The multipart/alternative Type
The multipart/alternative type is used just like multipart/mixed and is a composite type. The only difference between the two is that with multipart/alternative, all of the enclosed parts represent different views of the same data.
Note
The multipart/alternative media type can be used to send a single message with the same data displayed in various ways. One could, for example, send a Microsoft Word document as an attachment and also attach a text version that could be read in an MUA. That way, the user can see the data immediately but still have the original word processor file if need be.
Get Programming Internet Email now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
