What this solution ignores is the fact that these extensions, used in the
suggested manner, are important type information, which would be
well-served by a registry. Without such a registry, this solution is in
fact a return to the pre-MIME world, where mailers had to rely on
proprietary means, heuristics, and manual labor to move useable data from
place to place.
Steve is absolutely right. In addition, file names are a lot more varied than
most people might suppose. A registry must also take into account the origin of
the files, leading to different registries for different types of machines.
We've taken the approach in our software of making the mapping of file names to
types totally configurable. Different mappings are used depending on the origin
of the file.
These things need to be registered somehow. What is the objection to using
the existing MIME mechanisms?
I certainly have no objection!
Ned