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wrong encoding for pdf using multipart/form-data

  • 3 replies
  • 3 have this problem
  • 24 views
  • Last reply by lucio

lucio
lucio
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We have a CGI running on our (Apache/Linux) web server to allow our staff to submit documents. The CGI passes the file as enctype='multipart/form-data'

One of our secretaries is using this CGI within Firefox (unspecified Windows version, alas !) to submit a PDF file. Our CGI rejects this file because it is declared by her firefox as Content-Type: video/x-flv instead of the expected Content-Type: application/pdf

(the PDF file is OK for Acrobat, mail agents recognise it as application/pdf, the CGI running on Linux firefox correctly declares it as application/pdf)

We have a CGI running on our (Apache/Linux) web server to allow our staff to submit documents. The CGI passes the file as enctype='multipart/form-data' One of our secretaries is using this CGI within Firefox (unspecified Windows version, alas !) to submit a PDF file. Our CGI rejects this file because it is declared by her firefox as Content-Type: video/x-flv instead of the expected Content-Type: application/pdf (the PDF file is OK for Acrobat, mail agents recognise it as application/pdf, the CGI running on Linux firefox correctly declares it as application/pdf)

All Replies (3)

David Tenser
David Tenser
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This is totally out of my knowledge sphere, but I thought that content types were set by servers, not browsers? So I don't understand how Firefox could set a content type for a file that ends up on a server.

cor-el
cor-el
  • Moderator
  • Top 10 Contributor
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That can be as problem with the MIME database registry key for that file extension and MIME type.

  • MIME Database : HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\MIME\Database\Content Type
  • HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\.pdf
lucio
lucio Question owner
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You (djst) probably overlooked the fact that I was talking of file UPLOAD. In this case the HTML page contains a FORM declared as METHOD=POST and enctype='multipart/form-data'

see HTML 4 spec at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/interact/forms.html#h-17.13.4.2

In this case it is obviously a task for the browser submitting the file to declare its content type. I am unaware of any technical documentation which describes how firefox associates a mime-type to a file extension, and the non-technical one just refers to viewers or handlers spawned when the browser accesses a file dispatched by the server.

Modified by lucio