RFC - 1049

A CONTENT-TYPE HEADER FIELD FOR INTERNET MESSAGES

Original:	ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/rfc1049.txt
Authors:	M. Sirbu [CMU]
Date:	March 1988
Category:	Informational
This specification has been assigned to Historic level (A specification that has been superseded by a more recent specification or is for any other reason considered to be obsolete.)

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Referred by:	44 RFC
Refers to:	2 RFC

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Status

This RFC suggests proposed additions to the Internet Mail Protocol, RFC-822^std11(-> 2822^prop), for the Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for improvements. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

A standardized Content-type field allows mail reading systems to automatically identify the type of a structured message body and to process it for display accordingly. The structured message body must still conform to the RFC-822^std11(-> 2822^prop) requirements concerning allowable characters. A mail reading system need not take any specific action upon receiving a message with a valid Content-Type header field. The ability to recognize this field and invoke the appropriate display process accordingly will, however, improve the readability of messages, and allow the exchange of messages containing mathematical symbols, or foreign language characters.

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