PUT and media type

I was looking through Netscape Navigator Gold's implementation of
the PUT method, and I don't see any client headers that describe
the media type (text/html, for example) of the client's entity
body.  It looks like Gold expects the server to guess the media
type based on the URI used.  Is this standard practice?

I find it strange that the client is sending the server something
but isn't telling the server what it is.  If the server is guessing
from the URI, that means each server needs to have an up-to-date
media type/extension list.  The problem may be more apparent
when the media type isn't mentioned in the URI...

What happens if the user names a document
"stuff" instead of "stuff.gif" and uploads it?  The server has
no indication of the media type of the client's entity-body
and can't guess from the URI.   I would rather have the
restriction that clients send "Content-type" to describe the
entity body, instead of requiring the user to name files a certain
way.

Is there something in HTTP 1.1 that requires HTTP 1.1 clients
to send "Content-type" with PUT?

Regards,
Clinton

Received on Tuesday, 15 October 1996 03:03:32 UTC