MHTML
Filename extension |
.mht, .mhtml |
---|---|
Internet media type |
multipart/related application/x-mimearchive |
Type of format | Markup language |
Extended from | HTML |
Standard | RFC 2557 (proposed 1999) |
MHTML, short for MIME HTML, is a web page archive format used to combine in a single document the HTML code and its companion resources that are otherwise represented by external links (such as images, Flash animations, Java applets, and audio files). The content of an MHTML file is encoded as if it were an HTML e-mail message, using the MIME type multipart/related
.
The first part of the file is an e-mail header. The second part is normally encoded HTML. Subsequent parts are additional resources identified by their original URLs and encoded in base64. This format is sometimes referred to as MHT, after the suffix .mht given to such files by default when created by Microsoft Word, Internet Explorer, or Opera. MHTML is a proposed open standard, circulated in a revised edition in 1999 as RFC 2557.
The .mhtml (Web archive) and .eml (e-mail file) file extensions are interchangeable (the files can be renamed). The first can be sent by e-mail (and displayed by the email client if the html code is basic enough) and an e-mail message can be saved to an OS file and renamed to a Web archive extension.
Browser support
Some browsers support the MHTML format, either directly or through third-party extensions, but the process for saving a web page along with its resources as an MHTML file is not standardized. Due to this, a web page saved as an MHTML file using one browser may render differently on another.
Internet Explorer
As of version 5.0, IE was the first browser to support reading and saving web pages and external resources to a single MHTML file.
Opera
Support for saving web pages as MHTML files was made available in the Opera 9.0 web browser.[1] From Opera 9.50 through the rest of the Presto-based Opera product line (currently at Opera 12.16 as of 19 July 2013), the default format for saving pages is MHTML. The initial release of the new Webkit/Blink-based Opera (Opera 15) did not support MHTML, but subsequent releases (Opera 16 onwards) do.
MHTML can be enabled by typing "opera://flags#save-page-as-mhtml" at the address bar.
Google Chrome
Creating MHTML files in Google Chrome (v25+) is supported by toggling the experimental "Save Page as MHTML" option on the "chrome://flags" page.
Firefox
Mozilla Firefox requires an extension to be installed to read and write MHT files. Two extensions are freely available, Mozilla Archive Format and UnMHT, but both will be discontinued in the future. UnMHT's author has no plans to support Electrolysis. MAF does not yet support Electrolysis.
Although Firefox does not currently (as of version 40.0.3) include support for MHTML without the use of add-ons, there is source code available for viewing MHTML files within the related Thunderbird project, indicating that future support in Mozilla software such as Firefox may become available without such add-ons.
Safari
As of version 3.1.1 onwards, Apple Inc.'s Safari web browser still does not natively support the MHTML format. Instead, Safari supports the webarchive format, and the OS X version includes a print-to-PDF feature.
As with most other modern web browsers, support for MHTML files can be added to Safari via various third-party extensions.
Konqueror
As of version 3.5.7, KDE's Konqueror web browser does not support MHTML files. An extension project, mhtconv, can be used to allow saving and viewing of MHTML files.
ACCESS NetFront
NetFront 3.4 (on devices such as the Sony Ericsson K850) can view and save MHTML files.
GNOME Web
In recent versions of GNOME Web it is possible to save web pages as MHTML.
Vivaldi
Vivaldi supports both reading and writing MHTML files by toggling the "vivaldi://flags/#save-page-as-mhtml" option.
MHT viewers
There are commercial software products for viewing MHTML files and converting them to other formats, such as PDF. Some HTML editor programs can view and edit MHTML files.
MIME type
MIME type for MHTML is not well agreed upon. Used MIME types include:
- multipart/related
- application/x-mimearchive
- message/rfc822
Other apps
Problem Steps Recorder
Problem Steps Recorder for Windows can save its output to MHT format.
Save to Google Drive extension
The "Save to Google Drive" extension for Google Chrome can save as MHTML as one of its outputs.
Microsoft OneNote
Microsoft OneNote, starting with OneNote 2010, emails individual pages as .mht files.
See also
References
- ↑ Santambrogio, Claudio (10 March 2006). "…and one more weekly!". Opera Software. Retrieved 2009-05-15.
External links
- MHTML standard explained
- RFC 2557 (1999) — MIME Encapsulation of Aggregate Documents, such as HTML (MHTML)
- RFC 2110 (1997, Obsolete) — MIME E-mail Encapsulation of Aggregate Documents, such as HTML (MHTML)
- Free MHT Viewer — A Free application to view MHTML files in batch on Windows
- MHT-rip — A program to view MHTML files on Linux