diff options
author | Loïc Hoguin <[email protected]> | 2014-07-06 13:10:35 +0200 |
---|---|---|
committer | Loïc Hoguin <[email protected]> | 2014-07-06 13:10:35 +0200 |
commit | 078d686a0ac0aed212db97d73bd1e4a9387a4956 (patch) | |
tree | 6bbc6111fdbdfedd3bb351bf3b01c63fac0d7143 /doc/src/guide/multipart_intro.ezdoc | |
parent | 1a71a733c37df70c15ebfd28157b10915cd738d1 (diff) | |
download | cowboy-078d686a0ac0aed212db97d73bd1e4a9387a4956.tar.gz cowboy-078d686a0ac0aed212db97d73bd1e4a9387a4956.tar.bz2 cowboy-078d686a0ac0aed212db97d73bd1e4a9387a4956.zip |
Provide installable man pages
make docs: generate Markdown and man pages in doc/
make install-docs: install man pages to be usable directly
Docs are generated from the ezdoc files in doc/src/.
Diffstat (limited to 'doc/src/guide/multipart_intro.ezdoc')
-rw-r--r-- | doc/src/guide/multipart_intro.ezdoc | 50 |
1 files changed, 50 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/doc/src/guide/multipart_intro.ezdoc b/doc/src/guide/multipart_intro.ezdoc new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b9a7fa9 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/src/guide/multipart_intro.ezdoc @@ -0,0 +1,50 @@ +::: Introduction to multipart + +Multipart originates from MIME, an Internet standard that +extends the format of emails. Multipart messages are a +container for parts of any content-type. + +For example, a multipart message may have a part +containing text and a second part containing an +image. This is what allows you to attach files +to emails. + +In the context of HTTP, multipart is most often used +with the `multipart/form-data` content-type. This is +the content-type you have to use when you want browsers +to be allowed to upload files through HTML forms. + +Multipart is of course not required for uploading +files, it is only required when you want to do so +through HTML forms. + +:: Structure + +A multipart message is a list of parts. Parts may +contain either a multipart message or a non-multipart +content-type. This allows parts to be arranged in a +tree structure, although this is a rare case as far +as the Web is concerned. + +:: Form-data + +In the normal case, when a form is submitted, the +browser will use the `application/x-www-form-urlencoded` +content-type. This type is just a list of keys and +values and is therefore not fit for uploading files. + +That's where the `multipart/form-data` content-type +comes in. When the form is configured to use this +content-type, the browser will use one part of the +message for each form field. This means that a file +input field will be sent in its own part, but the +same applies to all other kinds of fields. + +A form with a text input, a file input and a select +choice box will result in a multipart message with +three parts, one for each field. + +The browser does its best to determine the content-type +of the files it sends this way, but you should not +rely on it for determining the contents of the file. +Proper investigation of the contents is recommended. |