From 094ca96844842928810f14844413109fc6cdd890 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Eduardo Chappa Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2013 00:59:38 -0700 Subject: Initial Alpine Version --- imap/docs/rfc/rfc3502.txt | 395 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 395 insertions(+) create mode 100644 imap/docs/rfc/rfc3502.txt (limited to 'imap/docs/rfc/rfc3502.txt') diff --git a/imap/docs/rfc/rfc3502.txt b/imap/docs/rfc/rfc3502.txt new file mode 100644 index 00000000..f6b61a44 --- /dev/null +++ b/imap/docs/rfc/rfc3502.txt @@ -0,0 +1,395 @@ + + + + + + +Network Working Group M. Crispin +Request for Comments: 3502 University of Washington +Category: Standards Track March 2003 + + + Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) - MULTIAPPEND Extension + +Status of this Memo + + This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the + Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for + improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet + Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state + and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. + +Copyright Notice + + Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved. + +Abstract + + This document describes the multiappending extension to the Internet + Message Access Protocol (IMAP) (RFC 3501). This extension provides + substantial performance improvements for IMAP clients which upload + multiple messages at a time to a mailbox on the server. + + A server which supports this extension indicates this with a + capability name of "MULTIAPPEND". + +Terminology + + The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", + "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to + be interpreted as described in [KEYWORDS]. + +Introduction + + The MULTIAPPEND extension permits uploading of multiple messages with + a single command. When used in conjunction with the [LITERAL+] + extension, the entire upload is accomplished in a single + command/response round trip. + + A MULTIAPPEND APPEND operation is atomic; either all messages are + successfully appended, or no messages are appended. + + In the base IMAP specification, each message must be appended in a + separate command, and there is no mechanism to "unappend" messages if + an error occurs while appending. Also, some mail stores may require + + + +Crispin Standards Track [Page 1] + +RFC 3502 IMAP MULTIAPPEND March 2003 + + + an expensive "open/lock + sync/unlock/close" operation as part of + appending; this can be quite expensive if it must be done on a + per-message basis. + + If the server supports both LITERAL+ and pipelining but not + MULTIAPPEND, it may be possible to get some of the performance + advantages of MULTIAPPEND by doing a pipelined "batch" append. + However, it will not work as well as MULTIAPPEND for the following + reasons: + + 1) Multiple APPEND commands, even as part of a pipelined batch, + are non-atomic by definition. There is no way to revert the + mailbox to the state before the batch append in the event of an + error. + + 2) It may not be feasible for the server to coalesce pipelined + APPEND operations so as to avoid the "open/lock + + sync/unlock/close" overhead described above. In any case, such + coalescing would be timing dependent and thus potentially + unreliable. In particular, with traditional UNIX mailbox files, + it is assumed that a lock is held only for a single atomic + operation, and many applications disregard any lock that is + older than 5 minutes. + + 3) If an error occurs, depending upon the nature of the error, + it is possible for additional messages to be appended after the + error. For example, the user wants to append 5 messages, but a + disk quota error occurs with the third message because of its + size. However, the fourth and fifth messages have already been + sent in the pipeline, so the mailbox ends up with the first, + second, fourth, and fifth messages of the batch appended. + +6.3.11. APPEND Command + + Arguments: mailbox name + one or more messages to upload, specified as: + OPTIONAL flag parenthesized list + OPTIONAL date/time string + message literal + + Data: no specific responses for this command + + Result: OK - append completed + NO - append error: can't append to that mailbox, error + in flags or date/time or message text, + append cancelled + BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid + + + + +Crispin Standards Track [Page 2] + +RFC 3502 IMAP MULTIAPPEND March 2003 + + + The APPEND command appends the literal arguments as new messages + to the end of the specified destination mailbox. This argument + SHOULD be in the format of an [RFC-2822] message. 8-bit + characters are permitted in the message. A server implementation + that is unable to preserve 8-bit data properly MUST be able to + reversibly convert 8-bit APPEND data to 7-bit using a [MIME-IMB] + content transfer encoding. + + Note: There MAY be exceptions, e.g., draft messages, in + which required [RFC-2822] header lines are omitted in the + message literal argument to APPEND. The full implications + of doing so MUST be understood and carefully weighed. + + If a flag parenthesized list is specified, the flags SHOULD be set + in the resulting message; otherwise, the flag list of the + resulting message is set empty by default. + + If a date-time is specified, the internal date SHOULD be set in + the resulting message; otherwise, the internal date of the + resulting message is set to the current date and time by default. + + A zero-length message literal argument is an error, and MUST + return a NO. This can be used to cancel the append. + + If the append is unsuccessful for any reason (including being + cancelled), the mailbox MUST be restored to its state before the + APPEND attempt; no partial appending is permitted. The server MAY + return an error before processing all the message arguments. + + If the destination mailbox does not exist, a server MUST return an + error, and MUST NOT automatically create the mailbox. Unless it + is certain that the destination mailbox can not be created, the + server MUST send the response code "[TRYCREATE]" as the prefix of + the text of the tagged NO response. This gives a hint to the + client that it can attempt a CREATE command and retry the APPEND + if the CREATE is successful. + + If the mailbox is currently selected, the normal new message + actions SHOULD occur. Specifically, the server SHOULD notify the + client immediately via an untagged EXISTS response. If the server + does not do so, the client MAY issue a NOOP command (or failing + that, a CHECK command) after one or more APPEND commands. + + + + + + + + + +Crispin Standards Track [Page 3] + +RFC 3502 IMAP MULTIAPPEND March 2003 + + + Example: C: A003 APPEND saved-messages (\Seen) {329} + S: + Ready for literal data + C: Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 21:52:25 -0800 (PST) + C: From: Fred Foobar + C: Subject: afternoon meeting + C: To: mooch@owatagu.example.net + C: Message-Id: + C: MIME-Version: 1.0 + C: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII + C: + C: Hello Joe, do you think we can meet at 3:30 tomorrow? + C: (\Seen) " 7-Feb-1994 22:43:04 -0800" {295} + S: + Ready for literal data + C: Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 22:43:04 -0800 (PST) + C: From: Joe Mooch + C: Subject: Re: afternoon meeting + C: To: foobar@blurdybloop.example.com + C: Message-Id: + C: MIME-Version: 1.0 + C: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII + C: + C: 3:30 is fine with me. + C: + S: A003 OK APPEND completed + C: A004 APPEND bogusname (\Flagged) {1023} + S: A004 NO [TRYCREATE] No such mailbox as bogusname + C: A005 APPEND test (\Flagged) {99} + S: + Ready for literal data + C: Date: Mon, 7 Feb 2000 22:43:04 -0800 (PST) + C: From: Fred Foobar + C: Subject: hmm... + C: {35403} + S: A005 NO APPEND failed: Disk quota exceeded + + Note: The APPEND command is not used for message delivery, + because it does not provide a mechanism to transfer [SMTP] + envelope information. + +Modification to IMAP4rev1 Base Protocol Formal Syntax + + The following syntax specification uses the Augmented Backus-Naur + Form (ABNF) notation as specified in [ABNF]. + + append = "APPEND" SP mailbox 1*append-message + + append-message = [SP flag-list] [SP date-time] SP literal + + + + + +Crispin Standards Track [Page 4] + +RFC 3502 IMAP MULTIAPPEND March 2003 + + +MULTIAPPEND Interaction with UIDPLUS Extension + + Servers which support both MULTIAPPEND and [UIDPLUS] will have the + "resp-code-apnd" rule modified as follows: + + resp-code-apnd = "APPENDUID" SP nz-number SP set + + That is, the APPENDUID response code returns as many UIDs as there + were messages appended in the multiple append. The UIDs returned + should be in the order the articles where appended. The message set + may not contain extraneous UIDs or the symbol "*". + +Security Considerations + + The MULTIAPPEND extension does not raise any security considerations + that are not present in the base [IMAP] protocol, and these issues + are discussed in [IMAP]. Nevertheless, it is important to remember + that IMAP4rev1 protocol transactions, including electronic mail data, + are sent in the clear over the network unless protection from + snooping is negotiated, either by the use of STARTTLS, privacy + protection is negotiated in the AUTHENTICATE command, or some other + protection mechanism is in effect. + +Normative References + + [ABNF] Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax + Specifications: ABNF", RFC 2234, November 1997. + + [IMAP] Crispin, M., "Internet Message Access Protocol - Version + 4rev1", RFC 3501, March 2003. + + [KEYWORDS] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate + Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. + + [MIME-IMB] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "MIME (Multipurpose Internet + Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message + Bodies", RFC 2045, November 1996. + + [RFC-2822] Resnick, P., "Internet Message Format", RFC 2822, April + 2001. + + + + + + + + + + + +Crispin Standards Track [Page 5] + +RFC 3502 IMAP MULTIAPPEND March 2003 + + +Informative References + + [LITERAL+] Myers, J., "IMAP4 non-synchronizing literals", RFC 2088, + January 1997. + + [UIDPLUS] Myers, J., "IMAP4 UIDPLUS extension", RFC 2359, June 1988. + + [SMTP] Klensin, J., Editor, "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol", RFC + 2821, April 2001. + +Author's Address + + Mark R. Crispin + Networks and Distributed Computing + University of Washington + 4545 15th Avenue NE + Seattle, WA 98105-4527 + + Phone: (206) 543-5762 + EMail: MRC@CAC.Washington.EDU + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Crispin Standards Track [Page 6] + +RFC 3502 IMAP MULTIAPPEND March 2003 + + +Full Copyright Statement + + Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved. + + This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to + others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it + or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published + and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any + kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are + included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this + document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing + the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other + Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of + developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for + copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be + followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than + English. + + The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be + revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns. + + This document and the information contained herein is provided on an + "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING + TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING + BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION + HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF + MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Acknowledgement + + Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the + Internet Society. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Crispin Standards Track [Page 7] + -- cgit v1.2.3-70-g09d2