[gopher] Re: Item Type Suggestions

[JumpJet Mailbox <jumpjetinfo@xxxxxxxxx>]

The "Client" would NOT.  "File Extensions" alone would dictate the viewer, and 
the viewers would handle the file.  
 
Remember, it is the SERVER operator who determines what File Extensions are 
associated with what Item Type.  The CLIENT software merely acts as an FTP 
conduit between the hard drive on the server and the hard drive on the local 
machine.  In an ideal world the Client (think WebTV) would only have to worry 
about three Item Types... Type 1 (display a directory listing), Type i (display 
informational text), and Type "anything else" (download it as a binary and let 
the installed programs / plugins deal with it).
--- On Fri, 7/4/08, Trevor <greendragon@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

From: Trevor <greendragon@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [gopher] Re: Item Type Suggestions
To: gopher@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Friday, July 4, 2008, 11:02 PM

with that broad of a typing system, how then would the client determine how 
to handle the file or entry?


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "JumpJet Mailbox" <jumpjetinfo@xxxxxxxxx>
To: "Gopher Mailinglist" <gopher@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 10:57 PM
Subject: [gopher] Item Type Suggestions


> JumpJet suggests the following Item Types be standardized:
>
> 0 = Plain text file
> 1 = Directory
> 2 = Search CSO server (i.e. a qi/ph index)
> 3 = ERROR
> 4 = BinHex-format file (i.e. a *.HQX file)
> 5 = Binary archive file (i.e. a *.ZIP file)
> 6 = UUencoded-format file
> 7 = Search server (i.e. a WAIS index)
> 8 = Telnet as any kind of terminal
> 9 = Binary file (i.e. a *.EXE file)
> d or D = Any kind of Portable Document Format file (i.e. a *.PDF file)
> g or G = Any kind of Graphic file (i.e. a *.JPG file)
> h or H = HTML file
> i or I = Informational text that is displayed (as if it was a normal file 
> name), but does not NECESSARILY link to any actual file.
> s or S = Any kind of Sound file (i.e. a *.WAV file)
> v or V = Any kind of Video file (i.e. a *.MPG file)
> This is pretty much as things are (to maintain compatability with older 
> Gopher Clients and Servers), with the exception of combining "8"
and "T", 
> expanding "G" to include old type "I" (image files
other than GIF), and 
> adding new types "D" and "V".
>
> Note that letter cases are "neutral", so now type "I"
and "i" are BOTH the 
> indicators of an "Informational text".
>
> Modern software has the ability to detect file types and choose an 
> appropriate file viewer. Therefore "Item Types" are of less
importance 
> today. Therefore I feel that "Item Types" should be BROADER in
their 
> scope, and indicate general file categories only (i.e., s = any kind of 
> Sound file, g = any kind of Graphic file, etc.).
>
> Examples of grouping extensions in a broad Type system might be:
>
> Type 0 = DOC, RTF, TXT (also none or un-specified extensions)
> Type 4 = HQX, SEA
> Type 5 = ARC, GZ, LHA, LZH, RAR, TAR, TGZ, Z, ZIP
> Type 6 = UUE
> Type 7 = SRC
> Type 9 = COM, DLL, EXE
> Type d/D = PDF
> Type g/G = BMP, GIF, JPG, PNG
> Type h/H = HTM, HTML
> Type s/S = AU, MP3, WAV
> Type v/V = AVI, MOV, MPG
>
>
>
>