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Posted to docs@httpd.apache.org by sl...@apache.org on 2002/03/11 01:31:22 UTC
cvs commit: httpd-docs-1.3/htdocs/manual/misc FAQ-E.html
slive 02/03/10 16:31:22
Modified: htdocs/manual/misc FAQ-E.html
Log:
This MSIE text/plain issue is coming up more often than the "why does MSIE work
but not Nestscape" issue. Since this answer covers both questions, I just
broadened it a little.
Submitted by: Alan J. Flavell <fl...@mail.cern.ch> (via Usenet), Joshua Slive
Revision Changes Path
1.18 +27 -20 httpd-docs-1.3/htdocs/manual/misc/FAQ-E.html
Index: FAQ-E.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /home/cvs/httpd-docs-1.3/htdocs/manual/misc/FAQ-E.html,v
retrieving revision 1.17
retrieving revision 1.18
diff -u -d -b -u -r1.17 -r1.18
--- FAQ-E.html 30 Jan 2002 15:51:28 -0000 1.17
+++ FAQ-E.html 11 Mar 2002 00:31:21 -0000 1.18
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
<h1 align="CENTER">Apache Server Frequently Asked
Questions</h1>
- <p>$Revision: 1.17 $ ($Date: 2002/01/30 15:51:28 $)</p>
+ <p>$Revision: 1.18 $ ($Date: 2002/03/11 00:31:21 $)</p>
<p>The latest version of this FAQ is always available from the
main Apache web site, at <<a
@@ -126,7 +126,9 @@
<li><a href="#ie-ignores-mime">Why do my files appear
correctly in Internet Explorer, but show up as source or
- trigger a save window with Netscape?</a></li>
+ trigger a save window with Netscape; or, Why doesn't
+ Internet Explorer render my text/plain document
+ correctly?</a></li>
<li><a href="#canonical-hostnames">My site is accessible
under many different hostnames; how do I redirect clients
@@ -641,29 +643,34 @@
<a id="ie-ignores-mime" name="ie-ignores-mime"><strong>Why
do my files appear correctly in Internet Explorer, but show
up as source or trigger a save window with
- Netscape?</strong></a>
+ Netscape; or, Why doesn't Internet Explorer render
+ my text/plain document correctly?</strong></a>
- <p>Internet Explorer (IE) and Netscape handle mime type
+ <p>MS Internet Explorer (MSIE) and Netscape handle mime type
detection in different ways, and therefore will display the
document differently. In particular, IE sometimes relies on
- the file extension to determine the mime type. This can
- happen when the server specifies a mime type of
- <code>application/octet-stream</code> or
- <code>text/plain</code>. (Unfortunately, this behavior
- makes it impossible to properly send plain text in some
- situations unless the file extension is <code>txt</code>.)
- There are more details available on IE's mime type
- detection behavior in an <a
+ the file extension or the contents of the file to determine
+ the mime type. This can happen when the server specifies a
+ mime type of <code>application/octet-stream</code> or
+ <code>text/plain</code>. This behavior violates the the HTTP
+ standard and makes it impossible to deliver plain text
+ documents to MSIE clients in some cases. More details are
+ available on MSIE's mime type detection behavior in an <a
href="http://msdn.microsoft.com/workshop/networking/moniker/overview/appendix_a.asp">
- MSDN article</a>.</p>
+ MSDN article</a> and a <a
+ href="http://ppewww.ph.gla.ac.uk/~flavell/www/content-type.html">note</a>
+ by Alan J. Flavell.</p>
- <p>In order to make all browsers work correctly, you should
- assure that Apache sends the correct mime type for the
- file. This is accomplished by editing the
- <code>mime.types</code> file or using an <a
+ <p>The best you can do as a server administrator is to
+ accurately configure the mime type of your documents by editing
+ the <code>mime.types</code> file or using an <a
href="../mod/mod_mime.html#addtype"><code>AddType</code></a>
- directive in the Apache configuration files.</p>
- <hr />
+ directive in the Apache configuration files. In some cases,
+ you may be able to fool MSIE into rendering text/plain documents
+ correctly by assuring they have a <code>.txt</code> filename
+ extension, but this will not work if MSIE thinks the content
+ looks like another file type.
+</p> <hr />
</li>
<li>
<a name="canonical-hostnames"><strong>My site is accessible
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