Files: The simplest view of a file is that of a byte stream. However, unless
the bytes are just chosen at random, Files also have a "meaning". At the level,
there is the files Content-type.
A plain text document
A Word or WordPerfect Document
An HTML document
A sound file
An executable
A spread-sheet
Of course, this Content-type is "virtual" in the sense that "understanding"
the content requires a "method" (or application or function).
A simple working example of an object is a file plus
the method required to understand it.
Example: Consider the way Windows associates a method with
a file. Multipart Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Revisited: Again, here are some
simple examples of MIME typed files.
-------------------------
Content-type: text/plain
<blank line> This is a simple
file
-----------------------
Content-type: text/html
<blank line> <html><body>This is an html file</body></html>
-----------------------
Content-type: audio/aiff
<blank line> bytes for an audio file in AIFF format
Example: Consider the way Navigator deals with MIME-types.
Example: Consider the Unix "process."