MIME is short for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions. It is a commonly used email an Internet standard. The MIME format allows the exchange of various types of data over the Internet via email or protocols like HTTP. The MIME file format was created to enable the attachment of a wide range of media files in emails. The MIME format defines the type and subtype of the files. The MIME mail type allows the sending of messages that contain text in other character encodings, not only ASCII and this allows the usage of non-English alphabets (for both message body and header). You can also use MIME mail messages to send images, audio, and video files, as well as applications and multipart data.
MIME File Type Uses
The MIME mail file can be displayed directly in the message (inline) or as an attachment. As mentioned, the MIME file type expanded beyond email and now it’s also used with the HTTP, SIP, and RTP protocols, helping web browsers to read various media files as well. The MIME file type is very flexible, as its name says – it is an extensible format, so new content types and values could be added. Common content types can be sorted into a few groups. For example, application types include ZIP files, RSS files, XML, SOAP, JavaScript files, and many others; audio types include all kinds of formats that you can use to send files. The MIME file types can be also message types, text types, image types, video types, model types (for 3D objects), and multipart types.