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The application/zlib and application/gzip media types
draft-levine-application-gzip-00

The information below is for an old version of the document.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 6713.
Author John R. Levine
Last updated 2012-02-22 (Latest revision 2012-02-04)
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Formats
Reviews
Stream WG state (None)
Document shepherd (None)
IESG IESG state Became RFC 6713 (Informational)
Consensus boilerplate Unknown
Telechat date (None)
Responsible AD Pete Resnick
Send notices to standards@taugh.com, draft-levine-application-gzip@tools.ietf.org
draft-levine-application-gzip-00
Network Working Group                                        J.R. Levine
Internet-Draft                                      Taughannock Networks
Intended status: Informational                             February 2012
Expires: August 14, 2012

         The application/zlib and application/gzip media types
                    draft-levine-application-gzip-00

Abstract

   This document defines the 'application/gzip' and 'application/zlib'
   media types for compressed data using the gzip and zlib compression
   formats.

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
   and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on August 14, 2012.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2012 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/
   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.  Code Components
   extracted from this document must include Simplified BSD License text
   as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
   provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License.

1.  Introduction

   The Zlib [RFC1950] and gzip [RFC1952] formats are widely used
   compression formats.  Zlib is a stream format, while glib adds header
   and trailer fields more appropriate for a file format.  They are used
   to compress a wide variety of material, from unstructured text to
   structured data to executable code.

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2.  The Application/Zlib Media Type

   The application/zlib media type describes a block of data that is
   compressed using Zlib [RFC1950] compression.  The data is a stream of
   bytes as described in RFC 1950.

2.1.  Regsistration Details

   Type name: application

   Subtype name: zlib

   Required parameters: none

   Optional parameters: none

   Encoding considerations: needs base64 or other encoding that allows
   arbitrary binary data

   Security considerations: See section [security] below

   Interoperability considerations: none

   Published specification: [RFC1950]

   Applications that use this media type: anywhere data size is an issue

   Additional information:

      Magic number(s): first byte is usually 0x78 but can also be 0x08,
      0x18, 0x28, 0x38, 0x48, 0x58, or 0x68.
      File extension(s): none
      Macintosh file type code(s): none

   Person and email address to contact for further information: see
   http://www.zlib.net/

   Intended usage: COMMON

   Restrictions on usage: none

   Author: John Levine

   Change controller: IETF

3.  The Application/Gzip Media Type

   The application/gzip media type describes a block of data that is
   compressed using gzip [RFC1952] compression.  The data is a stream of
   bytes as described in RFC 1952.

3.1.  Regsistration Details

   Type name: application

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   Subtype name: gzip

   Required parameters: none

   Optional parameters: none

   Encoding considerations: needs base64 or other encoding that allows
   arbitrary binary data

   Security considerations: See section [security] below

   Interoperability considerations: none

   Published specification: [RFC1952]

   Applications that use this media type: anywhere data size is an issue

   Additional information:

      Magic number(s): first two bytes are 0x1f, 0x8b.
      File extension(s): gz
      Macintosh file type code(s): none

   Person and email address to contact for further information: see
   http://www.gzip.net/

   Intended usage: COMMON

   Restrictions on usage: none

   Author: John Levine

   Change controller: IETF

4.  Security Considerations

   Zlib and gzip compression can be used to compress arbitrary binary
   data such as hostile executable code.  Also, data that purports to be
   in zlib or gzip format may not be, and fields that are supposed to be
   flags, lengths, or pointers, could contain anything.  Applications
   should treat any data with due scepticism.

5.  References

   [RFC1950]  Deutsch, L.P. and J-L. Gailly, "ZLIB Compressed Data
              Format Specification version 3.3", RFC 1950, May 1996.

   [RFC1951]  Deutsch, P., "DEFLATE Compressed Data Format Specification
              version 1.3", RFC 1951, May 1996.

   [RFC1952]  Deutsch, P., Gailly, J-L., Adler, M., Deutsch, L.P. and G.
              Randers-Pehrson, "GZIP file format specification version
              4.3", RFC 1952, May 1996.

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   [RFC4288]  Freed, N. and J. Klensin, "Media Type Specifications and
              Registration Procedures", BCP 13, RFC 4288, December 2005.

Author's Address

   John Levine
   Taughannock Networks
   PO Box 727
   Trumansburg, NY 14886
   
   Phone: +1 831 480 2300
   Email: standards@taugh.com

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