# File Suffix Binding Manager

    /*
    **	(c) COPYRIGHT MIT 1995.
    **	Please first read the full copyright statement in the file COPYRIGH.
    */

This module sets up the binding between a file suffix and a media type, language, encoding etc. In a client application the suffixes are used in protocols that does not directly support media types etc., like FTP, and in server applications they are used to make the bindings between the server and the local file store that the server can serve to the rest of the world (well almost). The HTFormat module holds this information against the accept headers received in a request and uses if for format negotiation. All the binding management can all be replace by a database interface.

This module is implemented by HTBind.c, and it is a part of the W3C Reference Library.

    #ifndef HTBIND_H
    #define HTBIND_H

    #include "HTFormat.h"
    #include "HTAnchor.h"

## Initialization of the Module

These functions must be called on startup and termination of the application. This is done automatically by HTLibInit() and HTLibTerminate().

    extern BOOL HTBind_init		(void);
    extern BOOL HTBind_deleteAll	(void);

## Case Sensitivity

Should the search for suffixes be case sensitive or not? The default value is case sensitive.

    extern void HTBind_caseSensitive	(BOOL sensitive);

## Suffix Delimiters

Change the set of suffix delimiters. The default is a platform dependent set defined in the tcp module.

    extern const char *HTBind_delimiters	(void);
    extern void HTBind_setDelimiters	(const char * new_suffixes);

## Set up Bindings Associated with a File Suffix

There are four types of bindings:

- Content Type (media type)
- Language
- Content Encoding
- Content Transfer Encoding

And the associated set of methods is defined as:

    extern BOOL HTBind_add		(const char *	suffix,
    				 const char *	representation,
    				 const char *	encoding,
    				 const char *	transfer,
    				 const char *	language,
    				 double		value);

    extern BOOL HTBind_addType	(const char *	suffix,
    				 const char *	format,
    				 double		value);

    extern BOOL HTBind_addEncoding	(const char *	suffix,
    				 const char *	encoding,
    				 double		value);

    extern BOOL HTBind_addTransfer	(const char *	suffix,
    				 const char *	transfer,
    				 double		value);

    extern BOOL HTBind_addLanguage	(const char *	suffix,
    				 const char *	language,
    				 double		value);

The first method is a "super" method for binding information to a file suffic. Any of the string values can be `NULL`. If filename suffix is already defined its previous definition is overridden or modified. For example, a `HTBind_setType` and `HTBind_setEncoding` can be called with the same suffix.

Calling this with suffix set to "*" will set the default representation. Calling this with suffix set to "*.*" will set the default representation for unknown suffix files which contain a "."

NOTE: The suffixes can contain characters that must be escaped in a URL. However, they should not be encoded when parsed as the `suffix` parameter.

## Determine a suitable suffix

Use the set of bindings to find a suitable suffix (or index) for a certain combination of language, media type and encoding given in the anchor. Returns a pointer to a suitable suffix string that must be freed by the caller. If more than one suffix is found they are all concatenated. If no suffix is found, NULL is returned.

    extern char * HTBind_getSuffix	(HTParentAnchor * anchor);

## Determine the content of an Anchor

Use the set of bindings to find the combination of language, media type and encoding of a given anchor. If more than one suffix is found they are all searched. The last suffix has highest priority, the first one lowest. Returns the anchor object with the representations found. See also `HTBind_getFormat`

    extern BOOL HTBind_getBindings	(HTParentAnchor * anchor);

## Determine the content of File

Use the set of bindings to find the combination of language, media type and encoding of a given anchor. If more than one suffix is found they are all searched. The last suffix has highest priority, the first one lowest. Returns the format, encoding, and language found. See also `HTBind_getBindings`.

    extern BOOL HTBind_getFormat (const char *	filename,
    			      HTFormat *	format,
    			      HTEncoding *	enc,
    			      HTEncoding *	cte,
    			      HTLanguage *	lang,
    			      double *		quality);

End of declaration module

    #endif /* HTBIND_H */