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Posted to dev@subversion.apache.org by Francois Beausoleil <fb...@users.sourceforge.net> on 2004/06/29 20:38:25 UTC
svn:mime-type / svn:charset (Was: Re: svn commit: r10100 -
trunk/subversion/libsvn_subr)
On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 12:32:21 -0700, "Ben Reser" <be...@reser.org> said:
> On Tue, Jun 29, 2004 at 12:11:17AM -0500, kfogel@tigris.org wrote:
> $ svn pg svn:mime-type COMMITTERS
> text/plain; charset=UTF-8
Wouldn't it be better to have a separate svn:charset property, and have
mod_dav_svn concatenate the two when serving through the browser
interface ?
That would certainly be "more correct". Charset is not an intrinsic
property of the MIME type.
Bye !
François
Developer of Java Gui Builder
http://jgb.sourceforge.net/
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Re: svn:mime-type / svn:charset (Was: Re: svn commit: r10100 - trunk/subversion/libsvn_subr)
Posted by kf...@collab.net.
Ben Reser <be...@reser.org> writes:
> It was probably a mistake to call the property svn:mime-type. Perhaps
> it would be wise to deprecate that name, while still supporting it, and
> replace it with svn:media-type, which is more accurately how we're using
> it.
While this is good to know, I doubt most people in practice know the
difference between "media type" and "mime type" in this context.
I'd guess that to most people, "media type" is a general phrase that
could even mean something like "Is it on CD-ROM, tape, or floppy?".
On the other hand, many people understand "mime type" to be a kind of
metadata on a string or stream of bits, that tells you how to
interpret those bits. This is also a good description of how the
svn:mime-type property is used.
There's this common phenomenon, in which domain experts who are, by
virtue of their expertise, aware of certain subtle distinctions, try
(and fail) to get non-experts to maintain those distinctions. For
example "URL" vs "URI", or "kilobyte" vs "kibibyte", etc.
The reasons the attempts fail are not always the same in every case.
With URL vs URI, it's hard for the experts to explain the distinction
in a way that people can remember. With the "-ibi*" units, the
distinction is easy to explain, but their pronounciation is awkward.
I think 'svn:media-type' versus 'svn:mime-type' might be one of these
cases (very similar to URL vs URI, actually). Sure, for experts,
there may be an important difference between a media type and a mime
type. But most people are familiar with the concept of mime types,
and will instantly understand what the 'svn:mime-type' property is all
about just from seeing its name, whereas far fewer would automatically
understand what 'svn:media-type' is about.
Of course, if the difference between the two things is important in
some real-world way, such that conflating them can cause real trouble,
then it's necessary to enforce the distinction. But I'm not sure
that's the case here.
-Karl
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Re: svn:mime-type / svn:charset (Was: Re: svn commit: r10100 - trunk/subversion/libsvn_subr)
Posted by Ben Reser <be...@reser.org>.
On Sun, Jul 04, 2004 at 03:29:32AM +0200, Branko ??ibej wrote:
> Bah. "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds." :-)
:)
BTW the exact quote is "little minds".
> Anyway, as of yesterday, we treat svn:mime-type as as a MIME type, which
> means charset (and other) parameters are allowed, of not interpreted.
> See r10126.
I realized that. I'm just trying to avoid people making presumptions
about that the data is always type/subtype and nothing more again...
--
Ben Reser <be...@reser.org>
http://ben.reser.org
"Conscience is the inner voice which warns us somebody may be looking."
- H.L. Mencken
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Re: svn:mime-type / svn:charset (Was: Re: svn commit: r10100 - trunk/subversion/libsvn_subr)
Posted by Branko Čibej <br...@xbc.nu>.
Ben Reser wrote:
>It was probably a mistake to call the property svn:mime-type. Perhaps
>it would be wise to deprecate that name, while still supporting it, and
>replace it with svn:media-type, which is more accurately how we're using
>it.
>
>Thoughts?
>
>
Bah. "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds." :-)
Anyway, as of yesterday, we treat svn:mime-type as as a MIME type, which
means charset (and other) parameters are allowed, of not interpreted.
See r10126.
-- Brane
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Re: svn:mime-type / svn:charset (Was: Re: svn commit: r10100 - trunk/subversion/libsvn_subr)
Posted by Ben Reser <be...@reser.org>.
On Tue, Jun 29, 2004 at 04:38:25PM -0400, Francois Beausoleil wrote:
>
> On Tue, 29 Jun 2004 12:32:21 -0700, "Ben Reser" <be...@reser.org> said:
> > On Tue, Jun 29, 2004 at 12:11:17AM -0500, kfogel@tigris.org wrote:
> > $ svn pg svn:mime-type COMMITTERS
> > text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
> Wouldn't it be better to have a separate svn:charset property, and have
> mod_dav_svn concatenate the two when serving through the browser
> interface ?
>
> That would certainly be "more correct". Charset is not an intrinsic
> property of the MIME type.
Well if we wanna get technical HTTP doesn't use MIME types. It uses
media types. Which most people call MIME types. Which do indeed have
the ability to take parameters. Which includes a charset parameter.
http://www.w3.org/Protocols/rfc2616/rfc2616-sec3.html#sec3.7
http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1590.txt
It was probably a mistake to call the property svn:mime-type. Perhaps
it would be wise to deprecate that name, while still supporting it, and
replace it with svn:media-type, which is more accurately how we're using
it.
Thoughts?
--
Ben Reser <be...@reser.org>
http://ben.reser.org
"Conscience is the inner voice which warns us somebody may be looking."
- H.L. Mencken
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