MF File Documentation

Overview

Feature Value
File Extension .MF
Full Name Manifest File
MIME Type text/plain
Primary Usage Metadata for Java archives (JAR files)
Specification By Oracle Corporation
Content Format Key-Value pairs
Line Structure Header Name: Header Value
Character Encoding UTF-8 or ASCII
Line Termination CR LF, CR, or LF
Maximum Line Length 72 bytes (can continue to next line with a space)
Required Header Manifest-Version
Version Format 1.0 or similar
Main Attributes Manifest-Version, Main-Class
Usage in JAR Files Define application entry point
Location Inside JAR META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
Can Include Permissions, package version and sealing information, etc.
Support for Signatures Yes, specifies digest values and signatures
Custom Headers Supported Yes
File Modification Impact Must be re-signed if modified
Purpose within JAR Security, extension mechanism