Updating RISC OS

My gripe is Hosts and MimeMap!

I have to lock mine so they can’t be overwritten by lesser versions!

Luckily I keep back-ups!

I think these ought to be omitted from the main image, and offered as a “new start” build supplement.

Perhaps that might apply also to some of the other items discussed here.

My gripe is Hosts and MimeMap!

Good point. I have “heyrick.ddns.net” point to 127.0.0.1 so URLs in NetSurf will work locally (because if I issue it here, it’s the WAN address of the Livebox coming from the LAN, so it’ll kill the connection). Adding it to hosts just punts it to WebJames like it’s supposed to.

What’s in your MimeMap that’s different to default? Perhaps it is something that could/should be added to the primary distribution?
[hmm, didn’t I mess with MimeMap when first setting up DigitalCD?]

I think these ought to be omitted from the main image, and offered as a “new start” build supplement.

Yes – there really needs to be two incarnations. The full “harddisc4” install, and an “updates” that contains only that which has actually changed (so as not to unduly interfere with existing setups). We can (and have!) argued about the logic of having internal system resources and user configuration all jumbled together, but it is what it is, and that’s how it is.

What’s in your MimeMap that’s different to default?

I try to follow additions suggested by individual apps, which I add to that provided by the Tight-Fit theatre bloke (whose name I have temporarily forgotten).

The Hosts file, of course, has all my local network stuff, painstakingly set-up for MY network, and which I don’t wish to have to reimplement!

the Tight-Fit theatre bloke (whose name I have temporarily forgotten)

Tim Hill! Sorry, it’s my advancing age!

MimeMap

That MimeMap file raises even more questions, like why it has an entry for application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml mapping to file type 012, but the file type list states that 012 is “Archimedes Image Manager”.

The other interesting file – especially given the recent HTTPS bounty – is the CertData file. Like MimeMap, this one will get updates occasionally (I believe that Mozilla provides the master list) but it’s also possible to add custom entries in there. Perhaps a solution would be to keep the master copy in !Internet and then merge it with one in Choices.

Yes, these items which people can/do modify should really be in Choices.

I have updated my own system by just copying the ROM file, then dropping the new Boot on top of the old one (assuming Choices won’t be in the new one, as it has never executed) and I do not alter anything else in Boot.

Yes, these items which people can/do modify should really be in Choices.

It’s good if a program can have a custom location for CertData, I copy the file to Ram each day so wget can read it quicker.
I noted that CertData is a standard format certificate bundle file.
I wonder what !Netsurf uses, perhaps it keeps a copy in memory, otherwise it might benefit from being able to point to a location too.

I wonder what !Netsurf uses

Perhaps ca-bundle in !NetSurf.Resources?

Perhaps ca-bundle in !NetSurf.Resources?

Yes but does it read it on every visit to a https site?

My gripe is Hosts and MimeMap!

One solution offered was to use Tim Hill’s comprehensive MimeMap file but this has

application/vnd.ms-excel msexcelx a7f .xlsx
rather than
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet ExcelX 
a7f .xlsx

and I don’t know whether the ‘mime type’ bit actually matters or not.

It also has inconsistent entries for xlsx (RISC OS filetype a7f, 012 or not known) and no entry for pptx.

It does have an entry for ‘.gpx’ files (RISC OS filetype 1E3 GPX) – this is used by !RiscOSM and !SatNav and has also been added
to ARMX6 update.

Judging by the entries for .docx .xlsx
and .pptx below (which are not yet in the on line resource for MineMan but are
provided with the ARMX6) the mime type is not easy to guess.

application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document 
MSWordX a7e .docx
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet ExcelX 
a7f .xlsx
application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.presentationml.presentation 
PowerPtX a80 .pptx

I am not sure
what the mime type is used for but my principal aim is to make sure that files I
store on my NAS and files I send and receive by e-mail work correctly and
do not need a ,ttt extension for that and on VirtualRPC.

MimeMan (last updated in 2007) was another suggestion and I have e-mailed the author Adam Richardson. The software can still be downloaded.

I would like to add an entry for registered file type A6F (AnqExp) which
is used by !SatNav and !RiscOSM. The file uses a Windows extension of ‘.aef’. The bit that I don’t see how to
get right is the ‘Mime type’. Does the mime type matter as far as RISC OS (and any e-mails I might send) are concerned please?

That MimeMap file raises even more questions, like why it has an entry for application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml mapping to file type 012, but the file type list states that 012 is “Archimedes Image Manager”.

File types from 000 to 0FF are unallocated and can be used for personal use, for example, during development of software. Software should not be released to the public using these filetypes. Unfortunately, various people have released software over the years that use these filetypes which is why there are clashes.

(Sorry, just realised this was a rather old thread!)

I would like to add an entry for registered file type A6F (AnqExp) which is used by !SatNav and !RiscOSM.

RiscOSM pays no attention to that filetype: it recognises the file as AEF by its contents. As far as we know, you are the only RiscOSM user who is using this type of file. We recommend GPX for general use because it can be used worldwide as it does not rely on the Ordnance Survey national grid.

The file uses a Windows extension of ‘.aef’. The bit that I don’t see how to get right is the ‘Mime type’. Does the mime type matter as far as RISC OS (and any e-mails I might send) are concerned please?

How many people are you likely to send Anquet files to by e-mail?

In my experience, Windows e-mail clients often ignore the MIME type and rely on the file extension to identify the purpose of the file. So it would probably work fine if you just made up a MIME type. There is a convention for formulating unregistered MIME types, involving prefixing “x-”.

I would suggest

text/x-anquet

or something similar. That should work fine for your internal purposes for transfer to/from NAS and probably will not upset anyone you e-mail them to.

P.S. RISC OS network filesystems like Sunfish will not pay any attention to the MIME type when deciding whether to append “,xxx” to the filename. They just rely on the DOS-style extension and the RISC OS filetype.

The MIME type will be used if you e-mail someone a file: it forms part of the header of the attachment so that the receiving computer will know what to do with it. But as I said above, many Windows e-mail clients pay little attention to it, especially if it is a type they do not recognise.

How many people are you likely to send Anquet files to by e-mail?

That is not the issue for me. The issue for me is when saving files under VRPC, whether to NAS via LanMan98 or locally under HostFS, I do not want them to have an ,a6f extension added and I want the .aef extension (with no ,a6f) to be recognised as file type A6F when loading them back on my other RISC OS computers from my NAS. I use GPX fles in preference to AEF files except when tracing and mapping railway lines as the csv format is easier to edit and process.

In my experience, Windows e-mail clients often ignore the MIME type and rely on the file extension to identify the purpose of the file.

I have found the opposite – without a mimemap entry a ‘.doc’ file will be seen as gobbldegook not as a Word97 file.

I would suggest

text/x-anquet

or something similar.

Many thanks.

P.S. RISC OS network filesystems like Sunfish will not pay any attention to the MIME type when deciding whether to append “,xxx” to the filename. They just rely on the DOS-style extension and the RISC OS filetype.

I don’t understand. When saving a RISC OS file fred.wtf of type &bad how do they decide whether to save it as fred.wtf or fred.wtf,bad ?

I want the .aef extension (with no ,a6f) to be recognised as file type A6F

Somewhere in the settings should be an option to associate RISC OS types with an extension.

how do they decide whether to save it as fred.wtf or fred.wtf,bad ?

Probably whether or not there’s a known type mapping. If so, it’ll get an extension. If not, the comma-type suffix, because RISC OS needs to have a type.

without a mimemap entry a ‘.doc’ file will be seen as gobbldegook not as a Word97 file.

I have no experience with Windows email clients, suffice to say that really all a client should be doing is offering to save it to disc as-is, and letting Word deal with the file…

I don’t understand. When saving a RISC OS file fred.wtf of type &bad how do they decide whether to save it as fred.wtf or fred.wtf,bad ?

For those that handle it correctly¹, they will check their mapping list to see whether the extension .wtf corresponds to the filetype &BAD. If it does, the assumption is that .wtf is enough to identify the type, and so the additional ,bad will be omitted. If, on the other hand, .wtf maps to another type (say &DAB), you’ll get both extensions added (fred.wtf,dab) and the RISC OS one will “win” for typing.

Generally, most things now use MimeMap for the type mapping, because that’s what it does and there’s no point reinventing the wheel. MimeMap expects a MIME type as well as the RISC OS type and the DOS extension, but it isn’t required in this use case. The MIME type is used for typing files downloaded in a browser, or sent/received in email – hence Matthew’s question.

MIME types with an x- at the start of the second half are “unofficial”, but they are “standard” (ish). You’re OK with “text/x-anquet” if it never leaves your computer, but I’d be reluctant to let something like that with such a obvious name loose in the wild. In a way, just as one wouldn’t release RISC OS software using type &000 for saving data.

¹ Some filesystems just blindly add the ,bad to all files regardless. RPCEmu’s HostFS, I’m looking at you.

You’re OK with “text/x-anquet” if it never leaves your computer, but I’d be reluctant to let something like that with such an obvious name loose in the wild.

I think it is only e-mail that would do this and that’s fine.

Some filesystems just blindly add the ,bad to all files regardless. RPCEmu’s HostFS, I’m looking at you.

According to the RPCEmu developers, this is intentional. Because it is the only way to make HostFS content 100% transferable between installations no matter what RISC OS version and configuration you use. A valid standpoint, but it makes cross-platform work a lot harder.