Network Working Group E. Levinson Request for Comments: 1874 Accurate Information Systems, Inc. Category: Experimental December 1995 SGML Media Types Status of this Memo This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Abstract This document proposes new media sub-types of Text/SGML and Application/SGML. These media types can be used in the exchange of SGML documents and their entities. Specific details for the exchange or encapsulation of groups of related SGML entities using MIME are currently being considered by the mimesgml Working Group [email protected]>. 1. Introduction A need exists for the transfer the elements of documents constructed using the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) [ISO-8879]. While the specific details of such transfers are being considered general agreement exists on the need to register basic media types for the SGML entities not covered by existing types. The Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML) is used to encode document structure and a rigorous description of it is left to [ISO- 8879]. The terms used in the present document attempt to be consistent with SGML terminology and usage. 2. The SGML Media-Types There are two media-types for SGML parsable entities, Text/SGML and Application/SGML. Both have the same optional parameters. Text/SGML provides a fallback to Text/Plain for those without SGML capability. Senders should base the choice between text and application media- types on the entity's content. Text is suggested for entities that would be meaningful to a human being without SGML processing. Application/SGML is recommended for all others. Levinson Experimental