What are MIME, Types files, and Mailcap files?
The MIME protocol is used in Internet communications to transmit documents of varying formats. The protocol handles complexities by establishing a relationship (a mapping) between the format of a document’s content and the format of the document’s computer representation. Applications using MIME can establish the type of software necessary to interpret the content of a transmitted document. With the proper Helper Application settings and software, Netscape can automatically initiate the necessary actions to provide you access to content transmitted in numerous formats. On Windows and Macintosh, the mapping of MIME types is handled in the General | Helpers panel. On UNIX, the mapping of MIME types uses two kinds of files: a Types file and a Mailcap file (each can be configured with global, default, and personal files). A Types file maps a file format (on the left) with an identifying file name suffix (on the right).
