Windows Image Media Types
RFC 7903
Document | Type |
RFC - Informational
(September 2016; No errata)
Was draft-seantek-windows-image (individual)
|
|
---|---|---|---|
Author | Sean Leonard | ||
Last updated | 2016-09-30 | ||
Replaces | draft-seantek-image-bmp, draft-seantek-image-wmf-emf | ||
Stream | ISE | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized 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] RFC 7903 Windows Image Media Types September 2016 standards (e.g., [OOXML]); the usage is common enough that an implementer would almost certainly need to support it for basic interoperability.Show full document text