Java2 Platform Enterprise Edition Platform And Component Specifications

J2EE.6.12 JavaBeans™ Activation Framework 1.0 Requirements

The JavaBeans Activation Framework integrates support for MIME data types into the Java platform. MIME byte streams can be converted to and from Java programming language objects, using javax.activation.DataContentHandler objects. JavaBeans components can be specified for operating on MIME data, such as viewing or editing the data. The JavaBeans Activation Framework also provides a mechanism to map filename extensions to MIME types.

The JavaBeans Activation Framework is used by the JavaMail API to handle the data included in e-mail messages; typical applications will not need to use the JavaBeans Activation Framework directly, although applications making sophisticated use of e-mail may need it.

This specification requires that the J2EE platform need only provide the DataContentHandlers specified above for the JavaMail API. This specification requires the J2EE platform to provide a javax.activation.Mimetypes-FileTypeMap that supports the mappings listed in Table J2EE.6-5.

Table J2EE.6-5. Filename Extension to MIME Type Mappings

MIME Type	Filename Extensions
text/html	html htm
text/plain	txt text
image/gif	gif GIF
image/jpeg	jpeg jpg jpe JPG

The JavaBeans Activation Framework 1.0 specification is available at http://java.sun.com/beans/glasgow/jaf.html.