MIME::Type - Definition of one MIME type

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

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

 print $plaintext->encoding     # 8bit
 if($plaintext->isBinary)       # false
 if($plaintext->isAscii)        # true
 if($plaintext->equals('text/plain') {...}
 if($plaintext eq 'text/plain') # same

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

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 CWMIME::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 official IANA registry at http://www.iana.org/assignments/media-types/ and the collection kept at http://www.ltsw.se/knbase/internet/mime.htp

overload: string comparison When a MIME::Type object is compared to either a string or an other MIME::TYpe, the equals() method is called. Comparison is smart, which means that it extends common string comparison with some features which are defined in the related RFCs.

overload: stringification The stringification (use of the object in a place where a string is required) will result in the type name, the same as type() returns. Example: use of stringification

 my $mime = MIME::Type->new('text/html');
 print "$mime\n";   # explicit stringification
 print $mime;       # implicit stringification

MIME::Type->new(OPTIONS) Create (instantiate) a new MIME::Type object which manages one mime type.

 Option      Defined in       Default            
 encoding                     <depends on type>  
 extensions                   []                 
 simplified                   <derived from type>
 system                       C<undef>           
 type                         <required>

$obj->encoding Returns the type of encoding which is required to transport data of this type safely.

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

$obj->simplified([STRING])

MIME::Type->simplified([STRING]) 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 CWx- preamble to indicate that. Of course, after recognition, the CWx- can disappear. In many cases, we prefer the simplified version of the type. Example: results of simplified()

 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'

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

$obj->type Returns the long type of this object, for instance CW'text/plain'

$obj->equals(STRING|MIME) Compare this mime-type object with a STRING or other object. In case of a STRING, simplification will take place.

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

$obj->isBinary Returns true when the encoding is base64.

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

$obj->isSignature Returns true when the type is in the list of known signatures.

$obj->mediaType The media type of the simplified mime. For CW'text/plain' it will return CW'text'. For historical reasons, the CW'mainType' method still can be used to retreive the same value. However, that method is deprecated.

$obj->subType The sub type of the simplified mime. For CW'text/plain' it will return CW'plain'.

Error: Type parameter is obligatory.

When a MIME::Type object is created, the type itself must be specified with the CWtype option flag.

See the Mime::Types website at <http://perl.overmeer.net/mimetypes/> for more details.

Module version 1.16. Written by Mark Overmeer (mimetypes@overmeer.net). See the ChangeLog for other contributors.

Copyright (c) 2001-2003 by the author(s). All rights reserved. This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl itself.