Proper MIME media type for PDF files

Question

When working with PDFs  I ve run across the MIME types application pdf and application x-pdf among others    Is there a difference between these two types  and if so what is it  Is one preferred over the other   I m working on a web app which must deliver huge amounts of PDFs and I want to do it the correct way  if there is one

User · Answer

From Wikipedia Media type      A media type is composed of a type  a subtype  and optional   parameters  As an example  an HTML file might be designated text html  charset UTF-8       Media type consists of top-level type name and sub-type name  which is   further structured into so-called  trees     top-level type name   subtype name     parameters    top-level type name     tree    subtype name    suffix       parameters     All media types should be registered using the IANA registration procedures  Currently the following trees are created  standard  vendor  personal or vanity  unregistered x    Standard      Media types in the standards tree do not use any tree facet  prefix     type   media type name   suffix    Examples   application xhtml xml    image png   Vendor      Vendor tree is used for media types associated with publicly available   products  It uses vnd  facet    type   vnd  media type name   suffix  - used in the case of well-known producer  type   vnd  producer s name followed by media type name   suffix  - producer s name must be approved by IANA  type   vnd  producer s name followed by product s name   suffix  - producer s name must be approved by IANA   Personal or Vanity tree      Personal or Vanity tree includes media types created experimentally or   as part of products that are not distributed commercially  It uses   prs  facet    type   prs  media type name   suffix    Unregistered x  tree      The  x   tree may be used for media types intended exclusively for use   in private  local environments and only with the active agreement of   the parties exchanging them  Types in this tree cannot be registered       According to the previous version of RFC 6838 - obsoleted RFC 2048    published in November 1996  it should rarely  if ever  be necessary   to use unregistered experimental types  and as such use of both  x-    and  x   forms is discouraged  Previous versions of that RFC - RFC   1590 and RFC 1521 stated that the use of  x-  notation for the   sub-type name may be used for unregistered and private sub-types  but   this recommendation was obsoleted in November 1996    type   x  media type name   suffix    So its clear that the standard type MIME type application pdf is the appropriate one to use while you should avoid using the obsolete and unregistered x- media type as stated in RFC 2048 and RFC 6838

User · Answer

The standard MIME type is application pdf  The assignment is defined in RFC 3778  The application pdf Media Type  referenced from the MIME Media Types registry   MIME types are controlled by a standards body  The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority  IANA   This is the same organization that manages the root name servers and the IP address space   The use of x-pdf predates the standardization of the MIME type for PDF  MIME types in the x- namespace are considered experimental  just as those in the vnd  namespace are considered vendor-specific  x-pdf might be used for compatibility with old software

User · Answer

The standard MIME type is application pdf  The assignment is defined in RFC 3778  The application pdf Media Type  referenced from the MIME Media Types registry   MIME types are controlled by a standards body  The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority  IANA   This is the same organization that manages the root name servers and the IP address space   The use of x-pdf predates the standardization of the MIME type for PDF  MIME types in the x- namespace are considered experimental  just as those in the vnd  namespace are considered vendor-specific  x-pdf might be used for compatibility with old software

User · Answer

This is a convention defined in RFC 2045 - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions  MIME  Part One  Format of Internet Message Bodies         Private  subtype  values  starting with  X-   may be defined   bilaterally between two cooperating agents without   outside registration or standardization  Such values   cannot be registered or standardized    New standard values should be registered with IANA as described in RFC 2048       A similar restriction applies to the top-level type  From the same source      If another top-level type is to be used for any reason  it must be   given a name starting with  X-  to indicate its non-standard status   and to avoid a potential conflict with a future official name     Note that per RFC 2045    m atching of media type and subtype is ALWAYS case-insensitive   so there s no difference between the interpretation of  X-  and  x-     So it s fair to guess that  application x-foo  was used before the IANA defined  application foo   And it still might be used by folks who aren t aware of the IANA token assignment   As Chris Hanson said MIME types are controlled by the IANA  This is detailed in RFC 2048 - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions  MIME  Part Four  Registration Procedures  According to RFC 3778  which is cited by the IANA as the definition for  application pdf       The application pdf media type was first registered in 1993 by Paul Lindner for use by the gopher protocol  the registration was subsequently updated in 1994 by Steve Zilles    The type  application pdf  has been around for well over a decade  So it seems to me that wherever  application x-pdf  has been used in new apps  the decision may not have been deliberate

User · Answer

From Wikipedia Media type      A media type is composed of a type  a subtype  and optional   parameters  As an example  an HTML file might be designated text html  charset UTF-8       Media type consists of top-level type name and sub-type name  which is   further structured into so-called  trees     top-level type name   subtype name     parameters    top-level type name     tree    subtype name    suffix       parameters     All media types should be registered using the IANA registration procedures  Currently the following trees are created  standard  vendor  personal or vanity  unregistered x    Standard      Media types in the standards tree do not use any tree facet  prefix     type   media type name   suffix    Examples   application xhtml xml    image png   Vendor      Vendor tree is used for media types associated with publicly available   products  It uses vnd  facet    type   vnd  media type name   suffix  - used in the case of well-known producer  type   vnd  producer s name followed by media type name   suffix  - producer s name must be approved by IANA  type   vnd  producer s name followed by product s name   suffix  - producer s name must be approved by IANA   Personal or Vanity tree      Personal or Vanity tree includes media types created experimentally or   as part of products that are not distributed commercially  It uses   prs  facet    type   prs  media type name   suffix    Unregistered x  tree      The  x   tree may be used for media types intended exclusively for use   in private  local environments and only with the active agreement of   the parties exchanging them  Types in this tree cannot be registered       According to the previous version of RFC 6838 - obsoleted RFC 2048    published in November 1996  it should rarely  if ever  be necessary   to use unregistered experimental types  and as such use of both  x-    and  x   forms is discouraged  Previous versions of that RFC - RFC   1590 and RFC 1521 stated that the use of  x-  notation for the   sub-type name may be used for unregistered and private sub-types  but   this recommendation was obsoleted in November 1996    type   x  media type name   suffix    So its clear that the standard type MIME type application pdf is the appropriate one to use while you should avoid using the obsolete and unregistered x- media type as stated in RFC 2048 and RFC 6838

User · Answer

This is a convention defined in RFC 2045 - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions  MIME  Part One  Format of Internet Message Bodies         Private  subtype  values  starting with  X-   may be defined   bilaterally between two cooperating agents without   outside registration or standardization  Such values   cannot be registered or standardized    New standard values should be registered with IANA as described in RFC 2048       A similar restriction applies to the top-level type  From the same source      If another top-level type is to be used for any reason  it must be   given a name starting with  X-  to indicate its non-standard status   and to avoid a potential conflict with a future official name     Note that per RFC 2045    m atching of media type and subtype is ALWAYS case-insensitive   so there s no difference between the interpretation of  X-  and  x-     So it s fair to guess that  application x-foo  was used before the IANA defined  application foo   And it still might be used by folks who aren t aware of the IANA token assignment   As Chris Hanson said MIME types are controlled by the IANA  This is detailed in RFC 2048 - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions  MIME  Part Four  Registration Procedures  According to RFC 3778  which is cited by the IANA as the definition for  application pdf       The application pdf media type was first registered in 1993 by Paul Lindner for use by the gopher protocol  the registration was subsequently updated in 1994 by Steve Zilles    The type  application pdf  has been around for well over a decade  So it seems to me that wherever  application x-pdf  has been used in new apps  the decision may not have been deliberate

User · Answer

The standard MIME type is application pdf  The assignment is defined in RFC 3778  The application pdf Media Type  referenced from the MIME Media Types registry   MIME types are controlled by a standards body  The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority  IANA   This is the same organization that manages the root name servers and the IP address space   The use of x-pdf predates the standardization of the MIME type for PDF  MIME types in the x- namespace are considered experimental  just as those in the vnd  namespace are considered vendor-specific  x-pdf might be used for compatibility with old software

User · Answer

The standard MIME type is application pdf  The assignment is defined in RFC 3778  The application pdf Media Type  referenced from the MIME Media Types registry   MIME types are controlled by a standards body  The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority  IANA   This is the same organization that manages the root name servers and the IP address space   The use of x-pdf predates the standardization of the MIME type for PDF  MIME types in the x- namespace are considered experimental  just as those in the vnd  namespace are considered vendor-specific  x-pdf might be used for compatibility with old software

[pdf] Proper MIME media type for PDF files

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