MIME types & the Application Registry

Table of Contents
Algorithmic Sniff Buffer — algorithmic detection of mime type for select file types
Application Registry — a database of the available applications and their capabilities
Magic MIME Detection — functions for parsing the magic mime database
MIME Type Detection — detecting the mime type of a URI
MIME Handlers — functions for getting and manipulating the actions to be performed on mime types
mime-info
mime-monitor

MIME types provide a standardized for denoting the content of files or file streams. GnomeVFS exposes simple methods for both identifying the MIME type of a particular file, and deciding how to act on it. The MIME and application registries provide a mapping between files of a particular mime type and applications / bonobo components which can view or edit those files. Applications such as Nautilus use this database to generate appropriate actions when files are activated.