Re: RPG CGI and XML output - application, not text

Hi Henrik,

<snip>
yes I have had the same problem, e.g. when creating CSV files on the fly and needs

Content-type: application/vnd.ms-excel
Content-disposition: attachment; filename=PXWATBL.csv
</snip>

For application/xml I currently inspect the Content-Type header and translate to the charset indicated on the header (or to the value held in CGI_ASCII_CCSID if no charset).

I understand the server not translating application type content, but it can be an issue when some of the content really is text and really does need translation.

Examples include:
application/xml
application/vnd.ms-excel (for CSV or XML Spreadsheets)
application/xhtml+xml

The server is correctly assuming an excel spreadsheet (binary) is being sent to the client when application/vnd.ms-excel is set. If the content is really a csv file (text) then translation is required on the server.

Without the file name (and therefore extension) provided in the Content-Disposition header, together with a list of exceptions, I'd imagine it would be difficult to determine which is which.

For application/xml I think this issue is more difficult. I am sending a XML doc and declaring its content type accordingly. The server determines this is NOT text data based on the application content type. Other than placing code in the CGI program or changing the content type to text/xml there doesn't seem to be a way around it.

Cheers

Larry Ducie