IN THIS SECTION:
Explanation
of Mime Types | How
to Add Mime Types
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Explanation of Mime
Types
This feature is not available for FrontPage users, any Mime types
needed FP users will have to be added using FrontPage.
The MIME Types option in your Control Panel allows you to set certain
programs to be used for specific extensions.
In easier-to-understand terms, MIME Types helps your web server to
identify what type of file is being requested by your browsers. For
instance, when the web server gets a request from a browser such as
Internet Explorer or Netscape, for a file that ends in .html, the
web server knows that it is an html document because that extension
is stored in the Mime Type. If the web server gets a request from
a browser for a file that ends in .gif, the web server knows that
it is an image because that too is stored in the Mime Types. This
applies to every file, image, application, etc. that may be requested
by a web browser. If the extension is not stored within the Mime Type,
the web server will not recognize it and will not be able to assist
the browser and that particular file type will not be viewable by
the user.
Mime types are identified by the server by the following format:
subtype/type extension
For example adding the following two
Mime Types will allow users to view ipx images on your web pages:
application/x-ipscript .ips
application/x-ipix .ipx
application identifies the subtype, x-ipscript
identifies the application, and .ips identifies the extension used
for that application.
For more information on Mime Types you can visit http://www.qnx.com/~chrish/Be/info/mime-types.html
How to Add Mime Types
Click on the Mime Types option in your Control Panel and you will
be taken to the following window. Select the directory in which you
want the new Mime Type to apply to, the most common choice would be
your www directory so that it will apply to your entire web site.
The next window you will be taken to (see the following screenshot)
is where you will actually add the Mime Type. We've added instructions
in red.
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