[uf-new] Separating File Content from File Format

[Scott Reynen]

On Apr 6, 2007, at 3:15 PM, Manu Sporny wrote:

> "MIME implementations must ignore any parameters whose names they  
> do not
> recognize."
>
> In other words, "Web browsers MUST NOT process parameters whose names
> they do not recognize". Parameter recognition is based on MIME-type,
> isn't it?

It's based on MIME type, but does that mean it's restricted to only  
what's listed in the registry?  I don't see a clear answer to this  
anywhere, but that "must ignore" actually makes me think it's  
intended to be extended.  In general, "must ignore" rules are  
intended to allow extensions of specs without worry of breaking older  
applications.  For example, the microformat parsing guidelines [1]  
state "Simple rule: ignore anything you don't need" so we can safely  
add new properties to microformats.  The only alternative to ignoring  
non-recognized parameters is to error on them.  They can't be  
processed because they're not recognized.  So "must ignore" seems  
intended to prevent errors on non-registered additions.

[1] http://microformats.org/wiki/implementation-guidelines#Parsing

--
Scott Reynen
MakeDataMakeSense.com