RFC 1437 (rfc1437) - Page 2 of 6


The Extension of MIME Content-Types to a New Medium



Alternative Format: Original Text Document



RFC 1437          MIME Content-Types for a New Medium       1 April 1993


      for the transport of non-human species (e.g. dolphins, Klingons,
      or politicians).

      4.  The syntax must be compatible with SGML, so that with an
      appropriate DTD (Document Type Definition -- the standard
      mechanism for defining a document type using SGML), a general SGML
      parser could be written to parse the data structure and produce
      directives to a lifeform-reconstitution mechanism. However,
      despite this compatibility, the syntax will most likely be far
      simpler than that of full SGML (so that no SGML knowledge is
      required in order to implement it), since it is anticipated that
      the full complexities of SGML will not be necessary for the
      description of even arbitrarily complex organic life forms.

   The syntax of the new content-type is very simple, and indeed makes
   considerable sacrifice of efficiency in the interest of simplicity.
   It is assumed to describe a three-dimensional rectangular solid, with
   the height, width, and depth (calibrated in centimeters) specified as
   parameters on the content-type line.  (In general, this should be a
   cube that completely contains the life form being transported; but,
   where high bandwidth is not available, a somewhat smaller cube can be
   used, provided that facilities are known to be available at the
   recipient's end to administer the medical first aid that could be
   necessary if an individual is reconstituted sans some of its
   extremities.)  A fourth parameter gives the resolution of the matter
   scan, calibrated in Angstroms.  Thus, the following Content-type
   value:

      Content-type:  matter-transport/sentient-life-form;
              height = 200; width = 60; depth=60; resolution=10

   implies that the cube being described is 60 cm by 60 cm by 200 cm,
   and is described to a resolution of 10 Angstroms.  The resolution
   gives the quantization unit, and therefore determines the quality of
   the reproduction.  The data stream itself then consists of a readout
   of the molecule found at each location, using the given resolution.
   If the resolution is high enough that more than one molecule is found
   in a given location, the molecule whose nucleus is closest to the
   center of the cube is used.  Each molecule is described by its
   molecular formula, rendered in ASCII for maximum readability if
   matter-transport mail is inadvertently delivered to a human recipient
   and displayed on a terminal screen.  Each molecule is followed by a
   space (ASCII 32) to separate it from the subsequent molecule
   description.  Extremely long molecules may require the use of a
   content-transfer-encoding such as quoted-printable, to ensure that
   line-wrapping mail systems do not, for example, cause the unintended
   breakdown of complex proteins into their constituent elements.




Borenstein & Linimon