Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)
A protocol that specifies the format of an internet message body such as a Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) message. Historically, it is a mechanism for transmitting a non-text file, such as an image or audio file, that is embedded in an internet e-mail message. Internet e-mail was originally designed for ASCII text only. MIME must encode the files at the distributing end and decode the files at the receiving end of the transmission.
Related terms
format, image, protocol, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP)
Contrast with
Direct Internet Message Encapsulation (DIME)

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