I've always interpreted a kind of inheritance relationship between MIME types.
It's never wrong to label an Excel file, an XML document, or an Atom Feed as application/octet-stream, because all of those types ARE octet-streams. It is just not as helpful as it could be. Likewise, it is never wrong to label an Atom Feed, as application/xml. It just isn't being optimally helpful. I think that you have to interpret MIME types this way, otherwise a generic XML processing application which labelled content as application/xml would be standards compliant until the day that the Atom RFC was published when it would become un-compliant overnight without anyone touching the code. I don't think that that is the way that standards are supposed to work. So likewise, I see no harm in inventing application/atomentry+xml. Sure, applications can still use application/atom+xml for entries, they just aren't being as helpful as ones that use the more explicit MIME type. -- Dave
