[MEI-L] File extensions

[Andrew Hankinson]

Not quite orthogonal. A web server will serve files with the specified extension as a given mime-type. It's true that you can write the mime type to the header if you're in a web application environment, but by registering a mime type we can provide a method for placing MEI files on a server, and it opening in a default application on the users' machine, for example.

This can be especially useful in a mobile environment, where sometimes you have limited control over which application will open a downloaded file.

So, in a web context the extension does matter, since (by default) the web server will serve files with a given extension with a certain mime type. That's the second part of the mime type definition for servers: "application/vnd.mei+xml .mei" maps all .mei files to the application/vnd.mei+xml mime type.

Using .xml is fine if you want to open it in an XML editor. However, if we want to open it in a notation editor (dreaming of the future) then it's best if we choose .mei now, and then allow the user to specify the application that handles it as needed.

To answer Sigfrid: vnd. is the Vendor-specific mime type. As far as I understand, appending vnd. makes the mime type registration process much easier, since it doesn't need to go through the standards bodies to be approved. The MusicXML mime type uses the vnd. prefix, something like "application/vnd.recordare-musicxml+xml" So I thought that we might go for the easy registration first. It doesn't preclude later registration of a more formal mimetype. But here I will defer to those with more experience in the process.

-Andrew


On 2013-08-15, at 6:27 PM, Raffaele Viglianti <raffaeleviglianti at gmail.com<mailto:raffaeleviglianti at gmail.com>> wrote:


On Thu, Aug 15, 2013 at 12:02 PM, Andrew Hankinson <andrew.hankinson at mail.mcgill.ca<mailto:andrew.hankinson at mail.mcgill.ca>> wrote:

application/vnd.mei+xml .xml -> Mapping .xml to the MEI mime type seems like a big problem.

application/vnd.mei+xml .mei -> Seems like the best solution, yes?

As far as I know mimetype is orthogonal to file extension, so even if we secure a mimetype application/mei+xml it won't matter if your file has .xml or .mei extension.

I personally don't see an issue with file extension at all. What's the problem with using either .mei or .xml? In a web context all that matters is the mimetype, in a OS context, using .xml is generally going to make things easier, but it's not eventually not a big deal.

Raf


(the MEI mime type I give is just an example).

-Andrew


On 2013-08-15, at 5:47 PM, Sigfrid Lundberg <slu at kb.dk<mailto:slu at kb.dk>>
 wrote:

> .txt is a poor choice. Most web servers will deliver that as text/plain which is not what you want. In apache web server there is a file mime-types which connects extensions to mime types, which then interacts with users web clients and plug-ins and helper applications
>
> Sigfrid
> ________________________________________
> Fra: mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de<mailto:mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de> [mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de<mailto:mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de>] på vegne af Andrew Hankinson [andrew.hankinson at mail.mcgill.ca<mailto:andrew.hankinson at mail.mcgill.ca>]
> Sendt: 15. august 2013 17:23
> Til: Music Encoding Initiative
> Emne: Re: [MEI-L] File extensions
>
> You can sign me up too.
>
> Personally, I like .mei. XML could also be thought of as plain text, so I would argue that we should go with the most specific usage, rather than the most general. We could just go with .txt and be just as correct as .xml.
>
> Either way, though, I think this is an appropriate topic for putting some guidance in the Guidelines. I'll volunteer to write it, but I would like some way of getting a consensus.
>
> Any ideas? An online poll?
>
> -Andrew
>
> On 2013-08-15, at 5:09 PM, "Roland, Perry (pdr4h)" <pdr4h at eservices.virginia.edu<mailto:pdr4h at eservices.virginia.edu>>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> Sigge,
>>
>> Thanks for being so gracious in your acceptance of my effort to "volunteer" you.
>>
>> There's no rush on this.  After Christmas/beginning of 2014 is fine.  I'm sure you'll find willing volunteers to help you write the proposal.  You can "volunteer" me in return.  :-)
>>
>> Anyone who wants to participate, please contact Sigge.  I hear he's starting a list.  :-)
>>
>> Thanks again,
>>
>> --
>> p.
>>
>>
>> __________________________
>> Perry Roland
>> Music Library
>> University of Virginia
>> P. O. Box 400175
>> Charlottesville, VA 22904
>> 434-982-2702<tel:434-982-2702> (w)
>> pdr4h (at) virginia (dot) edu
>> ________________________________________
>> From: mei-l-bounces+pdr4h=virginia.edu at lists.uni-paderborn.de<mailto:virginia.edu at lists.uni-paderborn.de> [mei-l-bounces+pdr4h=virginia.edu at lists.uni-paderborn.de<mailto:virginia.edu at lists.uni-paderborn.de>] on behalf of Sigfrid Lundberg [slu at kb.dk<mailto:slu at kb.dk>]
>> Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2013 10:49 AM
>> To: Music Encoding Initiative
>> Subject: Re: [MEI-L] File extensions
>>
>> My keyboard is too fast.
>>
>> Cannot promise to write it alone and have to discuss it here in Copenhagen. Not before Christmas, that's for sure
>>
>> S
>> ________________________________________
>> Fra: mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de<mailto:mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de> [mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de<mailto:mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de>] på vegne af Roland, Perry (pdr4h) [pdr4h at eservices.virginia.edu<mailto:pdr4h at eservices.virginia.edu>]
>> Sendt: 15. august 2013 16:44
>> Til: Music Encoding Initiative
>> Emne: Re: [MEI-L] File extensions
>>
>> Hi Sigfrid,
>>
>> Sounds like we have a volunteer to lead the way to registering an MEI mimetype.  :-)
>>
>> --
>> p.
>>
>>
>> __________________________
>> Perry Roland
>> Music Library
>> University of Virginia
>> P. O. Box 400175
>> Charlottesville, VA 22904
>> 434-982-2702<tel:434-982-2702> (w)
>> pdr4h (at) virginia (dot) edu
>> ________________________________________
>> From: mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de<mailto:mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de> [mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de<mailto:mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de>] on behalf of Sigfrid Lundberg [slu at kb.dk<mailto:slu at kb.dk>]
>> Sent: Thursday, August 15, 2013 10:39 AM
>> To: Music Encoding Initiative
>> Subject: Re: [MEI-L] File extensions
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> I'm using .xml as suffix. Don't really care.
>>
>> As I'm a coauthor of RFC6129 (http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6129) I have strong opinions on your "by the way" question. Yes, we should register a mime type, and it should be application/mei+xml. Since it is in the application hierarchy it requires an RFC and some negotiations with IESG and IETF before one get a line in the appropriate IANA document.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Sigfrid
>>
>> ________________________________________
>> Fra: mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de<mailto:mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de> [mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de<mailto:mei-l-bounces at lists.uni-paderborn.de>] på vegne af Andrew Hankinson [andrew.hankinson at mail.mcgill.ca<mailto:andrew.hankinson at mail.mcgill.ca>]
>> Sendt: 15. august 2013 16:12
>> Til: Music Encoding Initiative
>> Emne: [MEI-L] File extensions
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Is there a common understanding of what the proper file extension for MEI files should be?
>>
>> I've been assuming .mei is the "standard", but a counter-example of .xml was recently brought to my attention. So, I thought I'd poll the collected wisdom and see what others were doing. Are you using .xml, .mei, or some other variation on these?
>>
>> -Andrew
>>
>> ====
>> Related:
>> -- Should we register an actual mimetype? Maybe: application/vnd.music-encoding+xml ?
>>
>>
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