Windows Image Media Types
RFC 7903
| Document | Type |
RFC - Informational
(September 2016; No errata)
Was draft-seantek-windows-image (individual)
|
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Last updated | 2016-09-30 | ||
| Replaces | draft-seantek-image-wmf-emf, draft-seantek-image-bmp | ||
| Stream | ISE | ||
| Formats | plain text pdf html bibtex | ||
| IETF conflict review | conflict-review-seantek-windows-image | ||
| Stream | ISE state | Published RFC | |
| Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
| Document shepherd | Nevil Brownlee | ||
| Shepherd write-up | Show (last changed 2016-03-13) | ||
| IESG | IESG state | RFC 7903 (Informational) | |
| Telechat date | |||
| Responsible AD | (None) | ||
| Send notices to | "Nevil Brownlee" <n.brownlee@auckland.ac.nz> | ||
Independent Submission S. Leonard
Request for Comments: 7903 Penango, Inc.
Category: Informational September 2016
ISSN: 2070-1721
Windows Image Media Types
Abstract
This document registers media types for certain image formats
promulgated in Microsoft Windows, namely image/wmf, image/x-wmf,
image/emf, image/x-emf, and image/bmp for use with Windows Metafile,
Enhanced Metafile, and Windows Bitmap formats. Originally designed
for Microsoft Windows 2.0 and 3.0, these image files are intended to
be portable between applications and devices, and they may contain
both vector and raster graphics.
Status of This Memo
This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
published for informational purposes.
This is a contribution to the RFC Series, independently of any other
RFC stream. The RFC Editor has chosen to publish this document at
its discretion and makes no statement about its value for
implementation or deployment. Documents approved for publication by
the RFC Editor are not a candidate for any level of Internet
Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 7841.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7903.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2016 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.
Leonard Informational [Page 1]
RFC 7903 Windows Image Media Types September 2016
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ....................................................2
1.1. Windows Metafiles ..........................................2
1.2. Windows Bitmaps ............................................3
2. Windows Metafile Media Type Registration Application ............4
3. Enhanced Metafile Media Type Registration Application ...........6
4. Windows Bitmap Media Type Registration Application ..............9
5. IANA Considerations ............................................11
6. Security Considerations ........................................11
7. References .....................................................11
7.1. Normative References ......................................11
7.2. Informative References ....................................11
Author's Address ..................................................12
1. Introduction
1.1. Windows Metafiles
Long before the invention of Scalable Vector Graphics, Microsoft
Corporation recognized the value of recording images in a format that
its applications and operating systems could easily render
irrespective of the output device. With the release of Windows 3.0,
Microsoft released its Windows Metafile (WMF) format, which can
contain vector and raster graphics in one package. As a binary
format that needed to work on 16-bit machines, WMF is comprised of a
sequence of record structures. Each record contains drawing
commands, object definitions, and configuration settings. When a
metafile is processed, the image can be rendered on a display, output
to a printer or plotter, stored in memory, or saved to some
persistent storage. Reflecting the relationship to the Windows
Graphics Device Interface (GDI) API, WMF data is "played" to a
playback device context in the same manner that PostScript content is
treated as an executable program that results in the output of the
original document.
As Microsoft's first 32-bit operating system, Windows NT 3.1
introduced an overhaul to the Windows API ("Win32") and the in-memory
formats upon which those APIs relied. The Enhanced Metafile (EMF)
format was created at this time, using 32-bit values instead of WMF's
16-bit values. In Windows XP, Microsoft extended EMF with "EMF+",
adding support for Windows GDI+.
Many implementations of WMF and EMF were created because of Windows'
commercial success in the 1990s. A large body of free and
commercially available clip art and other artwork exists in this
format. Furthermore, WMF content appears non-normatively in certain
Leonard Informational [Page 2]
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