MimeMagic is a library to detect the mime type of a file by extension or by content. It uses the mime database provided by freedesktop.org (see http://freedesktop.org/wiki/Software/shared-mime-info/).
require 'mimemagic'
MimeMagic.by_extension('html').text?
MimeMagic.by_extension('.html').child_of? 'text/plain'
MimeMagic.by_path('filename.txt')
MimeMagic.by_magic(File.open('test.html'))
# etc...You can add your own magic with MimeMagic.add.
http://www.rubydoc.info/github/minad/mimemagic
bundle install
rake test
Daniel Mendler