well). But the
basic issue, as several other people have noted, is that file extensions
are operating system mechanisms (and operating system dependent,
although there's been a certain amount of convergence).
>
snip
>
> So, what is an XML document? Answer: an XML document is one that has an
> XML declaration as the first thing in the file. If you open the above
> *Word* document you won’t find an XML declaration as the first thing.
> If you open the above *Notepad* document you will find an XML
> declaration as the first thing.
>
Any description of what an XML document is needs to keep in mind that
the XML spec itself defines what an XML document is:
"[Definition: A data object is an XML document if it is well-formed, as
defined in this specification. A well-formed XML document MAY in
addition be valid if it meets certain further constraints.]"
http://www.w3.org/TR/2004/REC-xml-20040204/#sec-documents
This doesn't mean you can't also have your own informal description, but
that description should probably note that there is an official
definition.
--Frank
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