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<meta name="DC.Identifier" content="urn:ietf:rfc:3501">
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<meta name="DC.Date.Issued" content="March, 2003">
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<meta name="DC.Creator" content="M. Crispin">
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<meta name="DC.Description.Abstract" content="The Internet Message
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Access Protocol, Version 4rev1 (IMAP4rev1) allows\na client to access
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and manipulate electronic mail messages on a\nserver. IMAP4rev1 permits
|
|
manipulation of mailboxes (remote message\nfolders) in a way that is
|
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functionally equivalent to local folders.\nIMAP4rev1 also provides the
|
|
capability for an offline client to\nresynchronize with the server.
|
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IMAP4rev1 includes operations for\ncreating, deleting, and renaming
|
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mailboxes, checking for new messages,\npermanently removing messages,
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setting and clearing flags, RFC 2822\nand RFC 2045 parsing, searching,
|
|
and selective fetching of message\nattributes, texts, and portions
|
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thereof. Messages in IMAP4rev1 are\naccessed by the use of numbers.
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These numbers are either message\nsequence numbers or unique
|
|
identifiers. IMAP4rev1 supports a single\nserver. A mechanism for
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accessing configuration information to support\nmultiple IMAP4rev1
|
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servers is discussed in RFC 2244. IMAP4rev1 does\nnot specify a means of
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posting mail; this function is handled by a\nmail transfer protocol
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such as RFC 2821.">
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<meta name="DC.Title" content="INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL -
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VERSION 4rev1">
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page">Docs</a>] [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3501.txt"
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title="Plaintext version of this document">txt</a>] [<a
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href="http://tools.ietf.org/pdf/rfc3501" title="PDF version of this
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document">pdf</a>] [<a
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href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-crispin-imapv"
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title="draft-crispin-imapv">draft-crispin-imapv</a>] [<a
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href="http://tools.ietf.org/rfcdiff?difftype=--hwdiff&url2=rfc3501"
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title="Inline diff (wdiff)">Diff1</a>] [<a
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href="http://tools.ietf.org/rfcdiff?url2=rfc3501" title="Side-by-side
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diff">Diff2</a>] </span><br>
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<span class="pre noprint docinfo">
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</span><br>
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<span class="pre noprint docinfo">Updated by: <a
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href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4466">4466</a>, <a
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href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4469">4469</a>, <a
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href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4551">4551</a>, <a
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href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5032">5032</a>, <a
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href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5182">5182</a>
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PROPOSED STANDARD</span><br>
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<span class="pre noprint docinfo">
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<a
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href="http://www.rfc-editor.org/errata_search.php?rfc=3501">Errata</a></span><br>
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<pre>Network Working Group M. Crispin
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Request for Comments: 3501 University of Washington
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Obsoletes: <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2060">2060</a> March 2003
|
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Category: Standards Track
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<span class="h1"><h1>INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION 4rev1</h1></span>
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Status of this Memo
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This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
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Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
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improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
|
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Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
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and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
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Copyright Notice
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Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
|
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|
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Abstract
|
|
|
|
The Internet Message Access Protocol, Version 4rev1 (IMAP4rev1)
|
|
allows a client to access and manipulate electronic mail messages on
|
|
a server. IMAP4rev1 permits manipulation of mailboxes (remote
|
|
message folders) in a way that is functionally equivalent to local
|
|
folders. IMAP4rev1 also provides the capability for an offline
|
|
client to resynchronize with the server.
|
|
|
|
IMAP4rev1 includes operations for creating, deleting, and renaming
|
|
mailboxes, checking for new messages, permanently removing messages,
|
|
setting and clearing flags, <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822">RFC 2822</a> and <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2045">RFC 2045</a> parsing, searching,
|
|
and selective fetching of message attributes, texts, and portions
|
|
thereof. Messages in IMAP4rev1 are accessed by the use of numbers.
|
|
These numbers are either message sequence numbers or unique
|
|
identifiers.
|
|
|
|
IMAP4rev1 supports a single server. A mechanism for accessing
|
|
configuration information to support multiple IMAP4rev1 servers is
|
|
discussed in <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2244">RFC 2244</a>.
|
|
|
|
IMAP4rev1 does not specify a means of posting mail; this function is
|
|
handled by a mail transfer protocol such as <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2821">RFC 2821</a>.
|
|
|
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<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 1]</span>
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</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-2" id="page-2" href="#page-2" class="invisible"> </a>
|
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<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
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Table of Contents
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IMAP4rev1 Protocol Specification ................................ <a href="#page-4">4</a>
|
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<a href="#section-1">1</a>. How to Read This Document ............................... <a href="#page-4">4</a>
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<a href="#section-1.1">1.1</a>. Organization of This Document ........................... <a href="#page-4">4</a>
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<a href="#section-1.2">1.2</a>. Conventions Used in This Document ....................... <a href="#page-4">4</a>
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<a href="#section-1.3">1.3</a>. Special Notes to Implementors ........................... <a href="#page-5">5</a>
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<a href="#section-2">2</a>. Protocol Overview ....................................... <a href="#page-6">6</a>
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<a href="#section-2.1">2.1</a>. Link Level .............................................. <a href="#page-6">6</a>
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<a href="#section-2.2">2.2</a>. Commands and Responses .................................. <a href="#page-6">6</a>
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<a href="#section-2.2.1">2.2.1</a>. Client Protocol Sender and Server Protocol Receiver ..... <a href="#page-6">6</a>
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<a href="#section-2.2.2">2.2.2</a>. Server Protocol Sender and Client Protocol Receiver ..... <a href="#page-7">7</a>
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<a href="#section-2.3">2.3</a>. Message Attributes ...................................... <a href="#page-8">8</a>
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<a href="#section-2.3.1">2.3.1</a>. Message Numbers ......................................... <a href="#page-8">8</a>
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<a href="#section-2.3.1.1">2.3.1.1</a>. Unique Identifier (UID) Message Attribute ....... <a href="#page-8">8</a>
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<a href="#section-2.3.1.2">2.3.1.2</a>. Message Sequence Number Message Attribute ....... <a href="#page-10">10</a>
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<a href="#section-2.3.2">2.3.2</a>. Flags Message Attribute ................................. <a href="#page-11">11</a>
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<a href="#section-2.3.3">2.3.3</a>. Internal Date Message Attribute ......................... <a href="#page-12">12</a>
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<a href="#section-2.3.4">2.3.4</a>. [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] Size Message Attribute ....................... <a href="#page-12">12</a>
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<a href="#section-2.3.5">2.3.5</a>. Envelope Structure Message Attribute .................... <a href="#page-12">12</a>
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<a href="#section-2.3.6">2.3.6</a>. Body Structure Message Attribute ........................ <a href="#page-12">12</a>
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<a href="#section-2.4">2.4</a>. Message Texts ........................................... <a href="#page-13">13</a>
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<a href="#section-3">3</a>. State and Flow Diagram .................................. <a href="#page-13">13</a>
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<a href="#section-3.1">3.1</a>. Not Authenticated State ................................. <a href="#page-13">13</a>
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<a href="#section-3.2">3.2</a>. Authenticated State ..................................... <a href="#page-13">13</a>
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<a href="#section-3.3">3.3</a>. Selected State .......................................... <a href="#page-13">13</a>
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<a href="#section-3.4">3.4</a>. Logout State ............................................ <a href="#page-14">14</a>
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<a href="#section-4">4</a>. Data Formats ............................................ <a href="#page-16">16</a>
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<a href="#section-4.1">4.1</a>. Atom .................................................... <a href="#page-16">16</a>
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<a href="#section-4.2">4.2</a>. Number .................................................. <a href="#page-16">16</a>
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<a href="#section-4.3">4.3</a>. String .................................................. <a href="#page-16">16</a>
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<a href="#section-4.3.1">4.3.1</a>. 8-bit and Binary Strings ................................ <a href="#page-17">17</a>
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<a href="#section-4.4">4.4</a>. Parenthesized List ...................................... <a href="#page-17">17</a>
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<a href="#section-4.5">4.5</a>. NIL ..................................................... <a href="#page-17">17</a>
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<a href="#section-5">5</a>. Operational Considerations .............................. <a href="#page-18">18</a>
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<a href="#section-5.1">5.1</a>. Mailbox Naming .......................................... <a href="#page-18">18</a>
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<a href="#section-5.1.1">5.1.1</a>. Mailbox Hierarchy Naming ................................ <a href="#page-19">19</a>
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<a href="#section-5.1.2">5.1.2</a>. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention ..................... <a href="#page-19">19</a>
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<a href="#section-5.1.3">5.1.3</a>. Mailbox International Naming Convention ................. <a href="#page-19">19</a>
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<a href="#section-5.2">5.2</a>. Mailbox Size and Message Status Updates ................. <a href="#page-21">21</a>
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<a href="#section-5.3">5.3</a>. Response when no Command in Progress .................... <a href="#page-21">21</a>
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<a href="#section-5.4">5.4</a>. Autologout Timer ........................................ <a href="#page-22">22</a>
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<a href="#section-5.5">5.5</a>. Multiple Commands in Progress ........................... <a href="#page-22">22</a>
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<a href="#section-6">6</a>. Client Commands ........................................ <a href="#page-23">23</a>
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<a href="#section-6.1">6.1</a>. Client Commands - Any State ............................ <a href="#page-24">24</a>
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<a href="#section-6.1.1">6.1.1</a>. CAPABILITY Command ..................................... <a href="#page-24">24</a>
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<a href="#section-6.1.2">6.1.2</a>. NOOP Command ........................................... <a href="#page-25">25</a>
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<a href="#section-6.1.3">6.1.3</a>. LOGOUT Command ......................................... <a href="#page-26">26</a>
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<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 2]</span>
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</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-3" id="page-3" href="#page-3" class="invisible"> </a>
|
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<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
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<a href="#section-6.2">6.2</a>. Client Commands - Not Authenticated State .............. <a href="#page-26">26</a>
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<a href="#section-6.2.1">6.2.1</a>. STARTTLS Command ....................................... <a href="#page-27">27</a>
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<a href="#section-6.2.2">6.2.2</a>. AUTHENTICATE Command ................................... <a href="#page-28">28</a>
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<a href="#section-6.2.3">6.2.3</a>. LOGIN Command .......................................... <a href="#page-30">30</a>
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<a href="#section-6.3">6.3</a>. Client Commands - Authenticated State .................. <a href="#page-31">31</a>
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<a href="#section-6.3.1">6.3.1</a>. SELECT Command ......................................... <a href="#page-32">32</a>
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<a href="#section-6.3.2">6.3.2</a>. EXAMINE Command ........................................ <a href="#page-34">34</a>
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<a href="#section-6.3.3">6.3.3</a>. CREATE Command ......................................... <a href="#page-34">34</a>
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<a href="#section-6.3.4">6.3.4</a>. DELETE Command ......................................... <a href="#page-35">35</a>
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<a href="#section-6.3.5">6.3.5</a>. RENAME Command ......................................... <a href="#page-37">37</a>
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<a href="#section-6.3.6">6.3.6</a>. SUBSCRIBE Command ...................................... <a href="#page-39">39</a>
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<a href="#section-6.3.7">6.3.7</a>. UNSUBSCRIBE Command .................................... <a href="#page-39">39</a>
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<a href="#section-6.3.8">6.3.8</a>. LIST Command ........................................... <a href="#page-40">40</a>
|
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<a href="#section-6.3.9">6.3.9</a>. LSUB Command ........................................... <a href="#page-43">43</a>
|
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<a href="#section-6.3.10">6.3.10</a>. STATUS Command ......................................... <a href="#page-44">44</a>
|
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<a href="#section-6.3.11">6.3.11</a>. APPEND Command ......................................... <a href="#page-46">46</a>
|
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<a href="#section-6.4">6.4</a>. Client Commands - Selected State ....................... <a href="#page-47">47</a>
|
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<a href="#section-6.4.1">6.4.1</a>. CHECK Command .......................................... <a href="#page-47">47</a>
|
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<a href="#section-6.4.2">6.4.2</a>. CLOSE Command .......................................... <a href="#page-48">48</a>
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<a href="#section-6.4.3">6.4.3</a>. EXPUNGE Command ........................................ <a href="#page-49">49</a>
|
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<a href="#section-6.4.4">6.4.4</a>. SEARCH Command ......................................... <a href="#page-49">49</a>
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<a href="#section-6.4.5">6.4.5</a>. FETCH Command .......................................... <a href="#page-54">54</a>
|
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<a href="#section-6.4.6">6.4.6</a>. STORE Command .......................................... <a href="#page-58">58</a>
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<a href="#section-6.4.7">6.4.7</a>. COPY Command ........................................... <a href="#page-59">59</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-6.4.8">6.4.8</a>. UID Command ............................................ <a href="#page-60">60</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-6.5">6.5</a>. Client Commands - Experimental/Expansion ............... <a href="#page-62">62</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-6.5.1">6.5.1</a>. X<atom> Command ........................................ <a href="#page-62">62</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7">7</a>. Server Responses ....................................... <a href="#page-62">62</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.1">7.1</a>. Server Responses - Status Responses .................... <a href="#page-63">63</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.1.1">7.1.1</a>. OK Response ............................................ <a href="#page-65">65</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.1.2">7.1.2</a>. NO Response ............................................ <a href="#page-66">66</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.1.3">7.1.3</a>. BAD Response ........................................... <a href="#page-66">66</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.1.4">7.1.4</a>. PREAUTH Response ....................................... <a href="#page-67">67</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.1.5">7.1.5</a>. BYE Response ........................................... <a href="#page-67">67</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.2">7.2</a>. Server Responses - Server and Mailbox Status ........... <a href="#page-68">68</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.2.1">7.2.1</a>. CAPABILITY Response .................................... <a href="#page-68">68</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.2.2">7.2.2</a>. LIST Response .......................................... <a href="#page-69">69</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.2.3">7.2.3</a>. LSUB Response .......................................... <a href="#page-70">70</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.2.4">7.2.4</a> STATUS Response ........................................ <a href="#page-70">70</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.2.5">7.2.5</a>. SEARCH Response ........................................ <a href="#page-71">71</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.2.6">7.2.6</a>. FLAGS Response ......................................... <a href="#page-71">71</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.3">7.3</a>. Server Responses - Mailbox Size ........................ <a href="#page-71">71</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.3.1">7.3.1</a>. EXISTS Response ........................................ <a href="#page-71">71</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.3.2">7.3.2</a>. RECENT Response ........................................ <a href="#page-72">72</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.4">7.4</a>. Server Responses - Message Status ...................... <a href="#page-72">72</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.4.1">7.4.1</a>. EXPUNGE Response ....................................... <a href="#page-72">72</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.4.2">7.4.2</a>. FETCH Response ......................................... <a href="#page-73">73</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-7.5">7.5</a>. Server Responses - Command Continuation Request ........ <a href="#page-79">79</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 3]</span>
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</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-4" id="page-4" href="#page-4" class="invisible"> </a>
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|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="#section-8">8</a>. Sample IMAP4rev1 connection ............................ <a href="#page-80">80</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-9">9</a>. Formal Syntax .......................................... <a href="#page-81">81</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-10">10</a>. Author's Note .......................................... <a href="#page-92">92</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-11">11</a>. Security Considerations ................................ <a href="#page-92">92</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-11.1">11.1</a>. STARTTLS Security Considerations ....................... <a href="#page-92">92</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-11.2">11.2</a>. Other Security Considerations .......................... <a href="#page-93">93</a>
|
|
<a href="#section-12">12</a>. IANA Considerations .................................... <a href="#page-94">94</a>
|
|
Appendices ..................................................... <a href="#page-95">95</a>
|
|
<a href="#appendix-A">A</a>. References ............................................. <a href="#page-95">95</a>
|
|
<a href="#appendix-B">B</a>. Changes from <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2060">RFC 2060</a> .................................. <a href="#page-97">97</a>
|
|
<a href="#appendix-C">C</a>. Key Word Index ......................................... <a href="#page-103">103</a>
|
|
Author's Address ............................................... <a href="#page-107">107</a>
|
|
Full Copyright Statement ....................................... <a href="#page-108">108</a>
|
|
|
|
IMAP4rev1 Protocol Specification
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-1">1</a>. How to Read This Document</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-1.1">1.1</a>. Organization of This Document</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
This document is written from the point of view of the implementor of
|
|
an IMAP4rev1 client or server. Beyond the protocol overview in
|
|
<a href="#section-2">section 2</a>, it is not optimized for someone trying to understand the
|
|
operation of the protocol. The material in sections 3 through 5
|
|
provides the general context and definitions with which IMAP4rev1
|
|
operates.
|
|
|
|
Sections 6, 7, and 9 describe the IMAP commands, responses, and
|
|
syntax, respectively. The relationships among these are such that it
|
|
is almost impossible to understand any of them separately. In
|
|
particular, do not attempt to deduce command syntax from the command
|
|
section alone; instead refer to the Formal Syntax section.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-1.2">1.2</a>. Conventions Used in This Document</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
"Conventions" are basic principles or procedures. Document
|
|
conventions are noted in this section.
|
|
|
|
In examples, "C:" and "S:" indicate lines sent by the client and
|
|
server respectively.
|
|
|
|
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 [<a href="#ref-KEYWORDS" title=""Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels"">KEYWORDS</a>].
|
|
|
|
The word "can" (not "may") is used to refer to a possible
|
|
circumstance or situation, as opposed to an optional facility of the
|
|
protocol.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 4]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-5" id="page-5" href="#page-5" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
"User" is used to refer to a human user, whereas "client" refers to
|
|
the software being run by the user.
|
|
|
|
"Connection" refers to the entire sequence of client/server
|
|
interaction from the initial establishment of the network connection
|
|
until its termination.
|
|
|
|
"Session" refers to the sequence of client/server interaction from
|
|
the time that a mailbox is selected (SELECT or EXAMINE command) until
|
|
the time that selection ends (SELECT or EXAMINE of another mailbox,
|
|
CLOSE command, or connection termination).
|
|
|
|
Characters are 7-bit US-ASCII unless otherwise specified. Other
|
|
character sets are indicated using a "CHARSET", as described in
|
|
[<a href="#ref-MIME-IMT" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Two: Media Types"">MIME-IMT</a>] and defined in [<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>]. CHARSETs have important
|
|
additional semantics in addition to defining character set; refer to
|
|
these documents for more detail.
|
|
|
|
There are several protocol conventions in IMAP. These refer to
|
|
aspects of the specification which are not strictly part of the IMAP
|
|
protocol, but reflect generally-accepted practice. Implementations
|
|
need to be aware of these conventions, and avoid conflicts whether or
|
|
not they implement the convention. For example, "&" may not be used
|
|
as a hierarchy delimiter since it conflicts with the Mailbox
|
|
International Naming Convention, and other uses of "&" in mailbox
|
|
names are impacted as well.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-1.3">1.3</a>. Special Notes to Implementors</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
Implementors of the IMAP protocol are strongly encouraged to read the
|
|
IMAP implementation recommendations document [<a href="#ref-IMAP-IMPLEMENTATION" title=""IMAP Implementation Recommendations"">IMAP-IMPLEMENTATION</a>] in
|
|
conjunction with this document, to help understand the intricacies of
|
|
this protocol and how best to build an interoperable product.
|
|
|
|
IMAP4rev1 is designed to be upwards compatible from the [<a href="#ref-IMAP2" title=""Interactive Mail Access Protocol - Version 2"">IMAP2</a>] and
|
|
unpublished IMAP2bis protocols. IMAP4rev1 is largely compatible with
|
|
the IMAP4 protocol described in <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1730">RFC 1730</a>; the exception being in
|
|
certain facilities added in <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1730">RFC 1730</a> that proved problematic and were
|
|
subsequently removed. In the course of the evolution of IMAP4rev1,
|
|
some aspects in the earlier protocols have become obsolete. Obsolete
|
|
commands, responses, and data formats which an IMAP4rev1
|
|
implementation can encounter when used with an earlier implementation
|
|
are described in [<a href="#ref-IMAP-OBSOLETE" title=""Internet Message Access Protocol - Obsolete Syntax"">IMAP-OBSOLETE</a>].
|
|
|
|
Other compatibility issues with IMAP2bis, the most common variant of
|
|
the earlier protocol, are discussed in [<a href="#ref-IMAP-COMPAT" title=""IMAP4 Compatibility with IMAP2bis"">IMAP-COMPAT</a>]. A full
|
|
discussion of compatibility issues with rare (and presumed extinct)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 5]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-6" id="page-6" href="#page-6" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
variants of [<a href="#ref-IMAP2" title=""Interactive Mail Access Protocol - Version 2"">IMAP2</a>] is in [<a href="#ref-IMAP-HISTORICAL" title=""IMAP4 Compatibility with IMAP2 and IMAP2bis"">IMAP-HISTORICAL</a>]; this document is
|
|
primarily of historical interest.
|
|
|
|
IMAP was originally developed for the older [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822" title=""Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text Messages"">RFC-822</a>] standard, and
|
|
as a consequence several fetch items in IMAP incorporate "<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>" in
|
|
their name. With the exception of <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.SIZE, there are more modern
|
|
replacements; for example, the modern version of <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.HEADER is
|
|
BODY.PEEK[HEADER]. In all cases, "<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>" should be interpreted as a
|
|
reference to the updated [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] standard.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-2">2</a>. Protocol Overview</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-2.1">2.1</a>. Link Level</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
The IMAP4rev1 protocol assumes a reliable data stream such as that
|
|
provided by TCP. When TCP is used, an IMAP4rev1 server listens on
|
|
port 143.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-2.2">2.2</a>. Commands and Responses</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
An IMAP4rev1 connection consists of the establishment of a
|
|
client/server network connection, an initial greeting from the
|
|
server, and client/server interactions. These client/server
|
|
interactions consist of a client command, server data, and a server
|
|
completion result response.
|
|
|
|
All interactions transmitted by client and server are in the form of
|
|
lines, that is, strings that end with a CRLF. The protocol receiver
|
|
of an IMAP4rev1 client or server is either reading a line, or is
|
|
reading a sequence of octets with a known count followed by a line.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-2.2.1">2.2.1</a>. Client Protocol Sender and Server Protocol Receiver</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
The client command begins an operation. Each client command is
|
|
prefixed with an identifier (typically a short alphanumeric string,
|
|
e.g., A0001, A0002, etc.) called a "tag". A different tag is
|
|
generated by the client for each command.
|
|
|
|
Clients MUST follow the syntax outlined in this specification
|
|
strictly. It is a syntax error to send a command with missing or
|
|
extraneous spaces or arguments.
|
|
|
|
There are two cases in which a line from the client does not
|
|
represent a complete command. In one case, a command argument is
|
|
quoted with an octet count (see the description of literal in String
|
|
under Data Formats); in the other case, the command arguments require
|
|
server feedback (see the AUTHENTICATE command). In either case, the
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 6]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-7" id="page-7" href="#page-7" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
server sends a command continuation request response if it is ready
|
|
for the octets (if appropriate) and the remainder of the command.
|
|
This response is prefixed with the token "+".
|
|
|
|
Note: If instead, the server detected an error in the
|
|
command, it sends a BAD completion response with a tag
|
|
matching the command (as described below) to reject the
|
|
command and prevent the client from sending any more of the
|
|
command.
|
|
|
|
It is also possible for the server to send a completion
|
|
response for some other command (if multiple commands are
|
|
in progress), or untagged data. In either case, the
|
|
command continuation request is still pending; the client
|
|
takes the appropriate action for the response, and reads
|
|
another response from the server. In all cases, the client
|
|
MUST send a complete command (including receiving all
|
|
command continuation request responses and command
|
|
continuations for the command) before initiating a new
|
|
command.
|
|
|
|
The protocol receiver of an IMAP4rev1 server reads a command line
|
|
from the client, parses the command and its arguments, and transmits
|
|
server data and a server command completion result response.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-2.2.2">2.2.2</a>. Server Protocol Sender and Client Protocol Receiver</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Data transmitted by the server to the client and status responses
|
|
that do not indicate command completion are prefixed with the token
|
|
"*", and are called untagged responses.
|
|
|
|
Server data MAY be sent as a result of a client command, or MAY be
|
|
sent unilaterally by the server. There is no syntactic difference
|
|
between server data that resulted from a specific command and server
|
|
data that were sent unilaterally.
|
|
|
|
The server completion result response indicates the success or
|
|
failure of the operation. It is tagged with the same tag as the
|
|
client command which began the operation. Thus, if more than one
|
|
command is in progress, the tag in a server completion response
|
|
identifies the command to which the response applies. There are
|
|
three possible server completion responses: OK (indicating success),
|
|
NO (indicating failure), or BAD (indicating a protocol error such as
|
|
unrecognized command or command syntax error).
|
|
|
|
Servers SHOULD enforce the syntax outlined in this specification
|
|
strictly. Any client command with a protocol syntax error, including
|
|
(but not limited to) missing or extraneous spaces or arguments,
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 7]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-8" id="page-8" href="#page-8" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
SHOULD be rejected, and the client given a BAD server completion
|
|
response.
|
|
|
|
The protocol receiver of an IMAP4rev1 client reads a response line
|
|
from the server. It then takes action on the response based upon the
|
|
first token of the response, which can be a tag, a "*", or a "+".
|
|
|
|
A client MUST be prepared to accept any server response at all times.
|
|
This includes server data that was not requested. Server data SHOULD
|
|
be recorded, so that the client can reference its recorded copy
|
|
rather than sending a command to the server to request the data. In
|
|
the case of certain server data, the data MUST be recorded.
|
|
|
|
This topic is discussed in greater detail in the Server Responses
|
|
section.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-2.3">2.3</a>. Message Attributes</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
In addition to message text, each message has several attributes
|
|
associated with it. These attributes can be retrieved individually
|
|
or in conjunction with other attributes or message texts.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-2.3.1">2.3.1</a>. Message Numbers</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Messages in IMAP4rev1 are accessed by one of two numbers; the unique
|
|
identifier or the message sequence number.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h5"><h5><a name="section-2.3.1.1">2.3.1.1</a>. Unique Identifier (UID) Message Attribute</h5></span>
|
|
|
|
A 32-bit value assigned to each message, which when used with the
|
|
unique identifier validity value (see below) forms a 64-bit value
|
|
that MUST NOT refer to any other message in the mailbox or any
|
|
subsequent mailbox with the same name forever. Unique identifiers
|
|
are assigned in a strictly ascending fashion in the mailbox; as each
|
|
message is added to the mailbox it is assigned a higher UID than the
|
|
message(s) which were added previously. Unlike message sequence
|
|
numbers, unique identifiers are not necessarily contiguous.
|
|
|
|
The unique identifier of a message MUST NOT change during the
|
|
session, and SHOULD NOT change between sessions. Any change of
|
|
unique identifiers between sessions MUST be detectable using the
|
|
UIDVALIDITY mechanism discussed below. Persistent unique identifiers
|
|
are required for a client to resynchronize its state from a previous
|
|
session with the server (e.g., disconnected or offline access
|
|
clients); this is discussed further in [<a href="#ref-IMAP-DISC" title=""Synchronization Operations for Disconnected IMAP4 Clients"">IMAP-DISC</a>].
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 8]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-9" id="page-9" href="#page-9" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Associated with every mailbox are two values which aid in unique
|
|
identifier handling: the next unique identifier value and the unique
|
|
identifier validity value.
|
|
|
|
The next unique identifier value is the predicted value that will be
|
|
assigned to a new message in the mailbox. Unless the unique
|
|
identifier validity also changes (see below), the next unique
|
|
identifier value MUST have the following two characteristics. First,
|
|
the next unique identifier value MUST NOT change unless new messages
|
|
are added to the mailbox; and second, the next unique identifier
|
|
value MUST change whenever new messages are added to the mailbox,
|
|
even if those new messages are subsequently expunged.
|
|
|
|
Note: The next unique identifier value is intended to
|
|
provide a means for a client to determine whether any
|
|
messages have been delivered to the mailbox since the
|
|
previous time it checked this value. It is not intended to
|
|
provide any guarantee that any message will have this
|
|
unique identifier. A client can only assume, at the time
|
|
that it obtains the next unique identifier value, that
|
|
messages arriving after that time will have a UID greater
|
|
than or equal to that value.
|
|
|
|
The unique identifier validity value is sent in a UIDVALIDITY
|
|
response code in an OK untagged response at mailbox selection time.
|
|
If unique identifiers from an earlier session fail to persist in this
|
|
session, the unique identifier validity value MUST be greater than
|
|
the one used in the earlier session.
|
|
|
|
Note: Ideally, unique identifiers SHOULD persist at all
|
|
times. Although this specification recognizes that failure
|
|
to persist can be unavoidable in certain server
|
|
environments, it STRONGLY ENCOURAGES message store
|
|
implementation techniques that avoid this problem. For
|
|
example:
|
|
|
|
1) Unique identifiers MUST be strictly ascending in the
|
|
mailbox at all times. If the physical message store is
|
|
re-ordered by a non-IMAP agent, this requires that the
|
|
unique identifiers in the mailbox be regenerated, since
|
|
the former unique identifiers are no longer strictly
|
|
ascending as a result of the re-ordering.
|
|
|
|
2) If the message store has no mechanism to store unique
|
|
identifiers, it must regenerate unique identifiers at
|
|
each session, and each session must have a unique
|
|
UIDVALIDITY value.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 9]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-10" id="page-10" href="#page-10" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
3) If the mailbox is deleted and a new mailbox with the
|
|
same name is created at a later date, the server must
|
|
either keep track of unique identifiers from the
|
|
previous instance of the mailbox, or it must assign a
|
|
new UIDVALIDITY value to the new instance of the
|
|
mailbox. A good UIDVALIDITY value to use in this case
|
|
is a 32-bit representation of the creation date/time of
|
|
the mailbox. It is alright to use a constant such as
|
|
1, but only if it guaranteed that unique identifiers
|
|
will never be reused, even in the case of a mailbox
|
|
being deleted (or renamed) and a new mailbox by the
|
|
same name created at some future time.
|
|
|
|
4) The combination of mailbox name, UIDVALIDITY, and UID
|
|
must refer to a single immutable message on that server
|
|
forever. In particular, the internal date, [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>]
|
|
size, envelope, body structure, and message texts
|
|
(<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>, <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.HEADER, <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.TEXT, and all BODY[...]
|
|
fetch data items) must never change. This does not
|
|
include message numbers, nor does it include attributes
|
|
that can be set by a STORE command (e.g., FLAGS).
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h5"><h5><a name="section-2.3.1.2">2.3.1.2</a>. Message Sequence Number Message Attribute</h5></span>
|
|
|
|
A relative position from 1 to the number of messages in the mailbox.
|
|
This position MUST be ordered by ascending unique identifier. As
|
|
each new message is added, it is assigned a message sequence number
|
|
that is 1 higher than the number of messages in the mailbox before
|
|
that new message was added.
|
|
|
|
Message sequence numbers can be reassigned during the session. For
|
|
example, when a message is permanently removed (expunged) from the
|
|
mailbox, the message sequence number for all subsequent messages is
|
|
decremented. The number of messages in the mailbox is also
|
|
decremented. Similarly, a new message can be assigned a message
|
|
sequence number that was once held by some other message prior to an
|
|
expunge.
|
|
|
|
In addition to accessing messages by relative position in the
|
|
mailbox, message sequence numbers can be used in mathematical
|
|
calculations. For example, if an untagged "11 EXISTS" is received,
|
|
and previously an untagged "8 EXISTS" was received, three new
|
|
messages have arrived with message sequence numbers of 9, 10, and 11.
|
|
Another example, if message 287 in a 523 message mailbox has UID
|
|
12345, there are exactly 286 messages which have lesser UIDs and 236
|
|
messages which have greater UIDs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 10]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-11" id="page-11" href="#page-11" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-2.3.2">2.3.2</a>. Flags Message Attribute</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
A list of zero or more named tokens associated with the message. A
|
|
flag is set by its addition to this list, and is cleared by its
|
|
removal. There are two types of flags in IMAP4rev1. A flag of
|
|
either type can be permanent or session-only.
|
|
|
|
A system flag is a flag name that is pre-defined in this
|
|
specification. All system flags begin with "\". Certain system
|
|
flags (\Deleted and \Seen) have special semantics described
|
|
elsewhere. The currently-defined system flags are:
|
|
|
|
\Seen
|
|
Message has been read
|
|
|
|
\Answered
|
|
Message has been answered
|
|
|
|
\Flagged
|
|
Message is "flagged" for urgent/special attention
|
|
|
|
\Deleted
|
|
Message is "deleted" for removal by later EXPUNGE
|
|
|
|
\Draft
|
|
Message has not completed composition (marked as a draft).
|
|
|
|
\Recent
|
|
Message is "recently" arrived in this mailbox. This session
|
|
is the first session to have been notified about this
|
|
message; if the session is read-write, subsequent sessions
|
|
will not see \Recent set for this message. This flag can not
|
|
be altered by the client.
|
|
|
|
If it is not possible to determine whether or not this
|
|
session is the first session to be notified about a message,
|
|
then that message SHOULD be considered recent.
|
|
|
|
If multiple connections have the same mailbox selected
|
|
simultaneously, it is undefined which of these connections
|
|
will see newly-arrived messages with \Recent set and which
|
|
will see it without \Recent set.
|
|
|
|
A keyword is defined by the server implementation. Keywords do not
|
|
begin with "\". Servers MAY permit the client to define new keywords
|
|
in the mailbox (see the description of the PERMANENTFLAGS response
|
|
code for more information).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 11]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-12" id="page-12" href="#page-12" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
A flag can be permanent or session-only on a per-flag basis.
|
|
Permanent flags are those which the client can add or remove from the
|
|
message flags permanently; that is, concurrent and subsequent
|
|
sessions will see any change in permanent flags. Changes to session
|
|
flags are valid only in that session.
|
|
|
|
Note: The \Recent system flag is a special case of a
|
|
session flag. \Recent can not be used as an argument in a
|
|
STORE or APPEND command, and thus can not be changed at
|
|
all.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-2.3.3">2.3.3</a>. Internal Date Message Attribute</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
The internal date and time of the message on the server. This
|
|
is not the date and time in the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header, but rather a
|
|
date and time which reflects when the message was received. In
|
|
the case of messages delivered via [<a href="#ref-SMTP" title=""Simple Mail Transfer Protocol"">SMTP</a>], this SHOULD be the
|
|
date and time of final delivery of the message as defined by
|
|
[<a href="#ref-SMTP" title=""Simple Mail Transfer Protocol"">SMTP</a>]. In the case of messages delivered by the IMAP4rev1 COPY
|
|
command, this SHOULD be the internal date and time of the source
|
|
message. In the case of messages delivered by the IMAP4rev1
|
|
APPEND command, this SHOULD be the date and time as specified in
|
|
the APPEND command description. All other cases are
|
|
implementation defined.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-2.3.4">2.3.4</a>. [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] Size Message Attribute</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
The number of octets in the message, as expressed in [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>]
|
|
format.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-2.3.5">2.3.5</a>. Envelope Structure Message Attribute</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
A parsed representation of the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header of the message.
|
|
Note that the IMAP Envelope structure is not the same as an
|
|
[<a href="#ref-SMTP" title=""Simple Mail Transfer Protocol"">SMTP</a>] envelope.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-2.3.6">2.3.6</a>. Body Structure Message Attribute</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
A parsed representation of the [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] body structure
|
|
information of the message.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 12]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-13" id="page-13" href="#page-13" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-2.4">2.4</a>. Message Texts</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
In addition to being able to fetch the full [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] text of a
|
|
message, IMAP4rev1 permits the fetching of portions of the full
|
|
message text. Specifically, it is possible to fetch the
|
|
[<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] message header, [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] message body, a [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>]
|
|
body part, or a [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] header.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-3">3</a>. State and Flow Diagram</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
Once the connection between client and server is established, an
|
|
IMAP4rev1 connection is in one of four states. The initial
|
|
state is identified in the server greeting. Most commands are
|
|
only valid in certain states. It is a protocol error for the
|
|
client to attempt a command while the connection is in an
|
|
inappropriate state, and the server will respond with a BAD or
|
|
NO (depending upon server implementation) command completion
|
|
result.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-3.1">3.1</a>. Not Authenticated State</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
In the not authenticated state, the client MUST supply
|
|
authentication credentials before most commands will be
|
|
permitted. This state is entered when a connection starts
|
|
unless the connection has been pre-authenticated.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-3.2">3.2</a>. Authenticated State</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
In the authenticated state, the client is authenticated and MUST
|
|
select a mailbox to access before commands that affect messages
|
|
will be permitted. This state is entered when a
|
|
pre-authenticated connection starts, when acceptable
|
|
authentication credentials have been provided, after an error in
|
|
selecting a mailbox, or after a successful CLOSE command.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-3.3">3.3</a>. Selected State</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
In a selected state, a mailbox has been selected to access.
|
|
This state is entered when a mailbox has been successfully
|
|
selected.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 13]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-14" id="page-14" href="#page-14" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-3.4">3.4</a>. Logout State</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
In the logout state, the connection is being terminated. This
|
|
state can be entered as a result of a client request (via the
|
|
LOGOUT command) or by unilateral action on the part of either
|
|
the client or server.
|
|
|
|
If the client requests the logout state, the server MUST send an
|
|
untagged BYE response and a tagged OK response to the LOGOUT
|
|
command before the server closes the connection; and the client
|
|
MUST read the tagged OK response to the LOGOUT command before
|
|
the client closes the connection.
|
|
|
|
A server MUST NOT unilaterally close the connection without
|
|
sending an untagged BYE response that contains the reason for
|
|
having done so. A client SHOULD NOT unilaterally close the
|
|
connection, and instead SHOULD issue a LOGOUT command. If the
|
|
server detects that the client has unilaterally closed the
|
|
connection, the server MAY omit the untagged BYE response and
|
|
simply close its connection.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 14]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-15" id="page-15" href="#page-15" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
+----------------------+
|
|
|connection established|
|
|
+----------------------+
|
|
||
|
|
\/
|
|
+--------------------------------------+
|
|
| server greeting |
|
|
+--------------------------------------+
|
|
|| (1) || (2) || (3)
|
|
\/ || ||
|
|
+-----------------+ || ||
|
|
|Not Authenticated| || ||
|
|
+-----------------+ || ||
|
|
|| (7) || (4) || ||
|
|
|| \/ \/ ||
|
|
|| +----------------+ ||
|
|
|| | Authenticated |<=++ ||
|
|
|| +----------------+ || ||
|
|
|| || (7) || (5) || (6) ||
|
|
|| || \/ || ||
|
|
|| || +--------+ || ||
|
|
|| || |Selected|==++ ||
|
|
|| || +--------+ ||
|
|
|| || || (7) ||
|
|
\/ \/ \/ \/
|
|
+--------------------------------------+
|
|
| Logout |
|
|
+--------------------------------------+
|
|
||
|
|
\/
|
|
+-------------------------------+
|
|
|both sides close the connection|
|
|
+-------------------------------+
|
|
|
|
(1) connection without pre-authentication (OK greeting)
|
|
(2) pre-authenticated connection (PREAUTH greeting)
|
|
(3) rejected connection (BYE greeting)
|
|
(4) successful LOGIN or AUTHENTICATE command
|
|
(5) successful SELECT or EXAMINE command
|
|
(6) CLOSE command, or failed SELECT or EXAMINE command
|
|
(7) LOGOUT command, server shutdown, or connection closed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 15]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-16" id="page-16" href="#page-16" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-4">4</a>. Data Formats</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
IMAP4rev1 uses textual commands and responses. Data in
|
|
IMAP4rev1 can be in one of several forms: atom, number, string,
|
|
parenthesized list, or NIL. Note that a particular data item
|
|
may take more than one form; for example, a data item defined as
|
|
using "astring" syntax may be either an atom or a string.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-4.1">4.1</a>. Atom</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
An atom consists of one or more non-special characters.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-4.2">4.2</a>. Number</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
A number consists of one or more digit characters, and
|
|
represents a numeric value.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-4.3">4.3</a>. String</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
A string is in one of two forms: either literal or quoted
|
|
string. The literal form is the general form of string. The
|
|
quoted string form is an alternative that avoids the overhead of
|
|
processing a literal at the cost of limitations of characters
|
|
which may be used.
|
|
|
|
A literal is a sequence of zero or more octets (including CR and
|
|
LF), prefix-quoted with an octet count in the form of an open
|
|
brace ("{"), the number of octets, close brace ("}"), and CRLF.
|
|
In the case of literals transmitted from server to client, the
|
|
CRLF is immediately followed by the octet data. In the case of
|
|
literals transmitted from client to server, the client MUST wait
|
|
to receive a command continuation request (described later in
|
|
this document) before sending the octet data (and the remainder
|
|
of the command).
|
|
|
|
A quoted string is a sequence of zero or more 7-bit characters,
|
|
excluding CR and LF, with double quote (<">) characters at each
|
|
end.
|
|
|
|
The empty string is represented as either "" (a quoted string
|
|
with zero characters between double quotes) or as {0} followed
|
|
by CRLF (a literal with an octet count of 0).
|
|
|
|
Note: Even if the octet count is 0, a client transmitting a
|
|
literal MUST wait to receive a command continuation request.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 16]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-17" id="page-17" href="#page-17" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-4.3.1">4.3.1</a>. 8-bit and Binary Strings</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
8-bit textual and binary mail is supported through the use of a
|
|
[<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] content transfer encoding. IMAP4rev1 implementations MAY
|
|
transmit 8-bit or multi-octet characters in literals, but SHOULD do
|
|
so only when the [<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>] is identified.
|
|
|
|
Although a BINARY body encoding is defined, unencoded binary strings
|
|
are not permitted. A "binary string" is any string with NUL
|
|
characters. Implementations MUST encode binary data into a textual
|
|
form, such as BASE64, before transmitting the data. A string with an
|
|
excessive amount of CTL characters MAY also be considered to be
|
|
binary.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-4.4">4.4</a>. Parenthesized List</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
Data structures are represented as a "parenthesized list"; a sequence
|
|
of data items, delimited by space, and bounded at each end by
|
|
parentheses. A parenthesized list can contain other parenthesized
|
|
lists, using multiple levels of parentheses to indicate nesting.
|
|
|
|
The empty list is represented as () -- a parenthesized list with no
|
|
members.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-4.5">4.5</a>. NIL</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
The special form "NIL" represents the non-existence of a particular
|
|
data item that is represented as a string or parenthesized list, as
|
|
distinct from the empty string "" or the empty parenthesized list ().
|
|
|
|
Note: NIL is never used for any data item which takes the
|
|
form of an atom. For example, a mailbox name of "NIL" is a
|
|
mailbox named NIL as opposed to a non-existent mailbox
|
|
name. This is because mailbox uses "astring" syntax which
|
|
is an atom or a string. Conversely, an addr-name of NIL is
|
|
a non-existent personal name, because addr-name uses
|
|
"nstring" syntax which is NIL or a string, but never an
|
|
atom.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 17]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-18" id="page-18" href="#page-18" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-5">5</a>. Operational Considerations</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
The following rules are listed here to ensure that all IMAP4rev1
|
|
implementations interoperate properly.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-5.1">5.1</a>. Mailbox Naming</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
Mailbox names are 7-bit. Client implementations MUST NOT attempt to
|
|
create 8-bit mailbox names, and SHOULD interpret any 8-bit mailbox
|
|
names returned by LIST or LSUB as UTF-8. Server implementations
|
|
SHOULD prohibit the creation of 8-bit mailbox names, and SHOULD NOT
|
|
return 8-bit mailbox names in LIST or LSUB. See <a href="#section-5.1.3">section 5.1.3</a> for
|
|
more information on how to represent non-ASCII mailbox names.
|
|
|
|
Note: 8-bit mailbox names were undefined in earlier
|
|
versions of this protocol. Some sites used a local 8-bit
|
|
character set to represent non-ASCII mailbox names. Such
|
|
usage is not interoperable, and is now formally deprecated.
|
|
|
|
The case-insensitive mailbox name INBOX is a special name reserved to
|
|
mean "the primary mailbox for this user on this server". The
|
|
interpretation of all other names is implementation-dependent.
|
|
|
|
In particular, this specification takes no position on case
|
|
sensitivity in non-INBOX mailbox names. Some server implementations
|
|
are fully case-sensitive; others preserve case of a newly-created
|
|
name but otherwise are case-insensitive; and yet others coerce names
|
|
to a particular case. Client implementations MUST interact with any
|
|
of these. If a server implementation interprets non-INBOX mailbox
|
|
names as case-insensitive, it MUST treat names using the
|
|
international naming convention specially as described in section
|
|
5.1.3.
|
|
|
|
There are certain client considerations when creating a new mailbox
|
|
name:
|
|
|
|
1) Any character which is one of the atom-specials (see the Formal
|
|
Syntax) will require that the mailbox name be represented as a
|
|
quoted string or literal.
|
|
|
|
2) CTL and other non-graphic characters are difficult to represent
|
|
in a user interface and are best avoided.
|
|
|
|
3) Although the list-wildcard characters ("%" and "*") are valid
|
|
in a mailbox name, it is difficult to use such mailbox names
|
|
with the LIST and LSUB commands due to the conflict with
|
|
wildcard interpretation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 18]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-19" id="page-19" href="#page-19" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
4) Usually, a character (determined by the server implementation)
|
|
is reserved to delimit levels of hierarchy.
|
|
|
|
5) Two characters, "#" and "&", have meanings by convention, and
|
|
should be avoided except when used in that convention.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-5.1.1">5.1.1</a>. Mailbox Hierarchy Naming</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
If it is desired to export hierarchical mailbox names, mailbox names
|
|
MUST be left-to-right hierarchical using a single character to
|
|
separate levels of hierarchy. The same hierarchy separator character
|
|
is used for all levels of hierarchy within a single name.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-5.1.2">5.1.2</a>. Mailbox Namespace Naming Convention</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
By convention, the first hierarchical element of any mailbox name
|
|
which begins with "#" identifies the "namespace" of the remainder of
|
|
the name. This makes it possible to disambiguate between different
|
|
types of mailbox stores, each of which have their own namespaces.
|
|
|
|
For example, implementations which offer access to USENET
|
|
newsgroups MAY use the "#news" namespace to partition the
|
|
USENET newsgroup namespace from that of other mailboxes.
|
|
Thus, the comp.mail.misc newsgroup would have a mailbox
|
|
name of "#news.comp.mail.misc", and the name
|
|
"comp.mail.misc" can refer to a different object (e.g., a
|
|
user's private mailbox).
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-5.1.3">5.1.3</a>. Mailbox International Naming Convention</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
By convention, international mailbox names in IMAP4rev1 are specified
|
|
using a modified version of the UTF-7 encoding described in [<a href="#ref-UTF-7" title=""UTF-7: A Mail-Safe Transformation Format of Unicode"">UTF-7</a>].
|
|
Modified UTF-7 may also be usable in servers that implement an
|
|
earlier version of this protocol.
|
|
|
|
In modified UTF-7, printable US-ASCII characters, except for "&",
|
|
represent themselves; that is, characters with octet values 0x20-0x25
|
|
and 0x27-0x7e. The character "&" (0x26) is represented by the
|
|
two-octet sequence "&-".
|
|
|
|
All other characters (octet values 0x00-0x1f and 0x7f-0xff) are
|
|
represented in modified BASE64, with a further modification from
|
|
[<a href="#ref-UTF-7" title=""UTF-7: A Mail-Safe Transformation Format of Unicode"">UTF-7</a>] that "," is used instead of "/". Modified BASE64 MUST NOT be
|
|
used to represent any printing US-ASCII character which can represent
|
|
itself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 19]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-20" id="page-20" href="#page-20" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
"&" is used to shift to modified BASE64 and "-" to shift back to
|
|
US-ASCII. There is no implicit shift from BASE64 to US-ASCII, and
|
|
null shifts ("-&" while in BASE64; note that "&-" while in US-ASCII
|
|
means "&") are not permitted. However, all names start in US-ASCII,
|
|
and MUST end in US-ASCII; that is, a name that ends with a non-ASCII
|
|
ISO-10646 character MUST end with a "-").
|
|
|
|
The purpose of these modifications is to correct the following
|
|
problems with UTF-7:
|
|
|
|
1) UTF-7 uses the "+" character for shifting; this conflicts with
|
|
the common use of "+" in mailbox names, in particular USENET
|
|
newsgroup names.
|
|
|
|
2) UTF-7's encoding is BASE64 which uses the "/" character; this
|
|
conflicts with the use of "/" as a popular hierarchy delimiter.
|
|
|
|
3) UTF-7 prohibits the unencoded usage of "\"; this conflicts with
|
|
the use of "\" as a popular hierarchy delimiter.
|
|
|
|
4) UTF-7 prohibits the unencoded usage of "~"; this conflicts with
|
|
the use of "~" in some servers as a home directory indicator.
|
|
|
|
5) UTF-7 permits multiple alternate forms to represent the same
|
|
string; in particular, printable US-ASCII characters can be
|
|
represented in encoded form.
|
|
|
|
Although modified UTF-7 is a convention, it establishes certain
|
|
requirements on server handling of any mailbox name with an
|
|
embedded "&" character. In particular, server implementations
|
|
MUST preserve the exact form of the modified BASE64 portion of a
|
|
modified UTF-7 name and treat that text as case-sensitive, even if
|
|
names are otherwise case-insensitive or case-folded.
|
|
|
|
Server implementations SHOULD verify that any mailbox name with an
|
|
embedded "&" character, used as an argument to CREATE, is: in the
|
|
correctly modified UTF-7 syntax, has no superfluous shifts, and
|
|
has no encoding in modified BASE64 of any printing US-ASCII
|
|
character which can represent itself. However, client
|
|
implementations MUST NOT depend upon the server doing this, and
|
|
SHOULD NOT attempt to create a mailbox name with an embedded "&"
|
|
character unless it complies with the modified UTF-7 syntax.
|
|
|
|
Server implementations which export a mail store that does not
|
|
follow the modified UTF-7 convention MUST convert to modified
|
|
UTF-7 any mailbox name that contains either non-ASCII characters
|
|
or the "&" character.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 20]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-21" id="page-21" href="#page-21" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
For example, here is a mailbox name which mixes English,
|
|
Chinese, and Japanese text:
|
|
~peter/mail/&U,BTFw-/&ZeVnLIqe-
|
|
|
|
For example, the string "&Jjo!" is not a valid mailbox
|
|
name because it does not contain a shift to US-ASCII
|
|
before the "!". The correct form is "&Jjo-!". The
|
|
string "&U,BTFw-&ZeVnLIqe-" is not permitted because it
|
|
contains a superfluous shift. The correct form is
|
|
"&U,BTF2XlZyyKng-".
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-5.2">5.2</a>. Mailbox Size and Message Status Updates</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
At any time, a server can send data that the client did not request.
|
|
Sometimes, such behavior is REQUIRED. For example, agents other than
|
|
the server MAY add messages to the mailbox (e.g., new message
|
|
delivery), change the flags of the messages in the mailbox (e.g.,
|
|
simultaneous access to the same mailbox by multiple agents), or even
|
|
remove messages from the mailbox. A server MUST send mailbox size
|
|
updates automatically if a mailbox size change is observed during the
|
|
processing of a command. A server SHOULD send message flag updates
|
|
automatically, without requiring the client to request such updates
|
|
explicitly.
|
|
|
|
Special rules exist for server notification of a client about the
|
|
removal of messages to prevent synchronization errors; see the
|
|
description of the EXPUNGE response for more detail. In particular,
|
|
it is NOT permitted to send an EXISTS response that would reduce the
|
|
number of messages in the mailbox; only the EXPUNGE response can do
|
|
this.
|
|
|
|
Regardless of what implementation decisions a client makes on
|
|
remembering data from the server, a client implementation MUST record
|
|
mailbox size updates. It MUST NOT assume that any command after the
|
|
initial mailbox selection will return the size of the mailbox.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-5.3">5.3</a>. Response when no Command in Progress</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
Server implementations are permitted to send an untagged response
|
|
(except for EXPUNGE) while there is no command in progress. Server
|
|
implementations that send such responses MUST deal with flow control
|
|
considerations. Specifically, they MUST either (1) verify that the
|
|
size of the data does not exceed the underlying transport's available
|
|
window size, or (2) use non-blocking writes.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 21]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-22" id="page-22" href="#page-22" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-5.4">5.4</a>. Autologout Timer</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
If a server has an inactivity autologout timer, the duration of that
|
|
timer MUST be at least 30 minutes. The receipt of ANY command from
|
|
the client during that interval SHOULD suffice to reset the
|
|
autologout timer.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-5.5">5.5</a>. Multiple Commands in Progress</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
The client MAY send another command without waiting for the
|
|
completion result response of a command, subject to ambiguity rules
|
|
(see below) and flow control constraints on the underlying data
|
|
stream. Similarly, a server MAY begin processing another command
|
|
before processing the current command to completion, subject to
|
|
ambiguity rules. However, any command continuation request responses
|
|
and command continuations MUST be negotiated before any subsequent
|
|
command is initiated.
|
|
|
|
The exception is if an ambiguity would result because of a command
|
|
that would affect the results of other commands. Clients MUST NOT
|
|
send multiple commands without waiting if an ambiguity would result.
|
|
If the server detects a possible ambiguity, it MUST execute commands
|
|
to completion in the order given by the client.
|
|
|
|
The most obvious example of ambiguity is when a command would affect
|
|
the results of another command, e.g., a FETCH of a message's flags
|
|
and a STORE of that same message's flags.
|
|
|
|
A non-obvious ambiguity occurs with commands that permit an untagged
|
|
EXPUNGE response (commands other than FETCH, STORE, and SEARCH),
|
|
since an untagged EXPUNGE response can invalidate sequence numbers in
|
|
a subsequent command. This is not a problem for FETCH, STORE, or
|
|
SEARCH commands because servers are prohibited from sending EXPUNGE
|
|
responses while any of those commands are in progress. Therefore, if
|
|
the client sends any command other than FETCH, STORE, or SEARCH, it
|
|
MUST wait for the completion result response before sending a command
|
|
with message sequence numbers.
|
|
|
|
Note: UID FETCH, UID STORE, and UID SEARCH are different
|
|
commands from FETCH, STORE, and SEARCH. If the client
|
|
sends a UID command, it must wait for a completion result
|
|
response before sending a command with message sequence
|
|
numbers.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 22]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-23" id="page-23" href="#page-23" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
For example, the following non-waiting command sequences are invalid:
|
|
|
|
FETCH + NOOP + STORE
|
|
STORE + COPY + FETCH
|
|
COPY + COPY
|
|
CHECK + FETCH
|
|
|
|
The following are examples of valid non-waiting command sequences:
|
|
|
|
FETCH + STORE + SEARCH + CHECK
|
|
STORE + COPY + EXPUNGE
|
|
|
|
UID SEARCH + UID SEARCH may be valid or invalid as a non-waiting
|
|
command sequence, depending upon whether or not the second UID
|
|
SEARCH contains message sequence numbers.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-6">6</a>. Client Commands</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
IMAP4rev1 commands are described in this section. Commands are
|
|
organized by the state in which the command is permitted. Commands
|
|
which are permitted in multiple states are listed in the minimum
|
|
permitted state (for example, commands valid in authenticated and
|
|
selected state are listed in the authenticated state commands).
|
|
|
|
Command arguments, identified by "Arguments:" in the command
|
|
descriptions below, are described by function, not by syntax. The
|
|
precise syntax of command arguments is described in the Formal Syntax
|
|
section.
|
|
|
|
Some commands cause specific server responses to be returned; these
|
|
are identified by "Responses:" in the command descriptions below.
|
|
See the response descriptions in the Responses section for
|
|
information on these responses, and the Formal Syntax section for the
|
|
precise syntax of these responses. It is possible for server data to
|
|
be transmitted as a result of any command. Thus, commands that do
|
|
not specifically require server data specify "no specific responses
|
|
for this command" instead of "none".
|
|
|
|
The "Result:" in the command description refers to the possible
|
|
tagged status responses to a command, and any special interpretation
|
|
of these status responses.
|
|
|
|
The state of a connection is only changed by successful commands
|
|
which are documented as changing state. A rejected command (BAD
|
|
response) never changes the state of the connection or of the
|
|
selected mailbox. A failed command (NO response) generally does not
|
|
change the state of the connection or of the selected mailbox; the
|
|
exception being the SELECT and EXAMINE commands.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 23]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-24" id="page-24" href="#page-24" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-6.1">6.1</a>. Client Commands - Any State</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
The following commands are valid in any state: CAPABILITY, NOOP, and
|
|
LOGOUT.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.1.1">6.1.1</a>. CAPABILITY Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: none
|
|
|
|
Responses: REQUIRED untagged response: CAPABILITY
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - capability completed
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The CAPABILITY command requests a listing of capabilities that the
|
|
server supports. The server MUST send a single untagged
|
|
CAPABILITY response with "IMAP4rev1" as one of the listed
|
|
capabilities before the (tagged) OK response.
|
|
|
|
A capability name which begins with "AUTH=" indicates that the
|
|
server supports that particular authentication mechanism. All
|
|
such names are, by definition, part of this specification. For
|
|
example, the authorization capability for an experimental
|
|
"blurdybloop" authenticator would be "AUTH=XBLURDYBLOOP" and not
|
|
"XAUTH=BLURDYBLOOP" or "XAUTH=XBLURDYBLOOP".
|
|
|
|
Other capability names refer to extensions, revisions, or
|
|
amendments to this specification. See the documentation of the
|
|
CAPABILITY response for additional information. No capabilities,
|
|
beyond the base IMAP4rev1 set defined in this specification, are
|
|
enabled without explicit client action to invoke the capability.
|
|
|
|
Client and server implementations MUST implement the STARTTLS,
|
|
LOGINDISABLED, and AUTH=PLAIN (described in [<a href="#ref-IMAP-TLS" title=""Using TLS with IMAP, POP3 and ACAP"">IMAP-TLS</a>])
|
|
capabilities. See the Security Considerations section for
|
|
important information.
|
|
|
|
See the section entitled "Client Commands -
|
|
Experimental/Expansion" for information about the form of site or
|
|
implementation-specific capabilities.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 24]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-25" id="page-25" href="#page-25" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example: C: abcd CAPABILITY
|
|
S: * CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 STARTTLS AUTH=GSSAPI
|
|
LOGINDISABLED
|
|
S: abcd OK CAPABILITY completed
|
|
C: efgh STARTTLS
|
|
S: efgh OK STARTLS completed
|
|
<TLS negotiation, further commands are under [<a href="#ref-TLS" title=""The TLS Protocol Version 1.0"">TLS</a>] layer>
|
|
C: ijkl CAPABILITY
|
|
S: * CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 AUTH=GSSAPI AUTH=PLAIN
|
|
S: ijkl OK CAPABILITY completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.1.2">6.1.2</a>. NOOP Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: none
|
|
|
|
Responses: no specific responses for this command (but see below)
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - noop completed
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The NOOP command always succeeds. It does nothing.
|
|
|
|
Since any command can return a status update as untagged data, the
|
|
NOOP command can be used as a periodic poll for new messages or
|
|
message status updates during a period of inactivity (this is the
|
|
preferred method to do this). The NOOP command can also be used
|
|
to reset any inactivity autologout timer on the server.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: a002 NOOP
|
|
S: a002 OK NOOP completed
|
|
. . .
|
|
C: a047 NOOP
|
|
S: * 22 EXPUNGE
|
|
S: * 23 EXISTS
|
|
S: * 3 RECENT
|
|
S: * 14 FETCH (FLAGS (\Seen \Deleted))
|
|
S: a047 OK NOOP completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 25]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-26" id="page-26" href="#page-26" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.1.3">6.1.3</a>. LOGOUT Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: none
|
|
|
|
Responses: REQUIRED untagged response: BYE
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - logout completed
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The LOGOUT command informs the server that the client is done with
|
|
the connection. The server MUST send a BYE untagged response
|
|
before the (tagged) OK response, and then close the network
|
|
connection.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A023 LOGOUT
|
|
S: * BYE IMAP4rev1 Server logging out
|
|
S: A023 OK LOGOUT completed
|
|
(Server and client then close the connection)
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-6.2">6.2</a>. Client Commands - Not Authenticated State</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
In the not authenticated state, the AUTHENTICATE or LOGIN command
|
|
establishes authentication and enters the authenticated state. The
|
|
AUTHENTICATE command provides a general mechanism for a variety of
|
|
authentication techniques, privacy protection, and integrity
|
|
checking; whereas the LOGIN command uses a traditional user name and
|
|
plaintext password pair and has no means of establishing privacy
|
|
protection or integrity checking.
|
|
|
|
The STARTTLS command is an alternate form of establishing session
|
|
privacy protection and integrity checking, but does not establish
|
|
authentication or enter the authenticated state.
|
|
|
|
Server implementations MAY allow access to certain mailboxes without
|
|
establishing authentication. This can be done by means of the
|
|
ANONYMOUS [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>] authenticator described in [<a href="#ref-ANONYMOUS" title=""Anonymous SASL Mechanism"">ANONYMOUS</a>]. An older
|
|
convention is a LOGIN command using the userid "anonymous"; in this
|
|
case, a password is required although the server may choose to accept
|
|
any password. The restrictions placed on anonymous users are
|
|
implementation-dependent.
|
|
|
|
Once authenticated (including as anonymous), it is not possible to
|
|
re-enter not authenticated state.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 26]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-27" id="page-27" href="#page-27" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
In addition to the universal commands (CAPABILITY, NOOP, and LOGOUT),
|
|
the following commands are valid in the not authenticated state:
|
|
STARTTLS, AUTHENTICATE and LOGIN. See the Security Considerations
|
|
section for important information about these commands.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.2.1">6.2.1</a>. STARTTLS Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: none
|
|
|
|
Responses: no specific response for this command
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - starttls completed, begin TLS negotiation
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
A [<a href="#ref-TLS" title=""The TLS Protocol Version 1.0"">TLS</a>] negotiation begins immediately after the CRLF at the end
|
|
of the tagged OK response from the server. Once a client issues a
|
|
STARTTLS command, it MUST NOT issue further commands until a
|
|
server response is seen and the [<a href="#ref-TLS" title=""The TLS Protocol Version 1.0"">TLS</a>] negotiation is complete.
|
|
|
|
The server remains in the non-authenticated state, even if client
|
|
credentials are supplied during the [<a href="#ref-TLS" title=""The TLS Protocol Version 1.0"">TLS</a>] negotiation. This does
|
|
not preclude an authentication mechanism such as EXTERNAL (defined
|
|
in [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>]) from using client identity determined by the [<a href="#ref-TLS" title=""The TLS Protocol Version 1.0"">TLS</a>]
|
|
negotiation.
|
|
|
|
Once [<a href="#ref-TLS" title=""The TLS Protocol Version 1.0"">TLS</a>] has been started, the client MUST discard cached
|
|
information about server capabilities and SHOULD re-issue the
|
|
CAPABILITY command. This is necessary to protect against man-in-
|
|
the-middle attacks which alter the capabilities list prior to
|
|
STARTTLS. The server MAY advertise different capabilities after
|
|
STARTTLS.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: a001 CAPABILITY
|
|
S: * CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 STARTTLS LOGINDISABLED
|
|
S: a001 OK CAPABILITY completed
|
|
C: a002 STARTTLS
|
|
S: a002 OK Begin TLS negotiation now
|
|
<TLS negotiation, further commands are under [<a href="#ref-TLS" title=""The TLS Protocol Version 1.0"">TLS</a>] layer>
|
|
C: a003 CAPABILITY
|
|
S: * CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 AUTH=PLAIN
|
|
S: a003 OK CAPABILITY completed
|
|
C: a004 LOGIN joe password
|
|
S: a004 OK LOGIN completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 27]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-28" id="page-28" href="#page-28" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.2.2">6.2.2</a>. AUTHENTICATE Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: authentication mechanism name
|
|
|
|
Responses: continuation data can be requested
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - authenticate completed, now in authenticated state
|
|
NO - authenticate failure: unsupported authentication
|
|
mechanism, credentials rejected
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid,
|
|
authentication exchange cancelled
|
|
|
|
The AUTHENTICATE command indicates a [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>] authentication
|
|
mechanism to the server. If the server supports the requested
|
|
authentication mechanism, it performs an authentication protocol
|
|
exchange to authenticate and identify the client. It MAY also
|
|
negotiate an OPTIONAL security layer for subsequent protocol
|
|
interactions. If the requested authentication mechanism is not
|
|
supported, the server SHOULD reject the AUTHENTICATE command by
|
|
sending a tagged NO response.
|
|
|
|
The AUTHENTICATE command does not support the optional "initial
|
|
response" feature of [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>]. <a href="#section-5.1">Section 5.1</a> of [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>] specifies how
|
|
to handle an authentication mechanism which uses an initial
|
|
response.
|
|
|
|
The service name specified by this protocol's profile of [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>] is
|
|
"imap".
|
|
|
|
The authentication protocol exchange consists of a series of
|
|
server challenges and client responses that are specific to the
|
|
authentication mechanism. A server challenge consists of a
|
|
command continuation request response with the "+" token followed
|
|
by a BASE64 encoded string. The client response consists of a
|
|
single line consisting of a BASE64 encoded string. If the client
|
|
wishes to cancel an authentication exchange, it issues a line
|
|
consisting of a single "*". If the server receives such a
|
|
response, it MUST reject the AUTHENTICATE command by sending a
|
|
tagged BAD response.
|
|
|
|
If a security layer is negotiated through the [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>]
|
|
authentication exchange, it takes effect immediately following the
|
|
CRLF that concludes the authentication exchange for the client,
|
|
and the CRLF of the tagged OK response for the server.
|
|
|
|
While client and server implementations MUST implement the
|
|
AUTHENTICATE command itself, it is not required to implement any
|
|
authentication mechanisms other than the PLAIN mechanism described
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 28]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-29" id="page-29" href="#page-29" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
in [<a href="#ref-IMAP-TLS" title=""Using TLS with IMAP, POP3 and ACAP"">IMAP-TLS</a>]. Also, an authentication mechanism is not required
|
|
to support any security layers.
|
|
|
|
Note: a server implementation MUST implement a
|
|
configuration in which it does NOT permit any plaintext
|
|
password mechanisms, unless either the STARTTLS command
|
|
has been negotiated or some other mechanism that
|
|
protects the session from password snooping has been
|
|
provided. Server sites SHOULD NOT use any configuration
|
|
which permits a plaintext password mechanism without
|
|
such a protection mechanism against password snooping.
|
|
Client and server implementations SHOULD implement
|
|
additional [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>] mechanisms that do not use plaintext
|
|
passwords, such the GSSAPI mechanism described in [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>]
|
|
and/or the [<a href="#ref-DIGEST-MD5" title=""Using Digest Authentication as a SASL Mechanism"">DIGEST-MD5</a>] mechanism.
|
|
|
|
Servers and clients can support multiple authentication
|
|
mechanisms. The server SHOULD list its supported authentication
|
|
mechanisms in the response to the CAPABILITY command so that the
|
|
client knows which authentication mechanisms to use.
|
|
|
|
A server MAY include a CAPABILITY response code in the tagged OK
|
|
response of a successful AUTHENTICATE command in order to send
|
|
capabilities automatically. It is unnecessary for a client to
|
|
send a separate CAPABILITY command if it recognizes these
|
|
automatic capabilities. This should only be done if a security
|
|
layer was not negotiated by the AUTHENTICATE command, because the
|
|
tagged OK response as part of an AUTHENTICATE command is not
|
|
protected by encryption/integrity checking. [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>] requires the
|
|
client to re-issue a CAPABILITY command in this case.
|
|
|
|
If an AUTHENTICATE command fails with a NO response, the client
|
|
MAY try another authentication mechanism by issuing another
|
|
AUTHENTICATE command. It MAY also attempt to authenticate by
|
|
using the LOGIN command (see <a href="#section-6.2.3">section 6.2.3</a> for more detail). In
|
|
other words, the client MAY request authentication types in
|
|
decreasing order of preference, with the LOGIN command as a last
|
|
resort.
|
|
|
|
The authorization identity passed from the client to the server
|
|
during the authentication exchange is interpreted by the server as
|
|
the user name whose privileges the client is requesting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 29]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-30" id="page-30" href="#page-30" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * OK IMAP4rev1 Server
|
|
C: A001 AUTHENTICATE GSSAPI
|
|
S: +
|
|
C: YIIB+wYJKoZIhvcSAQICAQBuggHqMIIB5qADAgEFoQMCAQ6iBw
|
|
MFACAAAACjggEmYYIBIjCCAR6gAwIBBaESGxB1Lndhc2hpbmd0
|
|
b24uZWR1oi0wK6ADAgEDoSQwIhsEaW1hcBsac2hpdmFtcy5jYW
|
|
Mud2FzaGluZ3Rvbi5lZHWjgdMwgdCgAwIBAaEDAgEDooHDBIHA
|
|
cS1GSa5b+fXnPZNmXB9SjL8Ollj2SKyb+3S0iXMljen/jNkpJX
|
|
AleKTz6BQPzj8duz8EtoOuNfKgweViyn/9B9bccy1uuAE2HI0y
|
|
C/PHXNNU9ZrBziJ8Lm0tTNc98kUpjXnHZhsMcz5Mx2GR6dGknb
|
|
I0iaGcRerMUsWOuBmKKKRmVMMdR9T3EZdpqsBd7jZCNMWotjhi
|
|
vd5zovQlFqQ2Wjc2+y46vKP/iXxWIuQJuDiisyXF0Y8+5GTpAL
|
|
pHDc1/pIGmMIGjoAMCAQGigZsEgZg2on5mSuxoDHEA1w9bcW9n
|
|
FdFxDKpdrQhVGVRDIzcCMCTzvUboqb5KjY1NJKJsfjRQiBYBdE
|
|
NKfzK+g5DlV8nrw81uOcP8NOQCLR5XkoMHC0Dr/80ziQzbNqhx
|
|
O6652Npft0LQwJvenwDI13YxpwOdMXzkWZN/XrEqOWp6GCgXTB
|
|
vCyLWLlWnbaUkZdEYbKHBPjd8t/1x5Yg==
|
|
S: + YGgGCSqGSIb3EgECAgIAb1kwV6ADAgEFoQMCAQ+iSzBJoAMC
|
|
AQGiQgRAtHTEuOP2BXb9sBYFR4SJlDZxmg39IxmRBOhXRKdDA0
|
|
uHTCOT9Bq3OsUTXUlk0CsFLoa8j+gvGDlgHuqzWHPSQg==
|
|
C:
|
|
S: + YDMGCSqGSIb3EgECAgIBAAD/////6jcyG4GE3KkTzBeBiVHe
|
|
ceP2CWY0SR0fAQAgAAQEBAQ=
|
|
C: YDMGCSqGSIb3EgECAgIBAAD/////3LQBHXTpFfZgrejpLlLImP
|
|
wkhbfa2QteAQAgAG1yYwE=
|
|
S: A001 OK GSSAPI authentication successful
|
|
|
|
Note: The line breaks within server challenges and client
|
|
responses are for editorial clarity and are not in real
|
|
authenticators.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.2.3">6.2.3</a>. LOGIN Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: user name
|
|
password
|
|
|
|
Responses: no specific responses for this command
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - login completed, now in authenticated state
|
|
NO - login failure: user name or password rejected
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The LOGIN command identifies the client to the server and carries
|
|
the plaintext password authenticating this user.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 30]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-31" id="page-31" href="#page-31" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
A server MAY include a CAPABILITY response code in the tagged OK
|
|
response to a successful LOGIN command in order to send
|
|
capabilities automatically. It is unnecessary for a client to
|
|
send a separate CAPABILITY command if it recognizes these
|
|
automatic capabilities.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: a001 LOGIN SMITH SESAME
|
|
S: a001 OK LOGIN completed
|
|
|
|
Note: Use of the LOGIN command over an insecure network
|
|
(such as the Internet) is a security risk, because anyone
|
|
monitoring network traffic can obtain plaintext passwords.
|
|
The LOGIN command SHOULD NOT be used except as a last
|
|
resort, and it is recommended that client implementations
|
|
have a means to disable any automatic use of the LOGIN
|
|
command.
|
|
|
|
Unless either the STARTTLS command has been negotiated or
|
|
some other mechanism that protects the session from
|
|
password snooping has been provided, a server
|
|
implementation MUST implement a configuration in which it
|
|
advertises the LOGINDISABLED capability and does NOT permit
|
|
the LOGIN command. Server sites SHOULD NOT use any
|
|
configuration which permits the LOGIN command without such
|
|
a protection mechanism against password snooping. A client
|
|
implementation MUST NOT send a LOGIN command if the
|
|
LOGINDISABLED capability is advertised.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-6.3">6.3</a>. Client Commands - Authenticated State</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
In the authenticated state, commands that manipulate mailboxes as
|
|
atomic entities are permitted. Of these commands, the SELECT and
|
|
EXAMINE commands will select a mailbox for access and enter the
|
|
selected state.
|
|
|
|
In addition to the universal commands (CAPABILITY, NOOP, and LOGOUT),
|
|
the following commands are valid in the authenticated state: SELECT,
|
|
EXAMINE, CREATE, DELETE, RENAME, SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, LIST, LSUB,
|
|
STATUS, and APPEND.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 31]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-32" id="page-32" href="#page-32" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.3.1">6.3.1</a>. SELECT Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: mailbox name
|
|
|
|
Responses: REQUIRED untagged responses: FLAGS, EXISTS, RECENT
|
|
REQUIRED OK untagged responses: UNSEEN, PERMANENTFLAGS,
|
|
UIDNEXT, UIDVALIDITY
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - select completed, now in selected state
|
|
NO - select failure, now in authenticated state: no
|
|
such mailbox, can't access mailbox
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The SELECT command selects a mailbox so that messages in the
|
|
mailbox can be accessed. Before returning an OK to the client,
|
|
the server MUST send the following untagged data to the client.
|
|
Note that earlier versions of this protocol only required the
|
|
FLAGS, EXISTS, and RECENT untagged data; consequently, client
|
|
implementations SHOULD implement default behavior for missing data
|
|
as discussed with the individual item.
|
|
|
|
FLAGS Defined flags in the mailbox. See the description
|
|
of the FLAGS response for more detail.
|
|
|
|
<n> EXISTS The number of messages in the mailbox. See the
|
|
description of the EXISTS response for more detail.
|
|
|
|
<n> RECENT The number of messages with the \Recent flag set.
|
|
See the description of the RECENT response for more
|
|
detail.
|
|
|
|
OK [UNSEEN <n>]
|
|
The message sequence number of the first unseen
|
|
message in the mailbox. If this is missing, the
|
|
client can not make any assumptions about the first
|
|
unseen message in the mailbox, and needs to issue a
|
|
SEARCH command if it wants to find it.
|
|
|
|
OK [PERMANENTFLAGS (<list of flags>)]
|
|
A list of message flags that the client can change
|
|
permanently. If this is missing, the client should
|
|
assume that all flags can be changed permanently.
|
|
|
|
OK [UIDNEXT <n>]
|
|
The next unique identifier value. Refer to section
|
|
2.3.1.1 for more information. If this is missing,
|
|
the client can not make any assumptions about the
|
|
next unique identifier value.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 32]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-33" id="page-33" href="#page-33" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
OK [UIDVALIDITY <n>]
|
|
The unique identifier validity value. Refer to
|
|
<a href="#section-2.3.1.1">section 2.3.1.1</a> for more information. If this is
|
|
missing, the server does not support unique
|
|
identifiers.
|
|
|
|
Only one mailbox can be selected at a time in a connection;
|
|
simultaneous access to multiple mailboxes requires multiple
|
|
connections. The SELECT command automatically deselects any
|
|
currently selected mailbox before attempting the new selection.
|
|
Consequently, if a mailbox is selected and a SELECT command that
|
|
fails is attempted, no mailbox is selected.
|
|
|
|
If the client is permitted to modify the mailbox, the server
|
|
SHOULD prefix the text of the tagged OK response with the
|
|
"[<a href="#ref-READ-WRITE">READ-WRITE</a>]" response code.
|
|
|
|
If the client is not permitted to modify the mailbox but is
|
|
permitted read access, the mailbox is selected as read-only, and
|
|
the server MUST prefix the text of the tagged OK response to
|
|
SELECT with the "[<a href="#ref-READ-ONLY">READ-ONLY</a>]" response code. Read-only access
|
|
through SELECT differs from the EXAMINE command in that certain
|
|
read-only mailboxes MAY permit the change of permanent state on a
|
|
per-user (as opposed to global) basis. Netnews messages marked in
|
|
a server-based .newsrc file are an example of such per-user
|
|
permanent state that can be modified with read-only mailboxes.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A142 SELECT INBOX
|
|
S: * 172 EXISTS
|
|
S: * 1 RECENT
|
|
S: * OK [UNSEEN 12] Message 12 is first unseen
|
|
S: * OK [UIDVALIDITY 3857529045] UIDs valid
|
|
S: * OK [UIDNEXT 4392] Predicted next UID
|
|
S: * FLAGS (\Answered \Flagged \Deleted \Seen \Draft)
|
|
S: * OK [PERMANENTFLAGS (\Deleted \Seen \*)] Limited
|
|
S: A142 OK [<a href="#ref-READ-WRITE">READ-WRITE</a>] SELECT completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 33]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-34" id="page-34" href="#page-34" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.3.2">6.3.2</a>. EXAMINE Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: mailbox name
|
|
|
|
Responses: REQUIRED untagged responses: FLAGS, EXISTS, RECENT
|
|
REQUIRED OK untagged responses: UNSEEN, PERMANENTFLAGS,
|
|
UIDNEXT, UIDVALIDITY
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - examine completed, now in selected state
|
|
NO - examine failure, now in authenticated state: no
|
|
such mailbox, can't access mailbox
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The EXAMINE command is identical to SELECT and returns the same
|
|
output; however, the selected mailbox is identified as read-only.
|
|
No changes to the permanent state of the mailbox, including
|
|
per-user state, are permitted; in particular, EXAMINE MUST NOT
|
|
cause messages to lose the \Recent flag.
|
|
|
|
The text of the tagged OK response to the EXAMINE command MUST
|
|
begin with the "[<a href="#ref-READ-ONLY">READ-ONLY</a>]" response code.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A932 EXAMINE blurdybloop
|
|
S: * 17 EXISTS
|
|
S: * 2 RECENT
|
|
S: * OK [UNSEEN 8] Message 8 is first unseen
|
|
S: * OK [UIDVALIDITY 3857529045] UIDs valid
|
|
S: * OK [UIDNEXT 4392] Predicted next UID
|
|
S: * FLAGS (\Answered \Flagged \Deleted \Seen \Draft)
|
|
S: * OK [PERMANENTFLAGS ()] No permanent flags permitted
|
|
S: A932 OK [<a href="#ref-READ-ONLY">READ-ONLY</a>] EXAMINE completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.3.3">6.3.3</a>. CREATE Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: mailbox name
|
|
|
|
Responses: no specific responses for this command
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - create completed
|
|
NO - create failure: can't create mailbox with that name
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The CREATE command creates a mailbox with the given name. An OK
|
|
response is returned only if a new mailbox with that name has been
|
|
created. It is an error to attempt to create INBOX or a mailbox
|
|
with a name that refers to an extant mailbox. Any error in
|
|
creation will return a tagged NO response.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 34]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-35" id="page-35" href="#page-35" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
If the mailbox name is suffixed with the server's hierarchy
|
|
separator character (as returned from the server by a LIST
|
|
command), this is a declaration that the client intends to create
|
|
mailbox names under this name in the hierarchy. Server
|
|
implementations that do not require this declaration MUST ignore
|
|
the declaration. In any case, the name created is without the
|
|
trailing hierarchy delimiter.
|
|
|
|
If the server's hierarchy separator character appears elsewhere in
|
|
the name, the server SHOULD create any superior hierarchical names
|
|
that are needed for the CREATE command to be successfully
|
|
completed. In other words, an attempt to create "foo/bar/zap" on
|
|
a server in which "/" is the hierarchy separator character SHOULD
|
|
create foo/ and foo/bar/ if they do not already exist.
|
|
|
|
If a new mailbox is created with the same name as a mailbox which
|
|
was deleted, its unique identifiers MUST be greater than any
|
|
unique identifiers used in the previous incarnation of the mailbox
|
|
UNLESS the new incarnation has a different unique identifier
|
|
validity value. See the description of the UID command for more
|
|
detail.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A003 CREATE owatagusiam/
|
|
S: A003 OK CREATE completed
|
|
C: A004 CREATE owatagusiam/blurdybloop
|
|
S: A004 OK CREATE completed
|
|
|
|
Note: The interpretation of this example depends on whether
|
|
"/" was returned as the hierarchy separator from LIST. If
|
|
"/" is the hierarchy separator, a new level of hierarchy
|
|
named "owatagusiam" with a member called "blurdybloop" is
|
|
created. Otherwise, two mailboxes at the same hierarchy
|
|
level are created.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.3.4">6.3.4</a>. DELETE Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: mailbox name
|
|
|
|
Responses: no specific responses for this command
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - delete completed
|
|
NO - delete failure: can't delete mailbox with that name
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 35]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-36" id="page-36" href="#page-36" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
The DELETE command permanently removes the mailbox with the given
|
|
name. A tagged OK response is returned only if the mailbox has
|
|
been deleted. It is an error to attempt to delete INBOX or a
|
|
mailbox name that does not exist.
|
|
|
|
The DELETE command MUST NOT remove inferior hierarchical names.
|
|
For example, if a mailbox "foo" has an inferior "foo.bar"
|
|
(assuming "." is the hierarchy delimiter character), removing
|
|
"foo" MUST NOT remove "foo.bar". It is an error to attempt to
|
|
delete a name that has inferior hierarchical names and also has
|
|
the \Noselect mailbox name attribute (see the description of the
|
|
LIST response for more details).
|
|
|
|
It is permitted to delete a name that has inferior hierarchical
|
|
names and does not have the \Noselect mailbox name attribute. In
|
|
this case, all messages in that mailbox are removed, and the name
|
|
will acquire the \Noselect mailbox name attribute.
|
|
|
|
The value of the highest-used unique identifier of the deleted
|
|
mailbox MUST be preserved so that a new mailbox created with the
|
|
same name will not reuse the identifiers of the former
|
|
incarnation, UNLESS the new incarnation has a different unique
|
|
identifier validity value. See the description of the UID command
|
|
for more detail.
|
|
|
|
Examples: C: A682 LIST "" *
|
|
S: * LIST () "/" blurdybloop
|
|
S: * LIST (\Noselect) "/" foo
|
|
S: * LIST () "/" foo/bar
|
|
S: A682 OK LIST completed
|
|
C: A683 DELETE blurdybloop
|
|
S: A683 OK DELETE completed
|
|
C: A684 DELETE foo
|
|
S: A684 NO Name "foo" has inferior hierarchical names
|
|
C: A685 DELETE foo/bar
|
|
S: A685 OK DELETE Completed
|
|
C: A686 LIST "" *
|
|
S: * LIST (\Noselect) "/" foo
|
|
S: A686 OK LIST completed
|
|
C: A687 DELETE foo
|
|
S: A687 OK DELETE Completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 36]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-37" id="page-37" href="#page-37" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
C: A82 LIST "" *
|
|
S: * LIST () "." blurdybloop
|
|
S: * LIST () "." foo
|
|
S: * LIST () "." foo.bar
|
|
S: A82 OK LIST completed
|
|
C: A83 DELETE blurdybloop
|
|
S: A83 OK DELETE completed
|
|
C: A84 DELETE foo
|
|
S: A84 OK DELETE Completed
|
|
C: A85 LIST "" *
|
|
S: * LIST () "." foo.bar
|
|
S: A85 OK LIST completed
|
|
C: A86 LIST "" %
|
|
S: * LIST (\Noselect) "." foo
|
|
S: A86 OK LIST completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.3.5">6.3.5</a>. RENAME Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: existing mailbox name
|
|
new mailbox name
|
|
|
|
Responses: no specific responses for this command
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - rename completed
|
|
NO - rename failure: can't rename mailbox with that name,
|
|
can't rename to mailbox with that name
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The RENAME command changes the name of a mailbox. A tagged OK
|
|
response is returned only if the mailbox has been renamed. It is
|
|
an error to attempt to rename from a mailbox name that does not
|
|
exist or to a mailbox name that already exists. Any error in
|
|
renaming will return a tagged NO response.
|
|
|
|
If the name has inferior hierarchical names, then the inferior
|
|
hierarchical names MUST also be renamed. For example, a rename of
|
|
"foo" to "zap" will rename "foo/bar" (assuming "/" is the
|
|
hierarchy delimiter character) to "zap/bar".
|
|
|
|
If the server's hierarchy separator character appears in the name,
|
|
the server SHOULD create any superior hierarchical names that are
|
|
needed for the RENAME command to complete successfully. In other
|
|
words, an attempt to rename "foo/bar/zap" to baz/rag/zowie on a
|
|
server in which "/" is the hierarchy separator character SHOULD
|
|
create baz/ and baz/rag/ if they do not already exist.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 37]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-38" id="page-38" href="#page-38" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
The value of the highest-used unique identifier of the old mailbox
|
|
name MUST be preserved so that a new mailbox created with the same
|
|
name will not reuse the identifiers of the former incarnation,
|
|
UNLESS the new incarnation has a different unique identifier
|
|
validity value. See the description of the UID command for more
|
|
detail.
|
|
|
|
Renaming INBOX is permitted, and has special behavior. It moves
|
|
all messages in INBOX to a new mailbox with the given name,
|
|
leaving INBOX empty. If the server implementation supports
|
|
inferior hierarchical names of INBOX, these are unaffected by a
|
|
rename of INBOX.
|
|
|
|
Examples: C: A682 LIST "" *
|
|
S: * LIST () "/" blurdybloop
|
|
S: * LIST (\Noselect) "/" foo
|
|
S: * LIST () "/" foo/bar
|
|
S: A682 OK LIST completed
|
|
C: A683 RENAME blurdybloop sarasoop
|
|
S: A683 OK RENAME completed
|
|
C: A684 RENAME foo zowie
|
|
S: A684 OK RENAME Completed
|
|
C: A685 LIST "" *
|
|
S: * LIST () "/" sarasoop
|
|
S: * LIST (\Noselect) "/" zowie
|
|
S: * LIST () "/" zowie/bar
|
|
S: A685 OK LIST completed
|
|
|
|
C: Z432 LIST "" *
|
|
S: * LIST () "." INBOX
|
|
S: * LIST () "." INBOX.bar
|
|
S: Z432 OK LIST completed
|
|
C: Z433 RENAME INBOX old-mail
|
|
S: Z433 OK RENAME completed
|
|
C: Z434 LIST "" *
|
|
S: * LIST () "." INBOX
|
|
S: * LIST () "." INBOX.bar
|
|
S: * LIST () "." old-mail
|
|
S: Z434 OK LIST completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 38]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-39" id="page-39" href="#page-39" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.3.6">6.3.6</a>. SUBSCRIBE Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: mailbox
|
|
|
|
Responses: no specific responses for this command
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - subscribe completed
|
|
NO - subscribe failure: can't subscribe to that name
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The SUBSCRIBE command adds the specified mailbox name to the
|
|
server's set of "active" or "subscribed" mailboxes as returned by
|
|
the LSUB command. This command returns a tagged OK response only
|
|
if the subscription is successful.
|
|
|
|
A server MAY validate the mailbox argument to SUBSCRIBE to verify
|
|
that it exists. However, it MUST NOT unilaterally remove an
|
|
existing mailbox name from the subscription list even if a mailbox
|
|
by that name no longer exists.
|
|
|
|
Note: This requirement is because a server site can
|
|
choose to routinely remove a mailbox with a well-known
|
|
name (e.g., "system-alerts") after its contents expire,
|
|
with the intention of recreating it when new contents
|
|
are appropriate.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A002 SUBSCRIBE #news.comp.mail.mime
|
|
S: A002 OK SUBSCRIBE completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.3.7">6.3.7</a>. UNSUBSCRIBE Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: mailbox name
|
|
|
|
Responses: no specific responses for this command
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - unsubscribe completed
|
|
NO - unsubscribe failure: can't unsubscribe that name
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The UNSUBSCRIBE command removes the specified mailbox name from
|
|
the server's set of "active" or "subscribed" mailboxes as returned
|
|
by the LSUB command. This command returns a tagged OK response
|
|
only if the unsubscription is successful.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A002 UNSUBSCRIBE #news.comp.mail.mime
|
|
S: A002 OK UNSUBSCRIBE completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 39]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-40" id="page-40" href="#page-40" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.3.8">6.3.8</a>. LIST Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: reference name
|
|
mailbox name with possible wildcards
|
|
|
|
Responses: untagged responses: LIST
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - list completed
|
|
NO - list failure: can't list that reference or name
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The LIST command returns a subset of names from the complete set
|
|
of all names available to the client. Zero or more untagged LIST
|
|
replies are returned, containing the name attributes, hierarchy
|
|
delimiter, and name; see the description of the LIST reply for
|
|
more detail.
|
|
|
|
The LIST command SHOULD return its data quickly, without undue
|
|
delay. For example, it SHOULD NOT go to excess trouble to
|
|
calculate the \Marked or \Unmarked status or perform other
|
|
processing; if each name requires 1 second of processing, then a
|
|
list of 1200 names would take 20 minutes!
|
|
|
|
An empty ("" string) reference name argument indicates that the
|
|
mailbox name is interpreted as by SELECT. The returned mailbox
|
|
names MUST match the supplied mailbox name pattern. A non-empty
|
|
reference name argument is the name of a mailbox or a level of
|
|
mailbox hierarchy, and indicates the context in which the mailbox
|
|
name is interpreted.
|
|
|
|
An empty ("" string) mailbox name argument is a special request to
|
|
return the hierarchy delimiter and the root name of the name given
|
|
in the reference. The value returned as the root MAY be the empty
|
|
string if the reference is non-rooted or is an empty string. In
|
|
all cases, a hierarchy delimiter (or NIL if there is no hierarchy)
|
|
is returned. This permits a client to get the hierarchy delimiter
|
|
(or find out that the mailbox names are flat) even when no
|
|
mailboxes by that name currently exist.
|
|
|
|
The reference and mailbox name arguments are interpreted into a
|
|
canonical form that represents an unambiguous left-to-right
|
|
hierarchy. The returned mailbox names will be in the interpreted
|
|
form.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 40]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-41" id="page-41" href="#page-41" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note: The interpretation of the reference argument is
|
|
implementation-defined. It depends upon whether the
|
|
server implementation has a concept of the "current
|
|
working directory" and leading "break out characters",
|
|
which override the current working directory.
|
|
|
|
For example, on a server which exports a UNIX or NT
|
|
filesystem, the reference argument contains the current
|
|
working directory, and the mailbox name argument would
|
|
contain the name as interpreted in the current working
|
|
directory.
|
|
|
|
If a server implementation has no concept of break out
|
|
characters, the canonical form is normally the reference
|
|
name appended with the mailbox name. Note that if the
|
|
server implements the namespace convention (section
|
|
5.1.2), "#" is a break out character and must be treated
|
|
as such.
|
|
|
|
If the reference argument is not a level of mailbox
|
|
hierarchy (that is, it is a \NoInferiors name), and/or
|
|
the reference argument does not end with the hierarchy
|
|
delimiter, it is implementation-dependent how this is
|
|
interpreted. For example, a reference of "foo/bar" and
|
|
mailbox name of "rag/baz" could be interpreted as
|
|
"foo/bar/rag/baz", "foo/barrag/baz", or "foo/rag/baz".
|
|
A client SHOULD NOT use such a reference argument except
|
|
at the explicit request of the user. A hierarchical
|
|
browser MUST NOT make any assumptions about server
|
|
interpretation of the reference unless the reference is
|
|
a level of mailbox hierarchy AND ends with the hierarchy
|
|
delimiter.
|
|
|
|
Any part of the reference argument that is included in the
|
|
interpreted form SHOULD prefix the interpreted form. It SHOULD
|
|
also be in the same form as the reference name argument. This
|
|
rule permits the client to determine if the returned mailbox name
|
|
is in the context of the reference argument, or if something about
|
|
the mailbox argument overrode the reference argument. Without
|
|
this rule, the client would have to have knowledge of the server's
|
|
naming semantics including what characters are "breakouts" that
|
|
override a naming context.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 41]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-42" id="page-42" href="#page-42" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
For example, here are some examples of how references
|
|
and mailbox names might be interpreted on a UNIX-based
|
|
server:
|
|
|
|
Reference Mailbox Name Interpretation
|
|
------------ ------------ --------------
|
|
~smith/Mail/ foo.* ~smith/Mail/foo.*
|
|
archive/ % archive/%
|
|
#news. comp.mail.* #news.comp.mail.*
|
|
~smith/Mail/ /usr/doc/foo /usr/doc/foo
|
|
archive/ ~fred/Mail/* ~fred/Mail/*
|
|
|
|
The first three examples demonstrate interpretations in
|
|
the context of the reference argument. Note that
|
|
"~smith/Mail" SHOULD NOT be transformed into something
|
|
like "/u2/users/smith/Mail", or it would be impossible
|
|
for the client to determine that the interpretation was
|
|
in the context of the reference.
|
|
|
|
The character "*" is a wildcard, and matches zero or more
|
|
characters at this position. The character "%" is similar to "*",
|
|
but it does not match a hierarchy delimiter. If the "%" wildcard
|
|
is the last character of a mailbox name argument, matching levels
|
|
of hierarchy are also returned. If these levels of hierarchy are
|
|
not also selectable mailboxes, they are returned with the
|
|
\Noselect mailbox name attribute (see the description of the LIST
|
|
response for more details).
|
|
|
|
Server implementations are permitted to "hide" otherwise
|
|
accessible mailboxes from the wildcard characters, by preventing
|
|
certain characters or names from matching a wildcard in certain
|
|
situations. For example, a UNIX-based server might restrict the
|
|
interpretation of "*" so that an initial "/" character does not
|
|
match.
|
|
|
|
The special name INBOX is included in the output from LIST, if
|
|
INBOX is supported by this server for this user and if the
|
|
uppercase string "INBOX" matches the interpreted reference and
|
|
mailbox name arguments with wildcards as described above. The
|
|
criteria for omitting INBOX is whether SELECT INBOX will return
|
|
failure; it is not relevant whether the user's real INBOX resides
|
|
on this or some other server.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 42]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-43" id="page-43" href="#page-43" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A101 LIST "" ""
|
|
S: * LIST (\Noselect) "/" ""
|
|
S: A101 OK LIST Completed
|
|
C: A102 LIST #news.comp.mail.misc ""
|
|
S: * LIST (\Noselect) "." #news.
|
|
S: A102 OK LIST Completed
|
|
C: A103 LIST /usr/staff/jones ""
|
|
S: * LIST (\Noselect) "/" /
|
|
S: A103 OK LIST Completed
|
|
C: A202 LIST ~/Mail/ %
|
|
S: * LIST (\Noselect) "/" ~/Mail/foo
|
|
S: * LIST () "/" ~/Mail/meetings
|
|
S: A202 OK LIST completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.3.9">6.3.9</a>. LSUB Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: reference name
|
|
mailbox name with possible wildcards
|
|
|
|
Responses: untagged responses: LSUB
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - lsub completed
|
|
NO - lsub failure: can't list that reference or name
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The LSUB command returns a subset of names from the set of names
|
|
that the user has declared as being "active" or "subscribed".
|
|
Zero or more untagged LSUB replies are returned. The arguments to
|
|
LSUB are in the same form as those for LIST.
|
|
|
|
The returned untagged LSUB response MAY contain different mailbox
|
|
flags from a LIST untagged response. If this should happen, the
|
|
flags in the untagged LIST are considered more authoritative.
|
|
|
|
A special situation occurs when using LSUB with the % wildcard.
|
|
Consider what happens if "foo/bar" (with a hierarchy delimiter of
|
|
"/") is subscribed but "foo" is not. A "%" wildcard to LSUB must
|
|
return foo, not foo/bar, in the LSUB response, and it MUST be
|
|
flagged with the \Noselect attribute.
|
|
|
|
The server MUST NOT unilaterally remove an existing mailbox name
|
|
from the subscription list even if a mailbox by that name no
|
|
longer exists.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 43]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-44" id="page-44" href="#page-44" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A002 LSUB "#news." "comp.mail.*"
|
|
S: * LSUB () "." #news.comp.mail.mime
|
|
S: * LSUB () "." #news.comp.mail.misc
|
|
S: A002 OK LSUB completed
|
|
C: A003 LSUB "#news." "comp.%"
|
|
S: * LSUB (\NoSelect) "." #news.comp.mail
|
|
S: A003 OK LSUB completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.3.10">6.3.10</a>. STATUS Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: mailbox name
|
|
status data item names
|
|
|
|
Responses: untagged responses: STATUS
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - status completed
|
|
NO - status failure: no status for that name
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The STATUS command requests the status of the indicated mailbox.
|
|
It does not change the currently selected mailbox, nor does it
|
|
affect the state of any messages in the queried mailbox (in
|
|
particular, STATUS MUST NOT cause messages to lose the \Recent
|
|
flag).
|
|
|
|
The STATUS command provides an alternative to opening a second
|
|
IMAP4rev1 connection and doing an EXAMINE command on a mailbox to
|
|
query that mailbox's status without deselecting the current
|
|
mailbox in the first IMAP4rev1 connection.
|
|
|
|
Unlike the LIST command, the STATUS command is not guaranteed to
|
|
be fast in its response. Under certain circumstances, it can be
|
|
quite slow. In some implementations, the server is obliged to
|
|
open the mailbox read-only internally to obtain certain status
|
|
information. Also unlike the LIST command, the STATUS command
|
|
does not accept wildcards.
|
|
|
|
Note: The STATUS command is intended to access the
|
|
status of mailboxes other than the currently selected
|
|
mailbox. Because the STATUS command can cause the
|
|
mailbox to be opened internally, and because this
|
|
information is available by other means on the selected
|
|
mailbox, the STATUS command SHOULD NOT be used on the
|
|
currently selected mailbox.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 44]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-45" id="page-45" href="#page-45" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
The STATUS command MUST NOT be used as a "check for new
|
|
messages in the selected mailbox" operation (refer to
|
|
sections 7, 7.3.1, and 7.3.2 for more information about
|
|
the proper method for new message checking).
|
|
|
|
Because the STATUS command is not guaranteed to be fast
|
|
in its results, clients SHOULD NOT expect to be able to
|
|
issue many consecutive STATUS commands and obtain
|
|
reasonable performance.
|
|
|
|
The currently defined status data items that can be requested are:
|
|
|
|
MESSAGES
|
|
The number of messages in the mailbox.
|
|
|
|
RECENT
|
|
The number of messages with the \Recent flag set.
|
|
|
|
UIDNEXT
|
|
The next unique identifier value of the mailbox. Refer to
|
|
<a href="#section-2.3.1.1">section 2.3.1.1</a> for more information.
|
|
|
|
UIDVALIDITY
|
|
The unique identifier validity value of the mailbox. Refer to
|
|
<a href="#section-2.3.1.1">section 2.3.1.1</a> for more information.
|
|
|
|
UNSEEN
|
|
The number of messages which do not have the \Seen flag set.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A042 STATUS blurdybloop (UIDNEXT MESSAGES)
|
|
S: * STATUS blurdybloop (MESSAGES 231 UIDNEXT 44292)
|
|
S: A042 OK STATUS completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 45]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-46" id="page-46" href="#page-46" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.3.11">6.3.11</a>. APPEND Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: mailbox name
|
|
OPTIONAL flag parenthesized list
|
|
OPTIONAL date/time string
|
|
message literal
|
|
|
|
Responses: 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
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The APPEND command appends the literal argument as a new message
|
|
to the end of the specified destination mailbox. This argument
|
|
SHOULD be in the format of an [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] 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 [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>]
|
|
content transfer encoding.
|
|
|
|
Note: There MAY be exceptions, e.g., draft messages, in
|
|
which required [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] 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 to empty by default. In either case, the
|
|
Recent flag is also set.
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
If the append is unsuccessful for any reason, the mailbox MUST be
|
|
restored to its state before the APPEND attempt; no partial
|
|
appending is permitted.
|
|
|
|
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 "[<a href="#ref-TRYCREATE">TRYCREATE</a>]" 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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 46]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-47" id="page-47" href="#page-47" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
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.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A003 APPEND saved-messages (\Seen) {310}
|
|
S: + Ready for literal data
|
|
C: Date: Mon, 7 Feb 1994 21:52:25 -0800 (PST)
|
|
C: From: Fred Foobar <foobar@Blurdybloop.COM>
|
|
C: Subject: afternoon meeting
|
|
C: To: mooch@owatagu.siam.edu
|
|
C: Message-Id: <B27397-0100000@Blurdybloop.COM>
|
|
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:
|
|
S: A003 OK APPEND completed
|
|
|
|
Note: The APPEND command is not used for message delivery,
|
|
because it does not provide a mechanism to transfer [<a href="#ref-SMTP" title=""Simple Mail Transfer Protocol"">SMTP</a>]
|
|
envelope information.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-6.4">6.4</a>. Client Commands - Selected State</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
In the selected state, commands that manipulate messages in a mailbox
|
|
are permitted.
|
|
|
|
In addition to the universal commands (CAPABILITY, NOOP, and LOGOUT),
|
|
and the authenticated state commands (SELECT, EXAMINE, CREATE,
|
|
DELETE, RENAME, SUBSCRIBE, UNSUBSCRIBE, LIST, LSUB, STATUS, and
|
|
APPEND), the following commands are valid in the selected state:
|
|
CHECK, CLOSE, EXPUNGE, SEARCH, FETCH, STORE, COPY, and UID.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.4.1">6.4.1</a>. CHECK Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: none
|
|
|
|
Responses: no specific responses for this command
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - check completed
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The CHECK command requests a checkpoint of the currently selected
|
|
mailbox. A checkpoint refers to any implementation-dependent
|
|
housekeeping associated with the mailbox (e.g., resolving the
|
|
server's in-memory state of the mailbox with the state on its
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 47]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-48" id="page-48" href="#page-48" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
disk) that is not normally executed as part of each command. A
|
|
checkpoint MAY take a non-instantaneous amount of real time to
|
|
complete. If a server implementation has no such housekeeping
|
|
considerations, CHECK is equivalent to NOOP.
|
|
|
|
There is no guarantee that an EXISTS untagged response will happen
|
|
as a result of CHECK. NOOP, not CHECK, SHOULD be used for new
|
|
message polling.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: FXXZ CHECK
|
|
S: FXXZ OK CHECK Completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.4.2">6.4.2</a>. CLOSE Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: none
|
|
|
|
Responses: no specific responses for this command
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - close completed, now in authenticated state
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The CLOSE command permanently removes all messages that have the
|
|
\Deleted flag set from the currently selected mailbox, and returns
|
|
to the authenticated state from the selected state. No untagged
|
|
EXPUNGE responses are sent.
|
|
|
|
No messages are removed, and no error is given, if the mailbox is
|
|
selected by an EXAMINE command or is otherwise selected read-only.
|
|
|
|
Even if a mailbox is selected, a SELECT, EXAMINE, or LOGOUT
|
|
command MAY be issued without previously issuing a CLOSE command.
|
|
The SELECT, EXAMINE, and LOGOUT commands implicitly close the
|
|
currently selected mailbox without doing an expunge. However,
|
|
when many messages are deleted, a CLOSE-LOGOUT or CLOSE-SELECT
|
|
sequence is considerably faster than an EXPUNGE-LOGOUT or
|
|
EXPUNGE-SELECT because no untagged EXPUNGE responses (which the
|
|
client would probably ignore) are sent.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A341 CLOSE
|
|
S: A341 OK CLOSE completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 48]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-49" id="page-49" href="#page-49" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.4.3">6.4.3</a>. EXPUNGE Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: none
|
|
|
|
Responses: untagged responses: EXPUNGE
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - expunge completed
|
|
NO - expunge failure: can't expunge (e.g., permission
|
|
denied)
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The EXPUNGE command permanently removes all messages that have the
|
|
\Deleted flag set from the currently selected mailbox. Before
|
|
returning an OK to the client, an untagged EXPUNGE response is
|
|
sent for each message that is removed.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A202 EXPUNGE
|
|
S: * 3 EXPUNGE
|
|
S: * 3 EXPUNGE
|
|
S: * 5 EXPUNGE
|
|
S: * 8 EXPUNGE
|
|
S: A202 OK EXPUNGE completed
|
|
|
|
Note: In this example, messages 3, 4, 7, and 11 had the
|
|
\Deleted flag set. See the description of the EXPUNGE
|
|
response for further explanation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.4.4">6.4.4</a>. SEARCH Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: OPTIONAL [<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>] specification
|
|
searching criteria (one or more)
|
|
|
|
Responses: REQUIRED untagged response: SEARCH
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - search completed
|
|
NO - search error: can't search that [<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>] or
|
|
criteria
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The SEARCH command searches the mailbox for messages that match
|
|
the given searching criteria. Searching criteria consist of one
|
|
or more search keys. The untagged SEARCH response from the server
|
|
contains a listing of message sequence numbers corresponding to
|
|
those messages that match the searching criteria.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 49]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-50" id="page-50" href="#page-50" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
When multiple keys are specified, the result is the intersection
|
|
(AND function) of all the messages that match those keys. For
|
|
example, the criteria DELETED FROM "SMITH" SINCE 1-Feb-1994 refers
|
|
to all deleted messages from Smith that were placed in the mailbox
|
|
since February 1, 1994. A search key can also be a parenthesized
|
|
list of one or more search keys (e.g., for use with the OR and NOT
|
|
keys).
|
|
|
|
Server implementations MAY exclude [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] body parts with
|
|
terminal content media types other than TEXT and MESSAGE from
|
|
consideration in SEARCH matching.
|
|
|
|
The OPTIONAL [<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>] specification consists of the word
|
|
"CHARSET" followed by a registered [<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>]. It indicates the
|
|
[<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>] of the strings that appear in the search criteria.
|
|
[<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] content transfer encodings, and [<a href="#ref-MIME-HDRS" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Three: Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII Text"">MIME-HDRS</a>] strings in
|
|
[<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>]/[<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] headers, MUST be decoded before comparing
|
|
text in a [<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>] other than US-ASCII. US-ASCII MUST be
|
|
supported; other [<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>]s MAY be supported.
|
|
|
|
If the server does not support the specified [<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>], it MUST
|
|
return a tagged NO response (not a BAD). This response SHOULD
|
|
contain the BADCHARSET response code, which MAY list the
|
|
[<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>]s supported by the server.
|
|
|
|
In all search keys that use strings, a message matches the key if
|
|
the string is a substring of the field. The matching is
|
|
case-insensitive.
|
|
|
|
The defined search keys are as follows. Refer to the Formal
|
|
Syntax section for the precise syntactic definitions of the
|
|
arguments.
|
|
|
|
<sequence set>
|
|
Messages with message sequence numbers corresponding to the
|
|
specified message sequence number set.
|
|
|
|
ALL
|
|
All messages in the mailbox; the default initial key for
|
|
ANDing.
|
|
|
|
ANSWERED
|
|
Messages with the \Answered flag set.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 50]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-51" id="page-51" href="#page-51" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
BCC <string>
|
|
Messages that contain the specified string in the envelope
|
|
structure's BCC field.
|
|
|
|
BEFORE <date>
|
|
Messages whose internal date (disregarding time and timezone)
|
|
is earlier than the specified date.
|
|
|
|
BODY <string>
|
|
Messages that contain the specified string in the body of the
|
|
message.
|
|
|
|
CC <string>
|
|
Messages that contain the specified string in the envelope
|
|
structure's CC field.
|
|
|
|
DELETED
|
|
Messages with the \Deleted flag set.
|
|
|
|
DRAFT
|
|
Messages with the \Draft flag set.
|
|
|
|
FLAGGED
|
|
Messages with the \Flagged flag set.
|
|
|
|
FROM <string>
|
|
Messages that contain the specified string in the envelope
|
|
structure's FROM field.
|
|
|
|
HEADER <field-name> <string>
|
|
Messages that have a header with the specified field-name (as
|
|
defined in [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>]) and that contains the specified string
|
|
in the text of the header (what comes after the colon). If the
|
|
string to search is zero-length, this matches all messages that
|
|
have a header line with the specified field-name regardless of
|
|
the contents.
|
|
|
|
KEYWORD <flag>
|
|
Messages with the specified keyword flag set.
|
|
|
|
LARGER <n>
|
|
Messages with an [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] size larger than the specified
|
|
number of octets.
|
|
|
|
NEW
|
|
Messages that have the \Recent flag set but not the \Seen flag.
|
|
This is functionally equivalent to "(RECENT UNSEEN)".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 51]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-52" id="page-52" href="#page-52" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
NOT <search-key>
|
|
Messages that do not match the specified search key.
|
|
|
|
OLD
|
|
Messages that do not have the \Recent flag set. This is
|
|
functionally equivalent to "NOT RECENT" (as opposed to "NOT
|
|
NEW").
|
|
|
|
ON <date>
|
|
Messages whose internal date (disregarding time and timezone)
|
|
is within the specified date.
|
|
|
|
OR <search-key1> <search-key2>
|
|
Messages that match either search key.
|
|
|
|
RECENT
|
|
Messages that have the \Recent flag set.
|
|
|
|
SEEN
|
|
Messages that have the \Seen flag set.
|
|
|
|
SENTBEFORE <date>
|
|
Messages whose [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] Date: header (disregarding time and
|
|
timezone) is earlier than the specified date.
|
|
|
|
SENTON <date>
|
|
Messages whose [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] Date: header (disregarding time and
|
|
timezone) is within the specified date.
|
|
|
|
SENTSINCE <date>
|
|
Messages whose [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] Date: header (disregarding time and
|
|
timezone) is within or later than the specified date.
|
|
|
|
SINCE <date>
|
|
Messages whose internal date (disregarding time and timezone)
|
|
is within or later than the specified date.
|
|
|
|
SMALLER <n>
|
|
Messages with an [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] size smaller than the specified
|
|
number of octets.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 52]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-53" id="page-53" href="#page-53" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
SUBJECT <string>
|
|
Messages that contain the specified string in the envelope
|
|
structure's SUBJECT field.
|
|
|
|
TEXT <string>
|
|
Messages that contain the specified string in the header or
|
|
body of the message.
|
|
|
|
TO <string>
|
|
Messages that contain the specified string in the envelope
|
|
structure's TO field.
|
|
|
|
UID <sequence set>
|
|
Messages with unique identifiers corresponding to the specified
|
|
unique identifier set. Sequence set ranges are permitted.
|
|
|
|
UNANSWERED
|
|
Messages that do not have the \Answered flag set.
|
|
|
|
UNDELETED
|
|
Messages that do not have the \Deleted flag set.
|
|
|
|
UNDRAFT
|
|
Messages that do not have the \Draft flag set.
|
|
|
|
UNFLAGGED
|
|
Messages that do not have the \Flagged flag set.
|
|
|
|
UNKEYWORD <flag>
|
|
Messages that do not have the specified keyword flag set.
|
|
|
|
UNSEEN
|
|
Messages that do not have the \Seen flag set.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 53]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-54" id="page-54" href="#page-54" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A282 SEARCH FLAGGED SINCE 1-Feb-1994 NOT FROM "Smith"
|
|
S: * SEARCH 2 84 882
|
|
S: A282 OK SEARCH completed
|
|
C: A283 SEARCH TEXT "string not in mailbox"
|
|
S: * SEARCH
|
|
S: A283 OK SEARCH completed
|
|
C: A284 SEARCH CHARSET UTF-8 TEXT {6}
|
|
C: XXXXXX
|
|
S: * SEARCH 43
|
|
S: A284 OK SEARCH completed
|
|
|
|
Note: Since this document is restricted to 7-bit ASCII
|
|
text, it is not possible to show actual UTF-8 data. The
|
|
"XXXXXX" is a placeholder for what would be 6 octets of
|
|
8-bit data in an actual transaction.
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.4.5">6.4.5</a>. FETCH Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: sequence set
|
|
message data item names or macro
|
|
|
|
Responses: untagged responses: FETCH
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - fetch completed
|
|
NO - fetch error: can't fetch that data
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The FETCH command retrieves data associated with a message in the
|
|
mailbox. The data items to be fetched can be either a single atom
|
|
or a parenthesized list.
|
|
|
|
Most data items, identified in the formal syntax under the
|
|
msg-att-static rule, are static and MUST NOT change for any
|
|
particular message. Other data items, identified in the formal
|
|
syntax under the msg-att-dynamic rule, MAY change, either as a
|
|
result of a STORE command or due to external events.
|
|
|
|
For example, if a client receives an ENVELOPE for a
|
|
message when it already knows the envelope, it can
|
|
safely ignore the newly transmitted envelope.
|
|
|
|
There are three macros which specify commonly-used sets of data
|
|
items, and can be used instead of data items. A macro must be
|
|
used by itself, and not in conjunction with other macros or data
|
|
items.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 54]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-55" id="page-55" href="#page-55" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
ALL
|
|
Macro equivalent to: (FLAGS INTERNALDATE <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.SIZE ENVELOPE)
|
|
|
|
FAST
|
|
Macro equivalent to: (FLAGS INTERNALDATE <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.SIZE)
|
|
|
|
FULL
|
|
Macro equivalent to: (FLAGS INTERNALDATE <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.SIZE ENVELOPE
|
|
BODY)
|
|
|
|
The currently defined data items that can be fetched are:
|
|
|
|
BODY
|
|
Non-extensible form of BODYSTRUCTURE.
|
|
|
|
BODY[<section>]<<partial>>
|
|
The text of a particular body section. The section
|
|
specification is a set of zero or more part specifiers
|
|
delimited by periods. A part specifier is either a part number
|
|
or one of the following: HEADER, HEADER.FIELDS,
|
|
HEADER.FIELDS.NOT, MIME, and TEXT. An empty section
|
|
specification refers to the entire message, including the
|
|
header.
|
|
|
|
Every message has at least one part number. Non-[<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>]
|
|
messages, and non-multipart [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] messages with no
|
|
encapsulated message, only have a part 1.
|
|
|
|
Multipart messages are assigned consecutive part numbers, as
|
|
they occur in the message. If a particular part is of type
|
|
message or multipart, its parts MUST be indicated by a period
|
|
followed by the part number within that nested multipart part.
|
|
|
|
A part of type MESSAGE/RFC822 also has nested part numbers,
|
|
referring to parts of the MESSAGE part's body.
|
|
|
|
The HEADER, HEADER.FIELDS, HEADER.FIELDS.NOT, and TEXT part
|
|
specifiers can be the sole part specifier or can be prefixed by
|
|
one or more numeric part specifiers, provided that the numeric
|
|
part specifier refers to a part of type MESSAGE/RFC822. The
|
|
MIME part specifier MUST be prefixed by one or more numeric
|
|
part specifiers.
|
|
|
|
The HEADER, HEADER.FIELDS, and HEADER.FIELDS.NOT part
|
|
specifiers refer to the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header of the message or of
|
|
an encapsulated [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMT" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Two: Media Types"">MIME-IMT</a>] MESSAGE/RFC822 message.
|
|
HEADER.FIELDS and HEADER.FIELDS.NOT are followed by a list of
|
|
field-name (as defined in [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>]) names, and return a
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 55]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-56" id="page-56" href="#page-56" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
subset of the header. The subset returned by HEADER.FIELDS
|
|
contains only those header fields with a field-name that
|
|
matches one of the names in the list; similarly, the subset
|
|
returned by HEADER.FIELDS.NOT contains only the header fields
|
|
with a non-matching field-name. The field-matching is
|
|
case-insensitive but otherwise exact. Subsetting does not
|
|
exclude the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] delimiting blank line between the header
|
|
and the body; the blank line is included in all header fetches,
|
|
except in the case of a message which has no body and no blank
|
|
line.
|
|
|
|
The MIME part specifier refers to the [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] header for
|
|
this part.
|
|
|
|
The TEXT part specifier refers to the text body of the message,
|
|
omitting the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header.
|
|
|
|
Here is an example of a complex message with some of its
|
|
part specifiers:
|
|
|
|
HEADER ([<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header of the message)
|
|
TEXT ([<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] text body of the message) MULTIPART/MIXED
|
|
1 TEXT/PLAIN
|
|
2 APPLICATION/OCTET-STREAM
|
|
3 MESSAGE/RFC822
|
|
3.HEADER ([<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header of the message)
|
|
3.TEXT ([<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] text body of the message) MULTIPART/MIXED
|
|
3.1 TEXT/PLAIN
|
|
3.2 APPLICATION/OCTET-STREAM
|
|
4 MULTIPART/MIXED
|
|
4.1 IMAGE/GIF
|
|
4.1.MIME ([<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] header for the IMAGE/GIF)
|
|
4.2 MESSAGE/RFC822
|
|
4.2.HEADER ([<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header of the message)
|
|
4.2.TEXT ([<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] text body of the message) MULTIPART/MIXED
|
|
4.2.1 TEXT/PLAIN
|
|
4.2.2 MULTIPART/ALTERNATIVE
|
|
4.2.2.1 TEXT/PLAIN
|
|
4.2.2.2 TEXT/RICHTEXT
|
|
|
|
|
|
It is possible to fetch a substring of the designated text.
|
|
This is done by appending an open angle bracket ("<"), the
|
|
octet position of the first desired octet, a period, the
|
|
maximum number of octets desired, and a close angle bracket
|
|
(">") to the part specifier. If the starting octet is beyond
|
|
the end of the text, an empty string is returned.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 56]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-57" id="page-57" href="#page-57" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Any partial fetch that attempts to read beyond the end of the
|
|
text is truncated as appropriate. A partial fetch that starts
|
|
at octet 0 is returned as a partial fetch, even if this
|
|
truncation happened.
|
|
|
|
Note: This means that BODY[]<0.2048> of a 1500-octet message
|
|
will return BODY[]<0> with a literal of size 1500, not
|
|
BODY[].
|
|
|
|
Note: A substring fetch of a HEADER.FIELDS or
|
|
HEADER.FIELDS.NOT part specifier is calculated after
|
|
subsetting the header.
|
|
|
|
The \Seen flag is implicitly set; if this causes the flags to
|
|
change, they SHOULD be included as part of the FETCH responses.
|
|
|
|
BODY.PEEK[<section>]<<partial>>
|
|
An alternate form of BODY[<section>] that does not implicitly
|
|
set the \Seen flag.
|
|
|
|
BODYSTRUCTURE
|
|
The [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] body structure of the message. This is computed
|
|
by the server by parsing the [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] header fields in the
|
|
[<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header and [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] headers.
|
|
|
|
ENVELOPE
|
|
The envelope structure of the message. This is computed by the
|
|
server by parsing the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header into the component
|
|
parts, defaulting various fields as necessary.
|
|
|
|
FLAGS
|
|
The flags that are set for this message.
|
|
|
|
INTERNALDATE
|
|
The internal date of the message.
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>
|
|
Functionally equivalent to BODY[], differing in the syntax of
|
|
the resulting untagged FETCH data (<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a> is returned).
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.HEADER
|
|
Functionally equivalent to BODY.PEEK[HEADER], differing in the
|
|
syntax of the resulting untagged FETCH data (<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.HEADER is
|
|
returned).
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.SIZE
|
|
The [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] size of the message.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 57]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-58" id="page-58" href="#page-58" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.TEXT
|
|
Functionally equivalent to BODY[TEXT], differing in the syntax
|
|
of the resulting untagged FETCH data (<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.TEXT is returned).
|
|
|
|
UID
|
|
The unique identifier for the message.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A654 FETCH 2:4 (FLAGS BODY[HEADER.FIELDS (DATE FROM)])
|
|
S: * 2 FETCH ....
|
|
S: * 3 FETCH ....
|
|
S: * 4 FETCH ....
|
|
S: A654 OK FETCH completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.4.6">6.4.6</a>. STORE Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: sequence set
|
|
message data item name
|
|
value for message data item
|
|
|
|
Responses: untagged responses: FETCH
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - store completed
|
|
NO - store error: can't store that data
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The STORE command alters data associated with a message in the
|
|
mailbox. Normally, STORE will return the updated value of the
|
|
data with an untagged FETCH response. A suffix of ".SILENT" in
|
|
the data item name prevents the untagged FETCH, and the server
|
|
SHOULD assume that the client has determined the updated value
|
|
itself or does not care about the updated value.
|
|
|
|
Note: Regardless of whether or not the ".SILENT" suffix
|
|
was used, the server SHOULD send an untagged FETCH
|
|
response if a change to a message's flags from an
|
|
external source is observed. The intent is that the
|
|
status of the flags is determinate without a race
|
|
condition.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 58]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-59" id="page-59" href="#page-59" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
The currently defined data items that can be stored are:
|
|
|
|
FLAGS <flag list>
|
|
Replace the flags for the message (other than \Recent) with the
|
|
argument. The new value of the flags is returned as if a FETCH
|
|
of those flags was done.
|
|
|
|
FLAGS.SILENT <flag list>
|
|
Equivalent to FLAGS, but without returning a new value.
|
|
|
|
+FLAGS <flag list>
|
|
Add the argument to the flags for the message. The new value
|
|
of the flags is returned as if a FETCH of those flags was done.
|
|
|
|
+FLAGS.SILENT <flag list>
|
|
Equivalent to +FLAGS, but without returning a new value.
|
|
|
|
-FLAGS <flag list>
|
|
Remove the argument from the flags for the message. The new
|
|
value of the flags is returned as if a FETCH of those flags was
|
|
done.
|
|
|
|
-FLAGS.SILENT <flag list>
|
|
Equivalent to -FLAGS, but without returning a new value.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A003 STORE 2:4 +FLAGS (\Deleted)
|
|
S: * 2 FETCH (FLAGS (\Deleted \Seen))
|
|
S: * 3 FETCH (FLAGS (\Deleted))
|
|
S: * 4 FETCH (FLAGS (\Deleted \Flagged \Seen))
|
|
S: A003 OK STORE completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.4.7">6.4.7</a>. COPY Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: sequence set
|
|
mailbox name
|
|
|
|
Responses: no specific responses for this command
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - copy completed
|
|
NO - copy error: can't copy those messages or to that
|
|
name
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 59]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-60" id="page-60" href="#page-60" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
The COPY command copies the specified message(s) to the end of the
|
|
specified destination mailbox. The flags and internal date of the
|
|
message(s) SHOULD be preserved, and the Recent flag SHOULD be set,
|
|
in the copy.
|
|
|
|
If the destination mailbox does not exist, a server SHOULD return
|
|
an error. It SHOULD NOT automatically create the mailbox. Unless
|
|
it is certain that the destination mailbox can not be created, the
|
|
server MUST send the response code "[<a href="#ref-TRYCREATE">TRYCREATE</a>]" 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 COPY if
|
|
the CREATE is successful.
|
|
|
|
If the COPY command is unsuccessful for any reason, server
|
|
implementations MUST restore the destination mailbox to its state
|
|
before the COPY attempt.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A003 COPY 2:4 MEETING
|
|
S: A003 OK COPY completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.4.8">6.4.8</a>. UID Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: command name
|
|
command arguments
|
|
|
|
Responses: untagged responses: FETCH, SEARCH
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - UID command completed
|
|
NO - UID command error
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
The UID command has two forms. In the first form, it takes as its
|
|
arguments a COPY, FETCH, or STORE command with arguments
|
|
appropriate for the associated command. However, the numbers in
|
|
the sequence set argument are unique identifiers instead of
|
|
message sequence numbers. Sequence set ranges are permitted, but
|
|
there is no guarantee that unique identifiers will be contiguous.
|
|
|
|
A non-existent unique identifier is ignored without any error
|
|
message generated. Thus, it is possible for a UID FETCH command
|
|
to return an OK without any data or a UID COPY or UID STORE to
|
|
return an OK without performing any operations.
|
|
|
|
In the second form, the UID command takes a SEARCH command with
|
|
SEARCH command arguments. The interpretation of the arguments is
|
|
the same as with SEARCH; however, the numbers returned in a SEARCH
|
|
response for a UID SEARCH command are unique identifiers instead
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 60]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-61" id="page-61" href="#page-61" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
of message sequence numbers. For example, the command UID SEARCH
|
|
1:100 UID 443:557 returns the unique identifiers corresponding to
|
|
the intersection of two sequence sets, the message sequence number
|
|
range 1:100 and the UID range 443:557.
|
|
|
|
Note: in the above example, the UID range 443:557
|
|
appears. The same comment about a non-existent unique
|
|
identifier being ignored without any error message also
|
|
applies here. Hence, even if neither UID 443 or 557
|
|
exist, this range is valid and would include an existing
|
|
UID 495.
|
|
|
|
Also note that a UID range of 559:* always includes the
|
|
UID of the last message in the mailbox, even if 559 is
|
|
higher than any assigned UID value. This is because the
|
|
contents of a range are independent of the order of the
|
|
range endpoints. Thus, any UID range with * as one of
|
|
the endpoints indicates at least one message (the
|
|
message with the highest numbered UID), unless the
|
|
mailbox is empty.
|
|
|
|
The number after the "*" in an untagged FETCH response is always a
|
|
message sequence number, not a unique identifier, even for a UID
|
|
command response. However, server implementations MUST implicitly
|
|
include the UID message data item as part of any FETCH response
|
|
caused by a UID command, regardless of whether a UID was specified
|
|
as a message data item to the FETCH.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note: The rule about including the UID message data item as part
|
|
of a FETCH response primarily applies to the UID FETCH and UID
|
|
STORE commands, including a UID FETCH command that does not
|
|
include UID as a message data item. Although it is unlikely that
|
|
the other UID commands will cause an untagged FETCH, this rule
|
|
applies to these commands as well.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A999 UID FETCH 4827313:4828442 FLAGS
|
|
S: * 23 FETCH (FLAGS (\Seen) UID 4827313)
|
|
S: * 24 FETCH (FLAGS (\Seen) UID 4827943)
|
|
S: * 25 FETCH (FLAGS (\Seen) UID 4828442)
|
|
S: A999 OK UID FETCH completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 61]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-62" id="page-62" href="#page-62" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-6.5">6.5</a>. Client Commands - Experimental/Expansion</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-6.5.1">6.5.1</a>. X<atom> Command</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Arguments: implementation defined
|
|
|
|
Responses: implementation defined
|
|
|
|
Result: OK - command completed
|
|
NO - failure
|
|
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
|
|
|
Any command prefixed with an X is an experimental command.
|
|
Commands which are not part of this specification, a standard or
|
|
standards-track revision of this specification, or an
|
|
IESG-approved experimental protocol, MUST use the X prefix.
|
|
|
|
Any added untagged responses issued by an experimental command
|
|
MUST also be prefixed with an X. Server implementations MUST NOT
|
|
send any such untagged responses, unless the client requested it
|
|
by issuing the associated experimental command.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: a441 CAPABILITY
|
|
S: * CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 XPIG-LATIN
|
|
S: a441 OK CAPABILITY completed
|
|
C: A442 XPIG-LATIN
|
|
S: * XPIG-LATIN ow-nay eaking-spay ig-pay atin-lay
|
|
S: A442 OK XPIG-LATIN ompleted-cay
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-7">7</a>. Server Responses</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
Server responses are in three forms: status responses, server data,
|
|
and command continuation request. The information contained in a
|
|
server response, identified by "Contents:" in the response
|
|
descriptions below, is described by function, not by syntax. The
|
|
precise syntax of server responses is described in the Formal Syntax
|
|
section.
|
|
|
|
The client MUST be prepared to accept any response at all times.
|
|
|
|
Status responses can be tagged or untagged. Tagged status responses
|
|
indicate the completion result (OK, NO, or BAD status) of a client
|
|
command, and have a tag matching the command.
|
|
|
|
Some status responses, and all server data, are untagged. An
|
|
untagged response is indicated by the token "*" instead of a tag.
|
|
Untagged status responses indicate server greeting, or server status
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 62]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-63" id="page-63" href="#page-63" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
that does not indicate the completion of a command (for example, an
|
|
impending system shutdown alert). For historical reasons, untagged
|
|
server data responses are also called "unsolicited data", although
|
|
strictly speaking, only unilateral server data is truly
|
|
"unsolicited".
|
|
|
|
Certain server data MUST be recorded by the client when it is
|
|
received; this is noted in the description of that data. Such data
|
|
conveys critical information which affects the interpretation of all
|
|
subsequent commands and responses (e.g., updates reflecting the
|
|
creation or destruction of messages).
|
|
|
|
Other server data SHOULD be recorded for later reference; if the
|
|
client does not need to record the data, or if recording the data has
|
|
no obvious purpose (e.g., a SEARCH response when no SEARCH command is
|
|
in progress), the data SHOULD be ignored.
|
|
|
|
An example of unilateral untagged server data occurs when the IMAP
|
|
connection is in the selected state. In the selected state, the
|
|
server checks the mailbox for new messages as part of command
|
|
execution. Normally, this is part of the execution of every command;
|
|
hence, a NOOP command suffices to check for new messages. If new
|
|
messages are found, the server sends untagged EXISTS and RECENT
|
|
responses reflecting the new size of the mailbox. Server
|
|
implementations that offer multiple simultaneous access to the same
|
|
mailbox SHOULD also send appropriate unilateral untagged FETCH and
|
|
EXPUNGE responses if another agent changes the state of any message
|
|
flags or expunges any messages.
|
|
|
|
Command continuation request responses use the token "+" instead of a
|
|
tag. These responses are sent by the server to indicate acceptance
|
|
of an incomplete client command and readiness for the remainder of
|
|
the command.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-7.1">7.1</a>. Server Responses - Status Responses</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
Status responses are OK, NO, BAD, PREAUTH and BYE. OK, NO, and BAD
|
|
can be tagged or untagged. PREAUTH and BYE are always untagged.
|
|
|
|
Status responses MAY include an OPTIONAL "response code". A response
|
|
code consists of data inside square brackets in the form of an atom,
|
|
possibly followed by a space and arguments. The response code
|
|
contains additional information or status codes for client software
|
|
beyond the OK/NO/BAD condition, and are defined when there is a
|
|
specific action that a client can take based upon the additional
|
|
information.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 63]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-64" id="page-64" href="#page-64" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
The currently defined response codes are:
|
|
|
|
ALERT
|
|
|
|
The human-readable text contains a special alert that MUST be
|
|
presented to the user in a fashion that calls the user's
|
|
attention to the message.
|
|
|
|
BADCHARSET
|
|
|
|
Optionally followed by a parenthesized list of charsets. A
|
|
SEARCH failed because the given charset is not supported by
|
|
this implementation. If the optional list of charsets is
|
|
given, this lists the charsets that are supported by this
|
|
implementation.
|
|
|
|
CAPABILITY
|
|
|
|
Followed by a list of capabilities. This can appear in the
|
|
initial OK or PREAUTH response to transmit an initial
|
|
capabilities list. This makes it unnecessary for a client to
|
|
send a separate CAPABILITY command if it recognizes this
|
|
response.
|
|
|
|
PARSE
|
|
|
|
The human-readable text represents an error in parsing the
|
|
[<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header or [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] headers of a message in the
|
|
mailbox.
|
|
|
|
PERMANENTFLAGS
|
|
|
|
Followed by a parenthesized list of flags, indicates which of
|
|
the known flags the client can change permanently. Any flags
|
|
that are in the FLAGS untagged response, but not the
|
|
PERMANENTFLAGS list, can not be set permanently. If the client
|
|
attempts to STORE a flag that is not in the PERMANENTFLAGS
|
|
list, the server will either ignore the change or store the
|
|
state change for the remainder of the current session only.
|
|
The PERMANENTFLAGS list can also include the special flag \*,
|
|
which indicates that it is possible to create new keywords by
|
|
attempting to store those flags in the mailbox.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 64]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-65" id="page-65" href="#page-65" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
READ-ONLY
|
|
|
|
The mailbox is selected read-only, or its access while selected
|
|
has changed from read-write to read-only.
|
|
|
|
READ-WRITE
|
|
|
|
The mailbox is selected read-write, or its access while
|
|
selected has changed from read-only to read-write.
|
|
|
|
TRYCREATE
|
|
|
|
An APPEND or COPY attempt is failing because the target mailbox
|
|
does not exist (as opposed to some other reason). This is a
|
|
hint to the client that the operation can succeed if the
|
|
mailbox is first created by the CREATE command.
|
|
|
|
UIDNEXT
|
|
|
|
Followed by a decimal number, indicates the next unique
|
|
identifier value. Refer to <a href="#section-2.3.1.1">section 2.3.1.1</a> for more
|
|
information.
|
|
|
|
UIDVALIDITY
|
|
|
|
Followed by a decimal number, indicates the unique identifier
|
|
validity value. Refer to <a href="#section-2.3.1.1">section 2.3.1.1</a> for more information.
|
|
|
|
UNSEEN
|
|
|
|
Followed by a decimal number, indicates the number of the first
|
|
message without the \Seen flag set.
|
|
|
|
Additional response codes defined by particular client or server
|
|
implementations SHOULD be prefixed with an "X" until they are
|
|
added to a revision of this protocol. Client implementations
|
|
SHOULD ignore response codes that they do not recognize.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.1.1">7.1.1</a>. OK Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: OPTIONAL response code
|
|
human-readable text
|
|
|
|
The OK response indicates an information message from the server.
|
|
When tagged, it indicates successful completion of the associated
|
|
command. The human-readable text MAY be presented to the user as
|
|
an information message. The untagged form indicates an
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 65]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-66" id="page-66" href="#page-66" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
information-only message; the nature of the information MAY be
|
|
indicated by a response code.
|
|
|
|
The untagged form is also used as one of three possible greetings
|
|
at connection startup. It indicates that the connection is not
|
|
yet authenticated and that a LOGIN command is needed.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * OK IMAP4rev1 server ready
|
|
C: A001 LOGIN fred blurdybloop
|
|
S: * OK [<a href="#ref-ALERT">ALERT</a>] System shutdown in 10 minutes
|
|
S: A001 OK LOGIN Completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.1.2">7.1.2</a>. NO Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: OPTIONAL response code
|
|
human-readable text
|
|
|
|
The NO response indicates an operational error message from the
|
|
server. When tagged, it indicates unsuccessful completion of the
|
|
associated command. The untagged form indicates a warning; the
|
|
command can still complete successfully. The human-readable text
|
|
describes the condition.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A222 COPY 1:2 owatagusiam
|
|
S: * NO Disk is 98% full, please delete unnecessary data
|
|
S: A222 OK COPY completed
|
|
C: A223 COPY 3:200 blurdybloop
|
|
S: * NO Disk is 98% full, please delete unnecessary data
|
|
S: * NO Disk is 99% full, please delete unnecessary data
|
|
S: A223 NO COPY failed: disk is full
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.1.3">7.1.3</a>. BAD Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: OPTIONAL response code
|
|
human-readable text
|
|
|
|
The BAD response indicates an error message from the server. When
|
|
tagged, it reports a protocol-level error in the client's command;
|
|
the tag indicates the command that caused the error. The untagged
|
|
form indicates a protocol-level error for which the associated
|
|
command can not be determined; it can also indicate an internal
|
|
server failure. The human-readable text describes the condition.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 66]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-67" id="page-67" href="#page-67" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example: C: ...very long command line...
|
|
S: * BAD Command line too long
|
|
C: ...empty line...
|
|
S: * BAD Empty command line
|
|
C: A443 EXPUNGE
|
|
S: * BAD Disk crash, attempting salvage to a new disk!
|
|
S: * OK Salvage successful, no data lost
|
|
S: A443 OK Expunge completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.1.4">7.1.4</a>. PREAUTH Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: OPTIONAL response code
|
|
human-readable text
|
|
|
|
The PREAUTH response is always untagged, and is one of three
|
|
possible greetings at connection startup. It indicates that the
|
|
connection has already been authenticated by external means; thus
|
|
no LOGIN command is needed.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * PREAUTH IMAP4rev1 server logged in as Smith
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.1.5">7.1.5</a>. BYE Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: OPTIONAL response code
|
|
human-readable text
|
|
|
|
The BYE response is always untagged, and indicates that the server
|
|
is about to close the connection. The human-readable text MAY be
|
|
displayed to the user in a status report by the client. The BYE
|
|
response is sent under one of four conditions:
|
|
|
|
1) as part of a normal logout sequence. The server will close
|
|
the connection after sending the tagged OK response to the
|
|
LOGOUT command.
|
|
|
|
2) as a panic shutdown announcement. The server closes the
|
|
connection immediately.
|
|
|
|
3) as an announcement of an inactivity autologout. The server
|
|
closes the connection immediately.
|
|
|
|
4) as one of three possible greetings at connection startup,
|
|
indicating that the server is not willing to accept a
|
|
connection from this client. The server closes the
|
|
connection immediately.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 67]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-68" id="page-68" href="#page-68" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
The difference between a BYE that occurs as part of a normal
|
|
LOGOUT sequence (the first case) and a BYE that occurs because of
|
|
a failure (the other three cases) is that the connection closes
|
|
immediately in the failure case. In all cases the client SHOULD
|
|
continue to read response data from the server until the
|
|
connection is closed; this will ensure that any pending untagged
|
|
or completion responses are read and processed.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * BYE Autologout; idle for too long
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-7.2">7.2</a>. Server Responses - Server and Mailbox Status</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
These responses are always untagged. This is how server and mailbox
|
|
status data are transmitted from the server to the client. Many of
|
|
these responses typically result from a command with the same name.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.2.1">7.2.1</a>. CAPABILITY Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: capability listing
|
|
|
|
The CAPABILITY response occurs as a result of a CAPABILITY
|
|
command. The capability listing contains a space-separated
|
|
listing of capability names that the server supports. The
|
|
capability listing MUST include the atom "IMAP4rev1".
|
|
|
|
In addition, client and server implementations MUST implement the
|
|
STARTTLS, LOGINDISABLED, and AUTH=PLAIN (described in [<a href="#ref-IMAP-TLS" title=""Using TLS with IMAP, POP3 and ACAP"">IMAP-TLS</a>])
|
|
capabilities. See the Security Considerations section for
|
|
important information.
|
|
|
|
A capability name which begins with "AUTH=" indicates that the
|
|
server supports that particular authentication mechanism.
|
|
|
|
The LOGINDISABLED capability indicates that the LOGIN command is
|
|
disabled, and that the server will respond with a tagged NO
|
|
response to any attempt to use the LOGIN command even if the user
|
|
name and password are valid. An IMAP client MUST NOT issue the
|
|
LOGIN command if the server advertises the LOGINDISABLED
|
|
capability.
|
|
|
|
Other capability names indicate that the server supports an
|
|
extension, revision, or amendment to the IMAP4rev1 protocol.
|
|
Server responses MUST conform to this document until the client
|
|
issues a command that uses the associated capability.
|
|
|
|
Capability names MUST either begin with "X" or be standard or
|
|
standards-track IMAP4rev1 extensions, revisions, or amendments
|
|
registered with IANA. A server MUST NOT offer unregistered or
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 68]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-69" id="page-69" href="#page-69" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
non-standard capability names, unless such names are prefixed with
|
|
an "X".
|
|
|
|
Client implementations SHOULD NOT require any capability name
|
|
other than "IMAP4rev1", and MUST ignore any unknown capability
|
|
names.
|
|
|
|
A server MAY send capabilities automatically, by using the
|
|
CAPABILITY response code in the initial PREAUTH or OK responses,
|
|
and by sending an updated CAPABILITY response code in the tagged
|
|
OK response as part of a successful authentication. It is
|
|
unnecessary for a client to send a separate CAPABILITY command if
|
|
it recognizes these automatic capabilities.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * CAPABILITY IMAP4rev1 STARTTLS AUTH=GSSAPI XPIG-LATIN
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.2.2">7.2.2</a>. LIST Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: name attributes
|
|
hierarchy delimiter
|
|
name
|
|
|
|
The LIST response occurs as a result of a LIST command. It
|
|
returns a single name that matches the LIST specification. There
|
|
can be multiple LIST responses for a single LIST command.
|
|
|
|
Four name attributes are defined:
|
|
|
|
\Noinferiors
|
|
It is not possible for any child levels of hierarchy to exist
|
|
under this name; no child levels exist now and none can be
|
|
created in the future.
|
|
|
|
\Noselect
|
|
It is not possible to use this name as a selectable mailbox.
|
|
|
|
\Marked
|
|
The mailbox has been marked "interesting" by the server; the
|
|
mailbox probably contains messages that have been added since
|
|
the last time the mailbox was selected.
|
|
|
|
\Unmarked
|
|
The mailbox does not contain any additional messages since the
|
|
last time the mailbox was selected.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 69]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-70" id="page-70" href="#page-70" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
If it is not feasible for the server to determine whether or not
|
|
the mailbox is "interesting", or if the name is a \Noselect name,
|
|
the server SHOULD NOT send either \Marked or \Unmarked.
|
|
|
|
The hierarchy delimiter is a character used to delimit levels of
|
|
hierarchy in a mailbox name. A client can use it to create child
|
|
mailboxes, and to search higher or lower levels of naming
|
|
hierarchy. All children of a top-level hierarchy node MUST use
|
|
the same separator character. A NIL hierarchy delimiter means
|
|
that no hierarchy exists; the name is a "flat" name.
|
|
|
|
The name represents an unambiguous left-to-right hierarchy, and
|
|
MUST be valid for use as a reference in LIST and LSUB commands.
|
|
Unless \Noselect is indicated, the name MUST also be valid as an
|
|
argument for commands, such as SELECT, that accept mailbox names.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * LIST (\Noselect) "/" ~/Mail/foo
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.2.3">7.2.3</a>. LSUB Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: name attributes
|
|
hierarchy delimiter
|
|
name
|
|
|
|
The LSUB response occurs as a result of an LSUB command. It
|
|
returns a single name that matches the LSUB specification. There
|
|
can be multiple LSUB responses for a single LSUB command. The
|
|
data is identical in format to the LIST response.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * LSUB () "." #news.comp.mail.misc
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.2.4">7.2.4</a> STATUS Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: name
|
|
status parenthesized list
|
|
|
|
The STATUS response occurs as a result of an STATUS command. It
|
|
returns the mailbox name that matches the STATUS specification and
|
|
the requested mailbox status information.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * STATUS blurdybloop (MESSAGES 231 UIDNEXT 44292)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 70]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-71" id="page-71" href="#page-71" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.2.5">7.2.5</a>. SEARCH Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: zero or more numbers
|
|
|
|
The SEARCH response occurs as a result of a SEARCH or UID SEARCH
|
|
command. The number(s) refer to those messages that match the
|
|
search criteria. For SEARCH, these are message sequence numbers;
|
|
for UID SEARCH, these are unique identifiers. Each number is
|
|
delimited by a space.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * SEARCH 2 3 6
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.2.6">7.2.6</a>. FLAGS Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: flag parenthesized list
|
|
|
|
The FLAGS response occurs as a result of a SELECT or EXAMINE
|
|
command. The flag parenthesized list identifies the flags (at a
|
|
minimum, the system-defined flags) that are applicable for this
|
|
mailbox. Flags other than the system flags can also exist,
|
|
depending on server implementation.
|
|
|
|
The update from the FLAGS response MUST be recorded by the client.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * FLAGS (\Answered \Flagged \Deleted \Seen \Draft)
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-7.3">7.3</a>. Server Responses - Mailbox Size</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
These responses are always untagged. This is how changes in the size
|
|
of the mailbox are transmitted from the server to the client.
|
|
Immediately following the "*" token is a number that represents a
|
|
message count.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.3.1">7.3.1</a>. EXISTS Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: none
|
|
|
|
The EXISTS response reports the number of messages in the mailbox.
|
|
This response occurs as a result of a SELECT or EXAMINE command,
|
|
and if the size of the mailbox changes (e.g., new messages).
|
|
|
|
The update from the EXISTS response MUST be recorded by the
|
|
client.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * 23 EXISTS
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 71]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-72" id="page-72" href="#page-72" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.3.2">7.3.2</a>. RECENT Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: none
|
|
|
|
The RECENT response reports the number of messages with the
|
|
\Recent flag set. This response occurs as a result of a SELECT or
|
|
EXAMINE command, and if the size of the mailbox changes (e.g., new
|
|
messages).
|
|
|
|
Note: It is not guaranteed that the message sequence
|
|
numbers of recent messages will be a contiguous range of
|
|
the highest n messages in the mailbox (where n is the
|
|
value reported by the RECENT response). Examples of
|
|
situations in which this is not the case are: multiple
|
|
clients having the same mailbox open (the first session
|
|
to be notified will see it as recent, others will
|
|
probably see it as non-recent), and when the mailbox is
|
|
re-ordered by a non-IMAP agent.
|
|
|
|
The only reliable way to identify recent messages is to
|
|
look at message flags to see which have the \Recent flag
|
|
set, or to do a SEARCH RECENT.
|
|
|
|
The update from the RECENT response MUST be recorded by the
|
|
client.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * 5 RECENT
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-7.4">7.4</a>. Server Responses - Message Status</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
These responses are always untagged. This is how message data are
|
|
transmitted from the server to the client, often as a result of a
|
|
command with the same name. Immediately following the "*" token is a
|
|
number that represents a message sequence number.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.4.1">7.4.1</a>. EXPUNGE Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: none
|
|
|
|
The EXPUNGE response reports that the specified message sequence
|
|
number has been permanently removed from the mailbox. The message
|
|
sequence number for each successive message in the mailbox is
|
|
immediately decremented by 1, and this decrement is reflected in
|
|
message sequence numbers in subsequent responses (including other
|
|
untagged EXPUNGE responses).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 72]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-73" id="page-73" href="#page-73" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
The EXPUNGE response also decrements the number of messages in the
|
|
mailbox; it is not necessary to send an EXISTS response with the
|
|
new value.
|
|
|
|
As a result of the immediate decrement rule, message sequence
|
|
numbers that appear in a set of successive EXPUNGE responses
|
|
depend upon whether the messages are removed starting from lower
|
|
numbers to higher numbers, or from higher numbers to lower
|
|
numbers. For example, if the last 5 messages in a 9-message
|
|
mailbox are expunged, a "lower to higher" server will send five
|
|
untagged EXPUNGE responses for message sequence number 5, whereas
|
|
a "higher to lower server" will send successive untagged EXPUNGE
|
|
responses for message sequence numbers 9, 8, 7, 6, and 5.
|
|
|
|
An EXPUNGE response MUST NOT be sent when no command is in
|
|
progress, nor while responding to a FETCH, STORE, or SEARCH
|
|
command. This rule is necessary to prevent a loss of
|
|
synchronization of message sequence numbers between client and
|
|
server. A command is not "in progress" until the complete command
|
|
has been received; in particular, a command is not "in progress"
|
|
during the negotiation of command continuation.
|
|
|
|
Note: UID FETCH, UID STORE, and UID SEARCH are different
|
|
commands from FETCH, STORE, and SEARCH. An EXPUNGE
|
|
response MAY be sent during a UID command.
|
|
|
|
The update from the EXPUNGE response MUST be recorded by the
|
|
client.
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * 44 EXPUNGE
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h4"><h4><a name="section-7.4.2">7.4.2</a>. FETCH Response</h4></span>
|
|
|
|
Contents: message data
|
|
|
|
The FETCH response returns data about a message to the client.
|
|
The data are pairs of data item names and their values in
|
|
parentheses. This response occurs as the result of a FETCH or
|
|
STORE command, as well as by unilateral server decision (e.g.,
|
|
flag updates).
|
|
|
|
The current data items are:
|
|
|
|
BODY
|
|
A form of BODYSTRUCTURE without extension data.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 73]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-74" id="page-74" href="#page-74" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
BODY[<section>]<<origin octet>>
|
|
A string expressing the body contents of the specified section.
|
|
The string SHOULD be interpreted by the client according to the
|
|
content transfer encoding, body type, and subtype.
|
|
|
|
If the origin octet is specified, this string is a substring of
|
|
the entire body contents, starting at that origin octet. This
|
|
means that BODY[]<0> MAY be truncated, but BODY[] is NEVER
|
|
truncated.
|
|
|
|
Note: The origin octet facility MUST NOT be used by a server
|
|
in a FETCH response unless the client specifically requested
|
|
it by means of a FETCH of a BODY[<section>]<<partial>> data
|
|
item.
|
|
|
|
8-bit textual data is permitted if a [<a href="#ref-CHARSET" title=""IANA Character Set Registration Procedures"">CHARSET</a>] identifier is
|
|
part of the body parameter parenthesized list for this section.
|
|
Note that headers (part specifiers HEADER or MIME, or the
|
|
header portion of a MESSAGE/RFC822 part), MUST be 7-bit; 8-bit
|
|
characters are not permitted in headers. Note also that the
|
|
[<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] delimiting blank line between the header and the
|
|
body is not affected by header line subsetting; the blank line
|
|
is always included as part of header data, except in the case
|
|
of a message which has no body and no blank line.
|
|
|
|
Non-textual data such as binary data MUST be transfer encoded
|
|
into a textual form, such as BASE64, prior to being sent to the
|
|
client. To derive the original binary data, the client MUST
|
|
decode the transfer encoded string.
|
|
|
|
BODYSTRUCTURE
|
|
A parenthesized list that describes the [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] body
|
|
structure of a message. This is computed by the server by
|
|
parsing the [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>] header fields, defaulting various fields
|
|
as necessary.
|
|
|
|
For example, a simple text message of 48 lines and 2279 octets
|
|
can have a body structure of: ("TEXT" "PLAIN" ("CHARSET"
|
|
"US-ASCII") NIL NIL "7BIT" 2279 48)
|
|
|
|
Multiple parts are indicated by parenthesis nesting. Instead
|
|
of a body type as the first element of the parenthesized list,
|
|
there is a sequence of one or more nested body structures. The
|
|
second element of the parenthesized list is the multipart
|
|
subtype (mixed, digest, parallel, alternative, etc.).
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 74]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-75" id="page-75" href="#page-75" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
For example, a two part message consisting of a text and a
|
|
BASE64-encoded text attachment can have a body structure of:
|
|
(("TEXT" "PLAIN" ("CHARSET" "US-ASCII") NIL NIL "7BIT" 1152
|
|
23)("TEXT" "PLAIN" ("CHARSET" "US-ASCII" "NAME" "cc.diff")
|
|
"<960723163407.20117h@cac.washington.edu>" "Compiler diff"
|
|
"BASE64" 4554 73) "MIXED")
|
|
|
|
Extension data follows the multipart subtype. Extension data
|
|
is never returned with the BODY fetch, but can be returned with
|
|
a BODYSTRUCTURE fetch. Extension data, if present, MUST be in
|
|
the defined order. The extension data of a multipart body part
|
|
are in the following order:
|
|
|
|
body parameter parenthesized list
|
|
A parenthesized list of attribute/value pairs [e.g., ("foo"
|
|
"bar" "baz" "rag") where "bar" is the value of "foo", and
|
|
"rag" is the value of "baz"] as defined in [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>].
|
|
|
|
body disposition
|
|
A parenthesized list, consisting of a disposition type
|
|
string, followed by a parenthesized list of disposition
|
|
attribute/value pairs as defined in [<a href="#ref-DISPOSITION" title=""Communicating Presentation Information in Internet Messages: The Content-Disposition Header"">DISPOSITION</a>].
|
|
|
|
body language
|
|
A string or parenthesized list giving the body language
|
|
value as defined in [<a href="#ref-LANGUAGE-TAGS" title=""Tags for the Identification of Languages"">LANGUAGE-TAGS</a>].
|
|
|
|
body location
|
|
A string list giving the body content URI as defined in
|
|
[<a href="#ref-LOCATION" title=""MIME Encapsulation of Aggregate Documents, such as HTML (MHTML)"">LOCATION</a>].
|
|
|
|
Any following extension data are not yet defined in this
|
|
version of the protocol. Such extension data can consist of
|
|
zero or more NILs, strings, numbers, or potentially nested
|
|
parenthesized lists of such data. Client implementations that
|
|
do a BODYSTRUCTURE fetch MUST be prepared to accept such
|
|
extension data. Server implementations MUST NOT send such
|
|
extension data until it has been defined by a revision of this
|
|
protocol.
|
|
|
|
The basic fields of a non-multipart body part are in the
|
|
following order:
|
|
|
|
body type
|
|
A string giving the content media type name as defined in
|
|
[<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>].
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 75]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-76" id="page-76" href="#page-76" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
body subtype
|
|
A string giving the content subtype name as defined in
|
|
[<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>].
|
|
|
|
body parameter parenthesized list
|
|
A parenthesized list of attribute/value pairs [e.g., ("foo"
|
|
"bar" "baz" "rag") where "bar" is the value of "foo" and
|
|
"rag" is the value of "baz"] as defined in [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>].
|
|
|
|
body id
|
|
A string giving the content id as defined in [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>].
|
|
|
|
body description
|
|
A string giving the content description as defined in
|
|
[<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>].
|
|
|
|
body encoding
|
|
A string giving the content transfer encoding as defined in
|
|
[<a href="#ref-MIME-IMB" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Format of Internet Message Bodies"">MIME-IMB</a>].
|
|
|
|
body size
|
|
A number giving the size of the body in octets. Note that
|
|
this size is the size in its transfer encoding and not the
|
|
resulting size after any decoding.
|
|
|
|
A body type of type MESSAGE and subtype <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a> contains,
|
|
immediately after the basic fields, the envelope structure,
|
|
body structure, and size in text lines of the encapsulated
|
|
message.
|
|
|
|
A body type of type TEXT contains, immediately after the basic
|
|
fields, the size of the body in text lines. Note that this
|
|
size is the size in its content transfer encoding and not the
|
|
resulting size after any decoding.
|
|
|
|
Extension data follows the basic fields and the type-specific
|
|
fields listed above. Extension data is never returned with the
|
|
BODY fetch, but can be returned with a BODYSTRUCTURE fetch.
|
|
Extension data, if present, MUST be in the defined order.
|
|
|
|
The extension data of a non-multipart body part are in the
|
|
following order:
|
|
|
|
body MD5
|
|
A string giving the body MD5 value as defined in [<a href="#ref-MD5" title=""The Content-MD5 Header Field"">MD5</a>].
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 76]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-77" id="page-77" href="#page-77" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
body disposition
|
|
A parenthesized list with the same content and function as
|
|
the body disposition for a multipart body part.
|
|
|
|
body language
|
|
A string or parenthesized list giving the body language
|
|
value as defined in [<a href="#ref-LANGUAGE-TAGS" title=""Tags for the Identification of Languages"">LANGUAGE-TAGS</a>].
|
|
|
|
body location
|
|
A string list giving the body content URI as defined in
|
|
[<a href="#ref-LOCATION" title=""MIME Encapsulation of Aggregate Documents, such as HTML (MHTML)"">LOCATION</a>].
|
|
|
|
Any following extension data are not yet defined in this
|
|
version of the protocol, and would be as described above under
|
|
multipart extension data.
|
|
|
|
ENVELOPE
|
|
A parenthesized list that describes the envelope structure of a
|
|
message. This is computed by the server by parsing the
|
|
[<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header into the component parts, defaulting various
|
|
fields as necessary.
|
|
|
|
The fields of the envelope structure are in the following
|
|
order: date, subject, from, sender, reply-to, to, cc, bcc,
|
|
in-reply-to, and message-id. The date, subject, in-reply-to,
|
|
and message-id fields are strings. The from, sender, reply-to,
|
|
to, cc, and bcc fields are parenthesized lists of address
|
|
structures.
|
|
|
|
An address structure is a parenthesized list that describes an
|
|
electronic mail address. The fields of an address structure
|
|
are in the following order: personal name, [<a href="#ref-SMTP" title=""Simple Mail Transfer Protocol"">SMTP</a>]
|
|
at-domain-list (source route), mailbox name, and host name.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-RFC-2822" id="ref-RFC-2822">RFC-2822</a>] group syntax is indicated by a special form of
|
|
address structure in which the host name field is NIL. If the
|
|
mailbox name field is also NIL, this is an end of group marker
|
|
(semi-colon in <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC 822</a> syntax). If the mailbox name field is
|
|
non-NIL, this is a start of group marker, and the mailbox name
|
|
field holds the group name phrase.
|
|
|
|
If the Date, Subject, In-Reply-To, and Message-ID header lines
|
|
are absent in the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header, the corresponding member
|
|
of the envelope is NIL; if these header lines are present but
|
|
empty the corresponding member of the envelope is the empty
|
|
string.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 77]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-78" id="page-78" href="#page-78" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note: some servers may return a NIL envelope member in the
|
|
"present but empty" case. Clients SHOULD treat NIL and
|
|
empty string as identical.
|
|
|
|
Note: [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] requires that all messages have a valid
|
|
Date header. Therefore, the date member in the envelope can
|
|
not be NIL or the empty string.
|
|
|
|
Note: [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] requires that the In-Reply-To and
|
|
Message-ID headers, if present, have non-empty content.
|
|
Therefore, the in-reply-to and message-id members in the
|
|
envelope can not be the empty string.
|
|
|
|
If the From, To, cc, and bcc header lines are absent in the
|
|
[<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header, or are present but empty, the corresponding
|
|
member of the envelope is NIL.
|
|
|
|
If the Sender or Reply-To lines are absent in the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>]
|
|
header, or are present but empty, the server sets the
|
|
corresponding member of the envelope to be the same value as
|
|
the from member (the client is not expected to know to do
|
|
this).
|
|
|
|
Note: [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] requires that all messages have a valid
|
|
From header. Therefore, the from, sender, and reply-to
|
|
members in the envelope can not be NIL.
|
|
|
|
FLAGS
|
|
A parenthesized list of flags that are set for this message.
|
|
|
|
INTERNALDATE
|
|
A string representing the internal date of the message.
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>
|
|
Equivalent to BODY[].
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.HEADER
|
|
Equivalent to BODY[HEADER]. Note that this did not result in
|
|
\Seen being set, because <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.HEADER response data occurs as
|
|
a result of a FETCH of <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.HEADER. BODY[HEADER] response
|
|
data occurs as a result of a FETCH of BODY[HEADER] (which sets
|
|
\Seen) or BODY.PEEK[HEADER] (which does not set \Seen).
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.SIZE
|
|
A number expressing the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] size of the message.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 78]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-79" id="page-79" href="#page-79" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.TEXT
|
|
Equivalent to BODY[TEXT].
|
|
|
|
UID
|
|
A number expressing the unique identifier of the message.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Example: S: * 23 FETCH (FLAGS (\Seen) <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.SIZE 44827)
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-7.5">7.5</a>. Server Responses - Command Continuation Request</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
The command continuation request response is indicated by a "+" token
|
|
instead of a tag. This form of response indicates that the server is
|
|
ready to accept the continuation of a command from the client. The
|
|
remainder of this response is a line of text.
|
|
|
|
This response is used in the AUTHENTICATE command to transmit server
|
|
data to the client, and request additional client data. This
|
|
response is also used if an argument to any command is a literal.
|
|
|
|
The client is not permitted to send the octets of the literal unless
|
|
the server indicates that it is expected. This permits the server to
|
|
process commands and reject errors on a line-by-line basis. The
|
|
remainder of the command, including the CRLF that terminates a
|
|
command, follows the octets of the literal. If there are any
|
|
additional command arguments, the literal octets are followed by a
|
|
space and those arguments.
|
|
|
|
Example: C: A001 LOGIN {11}
|
|
S: + Ready for additional command text
|
|
C: FRED FOOBAR {7}
|
|
S: + Ready for additional command text
|
|
C: fat man
|
|
S: A001 OK LOGIN completed
|
|
C: A044 BLURDYBLOOP {102856}
|
|
S: A044 BAD No such command as "BLURDYBLOOP"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 79]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-80" id="page-80" href="#page-80" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-8">8</a>. Sample IMAP4rev1 connection</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
The following is a transcript of an IMAP4rev1 connection. A long
|
|
line in this sample is broken for editorial clarity.
|
|
|
|
S: * OK IMAP4rev1 Service Ready
|
|
C: a001 login mrc secret
|
|
S: a001 OK LOGIN completed
|
|
C: a002 select inbox
|
|
S: * 18 EXISTS
|
|
S: * FLAGS (\Answered \Flagged \Deleted \Seen \Draft)
|
|
S: * 2 RECENT
|
|
S: * OK [UNSEEN 17] Message 17 is the first unseen message
|
|
S: * OK [UIDVALIDITY 3857529045] UIDs valid
|
|
S: a002 OK [<a href="#ref-READ-WRITE">READ-WRITE</a>] SELECT completed
|
|
C: a003 fetch 12 full
|
|
S: * 12 FETCH (FLAGS (\Seen) INTERNALDATE "17-Jul-1996 02:44:25 -0700"
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.SIZE 4286 ENVELOPE ("Wed, 17 Jul 1996 02:23:25 -0700 (PDT)"
|
|
"IMAP4rev1 WG mtg summary and minutes"
|
|
(("Terry Gray" NIL "gray" "cac.washington.edu"))
|
|
(("Terry Gray" NIL "gray" "cac.washington.edu"))
|
|
(("Terry Gray" NIL "gray" "cac.washington.edu"))
|
|
((NIL NIL "imap" "cac.washington.edu"))
|
|
((NIL NIL "minutes" "CNRI.Reston.VA.US")
|
|
("John Klensin" NIL "KLENSIN" "MIT.EDU")) NIL NIL
|
|
"<B27397-0100000@cac.washington.edu>")
|
|
BODY ("TEXT" "PLAIN" ("CHARSET" "US-ASCII") NIL NIL "7BIT" 3028
|
|
92))
|
|
S: a003 OK FETCH completed
|
|
C: a004 fetch 12 body[header]
|
|
S: * 12 FETCH (BODY[HEADER] {342}
|
|
S: Date: Wed, 17 Jul 1996 02:23:25 -0700 (PDT)
|
|
S: From: Terry Gray <gray@cac.washington.edu>
|
|
S: Subject: IMAP4rev1 WG mtg summary and minutes
|
|
S: To: imap@cac.washington.edu
|
|
S: cc: minutes@CNRI.Reston.VA.US, John Klensin <KLENSIN@MIT.EDU>
|
|
S: Message-Id: <B27397-0100000@cac.washington.edu>
|
|
S: MIME-Version: 1.0
|
|
S: Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; CHARSET=US-ASCII
|
|
S:
|
|
S: )
|
|
S: a004 OK FETCH completed
|
|
C: a005 store 12 +flags \deleted
|
|
S: * 12 FETCH (FLAGS (\Seen \Deleted))
|
|
S: a005 OK +FLAGS completed
|
|
C: a006 logout
|
|
S: * BYE IMAP4rev1 server terminating connection
|
|
S: a006 OK LOGOUT completed
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 80]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-81" id="page-81" href="#page-81" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-9">9</a>. Formal Syntax</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
The following syntax specification uses the Augmented Backus-Naur
|
|
Form (ABNF) notation as specified in [<a href="#ref-ABNF">ABNF</a>].
|
|
|
|
In the case of alternative or optional rules in which a later rule
|
|
overlaps an earlier rule, the rule which is listed earlier MUST take
|
|
priority. For example, "\Seen" when parsed as a flag is the \Seen
|
|
flag name and not a flag-extension, even though "\Seen" can be parsed
|
|
as a flag-extension. Some, but not all, instances of this rule are
|
|
noted below.
|
|
|
|
Note: [<a href="#ref-ABNF">ABNF</a>] rules MUST be followed strictly; in
|
|
particular:
|
|
|
|
(1) Except as noted otherwise, all alphabetic characters
|
|
are case-insensitive. The use of upper or lower case
|
|
characters to define token strings is for editorial clarity
|
|
only. Implementations MUST accept these strings in a
|
|
case-insensitive fashion.
|
|
|
|
(2) In all cases, SP refers to exactly one space. It is
|
|
NOT permitted to substitute TAB, insert additional spaces,
|
|
or otherwise treat SP as being equivalent to LWSP.
|
|
|
|
(3) The ASCII NUL character, %x00, MUST NOT be used at any
|
|
time.
|
|
|
|
address = "(" addr-name SP addr-adl SP addr-mailbox SP
|
|
addr-host ")"
|
|
|
|
addr-adl = nstring
|
|
; Holds route from [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] route-addr if
|
|
; non-NIL
|
|
|
|
addr-host = nstring
|
|
; NIL indicates [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] group syntax.
|
|
; Otherwise, holds [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] domain name
|
|
|
|
addr-mailbox = nstring
|
|
; NIL indicates end of [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] group; if
|
|
; non-NIL and addr-host is NIL, holds
|
|
; [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] group name.
|
|
; Otherwise, holds [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] local-part
|
|
; after removing [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] quoting
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 81]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-82" id="page-82" href="#page-82" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
addr-name = nstring
|
|
; If non-NIL, holds phrase from [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>]
|
|
; mailbox after removing [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] quoting
|
|
|
|
append = "APPEND" SP mailbox [SP flag-list] [SP date-time] SP
|
|
literal
|
|
|
|
astring = 1*ASTRING-CHAR / string
|
|
|
|
ASTRING-CHAR = ATOM-CHAR / resp-specials
|
|
|
|
atom = 1*ATOM-CHAR
|
|
|
|
ATOM-CHAR = <any CHAR except atom-specials>
|
|
|
|
atom-specials = "(" / ")" / "{" / SP / CTL / list-wildcards /
|
|
quoted-specials / resp-specials
|
|
|
|
authenticate = "AUTHENTICATE" SP auth-type *(CRLF base64)
|
|
|
|
auth-type = atom
|
|
; Defined by [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>]
|
|
|
|
base64 = *(4base64-char) [<a href="#ref-base64-terminal">base64-terminal</a>]
|
|
|
|
base64-char = ALPHA / DIGIT / "+" / "/"
|
|
; Case-sensitive
|
|
|
|
base64-terminal = (2base64-char "==") / (3base64-char "=")
|
|
|
|
body = "(" (body-type-1part / body-type-mpart) ")"
|
|
|
|
body-extension = nstring / number /
|
|
"(" body-extension *(SP body-extension) ")"
|
|
; Future expansion. Client implementations
|
|
; MUST accept body-extension fields. Server
|
|
; implementations MUST NOT generate
|
|
; body-extension fields except as defined by
|
|
; future standard or standards-track
|
|
; revisions of this specification.
|
|
|
|
body-ext-1part = body-fld-md5 [SP body-fld-dsp [SP body-fld-lang
|
|
[SP body-fld-loc *(SP body-extension)]]]
|
|
; MUST NOT be returned on non-extensible
|
|
; "BODY" fetch
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 82]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-83" id="page-83" href="#page-83" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
body-ext-mpart = body-fld-param [SP body-fld-dsp [SP body-fld-lang
|
|
[SP body-fld-loc *(SP body-extension)]]]
|
|
; MUST NOT be returned on non-extensible
|
|
; "BODY" fetch
|
|
|
|
body-fields = body-fld-param SP body-fld-id SP body-fld-desc SP
|
|
body-fld-enc SP body-fld-octets
|
|
|
|
body-fld-desc = nstring
|
|
|
|
body-fld-dsp = "(" string SP body-fld-param ")" / nil
|
|
|
|
body-fld-enc = (DQUOTE ("7BIT" / "8BIT" / "BINARY" / "BASE64"/
|
|
"QUOTED-PRINTABLE") DQUOTE) / string
|
|
|
|
body-fld-id = nstring
|
|
|
|
body-fld-lang = nstring / "(" string *(SP string) ")"
|
|
|
|
body-fld-loc = nstring
|
|
|
|
body-fld-lines = number
|
|
|
|
body-fld-md5 = nstring
|
|
|
|
body-fld-octets = number
|
|
|
|
body-fld-param = "(" string SP string *(SP string SP string) ")" / nil
|
|
|
|
body-type-1part = (body-type-basic / body-type-msg / body-type-text)
|
|
[SP body-ext-1part]
|
|
|
|
body-type-basic = media-basic SP body-fields
|
|
; MESSAGE subtype MUST NOT be "<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>"
|
|
|
|
body-type-mpart = 1*body SP media-subtype
|
|
[SP body-ext-mpart]
|
|
|
|
body-type-msg = media-message SP body-fields SP envelope
|
|
SP body SP body-fld-lines
|
|
|
|
body-type-text = media-text SP body-fields SP body-fld-lines
|
|
|
|
capability = ("AUTH=" auth-type) / atom
|
|
; New capabilities MUST begin with "X" or be
|
|
; registered with IANA as standard or
|
|
; standards-track
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 83]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-84" id="page-84" href="#page-84" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
capability-data = "CAPABILITY" *(SP capability) SP "IMAP4rev1"
|
|
*(SP capability)
|
|
; Servers MUST implement the STARTTLS, AUTH=PLAIN,
|
|
; and LOGINDISABLED capabilities
|
|
; Servers which offer <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1730">RFC 1730</a> compatibility MUST
|
|
; list "IMAP4" as the first capability.
|
|
|
|
CHAR8 = %x01-ff
|
|
; any OCTET except NUL, %x00
|
|
|
|
command = tag SP (command-any / command-auth / command-nonauth /
|
|
command-select) CRLF
|
|
; Modal based on state
|
|
|
|
command-any = "CAPABILITY" / "LOGOUT" / "NOOP" / x-command
|
|
; Valid in all states
|
|
|
|
command-auth = append / create / delete / examine / list / lsub /
|
|
rename / select / status / subscribe / unsubscribe
|
|
; Valid only in Authenticated or Selected state
|
|
|
|
command-nonauth = login / authenticate / "STARTTLS"
|
|
; Valid only when in Not Authenticated state
|
|
|
|
command-select = "CHECK" / "CLOSE" / "EXPUNGE" / copy / fetch / store /
|
|
uid / search
|
|
; Valid only when in Selected state
|
|
|
|
continue-req = "+" SP (resp-text / base64) CRLF
|
|
|
|
copy = "COPY" SP sequence-set SP mailbox
|
|
|
|
create = "CREATE" SP mailbox
|
|
; Use of INBOX gives a NO error
|
|
|
|
date = date-text / DQUOTE date-text DQUOTE
|
|
|
|
date-day = 1*2DIGIT
|
|
; Day of month
|
|
|
|
date-day-fixed = (SP DIGIT) / 2DIGIT
|
|
; Fixed-format version of date-day
|
|
|
|
date-month = "Jan" / "Feb" / "Mar" / "Apr" / "May" / "Jun" /
|
|
"Jul" / "Aug" / "Sep" / "Oct" / "Nov" / "Dec"
|
|
|
|
date-text = date-day "-" date-month "-" date-year
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 84]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-85" id="page-85" href="#page-85" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
date-year = 4DIGIT
|
|
|
|
date-time = DQUOTE date-day-fixed "-" date-month "-" date-year
|
|
SP time SP zone DQUOTE
|
|
|
|
delete = "DELETE" SP mailbox
|
|
; Use of INBOX gives a NO error
|
|
|
|
digit-nz = %x31-39
|
|
; 1-9
|
|
|
|
envelope = "(" env-date SP env-subject SP env-from SP
|
|
env-sender SP env-reply-to SP env-to SP env-cc SP
|
|
env-bcc SP env-in-reply-to SP env-message-id ")"
|
|
|
|
env-bcc = "(" 1*address ")" / nil
|
|
|
|
env-cc = "(" 1*address ")" / nil
|
|
|
|
env-date = nstring
|
|
|
|
env-from = "(" 1*address ")" / nil
|
|
|
|
env-in-reply-to = nstring
|
|
|
|
env-message-id = nstring
|
|
|
|
env-reply-to = "(" 1*address ")" / nil
|
|
|
|
env-sender = "(" 1*address ")" / nil
|
|
|
|
env-subject = nstring
|
|
|
|
env-to = "(" 1*address ")" / nil
|
|
|
|
examine = "EXAMINE" SP mailbox
|
|
|
|
fetch = "FETCH" SP sequence-set SP ("ALL" / "FULL" / "FAST" /
|
|
fetch-att / "(" fetch-att *(SP fetch-att) ")")
|
|
|
|
fetch-att = "ENVELOPE" / "FLAGS" / "INTERNALDATE" /
|
|
"<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>" [".HEADER" / ".SIZE" / ".TEXT"] /
|
|
"BODY" ["STRUCTURE"] / "UID" /
|
|
"BODY" section ["<" number "." nz-number ">"] /
|
|
"BODY.PEEK" section ["<" number "." nz-number ">"]
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 85]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-86" id="page-86" href="#page-86" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
flag = "\Answered" / "\Flagged" / "\Deleted" /
|
|
"\Seen" / "\Draft" / flag-keyword / flag-extension
|
|
; Does not include "\Recent"
|
|
|
|
flag-extension = "\" atom
|
|
; Future expansion. Client implementations
|
|
; MUST accept flag-extension flags. Server
|
|
; implementations MUST NOT generate
|
|
; flag-extension flags except as defined by
|
|
; future standard or standards-track
|
|
; revisions of this specification.
|
|
|
|
flag-fetch = flag / "\Recent"
|
|
|
|
flag-keyword = atom
|
|
|
|
flag-list = "(" [flag *(SP flag)] ")"
|
|
|
|
flag-perm = flag / "\*"
|
|
|
|
greeting = "*" SP (resp-cond-auth / resp-cond-bye) CRLF
|
|
|
|
header-fld-name = astring
|
|
|
|
header-list = "(" header-fld-name *(SP header-fld-name) ")"
|
|
|
|
list = "LIST" SP mailbox SP list-mailbox
|
|
|
|
list-mailbox = 1*list-char / string
|
|
|
|
list-char = ATOM-CHAR / list-wildcards / resp-specials
|
|
|
|
list-wildcards = "%" / "*"
|
|
|
|
literal = "{" number "}" CRLF *CHAR8
|
|
; Number represents the number of CHAR8s
|
|
|
|
login = "LOGIN" SP userid SP password
|
|
|
|
lsub = "LSUB" SP mailbox SP list-mailbox
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 86]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-87" id="page-87" href="#page-87" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
mailbox = "INBOX" / astring
|
|
; INBOX is case-insensitive. All case variants of
|
|
; INBOX (e.g., "iNbOx") MUST be interpreted as INBOX
|
|
; not as an astring. An astring which consists of
|
|
; the case-insensitive sequence "I" "N" "B" "O" "X"
|
|
; is considered to be INBOX and not an astring.
|
|
; Refer to <a href="#section-5.1">section 5.1</a> for further
|
|
; semantic details of mailbox names.
|
|
|
|
mailbox-data = "FLAGS" SP flag-list / "LIST" SP mailbox-list /
|
|
"LSUB" SP mailbox-list / "SEARCH" *(SP nz-number) /
|
|
"STATUS" SP mailbox SP "(" [<a href="#ref-status-att-list">status-att-list</a>] ")" /
|
|
number SP "EXISTS" / number SP "RECENT"
|
|
|
|
mailbox-list = "(" [<a href="#ref-mbx-list-flags">mbx-list-flags</a>] ")" SP
|
|
(DQUOTE QUOTED-CHAR DQUOTE / nil) SP mailbox
|
|
|
|
mbx-list-flags = *(mbx-list-oflag SP) mbx-list-sflag
|
|
*(SP mbx-list-oflag) /
|
|
mbx-list-oflag *(SP mbx-list-oflag)
|
|
|
|
mbx-list-oflag = "\Noinferiors" / flag-extension
|
|
; Other flags; multiple possible per LIST response
|
|
|
|
mbx-list-sflag = "\Noselect" / "\Marked" / "\Unmarked"
|
|
; Selectability flags; only one per LIST response
|
|
|
|
media-basic = ((DQUOTE ("APPLICATION" / "AUDIO" / "IMAGE" /
|
|
"MESSAGE" / "VIDEO") DQUOTE) / string) SP
|
|
media-subtype
|
|
; Defined in [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMT" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Two: Media Types"">MIME-IMT</a>]
|
|
|
|
media-message = DQUOTE "MESSAGE" DQUOTE SP DQUOTE "<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>" DQUOTE
|
|
; Defined in [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMT" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Two: Media Types"">MIME-IMT</a>]
|
|
|
|
media-subtype = string
|
|
; Defined in [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMT" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Two: Media Types"">MIME-IMT</a>]
|
|
|
|
media-text = DQUOTE "TEXT" DQUOTE SP media-subtype
|
|
; Defined in [<a href="#ref-MIME-IMT" title=""MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part Two: Media Types"">MIME-IMT</a>]
|
|
|
|
message-data = nz-number SP ("EXPUNGE" / ("FETCH" SP msg-att))
|
|
|
|
msg-att = "(" (msg-att-dynamic / msg-att-static)
|
|
*(SP (msg-att-dynamic / msg-att-static)) ")"
|
|
|
|
msg-att-dynamic = "FLAGS" SP "(" [flag-fetch *(SP flag-fetch)] ")"
|
|
; MAY change for a message
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 87]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-88" id="page-88" href="#page-88" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
msg-att-static = "ENVELOPE" SP envelope / "INTERNALDATE" SP date-time /
|
|
"<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>" [".HEADER" / ".TEXT"] SP nstring /
|
|
"<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.SIZE" SP number /
|
|
"BODY" ["STRUCTURE"] SP body /
|
|
"BODY" section ["<" number ">"] SP nstring /
|
|
"UID" SP uniqueid
|
|
; MUST NOT change for a message
|
|
|
|
nil = "NIL"
|
|
|
|
nstring = string / nil
|
|
|
|
number = 1*DIGIT
|
|
; Unsigned 32-bit integer
|
|
; (0 <= n < 4,294,967,296)
|
|
|
|
nz-number = digit-nz *DIGIT
|
|
; Non-zero unsigned 32-bit integer
|
|
; (0 < n < 4,294,967,296)
|
|
|
|
password = astring
|
|
|
|
quoted = DQUOTE *QUOTED-CHAR DQUOTE
|
|
|
|
QUOTED-CHAR = <any TEXT-CHAR except quoted-specials> /
|
|
"\" quoted-specials
|
|
|
|
quoted-specials = DQUOTE / "\"
|
|
|
|
rename = "RENAME" SP mailbox SP mailbox
|
|
; Use of INBOX as a destination gives a NO error
|
|
|
|
response = *(continue-req / response-data) response-done
|
|
|
|
response-data = "*" SP (resp-cond-state / resp-cond-bye /
|
|
mailbox-data / message-data / capability-data) CRLF
|
|
|
|
response-done = response-tagged / response-fatal
|
|
|
|
response-fatal = "*" SP resp-cond-bye CRLF
|
|
; Server closes connection immediately
|
|
|
|
response-tagged = tag SP resp-cond-state CRLF
|
|
|
|
resp-cond-auth = ("OK" / "PREAUTH") SP resp-text
|
|
; Authentication condition
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 88]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-89" id="page-89" href="#page-89" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
resp-cond-bye = "BYE" SP resp-text
|
|
|
|
resp-cond-state = ("OK" / "NO" / "BAD") SP resp-text
|
|
; Status condition
|
|
|
|
resp-specials = "]"
|
|
|
|
resp-text = ["[" resp-text-code "]" SP] text
|
|
|
|
resp-text-code = "ALERT" /
|
|
"BADCHARSET" [SP "(" astring *(SP astring) ")" ] /
|
|
capability-data / "PARSE" /
|
|
"PERMANENTFLAGS" SP "("
|
|
[flag-perm *(SP flag-perm)] ")" /
|
|
"READ-ONLY" / "READ-WRITE" / "TRYCREATE" /
|
|
"UIDNEXT" SP nz-number / "UIDVALIDITY" SP nz-number /
|
|
"UNSEEN" SP nz-number /
|
|
atom [SP 1*<any TEXT-CHAR except "]">]
|
|
|
|
search = "SEARCH" [SP "CHARSET" SP astring] 1*(SP search-key)
|
|
; CHARSET argument to MUST be registered with IANA
|
|
|
|
search-key = "ALL" / "ANSWERED" / "BCC" SP astring /
|
|
"BEFORE" SP date / "BODY" SP astring /
|
|
"CC" SP astring / "DELETED" / "FLAGGED" /
|
|
"FROM" SP astring / "KEYWORD" SP flag-keyword /
|
|
"NEW" / "OLD" / "ON" SP date / "RECENT" / "SEEN" /
|
|
"SINCE" SP date / "SUBJECT" SP astring /
|
|
"TEXT" SP astring / "TO" SP astring /
|
|
"UNANSWERED" / "UNDELETED" / "UNFLAGGED" /
|
|
"UNKEYWORD" SP flag-keyword / "UNSEEN" /
|
|
; Above this line were in [<a href="#ref-IMAP2" title=""Interactive Mail Access Protocol - Version 2"">IMAP2</a>]
|
|
"DRAFT" / "HEADER" SP header-fld-name SP astring /
|
|
"LARGER" SP number / "NOT" SP search-key /
|
|
"OR" SP search-key SP search-key /
|
|
"SENTBEFORE" SP date / "SENTON" SP date /
|
|
"SENTSINCE" SP date / "SMALLER" SP number /
|
|
"UID" SP sequence-set / "UNDRAFT" / sequence-set /
|
|
"(" search-key *(SP search-key) ")"
|
|
|
|
section = "[" [<a href="#ref-section-spec">section-spec</a>] "]"
|
|
|
|
section-msgtext = "HEADER" / "HEADER.FIELDS" [".NOT"] SP header-list /
|
|
"TEXT"
|
|
; top-level or MESSAGE/RFC822 part
|
|
|
|
section-part = nz-number *("." nz-number)
|
|
; body part nesting
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 89]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-90" id="page-90" href="#page-90" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
section-spec = section-msgtext / (section-part ["." section-text])
|
|
|
|
section-text = section-msgtext / "MIME"
|
|
; text other than actual body part (headers, etc.)
|
|
|
|
select = "SELECT" SP mailbox
|
|
|
|
seq-number = nz-number / "*"
|
|
; message sequence number (COPY, FETCH, STORE
|
|
; commands) or unique identifier (UID COPY,
|
|
; UID FETCH, UID STORE commands).
|
|
; * represents the largest number in use. In
|
|
; the case of message sequence numbers, it is
|
|
; the number of messages in a non-empty mailbox.
|
|
; In the case of unique identifiers, it is the
|
|
; unique identifier of the last message in the
|
|
; mailbox or, if the mailbox is empty, the
|
|
; mailbox's current UIDNEXT value.
|
|
; The server should respond with a tagged BAD
|
|
; response to a command that uses a message
|
|
; sequence number greater than the number of
|
|
; messages in the selected mailbox. This
|
|
; includes "*" if the selected mailbox is empty.
|
|
|
|
seq-range = seq-number ":" seq-number
|
|
; two seq-number values and all values between
|
|
; these two regardless of order.
|
|
; Example: 2:4 and 4:2 are equivalent and indicate
|
|
; values 2, 3, and 4.
|
|
; Example: a unique identifier sequence range of
|
|
; 3291:* includes the UID of the last message in
|
|
; the mailbox, even if that value is less than 3291.
|
|
|
|
sequence-set = (seq-number / seq-range) *("," sequence-set)
|
|
; set of seq-number values, regardless of order.
|
|
; Servers MAY coalesce overlaps and/or execute the
|
|
; sequence in any order.
|
|
; Example: a message sequence number set of
|
|
; 2,4:7,9,12:* for a mailbox with 15 messages is
|
|
; equivalent to 2,4,5,6,7,9,12,13,14,15
|
|
; Example: a message sequence number set of *:4,5:7
|
|
; for a mailbox with 10 messages is equivalent to
|
|
; 10,9,8,7,6,5,4,5,6,7 and MAY be reordered and
|
|
; overlap coalesced to be 4,5,6,7,8,9,10.
|
|
|
|
status = "STATUS" SP mailbox SP
|
|
"(" status-att *(SP status-att) ")"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 90]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-91" id="page-91" href="#page-91" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
status-att = "MESSAGES" / "RECENT" / "UIDNEXT" / "UIDVALIDITY" /
|
|
"UNSEEN"
|
|
|
|
status-att-list = status-att SP number *(SP status-att SP number)
|
|
|
|
store = "STORE" SP sequence-set SP store-att-flags
|
|
|
|
store-att-flags = (["+" / "-"] "FLAGS" [".SILENT"]) SP
|
|
(flag-list / (flag *(SP flag)))
|
|
|
|
string = quoted / literal
|
|
|
|
subscribe = "SUBSCRIBE" SP mailbox
|
|
|
|
tag = 1*<any ASTRING-CHAR except "+">
|
|
|
|
text = 1*TEXT-CHAR
|
|
|
|
TEXT-CHAR = <any CHAR except CR and LF>
|
|
|
|
time = 2DIGIT ":" 2DIGIT ":" 2DIGIT
|
|
; Hours minutes seconds
|
|
|
|
uid = "UID" SP (copy / fetch / search / store)
|
|
; Unique identifiers used instead of message
|
|
; sequence numbers
|
|
|
|
uniqueid = nz-number
|
|
; Strictly ascending
|
|
|
|
unsubscribe = "UNSUBSCRIBE" SP mailbox
|
|
|
|
userid = astring
|
|
|
|
x-command = "X" atom <experimental command arguments>
|
|
|
|
zone = ("+" / "-") 4DIGIT
|
|
; Signed four-digit value of hhmm representing
|
|
; hours and minutes east of Greenwich (that is,
|
|
; the amount that the given time differs from
|
|
; Universal Time). Subtracting the timezone
|
|
; from the given time will give the UT form.
|
|
; The Universal Time zone is "+0000".
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 91]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-92" id="page-92" href="#page-92" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-10">10</a>. Author's Note</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
This document is a revision or rewrite of earlier documents, and
|
|
supercedes the protocol specification in those documents: <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2060">RFC 2060</a>,
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1730">RFC 1730</a>, unpublished IMAP2bis.TXT document, <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1176">RFC 1176</a>, and <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1064">RFC 1064</a>.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-11">11</a>. Security Considerations</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
IMAP4rev1 protocol transactions, including electronic mail data, are
|
|
sent in the clear over the network unless protection from snooping is
|
|
negotiated. This can be accomplished either by the use of STARTTLS,
|
|
negotiated privacy protection in the AUTHENTICATE command, or some
|
|
other protection mechanism.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-11.1">11.1</a>. STARTTLS Security Considerations</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
The specification of the STARTTLS command and LOGINDISABLED
|
|
capability in this document replaces that in [<a href="#ref-IMAP-TLS" title=""Using TLS with IMAP, POP3 and ACAP"">IMAP-TLS</a>]. [<a href="#ref-IMAP-TLS" title=""Using TLS with IMAP, POP3 and ACAP"">IMAP-TLS</a>]
|
|
remains normative for the PLAIN [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>] authenticator.
|
|
|
|
IMAP client and server implementations MUST implement the
|
|
TLS_RSA_WITH_RC4_128_MD5 [<a href="#ref-TLS" title=""The TLS Protocol Version 1.0"">TLS</a>] cipher suite, and SHOULD implement the
|
|
TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA [<a href="#ref-TLS" title=""The TLS Protocol Version 1.0"">TLS</a>] cipher suite. This is
|
|
important as it assures that any two compliant implementations can be
|
|
configured to interoperate. All other cipher suites are OPTIONAL.
|
|
Note that this is a change from <a href="#section-2.1">section 2.1</a> of [<a href="#ref-IMAP-TLS" title=""Using TLS with IMAP, POP3 and ACAP"">IMAP-TLS</a>].
|
|
|
|
During the [<a href="#ref-TLS" title=""The TLS Protocol Version 1.0"">TLS</a>] negotiation, the client MUST check its understanding
|
|
of the server hostname against the server's identity as presented in
|
|
the server Certificate message, in order to prevent man-in-the-middle
|
|
attacks. If the match fails, the client SHOULD either ask for
|
|
explicit user confirmation, or terminate the connection and indicate
|
|
that the server's identity is suspect. Matching is performed
|
|
according to these rules:
|
|
|
|
The client MUST use the server hostname it used to open the
|
|
connection as the value to compare against the server name
|
|
as expressed in the server certificate. The client MUST
|
|
NOT use any form of the server hostname derived from an
|
|
insecure remote source (e.g., insecure DNS lookup). CNAME
|
|
canonicalization is not done.
|
|
|
|
If a subjectAltName extension of type dNSName is present in
|
|
the certificate, it SHOULD be used as the source of the
|
|
server's identity.
|
|
|
|
Matching is case-insensitive.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 92]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-93" id="page-93" href="#page-93" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
A "*" wildcard character MAY be used as the left-most name
|
|
component in the certificate. For example, *.example.com
|
|
would match a.example.com, foo.example.com, etc. but would
|
|
not match example.com.
|
|
|
|
If the certificate contains multiple names (e.g., more than
|
|
one dNSName field), then a match with any one of the fields
|
|
is considered acceptable.
|
|
|
|
Both the client and server MUST check the result of the STARTTLS
|
|
command and subsequent [<a href="#ref-TLS" title=""The TLS Protocol Version 1.0"">TLS</a>] negotiation to see whether acceptable
|
|
authentication or privacy was achieved.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h3"><h3><a name="section-11.2">11.2</a>. Other Security Considerations</h3></span>
|
|
|
|
A server error message for an AUTHENTICATE command which fails due to
|
|
invalid credentials SHOULD NOT detail why the credentials are
|
|
invalid.
|
|
|
|
Use of the LOGIN command sends passwords in the clear. This can be
|
|
avoided by using the AUTHENTICATE command with a [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>] mechanism
|
|
that does not use plaintext passwords, by first negotiating
|
|
encryption via STARTTLS or some other protection mechanism.
|
|
|
|
A server implementation MUST implement a configuration that, at the
|
|
time of authentication, requires:
|
|
(1) The STARTTLS command has been negotiated.
|
|
OR
|
|
(2) Some other mechanism that protects the session from password
|
|
snooping has been provided.
|
|
OR
|
|
(3) The following measures are in place:
|
|
(a) The LOGINDISABLED capability is advertised, and [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>]
|
|
mechanisms (such as PLAIN) using plaintext passwords are NOT
|
|
advertised in the CAPABILITY list.
|
|
AND
|
|
(b) The LOGIN command returns an error even if the password is
|
|
correct.
|
|
AND
|
|
(c) The AUTHENTICATE command returns an error with all [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>]
|
|
mechanisms that use plaintext passwords, even if the password
|
|
is correct.
|
|
|
|
A server error message for a failing LOGIN command SHOULD NOT specify
|
|
that the user name, as opposed to the password, is invalid.
|
|
|
|
A server SHOULD have mechanisms in place to limit or delay failed
|
|
AUTHENTICATE/LOGIN attempts.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 93]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-94" id="page-94" href="#page-94" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Additional security considerations are discussed in the section
|
|
discussing the AUTHENTICATE and LOGIN commands.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h2"><h2><a name="section-12">12</a>. IANA Considerations</h2></span>
|
|
|
|
IMAP4 capabilities are registered by publishing a standards track or
|
|
IESG approved experimental RFC. The registry is currently located
|
|
at:
|
|
|
|
<a href="http://www.iana.org/assignments/imap4-capabilities">http://www.iana.org/assignments/imap4-capabilities</a>
|
|
|
|
As this specification revises the STARTTLS and LOGINDISABLED
|
|
extensions previously defined in [<a href="#ref-IMAP-TLS" title=""Using TLS with IMAP, POP3 and ACAP"">IMAP-TLS</a>], the registry will be
|
|
updated accordingly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 94]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-95" id="page-95" href="#page-95" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
Appendices
|
|
|
|
<span class="h1"><h1><a name="appendix-A">A</a>. Normative References</h1></span>
|
|
|
|
The following documents contain definitions or specifications that
|
|
are necessary to understand this document properly:
|
|
[<a href="#ref-ABNF">ABNF</a>] Crocker, D. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for
|
|
Syntax Specifications: ABNF", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2234">RFC 2234</a>,
|
|
November 1997.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-ANONYMOUS" id="ref-ANONYMOUS">ANONYMOUS</a>] Newman, C., "Anonymous SASL Mechanism", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2245">RFC</a>
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2245">2245</a>, November 1997.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-CHARSET" id="ref-CHARSET">CHARSET</a>] Freed, N. and J. Postel, "IANA Character Set
|
|
Registration Procedures", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2978">RFC 2978</a>, October
|
|
2000.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-DIGEST-MD5" id="ref-DIGEST-MD5">DIGEST-MD5</a>] Leach, P. and C. Newman, "Using Digest
|
|
Authentication as a SASL Mechanism", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2831">RFC 2831</a>,
|
|
May 2000.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-DISPOSITION" id="ref-DISPOSITION">DISPOSITION</a>] Troost, R., Dorner, S. and K. Moore,
|
|
"Communicating Presentation Information in
|
|
Internet Messages: The Content-Disposition
|
|
Header", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2183">RFC 2183</a>, August 1997.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-IMAP-TLS" id="ref-IMAP-TLS">IMAP-TLS</a>] Newman, C., "Using TLS with IMAP, POP3 and
|
|
ACAP", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2595">RFC 2595</a>, June 1999.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-KEYWORDS" id="ref-KEYWORDS">KEYWORDS</a>] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to
|
|
Indicate Requirement Levels", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/bcp14">BCP 14</a>, <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119">RFC 2119</a>,
|
|
March 1997.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-LANGUAGE-TAGS" id="ref-LANGUAGE-TAGS">LANGUAGE-TAGS</a>] Alvestrand, H., "Tags for the Identification of
|
|
Languages", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/bcp47">BCP 47</a>, <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3066">RFC 3066</a>, January 2001.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-LOCATION" id="ref-LOCATION">LOCATION</a>] Palme, J., Hopmann, A. and N. Shelness, "MIME
|
|
Encapsulation of Aggregate Documents, such as
|
|
HTML (MHTML)", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2557">RFC 2557</a>, March 1999.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-MD5" id="ref-MD5">MD5</a>] Myers, J. and M. Rose, "The Content-MD5 Header
|
|
Field", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1864">RFC 1864</a>, October 1995.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 95]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-96" id="page-96" href="#page-96" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-MIME-HDRS" id="ref-MIME-HDRS">MIME-HDRS</a>] Moore, K., "MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail
|
|
Extensions) Part Three: Message Header
|
|
Extensions for Non-ASCII Text", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2047">RFC 2047</a>,
|
|
November 1996.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-MIME-IMB" id="ref-MIME-IMB">MIME-IMB</a>] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "MIME
|
|
(Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part
|
|
One: Format of Internet Message Bodies", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2045">RFC</a>
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2045">2045</a>, November 1996.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-MIME-IMT" id="ref-MIME-IMT">MIME-IMT</a>] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "MIME
|
|
(Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part
|
|
Two: Media Types", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2046">RFC 2046</a>, November 1996.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-RFC-2822" id="ref-RFC-2822">RFC-2822</a>] Resnick, P., "Internet Message Format", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822">RFC</a>
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822">2822</a>, April 2001.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-SASL" id="ref-SASL">SASL</a>] Myers, J., "Simple Authentication and Security
|
|
Layer (SASL)", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2222">RFC 2222</a>, October 1997.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-TLS" id="ref-TLS">TLS</a>] Dierks, T. and C. Allen, "The TLS Protocol
|
|
Version 1.0", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2246">RFC 2246</a>, January 1999.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-UTF-7" id="ref-UTF-7">UTF-7</a>] Goldsmith, D. and M. Davis, "UTF-7: A Mail-Safe
|
|
Transformation Format of Unicode", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2152">RFC 2152</a>,
|
|
May 1997.
|
|
|
|
The following documents describe quality-of-implementation issues
|
|
that should be carefully considered when implementing this protocol:
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-IMAP-IMPLEMENTATION" id="ref-IMAP-IMPLEMENTATION">IMAP-IMPLEMENTATION</a>] Leiba, B., "IMAP Implementation
|
|
Recommendations", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2683">RFC 2683</a>, September 1999.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-IMAP-MULTIACCESS" id="ref-IMAP-MULTIACCESS">IMAP-MULTIACCESS</a>] Gahrns, M., "IMAP4 Multi-Accessed Mailbox
|
|
Practice", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2180">RFC 2180</a>, July 1997.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h1"><h1><a name="appendix-A.1">A.1</a> Informative References</h1></span>
|
|
|
|
The following documents describe related protocols:
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-IMAP-DISC" id="ref-IMAP-DISC">IMAP-DISC</a>] Austein, R., "Synchronization Operations for
|
|
Disconnected IMAP4 Clients", Work in Progress.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-IMAP-MODEL" id="ref-IMAP-MODEL">IMAP-MODEL</a>] Crispin, M., "Distributed Electronic Mail
|
|
Models in IMAP4", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1733">RFC 1733</a>, December 1994.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 96]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-97" id="page-97" href="#page-97" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-ACAP" id="ref-ACAP">ACAP</a>] Newman, C. and J. Myers, "ACAP -- Application
|
|
Configuration Access Protocol", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2244">RFC 2244</a>,
|
|
November 1997.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-SMTP" id="ref-SMTP">SMTP</a>] Klensin, J., "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol",
|
|
STD 10, <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2821">RFC 2821</a>, April 2001.
|
|
|
|
The following documents are historical or describe historical aspects
|
|
of this protocol:
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-IMAP-COMPAT" id="ref-IMAP-COMPAT">IMAP-COMPAT</a>] Crispin, M., "IMAP4 Compatibility with
|
|
IMAP2bis", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2061">RFC 2061</a>, December 1996.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-IMAP-HISTORICAL" id="ref-IMAP-HISTORICAL">IMAP-HISTORICAL</a>] Crispin, M., "IMAP4 Compatibility with IMAP2
|
|
and IMAP2bis", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1732">RFC 1732</a>, December 1994.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-IMAP-OBSOLETE" id="ref-IMAP-OBSOLETE">IMAP-OBSOLETE</a>] Crispin, M., "Internet Message Access Protocol
|
|
- Obsolete Syntax", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2062">RFC 2062</a>, December 1996.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-IMAP2" id="ref-IMAP2">IMAP2</a>] Crispin, M., "Interactive Mail Access Protocol
|
|
- Version 2", <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc1176">RFC 1176</a>, August 1990.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-RFC-822" id="ref-RFC-822">RFC-822</a>] Crocker, D., "Standard for the Format of ARPA
|
|
Internet Text Messages", STD 11, <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC 822</a>,
|
|
August 1982.
|
|
|
|
[<a name="ref-RFC-821" id="ref-RFC-821">RFC-821</a>] Postel, J., "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol",
|
|
STD 10, <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc821">RFC 821</a>, August 1982.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h1"><h1><a name="appendix-B">B</a>. Changes from <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2060">RFC 2060</a></h1></span>
|
|
|
|
1) Clarify description of unique identifiers and their semantics.
|
|
|
|
2) Fix the SELECT description to clarify that UIDVALIDITY is required
|
|
in the SELECT and EXAMINE responses.
|
|
|
|
3) Added an example of a failing search.
|
|
|
|
4) Correct store-att-flags: "#flag" should be "1#flag".
|
|
|
|
5) Made search and section rules clearer.
|
|
|
|
6) Correct the STORE example.
|
|
|
|
7) Correct "BASE645" misspelling.
|
|
|
|
8) Remove extraneous close parenthesis in example of two-part message
|
|
with text and BASE64 attachment.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 97]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-98" id="page-98" href="#page-98" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
9) Remove obsolete "MAILBOX" response from mailbox-data.
|
|
|
|
10) A spurious "<" in the rule for mailbox-data was removed.
|
|
|
|
11) Add CRLF to continue-req.
|
|
|
|
12) Specifically exclude "]" from the atom in resp-text-code.
|
|
|
|
13) Clarify that clients and servers should adhere strictly to the
|
|
protocol syntax.
|
|
|
|
14) Emphasize in 5.2 that EXISTS can not be used to shrink a mailbox.
|
|
|
|
15) Add NEWNAME to resp-text-code.
|
|
|
|
16) Clarify that the empty string, not NIL, is used as arguments to
|
|
LIST.
|
|
|
|
17) Clarify that NIL can be returned as a hierarchy delimiter for the
|
|
empty string mailbox name argument if the mailbox namespace is flat.
|
|
|
|
18) Clarify that addr-mailbox and addr-name have <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822">RFC-2822</a> quoting
|
|
removed.
|
|
|
|
19) Update UTF-7 reference.
|
|
|
|
20) Fix example in 6.3.11.
|
|
|
|
21) Clarify that non-existent UIDs are ignored.
|
|
|
|
22) Update DISPOSITION reference.
|
|
|
|
23) Expand state diagram.
|
|
|
|
24) Clarify that partial fetch responses are only returned in
|
|
response to a partial fetch command.
|
|
|
|
25) Add UIDNEXT response code. Correct UIDVALIDITY definition
|
|
reference.
|
|
|
|
26) Further clarification of "can" vs. "MAY".
|
|
|
|
27) Reference <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2119">RFC-2119</a>.
|
|
|
|
28) Clarify that superfluous shifts are not permitted in modified
|
|
UTF-7.
|
|
|
|
29) Clarify that there are no implicit shifts in modified UTF-7.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 98]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-99" id="page-99" href="#page-99" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
30) Clarify that "INBOX" in a mailbox name is always INBOX, even if
|
|
it is given as a string.
|
|
|
|
31) Add missing open parenthesis in media-basic grammar rule.
|
|
|
|
32) Correct attribute syntax in mailbox-data.
|
|
|
|
33) Add UIDNEXT to EXAMINE responses.
|
|
|
|
34) Clarify UNSEEN, PERMANENTFLAGS, UIDVALIDITY, and UIDNEXT
|
|
responses in SELECT and EXAMINE. They are required now, but weren't
|
|
in older versions.
|
|
|
|
35) Update references with RFC numbers.
|
|
|
|
36) Flush text-mime2.
|
|
|
|
37) Clarify that modified UTF-7 names must be case-sensitive and that
|
|
violating the convention should be avoided.
|
|
|
|
38) Correct UID FETCH example.
|
|
|
|
39) Clarify UID FETCH, UID STORE, and UID SEARCH vs. untagged EXPUNGE
|
|
responses.
|
|
|
|
40) Clarify the use of the word "convention".
|
|
|
|
41) Clarify that a command is not "in progress" until it has been
|
|
fully received (specifically, that a command is not "in progress"
|
|
during command continuation negotiation).
|
|
|
|
42) Clarify envelope defaulting.
|
|
|
|
43) Clarify that SP means one and only one space character.
|
|
|
|
44) Forbid silly states in LIST response.
|
|
|
|
45) Clarify that the ENVELOPE, INTERNALDATE, <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>*, BODY*, and UID
|
|
for a message is static.
|
|
|
|
46) Add BADCHARSET response code.
|
|
|
|
47) Update formal syntax to [<a href="#ref-ABNF">ABNF</a>] conventions.
|
|
|
|
48) Clarify trailing hierarchy delimiter in CREATE semantics.
|
|
|
|
49) Clarify that the "blank line" is the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] delimiting blank
|
|
line.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 99]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-100" id="page-100" href="#page-100" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
50) Clarify that RENAME should also create hierarchy as needed for
|
|
the command to complete.
|
|
|
|
51) Fix body-ext-mpart to not require language if disposition
|
|
present.
|
|
|
|
52) Clarify the <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.HEADER response.
|
|
|
|
53) Correct missing space after charset astring in search.
|
|
|
|
54) Correct missing quote for BADCHARSET in resp-text-code.
|
|
|
|
55) Clarify that ALL, FAST, and FULL preclude any other data items
|
|
appearing.
|
|
|
|
56) Clarify semantics of reference argument in LIST.
|
|
|
|
57) Clarify that a null string for SEARCH HEADER X-FOO means any
|
|
message with a header line with a field-name of X-FOO regardless of
|
|
the text of the header.
|
|
|
|
58) Specifically reserve 8-bit mailbox names for future use as UTF-8.
|
|
|
|
59) It is not an error for the client to store a flag that is not in
|
|
the PERMANENTFLAGS list; however, the server will either ignore the
|
|
change or make the change in the session only.
|
|
|
|
60) Correct/clarify the text regarding superfluous shifts.
|
|
|
|
61) Correct typographic errors in the "Changes" section.
|
|
|
|
62) Clarify that STATUS must not be used to check for new messages in
|
|
the selected mailbox
|
|
|
|
63) Clarify LSUB behavior with "%" wildcard.
|
|
|
|
64) Change AUTHORIZATION to AUTHENTICATE in <a href="#section-7.5">section 7.5</a>.
|
|
|
|
65) Clarify description of multipart body type.
|
|
|
|
66) Clarify that STORE FLAGS does not affect \Recent.
|
|
|
|
67) Change "west" to "east" in description of timezone.
|
|
|
|
68) Clarify that commands which break command pipelining must wait
|
|
for a completion result response.
|
|
|
|
69) Clarify that EXAMINE does not affect \Recent.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 100]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-101" id="page-101" href="#page-101" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
70) Make description of MIME structure consistent.
|
|
|
|
71) Clarify that date searches disregard the time and timezone of the
|
|
INTERNALDATE or Date: header. In other words, "ON 13-APR-2000" means
|
|
messages with an INTERNALDATE text which starts with "13-APR-2000",
|
|
even if timezone differential from the local timezone is sufficient
|
|
to move that INTERNALDATE into the previous or next day.
|
|
|
|
72) Clarify that the header fetches don't add a blank line if one
|
|
isn't in the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] message.
|
|
|
|
73) Clarify (in discussion of UIDs) that messages are immutable.
|
|
|
|
74) Add an example of CHARSET searching.
|
|
|
|
75) Clarify in SEARCH that keywords are a type of flag.
|
|
|
|
76) Clarify the mandatory nature of the SELECT data responses.
|
|
|
|
77) Add optional CAPABILITY response code in the initial OK or
|
|
PREAUTH.
|
|
|
|
78) Add note that server can send an untagged CAPABILITY command as
|
|
part of the responses to AUTHENTICATE and LOGIN.
|
|
|
|
79) Remove statement about it being unnecessary to issue a CAPABILITY
|
|
command more than once in a connection. That statement is no longer
|
|
true.
|
|
|
|
80) Clarify that untagged EXPUNGE decrements the number of messages
|
|
in the mailbox.
|
|
|
|
81) Fix definition of "body" (concatenation has tighter binding than
|
|
alternation).
|
|
|
|
82) Add a new "Special Notes to Implementors" section with reference
|
|
to [<a href="#ref-IMAP-IMPLEMENTATION" title=""IMAP Implementation Recommendations"">IMAP-IMPLEMENTATION</a>].
|
|
|
|
83) Clarify that an untagged CAPABILITY response to an AUTHENTICATE
|
|
command should only be done if a security layer was not negotiated.
|
|
|
|
84) Change the definition of atom to exclude "]". Update astring to
|
|
include "]" for compatibility with the past. Remove resp-text-atom.
|
|
|
|
85) Remove NEWNAME. It can't work because mailbox names can be
|
|
literals and can include "]". Functionality can be addressed via
|
|
referrals.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 101]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-102" id="page-102" href="#page-102" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
86) Move modified UTF-7 rationale in order to have more logical
|
|
paragraph flow.
|
|
|
|
87) Clarify UID uniqueness guarantees with the use of MUST.
|
|
|
|
88) Note that clients should read response data until the connection
|
|
is closed instead of immediately closing on a BYE.
|
|
|
|
89) Change <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC-822</a> references to <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822">RFC-2822</a>.
|
|
|
|
90) Clarify that <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822">RFC-2822</a> should be followed instead of <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC-822</a>.
|
|
|
|
91) Change recommendation of optional automatic capabilities in LOGIN
|
|
and AUTHENTICATE to use the CAPABILITY response code in the tagged
|
|
OK. This is more interoperable than an unsolicited untagged
|
|
CAPABILITY response.
|
|
|
|
92) STARTTLS and AUTH=PLAIN are mandatory to implement; add
|
|
recommendations for other [<a href="#ref-SASL" title=""Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)"">SASL</a>] mechanisms.
|
|
|
|
93) Clarify that a "connection" (as opposed to "server" or "command")
|
|
is in one of the four states.
|
|
|
|
94) Clarify that a failed or rejected command does not change state.
|
|
|
|
95) Split references between normative and informative.
|
|
|
|
96) Discuss authentication failure issues in security section.
|
|
|
|
97) Clarify that a data item is not necessarily of only one data
|
|
type.
|
|
|
|
98) Clarify that sequence ranges are independent of order.
|
|
|
|
99) Change an example to clarify that superfluous shifts in
|
|
Modified-UTF7 can not be fixed just by omitting the shift. The
|
|
entire string must be recalculated.
|
|
|
|
100) Change Envelope Structure definition since [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] uses
|
|
"envelope" to refer to the [<a href="#ref-SMTP" title=""Simple Mail Transfer Protocol"">SMTP</a>] envelope and not the envelope data
|
|
that appears in the [<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] header.
|
|
|
|
101) Expand on <a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.HEADER response data vs. BODY[HEADER].
|
|
|
|
102) Clarify Logout state semantics, change ASCII art.
|
|
|
|
103) Security changes to comply with IESG requirements.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 102]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-103" id="page-103" href="#page-103" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
104) Add definition for body URI.
|
|
|
|
105) Break sequence range definition into three rules, with rewritten
|
|
descriptions for each.
|
|
|
|
106) Move STARTTLS and LOGINDISABLED here from [<a href="#ref-IMAP-TLS" title=""Using TLS with IMAP, POP3 and ACAP"">IMAP-TLS</a>].
|
|
|
|
107) Add IANA Considerations section.
|
|
|
|
108) Clarify valid client assumptions for new message UIDs vs.
|
|
UIDNEXT.
|
|
|
|
109) Clarify that changes to permanentflags affect concurrent
|
|
sessions as well as subsequent sessions.
|
|
|
|
110) Clarify that authenticated state can be entered by the CLOSE
|
|
command.
|
|
|
|
111) Emphasize that SELECT and EXAMINE are the exceptions to the rule
|
|
that a failing command does not change state.
|
|
|
|
112) Clarify that newly-appended messages have the Recent flag set.
|
|
|
|
113) Clarify that newly-copied messages SHOULD have the Recent flag
|
|
set.
|
|
|
|
114) Clarify that UID commands always return the UID in FETCH
|
|
responses.
|
|
|
|
<span class="h1"><h1><a name="appendix-C">C</a>. Key Word Index</h1></span>
|
|
|
|
+FLAGS <flag list> (store command data item) ............... <a href="#page-59">59</a>
|
|
+FLAGS.SILENT <flag list> (store command data item) ........ <a href="#page-59">59</a>
|
|
-FLAGS <flag list> (store command data item) ............... <a href="#page-59">59</a>
|
|
-FLAGS.SILENT <flag list> (store command data item) ........ <a href="#page-59">59</a>
|
|
ALERT (response code) ...................................... <a href="#page-64">64</a>
|
|
ALL (fetch item) ........................................... <a href="#page-55">55</a>
|
|
ALL (search key) ........................................... <a href="#page-50">50</a>
|
|
ANSWERED (search key) ...................................... <a href="#page-50">50</a>
|
|
APPEND (command) ........................................... <a href="#page-45">45</a>
|
|
AUTHENTICATE (command) ..................................... <a href="#page-27">27</a>
|
|
BAD (response) ............................................. <a href="#page-66">66</a>
|
|
BADCHARSET (response code) ................................. <a href="#page-64">64</a>
|
|
BCC <string> (search key) .................................. <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
BEFORE <date> (search key) ................................. <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
BODY (fetch item) .......................................... <a href="#page-55">55</a>
|
|
BODY (fetch result) ........................................ <a href="#page-73">73</a>
|
|
BODY <string> (search key) ................................. <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 103]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-104" id="page-104" href="#page-104" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
BODY.PEEK[<section>]<<partial>> (fetch item) ............... <a href="#page-57">57</a>
|
|
BODYSTRUCTURE (fetch item) ................................. <a href="#page-57">57</a>
|
|
BODYSTRUCTURE (fetch result) ............................... <a href="#page-74">74</a>
|
|
BODY[<section>]<<origin octet>> (fetch result) ............. <a href="#page-74">74</a>
|
|
BODY[<section>]<<partial>> (fetch item) .................... <a href="#page-55">55</a>
|
|
BYE (response) ............................................. <a href="#page-67">67</a>
|
|
Body Structure (message attribute) ......................... <a href="#page-12">12</a>
|
|
CAPABILITY (command) ....................................... <a href="#page-24">24</a>
|
|
CAPABILITY (response code) ................................. <a href="#page-64">64</a>
|
|
CAPABILITY (response) ...................................... <a href="#page-68">68</a>
|
|
CC <string> (search key) ................................... <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
CHECK (command) ............................................ <a href="#page-47">47</a>
|
|
CLOSE (command) ............................................ <a href="#page-48">48</a>
|
|
COPY (command) ............................................. <a href="#page-59">59</a>
|
|
CREATE (command) ........................................... <a href="#page-34">34</a>
|
|
DELETE (command) ........................................... <a href="#page-35">35</a>
|
|
DELETED (search key) ....................................... <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
DRAFT (search key) ......................................... <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
ENVELOPE (fetch item) ...................................... <a href="#page-57">57</a>
|
|
ENVELOPE (fetch result) .................................... <a href="#page-77">77</a>
|
|
EXAMINE (command) .......................................... <a href="#page-33">33</a>
|
|
EXISTS (response) .......................................... <a href="#page-71">71</a>
|
|
EXPUNGE (command) .......................................... <a href="#page-48">48</a>
|
|
EXPUNGE (response) ......................................... <a href="#page-72">72</a>
|
|
Envelope Structure (message attribute) ..................... <a href="#page-12">12</a>
|
|
FAST (fetch item) .......................................... <a href="#page-55">55</a>
|
|
FETCH (command) ............................................ <a href="#page-54">54</a>
|
|
FETCH (response) ........................................... <a href="#page-73">73</a>
|
|
FLAGGED (search key) ....................................... <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
FLAGS (fetch item) ......................................... <a href="#page-57">57</a>
|
|
FLAGS (fetch result) ....................................... <a href="#page-78">78</a>
|
|
FLAGS (response) ........................................... <a href="#page-71">71</a>
|
|
FLAGS <flag list> (store command data item) ................ <a href="#page-59">59</a>
|
|
FLAGS.SILENT <flag list> (store command data item) ......... <a href="#page-59">59</a>
|
|
FROM <string> (search key) ................................. <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
FULL (fetch item) .......................................... <a href="#page-55">55</a>
|
|
Flags (message attribute) .................................. <a href="#page-11">11</a>
|
|
HEADER (part specifier) .................................... <a href="#page-55">55</a>
|
|
HEADER <field-name> <string> (search key) .................. <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
HEADER.FIELDS <header-list> (part specifier) ............... <a href="#page-55">55</a>
|
|
HEADER.FIELDS.NOT <header-list> (part specifier) ........... <a href="#page-55">55</a>
|
|
INTERNALDATE (fetch item) .................................. <a href="#page-57">57</a>
|
|
INTERNALDATE (fetch result) ................................ <a href="#page-78">78</a>
|
|
Internal Date (message attribute) .......................... <a href="#page-12">12</a>
|
|
KEYWORD <flag> (search key) ................................ <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
Keyword (type of flag) ..................................... <a href="#page-11">11</a>
|
|
LARGER <n> (search key) .................................... <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
LIST (command) ............................................. <a href="#page-40">40</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 104]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-105" id="page-105" href="#page-105" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
LIST (response) ............................................ <a href="#page-69">69</a>
|
|
LOGIN (command) ............................................ <a href="#page-30">30</a>
|
|
LOGOUT (command) ........................................... <a href="#page-25">25</a>
|
|
LSUB (command) ............................................. <a href="#page-43">43</a>
|
|
LSUB (response) ............................................ <a href="#page-70">70</a>
|
|
MAY (specification requirement term) ....................... <a href="#page-4">4</a>
|
|
MESSAGES (status item) ..................................... <a href="#page-45">45</a>
|
|
MIME (part specifier) ...................................... <a href="#page-56">56</a>
|
|
MUST (specification requirement term) ...................... <a href="#page-4">4</a>
|
|
MUST NOT (specification requirement term) .................. <a href="#page-4">4</a>
|
|
Message Sequence Number (message attribute) ................ <a href="#page-10">10</a>
|
|
NEW (search key) ........................................... <a href="#page-51">51</a>
|
|
NO (response) .............................................. <a href="#page-66">66</a>
|
|
NOOP (command) ............................................. <a href="#page-25">25</a>
|
|
NOT <search-key> (search key) .............................. <a href="#page-52">52</a>
|
|
OK (response) .............................................. <a href="#page-65">65</a>
|
|
OLD (search key) ........................................... <a href="#page-52">52</a>
|
|
ON <date> (search key) ..................................... <a href="#page-52">52</a>
|
|
OPTIONAL (specification requirement term) .................. <a href="#page-4">4</a>
|
|
OR <search-key1> <search-key2> (search key) ................ <a href="#page-52">52</a>
|
|
PARSE (response code) ...................................... <a href="#page-64">64</a>
|
|
PERMANENTFLAGS (response code) ............................. <a href="#page-64">64</a>
|
|
PREAUTH (response) ......................................... <a href="#page-67">67</a>
|
|
Permanent Flag (class of flag) ............................. <a href="#page-12">12</a>
|
|
READ-ONLY (response code) .................................. <a href="#page-65">65</a>
|
|
READ-WRITE (response code) ................................. <a href="#page-65">65</a>
|
|
RECENT (response) .......................................... <a href="#page-72">72</a>
|
|
RECENT (search key) ........................................ <a href="#page-52">52</a>
|
|
RECENT (status item) ....................................... <a href="#page-45">45</a>
|
|
RENAME (command) ........................................... <a href="#page-37">37</a>
|
|
REQUIRED (specification requirement term) .................. <a href="#page-4">4</a>
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a> (fetch item) ........................................ <a href="#page-57">57</a>
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a> (fetch result) ...................................... <a href="#page-78">78</a>
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.HEADER (fetch item) ................................. <a href="#page-57">57</a>
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.HEADER (fetch result) ............................... <a href="#page-78">78</a>
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.SIZE (fetch item) ................................... <a href="#page-57">57</a>
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.SIZE (fetch result) ................................. <a href="#page-78">78</a>
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.TEXT (fetch item) ................................... <a href="#page-58">58</a>
|
|
<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc822">RFC822</a>.TEXT (fetch result) ................................. <a href="#page-79">79</a>
|
|
SEARCH (command) ........................................... <a href="#page-49">49</a>
|
|
SEARCH (response) .......................................... <a href="#page-71">71</a>
|
|
SEEN (search key) .......................................... <a href="#page-52">52</a>
|
|
SELECT (command) ........................................... <a href="#page-31">31</a>
|
|
SENTBEFORE <date> (search key) ............................. <a href="#page-52">52</a>
|
|
SENTON <date> (search key) ................................. <a href="#page-52">52</a>
|
|
SENTSINCE <date> (search key) .............................. <a href="#page-52">52</a>
|
|
SHOULD (specification requirement term) .................... <a href="#page-4">4</a>
|
|
SHOULD NOT (specification requirement term) ................ <a href="#page-4">4</a>
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 105]</span>
|
|
</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-106" id="page-106" href="#page-106" class="invisible"> </a>
|
|
<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
|
|
|
|
|
|
SINCE <date> (search key) .................................. <a href="#page-52">52</a>
|
|
SMALLER <n> (search key) ................................... <a href="#page-52">52</a>
|
|
STARTTLS (command) ......................................... <a href="#page-27">27</a>
|
|
STATUS (command) ........................................... <a href="#page-44">44</a>
|
|
STATUS (response) .......................................... <a href="#page-70">70</a>
|
|
STORE (command) ............................................ <a href="#page-58">58</a>
|
|
SUBJECT <string> (search key) .............................. <a href="#page-53">53</a>
|
|
SUBSCRIBE (command) ........................................ <a href="#page-38">38</a>
|
|
Session Flag (class of flag) ............................... <a href="#page-12">12</a>
|
|
System Flag (type of flag) ................................. <a href="#page-11">11</a>
|
|
TEXT (part specifier) ...................................... <a href="#page-56">56</a>
|
|
TEXT <string> (search key) ................................. <a href="#page-53">53</a>
|
|
TO <string> (search key) ................................... <a href="#page-53">53</a>
|
|
TRYCREATE (response code) .................................. <a href="#page-65">65</a>
|
|
UID (command) .............................................. <a href="#page-60">60</a>
|
|
UID (fetch item) ........................................... <a href="#page-58">58</a>
|
|
UID (fetch result) ......................................... <a href="#page-79">79</a>
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UID <sequence set> (search key) ............................ <a href="#page-53">53</a>
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UIDNEXT (response code) .................................... <a href="#page-65">65</a>
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UIDNEXT (status item) ...................................... <a href="#page-45">45</a>
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UIDVALIDITY (response code) ................................ <a href="#page-65">65</a>
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UIDVALIDITY (status item) .................................. <a href="#page-45">45</a>
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UNANSWERED (search key) .................................... <a href="#page-53">53</a>
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UNDELETED (search key) ..................................... <a href="#page-53">53</a>
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UNDRAFT (search key) ....................................... <a href="#page-53">53</a>
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UNFLAGGED (search key) ..................................... <a href="#page-53">53</a>
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UNKEYWORD <flag> (search key) .............................. <a href="#page-53">53</a>
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UNSEEN (response code) ..................................... <a href="#page-65">65</a>
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UNSEEN (search key) ........................................ <a href="#page-53">53</a>
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UNSEEN (status item) ....................................... <a href="#page-45">45</a>
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UNSUBSCRIBE (command) ...................................... <a href="#page-39">39</a>
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Unique Identifier (UID) (message attribute) ................ <a href="#page-8">8</a>
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X<atom> (command) .......................................... <a href="#page-62">62</a>
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[<a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2822" title=""Internet Message Format"">RFC-2822</a>] Size (message attribute) ........................ <a href="#page-12">12</a>
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\Answered (system flag) .................................... <a href="#page-11">11</a>
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\Deleted (system flag) ..................................... <a href="#page-11">11</a>
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\Draft (system flag) ....................................... <a href="#page-11">11</a>
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\Flagged (system flag) ..................................... <a href="#page-11">11</a>
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\Marked (mailbox name attribute) ........................... <a href="#page-69">69</a>
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\Noinferiors (mailbox name attribute) ...................... <a href="#page-69">69</a>
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\Noselect (mailbox name attribute) ......................... <a href="#page-69">69</a>
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\Recent (system flag) ...................................... <a href="#page-11">11</a>
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\Seen (system flag) ........................................ <a href="#page-11">11</a>
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\Unmarked (mailbox name attribute) ......................... <a href="#page-69">69</a>
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<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 106]</span>
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</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-107" id="page-107" href="#page-107" class="invisible"> </a>
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<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
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Author's Address
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Mark R. Crispin
|
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Networks and Distributed Computing
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University of Washington
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4545 15th Avenue NE
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Seattle, WA 98105-4527
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Phone: (206) 543-5762
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EMail: MRC@CAC.Washington.EDU
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<span class="grey">Crispin Standards Track [Page 107]</span>
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</pre><pre class="newpage"><a name="page-108" id="page-108" href="#page-108" class="invisible"> </a>
|
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<span class="grey"><a href="http://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3501">RFC 3501</a> IMAPv4 March 2003</span>
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Full Copyright Statement
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Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
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|
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This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
|
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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.
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|
|
The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
|
|
revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns. v 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.
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Acknowledgement
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|
Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
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Internet Society.
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Crispin Standards Track [Page 108]
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</pre><pre class="newpage">
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</pre><br>
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