> Steve,
>
> keep in mind that the MIME type(s) are also part of the contract.
>
Keeping it in mind... but how does x/pdf or what ever it is
Well, consider Atom and Atom Protocol, these MIME types are designed to enable the use cases of the domain 'Web publishing' (Feeds, Wikis, etc).
actually
help? How using MIME types do you describe the functional contract in
a standard way to enable tools to discover and invoke that functional
contract?
Usually via link semantics (the client needs to understand what the invocation of a link actually means, surely HTML's <a href=""> does not enable much.
Link semantics and HTTPs generic state manipulation API go a very long way. The generic meaning of POST ('process this') can be combined with typing information of the resource you POST to. That means, if you want to submit an order for processing, you better make sure you POST it to an order-processor than to a collection of blob entries.
If there is no MIME type that does what you need and if you are inside an intranet, roll your own.
Jan
