What is MIME type "chemical/seq-na-sff"?

A MIME type is a string that tells browsers and other tools how to handle a particular kind of file.

chemical/seq-na-sff is a MIME type for sequencing data files. It stores information from chemical sequencing experiments, typically for nucleic acids. The file format bundles base calls, quality scores, and flow information into a binary structure.

Sequencing Data Storage: It holds raw data output from instruments used in nucleotide sequencing.
Bioinformatics Input: Software pipelines use these files to process and analyze sequence information.
Data Integrity: It preserves detailed signal intensities and quality metrics from each sequencing run.
Standardization: The format supports consistent data handling across bioinformatics tools.

Files with this MIME type are typically stored with the SFF extension.

For more technical details, you may consult specialized bioinformatics literature or trusted data format repositories such as File Extension Database.

Associated file extensions

.sff

Usage Examples

HTTP Header

When serving content with this MIME type, set the Content-Type header:


    Content-Type: chemical/seq-na-sff

HTML

In HTML, you can specify the MIME type in various elements:


    <a href="file.dat" type="chemical/seq-na-sff">Download file</a>

Server-side (Node.js)

Setting the Content-Type header in Node.js:


    const http = require('http');
    
    http.createServer((req, res) => {
      res.setHeader('Content-Type', 'chemical/seq-na-sff');
      res.end('Content here');
    }).listen(3000);

Associated file extensions

.sff

FAQ

What is a MIME type?

A MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) type is a standard that indicates the nature and format of a document, file, or assortment of bytes. MIME types are defined and standardized in IETF's RFC 6838.

MIME types are important because they help browsers and servers understand how to process a file. When a browser receives a file from a server, it uses the MIME type to determine how to display or handle the content, whether it's an image to display, a PDF to open in a viewer, or a video to play.

MIME types consist of a type and a subtype, separated by a slash (e.g., text/html, image/jpeg, application/pdf). Some MIME types also include optional parameters.

How do I find the MIME type for a file?

You can check the file extension or use a file identification tool such as file --mime-type on the command line. Many programming languages also provide libraries to detect MIME types.

Why are multiple MIME types listed for one extension?

Different applications and historical conventions may use alternative MIME identifiers for the same kind of file. Showing them all helps ensure compatibility across systems.