The ~/.mailcap file is parsed by most MIME-aware message handlers and describes how elements are supposed to be displayed. Here's an example file:
image/*; gimp -8 %s
audio/wav; wavplayer %s
application/msword; catdoc %s ; copiousoutput ; nametemplate=%s.doc
This says that all image files should be displayed with
gimp, that WAVE audio files should be played by
wavplayer, and that MS-WORD files should be inlined
by catdoc.
The mailcap library parses this file, and
provides functions for matching types.
mailcap-mime-dataInterface functions:
mailcap-parse-mailcapsmailcap-mime-info