[whatwg] Re: overriding MIME type in accept attribute?

Ian Hickson ian at hixie.ch
Tue Aug 17 11:24:32 PDT 2004


On Sat, 17 Jul 2004, Hallvord Reiar Michaelsen Steen wrote:
> Spec text: 
> > > > The ERROR_TYPE_MISMATCH code is used to indicate that at least one 
> > > > of the selected files does not have a MIME type conforming to one 
> > > > of the MIME types listed as acceptable. UAs may allow the user to 
> > > > override the MIME type to be one of the allowable types if the 
> > > > file is originally incorrectly labeled (but should not allow users 
> > > > to override the type merely to let submission continue, as that 
> > > > would defeat the point of having a restriction in the first 
> > > > place).
> > > [...]
> > I don't really understand the difference. Why is your text better?
> 
> I have a problem with the note in brackets. Don't you think it puts 
> unusual mind-reading requirements on the UA to know why the user 
> changes the MIME type the uploaded file should be labelled with? 

I guess you could read it that way. I merely meant it to suggest different 
variations on the UI.


> Another issue is that less technical users have no idea what a MIME 
> type is or how to choose one.

Sure, but most OSes now have a way of mapping many MIME types to labels.


> For experienced users I guess perhaps a 
> UI like this could be an option (with a few more details about the 
> file and the expected types):
> http://www.hallvord.com/opera/pictures/screenshots/typemismatch.png

Maybe. I'm not sure if I think that's too close to allowing a generic 
override or not. Not that it really matters at the end of the day exactly 
what the UI is, in terms of the server handling this.


> Anyway, I basically suggest removing or clarifying the note in brackets.

Yeah, I guess that makes sense.

Ok, it's gone.


> > Well, the field _is_ invalid, until the user corrects the MIME type, then
> > it is valid. The UA must never submit the file with the wrong MIME type.
> 
> "wrong" as in "not matching the file extension" or "not matching the 
> accept attribute"?

The second.

-- 
Ian Hickson               U+1047E                )\._.,--....,'``.    fL
http://ln.hixie.ch/       U+263A                /,   _.. \   _\  ;`._ ,.
Things that are impossible just take longer.   `._.-(,_..'--(,_..'`-.;.'



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