| MIME type | URL end with... | What should happen | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| text/html | file.html | file.gif | file.png | file.txt | file.exe | file.zip | file.foo | file | View in browser as HTML |
| image/gif | file.html | file.gif | file.png | file.txt | file.exe | file.zip | file.foo | file | View image in browser |
| image/png | file.html | file.gif | file.png | file.txt | file.exe | file.zip | file.foo | file | View image in browser |
| text/plain [A] | file.html | file.gif | file.png | file.txt | file.exe | file.zip | file.foo | file | View plain text in browser |
| text/plain [B] (plain text that looks like HTML) |
file.html | file.gif | file.png | file.txt | file.exe | file.zip | file.foo | file | View plain text in browser |
| application/octet-stream [A] (data looks like Windows executable) |
file.html | file.gif | file.png | file.txt | file.exe | file.zip | file.foo | file | offer to Save to disk |
| application/octet-stream [B] (data looks like plain text) |
file.html | file.gif | file.png | file.txt | file.exe | file.zip | file.foo | file | offer to Save to disk |
| application/octet-stream [C] (data looks like HTML) |
file.html | file.gif | file.png | file.txt | file.exe | file.zip | file.foo | file | offer to Save to disk |
| application/octet-stream [D] (data looks like GIF file) |
file.html | file.gif | file.png | file.txt | file.exe | file.zip | file.foo | file | offer to Save to disk |
| application/zip | file.html | file.gif | file.png | file.txt | file.exe | file.zip | file.foo | file | Save to disk or open application |
| x-foo/x-bar | file.html | file.gif | file.png | file.txt | file.exe | file.zip | file.foo | file | Save to disk or open application |
The links in any row differ only by "file extension", and since file extensions are supposed to be irrelevant on the web, they should all do the same thing. If they don't, your browser is broken.
Note that all the documents here really do contain legitimate data in the format indicated by the MIME type.
If you're totally confused by this, I suggest reading The Content-type Saga.
This entire test suite may be downloaded here: mimetest.zip.
Permission is granted for anyone to make public or private use of these test pages on their own web server; however, if this document is located somewhere other than entropymine.com, I cannot vouch for the correctness of the tests.
Important: These tests require a suitably configured Apache-compatible web server. In particular, it must be possible to override MIME types by the use of AddType and DefaultType directives in ".htaccess" configuration files. The tests will not work on your local hard disk, or on most free web site providers.
Tests by Jason Summers.
