Hi, I would like to create a HTTP response, using multipart/mixed, but I'm not sure which browsers support it; and if it's as convenient as it sounds, from the client's point of view. To be honest, I do not need specifically that content type. I just want to transmit more than one file in the same response; maybe there's another content-type more used.
A:
I can't find any good information on Google, so you'll have to test it
- Build a simple page which is sent as multipart
- Test in various browsers
- Post results here :) (This page is the second result in Google when searching for this)
Bart van Heukelom
2009-11-27 20:32:41
I'll try it soon. Thanks!
Diego Jancic
2009-12-23 11:53:50
+2
A:
I've tested it, with a home-made server and a simple response. Not sure if the response is well-formed because no browser understands it 100% OK. But here are the results:
- Firefox 3.5: Renders only the last part, others are ignored.
- IE 8: Shows all the content as if it were text/plain, including the boundaries.
- Chrome 3: Saves all the content in a single file, nothing is rendered.
- Safari 4: Saves all the content in a single file, nothing is rendered.
- Opera 10.10: Something weird. Starts rendering the first part as plain/text, and then clears everything. The loading progress bar hangs on 31%.
Here's the complete response, if anyone finds any error, please tell me and I'll try again:
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Tue, 01 Dec 2009 23:27:30 GMT
Vary: Accept-Encoding,User-Agent
Content-Length: 681
Content-Type: Multipart/mixed; boundary="sample_boundary";
Multipart not supported :(
--sample_boundary
Content-Type: text/css; charset=utf-8
Content-Location: http://localhost:2080/file.css
body
{
background-color: yellow;
}
--sample_boundary
Content-Type: application/x-javascript; charset=utf-8
Content-Location: http://localhost:2080/file.js
alert("Hello from a javascript!!!");
--sample_boundary
Content-Type: text/html; charset=utf-8
Content-Base: http://localhost:2080/
<html>
<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="http://localhost:2080/file.css">
</head>
<body>
Hello from a html
<script type="text/javascript" src="http://localhost:2080/file.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
--sample_boundary--
Diego Jancic
2009-12-02 00:46:20
+1
A:
In my experience, multipart responses work in Firefox but not in Internet Explorer. This was 2 years ago, using the browsers of the time.
I have had HTTP multipart responses working for a stream of JPEG images. For example, Axis IP cameras use for their motion JPEG stream for Firefox. For Internet explorer, Axis require the use of a plugin.
If Firefox-only support meets your requirements, then I recommend setting the content-length header in each part of the multi-part response. It might help to make the boundary string identical in the original HTTP header and the multi-part response (the '--' is missing in the HTTP header).
Thomas Bratt
2009-12-02 11:31:09
A:
Two ideas:
- Formatting: I think "multipart" should be in lower case, and I don't think a semicolon is expected at the end of the Content-type header (although it's doubtful that it will make a difference, it's possible that it might).
- Have you tried replace mode? Just use:
Content-type: multipart/x-mixed-replace-- everything else should stay the same.
RickNZ
2009-12-22 21:04:54