Network Working Group C. Daboo
Internet-Draft November 21, 2005
Expires: May 25, 2006
IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Extension
draft-daboo-imap-annotatemore-08
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Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).
Abstract
The ANNOTATEMORE extension to the Internet Message Access Protocol
permits clients and servers to maintain annotations ("metadata") on
IMAP servers. It is possible to have annotations on a per-mailbox
basis or on the server as a whole.
Change History (to be removed prior to publication as an RFC)
Changes from -07 to -08:
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1. Changed 'string' formal syntax to 'list-mailbox' and 'astring'
for entry/attribute names.
2. Updated examples to match new astring syntax.
3. Changed CAPABILITY name due to incompatible syntax change.
4. Removed content-type attribute.
5. Added Content-type to IANA registration for entries.
6. Removed vendor attributes.
7. Fixed examples in section 3.3 for multi-mailbox and multi-entry
cases.
8. Removed wildcards for attributes.
9. Entry/attributes can now only be ASCII.
10. Tied up text wrt storing/fetching.
11. Added Conventions section
12. Entry/attributes MUST NOT contain consecutive or trailing '/' or
'.'.
13. Changed to use IMAP ABNF extensions document for some formal
syntax items.
Changes from -06 to -07:
1. Reworded /checkperiod item.
2. Clarified unsolicited response behaviour.
Changes from -05 to -06:
1. Removed 'modifiedsince' attribute as there is currently no use
for it.
2. Added content-language attribute.
3. Changed access to allow .priv and .shared on any mailbox returned
by LIST/LSUB.
4. Added IANA registrations for items defined in this document.
5. Added latest IPR statement.
6. Updated references.
Changes from -04 to -05:
1. Fix for valid IMAP state of commands.
2. Fix formatting, ID nits etc.
Changes from -03 to -04:
1. Allow retrieval of shared annotations for READ-ONLY mailbox.
2. Clarification of annotation loss on implicit removal of \Noselect
mailboxes.
3. Now requires roll-back of all changes to matching mailboxes if
there is a partial failure in SETANNOTATION.
Changes from -02 to -03:
1. Reworked entry naming scheme to split out mailbox name and use
empty string for server items.
Changes from -01 to -02:
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1. SETANNOTATION lists use (..).
2. Explicitly state behaviour of unsolicited responses.
3. Adding SHOULD behaviour for rename/delete of mailboxes.
4. Added statement about supporting annotations on \Noselect
mailboxes.
5. Cleaned up formal syntax to use IMAP string type for entry and
attributes, with requirements on how the string is formatted.
6. Use of ACAP vendor subtree registry for vendor tokens.
Changes from -00 to -01:
1. Multiple entry-att responses are now simply delimited by spaces
in line with ANNOTATE spec. Adjusted examples to match.
2. Fixed entry-list formal syntax item to account for unsolicited
parenthesised list of entries.
3. Removed setentries formal syntax item for simplicity since its
only used once.
4. Removed reference to 'message annotation' in section 5.1.
5. Changed formal syntax to restrict top level entries to /server
and /mailbox/{...} only. Re-arranged entry names section to
account for this change.
6. Added comment and example for ANNOTATION response to allow
servers to return separate responses for each entry if desired.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction and Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2. Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3. Data Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2. Namespace of entries and attributes . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2.1. Entry Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2.2. Attribute Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3. Private versus Shared and Access Control . . . . . . . . . 9
4. IMAP Protocol Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.1. General Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.2. GETANNOTATION Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.3. SETANNOTATION Command . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.4. ANNOTATION Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.4.1. ANNOTATION response with attributes and values . . . . 15
4.4.2. Unsolicited ANNOTATION response without attributes
and values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5. Formal Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
6. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
6.1. Entry and Attribute Registration Template . . . . . . . . 19
6.2. Server Entry Registrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
6.2.1. /comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.2.2. /motd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
6.2.3. /admin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.3. Mailbox Entry Registrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.3.1. /comment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.3.2. /sort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
6.3.3. /thread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
6.3.4. /check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
6.3.5. /checkperiod . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
6.4. Attribute Registrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
6.4.1. value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
6.4.2. size . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
6.4.3. content-language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
8. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
8.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
8.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Appendix A. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements . . . . . . . . . . 28
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1. Introduction and Overview
The ANNOTATEMORE extension is present in any IMAP [RFC3501]
implementation which returns "ANNOTATEMORE2" as one of the supported
capabilities in the CAPABILITY command response.
The goal of ANNOTATEMORE is to provide a means for clients to set and
retrieve "metadata" on an IMAP server. The metadata can be
associated with specific mailboxes or the server as a whole.
The ANNOTATEMORE extension adds two new commands and one new untagged
response to the IMAP base protocol.
This extension makes the following changes to the IMAP protocol:
adds a new SETANNOTATION command
adds a new GETANNOTATION command
adds a new ANNOTATION untagged response
adds a new ANNOTATEMORE response code
The data model used in ANNOTATEMORE is exactly the same as that used
in the ANNOTATE [I-D.ietf-imapext-annotate] extension to IMAP. This
is modeled after that of the Application Configuration Access
Protocol [RFC2244] with the exception of inheritance which is not
deemed necessary here.
The rest of this document describes the data model and protocol
changes more rigorously.
2. Conventions Used in This Document
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", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].
3. Data Model
3.1. Overview
The data model used in ANNOTATEMORE is one of a uniquely named entry
with a set of uniquely named attributes, each of which has a value.
Annotations can be added to mailboxes when a mailbox name is provided
as the first argument to the new commands, or to the server as a
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whole when the empty string is provided as the first argument to the
new commands.
An annotation can contain multiple named entries. For example, a
general comment being added to a mailbox may have an entry name of
"/comment". This entry could include named attributes such as
"value", "size", "content-language" etc to represent properties and
data associated with the entry.
The protocol changes to IMAP described below allow a client to access
or change the values of any attributes in any entries in an
annotation, assuming it has sufficient access rights to do so.
3.2. Namespace of entries and attributes
Each annotation is made up of a set of entries. Each entry has a
hierarchical name, with each component of the name separated by a
slash ("/"). An entry name MUST NOT contain two consecutive "/"
characters and MUST NOT end with a "/" character.
Each entry is made up of a set of attributes. Each attribute has a
hierarchical name, with each component of the name separated by a
period ("."). An attribute name MUST NOT contain two consecutive "."
characters and MUST NOT end with a "." character.
The value of an attribute is NIL (has no value), or a string of zero
or more octets.
Entry and attribute names MUST NOT contain asterisk ("*") or percent
("%") characters and MUST NOT contain non-ASCII characters or the
NULL octet. Invalid entry or attribute names result in a BAD
response in any IMAP commands where they are used.
Attribute names MUST NOT contain any hierarchical components with the
names "priv" or "shared" as those have special meaning (see
Section 3.3).
Entry and attribute names are case-sensitive.
Use of control or punctuation characters in entry and attribute names
is strongly discouraged.
This specification defines an initial set of entry and attribute
names available for use with mailbox and server annotations. In
addition an extension mechanism is described to allow additional
names to be added for extensibility.
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3.2.1. Entry Names
Entry names MUST be specified in a standards track or IESG approved
experimental RFC, or fall under the vendor namespace. See
Section 6.1 for the registration template.
3.2.1.1. Server Entries
These entries are used when the mailbox name argument to the new
commands is the empty string.
/comment
Defines a comment or note associated with the server.
/motd
Defines a "message of the day" for the server. This entry is
always read-only - clients cannot change it.
/admin
Indicates a method for contacting the server administrator. This
may be a URI (e.g. a mailto URL) or other contact information,
such as a telephone number. This entry is always read-only -
clients cannot change it.
/vendor/<vendor-token>
Defines the top-level of entries associated with the server as
created by a particular product of some vendor. This entry can be
used by vendors to provide server or client specific annotations.
The vendor-token MUST be registered with IANA, using the ACAP
[RFC2244] vendor subtree registry.
3.2.1.2. Mailbox Entries
These entries are used when the mailbox name argument to the new
commands is not the empty string.
/comment
Defines a comment or note associated with a mailbox.
/sort
Defines the default sort criteria [I-D.ietf-imapext-sort] to use
when first displaying the mailbox contents to the user, or NIL if
sorting is not required.
/thread
Defines the default thread criteria [I-D.ietf-imapext-sort] to use
when first displaying the mailbox contents to the user, or NIL if
threading is not required. If both sort and thread are not NIL,
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then threading should take precedence over sorting.
/check
Boolean value "true" or "false" that indicates whether this
mailbox should be checked at regular intervals by the client. The
interval in minutes is specified by the /checkperiod entry.
/checkperiod
Numeric value indicating a period of minutes that the client uses
to determine the interval of regular 'new mail' checks for the
corresponding mailbox.
/vendor/<vendor-token>
Defines the top-level of entries associated with a specific
mailbox as created by a particular product of some vendor. This
entry can be used by vendors to provide client specific
annotations. The vendor-token MUST be registered with IANA, using
the ACAP [RFC2244] vendor subtree registry.
3.2.2. Attribute Names
Attribute names MUST be specified in a standards track or IESG
approved experimental RFC. See Section 6.1 for the registration
template.
All attribute names implicitly have a ".priv" and a ".shared" suffix
which maps to private and shared versions of the entry. Retrieving
an annotation without using either suffix includes both. The client
MUST specify either a ".priv" or ".shared" suffix when setting an
annotation.
value
A string or binary data representing the value of the annotation.
To delete an annotation, the client can store "NIL" into the
value. The content represented by the string is determined by the
Content-type used to register the entry (see Section 6.1 for entry
registration templates). Where applicable, the registered
content-type MUST include a charset parameter. Text values SHOULD
use the utf-8 [RFC3629] character set.
Note that binary data (data which may contain the NULL octet) is
allowed (e.g. for storing images etc), and this extension uses the
"literal8" syntax element [I-D.melnikov-imap-ext-abnf] to allow
such data to be written to or read from the server.
size
The size of the value, in octets. Set automatically by the
server, read-only to clients.
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content-language
Indicates the language used for the value. This follows the
format described in [RFC3282]. Clients SHOULD specify this
attribute when setting an annotation that uses text that can be
presented to the user. It is not required for enumerated or
numeric values such as flags etc. If a value is being set,
clients MUST ensure that it accurately reflects the content stored
in the value attribute.
Servers MUST ensure that the "content-language" attribute value is
kept in synchronization with the "value" attribute. To ensure
that, the server MUST remove any "content-language" attribute
value when the client changes a "value" attribute without also
including a matching "content-language" attribute in the same
SETANNOTATION command.
3.3. Private versus Shared and Access Control
As discussed in the ANNOTATE [I-D.ietf-imapext-annotate] extension
there is a need to support both private and shared annotations. This
document adopts the scheme used in [I-D.ietf-imapext-annotate] that
adds two standard suffixes for all attributes: ".shared" and ".priv".
A GETANNOTATION command which specifies neither uses both.
SETANNOTATION commands MUST explicitly use .priv or .shared suffixes.
A user can only set and retrieve private or shared annotations on a
mailbox which is returned to them via a LIST or LSUB command. If the
client attempts to set or retrieve annotations on other mailboxes,
the server MUST respond with a NO response.
4. IMAP Protocol Changes
4.1. General Considerations
The new commands and response each have a mailbox name argument,
indicating that the annotations being referred to are attached to the
specified mailbox. An empty string can be used for the mailbox name
to signify server annotations.
Both "*" and "%" list wildcard characters MAY be used in the mailbox
name argument to commands to match all possible occurrences of a
mailbox name pattern. However, "*" or "%" by themselves MUST NOT
match the empty string (server) entries. Server entries can only be
accessed by explicitly using the empty string as the mailbox name.
Servers SHOULD ensure that mailbox annotations are automatically
moved when the mailbox they refer to is renamed, i.e. the annotations
follow the mailbox. Servers SHOULD delete annotations for a mailbox
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when the mailbox is deleted, so that a mailbox created with the same
name as a previously existing mailbox does not inherit the old
mailbox annotations. Servers SHOULD allow annotations on all 'types'
of mailbox, including ones reporting \Noselect for their LIST
response. Servers can implicitly remove \Noselect mailboxes when all
child mailboxes are removed, and as such any annotations associated
with the \Noselect mailbox SHOULD be removed.
The server is allowed to impose limitations on the size of any one
annotation or the total number of annotations for a single mailbox or
for the server as a whole. However, the server MUST accept a minimum
annotation data size of at least 1024 bytes, and a minimum annotation
count per server or mailbox of at least 10.
4.2. GETANNOTATION Command
This extension adds the GETANNOTATION command. This allows clients
to retrieve annotations.
This command is only available in authenticated or selected state
[RFC3501].
Arguments: mailbox-name
entry-specifier
attribute-specifier
Responses: required ANNOTATION response
Result: OK - command completed
NO - command failure: can't access annotations on
that mailbox
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
The mailbox-name argument MUST be a valid mailbox name or the empty
string. In the later case, the annotations being referred to are the
ones for the server as a whole.
Example:
C: a GETANNOTATION "" /comment value.priv
S: * ANNOTATION "" /comment (value.priv "My comment")
S: a OK GETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, the contents of the "value" attribute for
the "/comment" server entry is requested by the client and
returned by the server.
"*" and "%" wildcard characters can be used in the entry specifier to
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match one or more characters at that position, with the exception
that "%" does not match the "/" hierarchy delimiter. Thus an entry
specifier of "/%" would match entries such as "/comment" and
"/version", but not "/comment/note".
Example:
C: a GETANNOTATION "" /* value.priv
S: * ANNOTATION "" /comment (value.priv "My comment")
/version (value.priv "1.1")
/motd/today (value.priv "Closed at 1 pm")
S: a OK GETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, the contents of the "value" attributes for
any server entries are requested by the client and returned by the
server.
Example:
C: a GETANNOTATION "" /% value
S: * ANNOTATION /comment (value.priv "My comment")
(value.shared "Your comment")
/motd (value.priv "Its sunny outside!"
(value.shared "Today is a Holiday")
S: a OK GETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, the contents of the "value" attributes for
server entries at the top level of the entry hierarchy only, are
requested by the client and returned by the server. Both the
.priv and .shared values are returned, as neither were explicitly
requested.
Entry and attribute specifiers can be lists of atomic specifiers, so
that multiple items of each type may be returned in a single
GETANNOTATION command.
Example:
C: a GETANNOTATION "" (/comment /motd) value.priv
S: * ANNOTATION "" /comment (value.priv "My comment")
/motd (value.priv "Its sunny outside!")
S: a OK GETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, the contents of the "value" attributes for
the two server entries "/comment" and "/motd" are requested by the
client and returned by the server.
Example:
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C: a GETANNOTATION "" /comment (value.priv
content-language.priv)
S: * ANNOTATION "" /comment (value.priv "My comment"
content-language.priv "en_GB")
S: a OK GETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, the contents of the "value" and "content-
language" attributes for the "/comment" server entry are requested
by the client and returned by the server.
4.3. SETANNOTATION Command
This extension adds the SETANNOTATION command. This allows clients
to set annotations.
This command is only available in authenticated or selected state
[RFC3501].
Arguments: mailbox-name
entry
attribute-value
list of entry, attribute-values
Responses: no specific responses for this command
Result: OK - command completed
NO - command failure: can't set annotations,
or annotation too big or too many
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
Sets the specified list of entries by adding or replacing the
specified attributes with the values provided. Clients can use NIL
for values of attributes it wants to remove from entries. The server
MAY return an ANNOTATION response containing the updated annotation
data. Clients MUST NOT assume that an ANNOTATION response will be
sent, and MUST assume that if the command succeeds then the
annotation has been changed.
If the server is unable to set an annotation because the size of its
value is too large, the server MUST return a tagged NO response with
a "[ANNOTATEMORE TOOBIG]" response code.
If the server is unable to set a new annotation because the maximum
number of allowed annotations has already been reached, the server
MUST return a tagged NO response with a "[ANNOTATEMORE TOOMANY]"
response code.
If the server is unable to set the annotations for one or more
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mailboxes matching the mailbox-name pattern, then the SETANNOTATION
command MUST fail and there MUST NOT be any changes to any of the
matching mailboxes, even those for which annotations could have been
changed successfully.
Example:
C: a SETANNOTATION INBOX /comment
(value.priv "My new comment")
S: a OK SETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, the entry "/comment" for the mailbox "INBOX"
is created (if not already present) and the private attribute
"value" with data set to "My new comment" is created if not
already present, or replaced if it previously exists.
Example:
C: a SETANNOTATION INBOX /comment (value.priv NIL)
S: a OK SETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, the private "value" attribute of the entry
"/comment" is removed from the mailbox "INBOX".
Annotations on multiple mailboxes can be set in a single
SETANNOTATION command by using a wildcard specification for the
mailbox name.
Example:
C: a SETANNOTATION INBOX.% /comment
(value.priv "My new comment")
S: a OK SETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, the entry "/comment" for all mailboxes at
the top-level of the "INBOX" hierarchy are created (if not already
present) and the private attribute "value" are created
respectively for each entry if not already present, or replaced if
they previously existed.
Multiple entries can be set in a single SETANNOTATION command by
listing entry-attribute-value pairs in the list.
Example:
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C: a SETANNOTATION INBOX (/comment
(value.priv "My new comment")
/thread
(value.prov "REFERENCES ALL"))
S: a OK SETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, the entry "/comment" for all mailboxes at
the top-level of the "INBOX" hierarchy are created (if not already
present) and the private and shared attributes "value" are created
respectively for each entry if not already present, or replaced if
they previously existed.
Multiple attributes can be set in a single SETANNOTATION command by
listing multiple attribute-value pairs in the entry list.
Example:
C: a SETANNOTATION INBOX /comment
(value.priv "My new comment"
value.shared "foo's bar")
S: a OK SETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, the entry "/comment" for the mailbox "INBOX"
is created (if not already present) and the attributes
"value.priv" and "value.shared" are created if not already
present, or replaced if they previously existed.
Example:
C: a SETANNOTATION INBOX /comment
(value.priv "My new comment")
S: a NO [ANNOTATEMORE TOOMANY] SETANNOTATION failed
In the above example, the server is unable to set the requested
(new) annotation as it has reached the limit on the number of
annotations it can support on the specified mailbox.
4.4. ANNOTATION Response
The ANNOTATION response displays results of a GETANNOTATION command,
or can be returned as an unsolicited response at anytime by the
server in response to a change in an annotation.
Servers SHOULD send unsolicited ANNOTATION responses if mailbox or
server annotations are changed by a third-party, allowing servers to
keep clients updated with changes. Unsolicited mailbox annotations
MUST only be returned for the currently selected mailbox.
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Unsolicited ANNOTATION responses MUST only contain entry names, not
the attributes and values. If the client wants to update any cached
values it must explicitly retrieve those using a GETANNOTATION
command.
Separate ANNOTATION responses MUST be used when more than one mailbox
matches the mailbox name argument pattern to the command.
The ANNOTATION response can contain multiple entries in a single
response, but the server is free to return multiple responses for
each entry or group of entries if it desires.
This response is only available in authenticated state [RFC3501].
4.4.1. ANNOTATION response with attributes and values
The response consists of a list of entries each of which has a list
of attribute-value pairs.
Example:
C: a GETANNOTATION "" /comment value.priv
S: * ANNOTATION "" /comment (value.priv "My comment")
S: a OK GETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, a single entry with a single attribute-value
pair is returned by the server.
Example:
C: a GETANNOTATION "" (/comment /motd) value.priv
S: * ANNOTATION "" /comment (value.priv "My comment")
/motd (value.priv "Its sunny outside!")
S: a OK GETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, two entries each with a single attribute-
value pair is returned by the server.
Example:
C: a GETANNOTATION "" (/comment /motd) value.priv
S: * ANNOTATION "" /comment (value.priv "My comment")
S: * ANNOTATION "" /motd (value.priv "Its sunny outside!")
S: a OK GETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, the server returns two separate responses
for each of the two entries requested.
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Example:
C: a GETANNOTATION "" /comment (value.priv size.priv)
S: * ANNOTATION "" /comment (value.priv "My comment"
size.priv "10")
S: a OK GETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, a single entry with two attribute-value
pairs is returned by the server.
Example:
C: a GETANNOTATION INBOX.% /comment value.priv
S: * ANNOTATION INBOX.1 /comment
(value.priv "My comment for 1")
S: * ANNOTATION INBOX.2 /comment
(value.priv "My comment for 2")
S: * ANNOTATION INBOX.3 /comment
(value.priv "My comment for 3")
S: a OK GETANNOTATION complete
In the above example, separate responses are returned for each
matching mailbox, each containing a single entry with a single
attribute-value pair.
4.4.2. Unsolicited ANNOTATION response without attributes and values
The response consists of a parenthesised list of entries, each of
which have changed on the server.
Example:
C: a NOOP
S: * ANNOTATION "" (/comment)
S: a OK NOOP complete
In the above example, the server indicates that the "/comment"
server entry has been changed.
Example:
C: a NOOP
S: * ANNOTATION "" (/comment /motd)
S: a OK NOOP complete
In the above example, the server indicates a change to two server
entries.
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Example:
C: a NOOP
S: * ANNOTATION "" (/motd)
S: * ANNOTATION INBOX (/comment)
S: a OK NOOP complete
In the above example, the server indicates a change to a server
entry, and to the an entry for the currently selected mailbox.
5. Formal Syntax
The following syntax specification uses the Augmented Backus-Naur
Form (ABNF) notation as specified in [RFC2234].
Non-terminals referenced but not defined below are as defined by
[RFC3501] with the new definitions in [I-D.melnikov-imap-ext-abnf]
superseding those in [RFC3501].
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.
annotate-data = "ANNOTATION" SP mailbox SP entry-list
; empty string for mailbox implies
; server annotation.
att-value = attrib SP value
attrib = astring
; dot-separated attribute name
; MUST NOT contain "*" or "%"
attribs = attrib / "(" attrib *(SP attrib) ")"
; one or more attribute specifiers
capability =/ "ANNOTATEMORE2"
; defines the capability for this extension
command-auth =/ setannotation / getannotation
; adds to original IMAP command
entries = entry-match /
"(" entry-match *(SP entry-match) ")"
; entry specifiers that can include wildcards
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entry = astring
; slash-separated path to entry
; MUST NOT contain "*" or "%"
entry-att = entry SP "(" att-value *(SP att-value) ")"
entry-list = entry-att *(SP entry-att) /
"(" entry *(SP entry) ")"
; entry attribute-value pairs list for
; GETANNOTATION response, or
; parenthesised entry list for unsolicited
; notification of annotation changes
entry-match = list-mailbox
; slash-separated path to entry
; MAY contain "*" or "%" for use as wildcards
getannotation = "GETANNOTATION" SP list-mailbox
SP entries SP attribs
; empty string for list-mailbox implies
; server annotation.
response-payload =/ annotate-data
; adds to original IMAP data responses
resp-text-code =/ "ANNOTATEMORE" SP "TOOBIG" /
"ANNOTATEMORE" SP "TOOMANY"
; new response codes for SETANNOTATION
; failures
setannotation = "SETANNOTATION" SP list-mailbox
SP setentryatt
; empty string for list-mailbox implies
; server annotation.
setentryatt = entry-att / "(" entry-att *(SP entry-att) ")"
value = nstring / literal8
6. IANA Considerations
Entry names MUST be specified in a standards track or IESG approved
experimental RFC, or fall under the vendor namespace. Attribute
names MUST be specified in a standards track or IESG approved
experimental RFC.
Each entry registration MUST include a content-type that is used to
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indicate the nature of the annotation value. Where applicable a
charset parameter MUST be included with the content-type.
6.1. Entry and Attribute Registration Template
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[ ] Entry [ ] Attribute
[ ] Mailbox [ ] Server
Name: ______________________________
Description: _______________________
____________________________________
____________________________________
Content-type: ____________________
Contact person: ____________________
email: ____________________
6.2. Server Entry Registrations
The following templates specify the IANA registrations of annotation
entries specified in this document.
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6.2.1. /comment
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[x] Entry [ ] Attribute
[ ] Mailbox [x] Server
Name: /comment
Description: Defined in IMAP ANNOTATEMORE extension document.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Cyrus Daboo
email: cyrus@daboo.name
6.2.2. /motd
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[x] Entry [ ] Attribute
[ ] Mailbox [x] Server
Name: /motd
Description: Defined in IMAP ANNOTATEMORE extension document.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Cyrus Daboo
email: cyrus@daboo.name
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6.2.3. /admin
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[x] Entry [ ] Attribute
[ ] Mailbox [x] Server
Name: /admin
Description: Defined in IMAP ANNOTATEMORE extension document.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Cyrus Daboo
email: cyrus@daboo.name
6.3. Mailbox Entry Registrations
The following templates specify the IANA registrations of annotation
entries specified in this document.
6.3.1. /comment
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[x] Entry [ ] Attribute
[x] Mailbox [ ] Server
Name: /comment
Description: Defined in IMAP ANNOTATEMORE extension document.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Cyrus Daboo
email: cyrus@daboo.name
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6.3.2. /sort
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[x] Entry [ ] Attribute
[x] Mailbox [ ] Server
Name: /sort
Description: Defined in IMAP ANNOTATEMORE extension document.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Cyrus Daboo
email: cyrus@daboo.name
6.3.3. /thread
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[x] Entry [ ] Attribute
[x] Mailbox [ ] Server
Name: /thread
Description: Defined in IMAP ANNOTATEMORE extension document.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Cyrus Daboo
email: cyrus@daboo.name
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6.3.4. /check
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[x] Entry [ ] Attribute
[x] Mailbox [ ] Server
Name: /check
Description: Defined in IMAP ANNOTATEMORE extension document.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Cyrus Daboo
email: cyrus@daboo.name
6.3.5. /checkperiod
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[x] Entry [ ] Attribute
[x] Mailbox [ ] Server
Name: /checkperiod
Description: Defined in IMAP ANNOTATEMORE extension document.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Cyrus Daboo
email: cyrus@daboo.name
6.4. Attribute Registrations
The following templates specify the IANA registrations of annotation
attributes specified in this document.
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6.4.1. value
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[ ] Entry [x] Attribute
[ ] Mailbox [ ] Server
Name: value
Description: Defined in IMAP ANNOTATEMORE extension document.
Content-type: -
Contact person: Cyrus Daboo
email: cyrus@daboo.name
6.4.2. size
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[ ] Entry [x] Attribute
[ ] Mailbox [ ] Server
Name: size
Description: Defined in IMAP ANNOTATEMORE extension document.
Content-type: -
Contact person: Cyrus Daboo
email: cyrus@daboo.name
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6.4.3. content-language
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP ANNOTATEMORE Registration
Please register the following IMAP ANNOTATEMORE item:
[ ] Entry [x] Attribute
[ ] Mailbox [ ] Server
Name: content-language
Description: Defined in IMAP ANNOTATEMORE extension document.
Content-type: -
Contact person: Cyrus Daboo
email: cyrus@daboo.name
7. Security Considerations
Annotations whose values are intended to remain private MUST use
.priv values, and not .shared values which may be accessible to other
users.
>Excluding the above issues the ANNOTATEMORE extension does not raise
any security considerations that are not present in the base IMAP
protocol, and these issues are discussed in [RFC3501].
8. References
8.1. Normative References
[I-D.ietf-imapext-sort]
Crispin, M. and K. Murchison, "INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS
PROTOCOL - SORT AND THREAD EXTENSION",
draft-ietf-imapext-sort-17 (work in progress), May 2004.
[I-D.melnikov-imap-ext-abnf]
Daboo, C. and A. Melnikov, "Collected extensions to IMAP4
ABNF", draft-melnikov-imap-ext-abnf-05 (work in progress),
October 2005.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
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Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC2234] Crocker, D., Ed. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
Specifications: ABNF", RFC 2234, November 1997.
[RFC2244] Newman, C. and J. Myers, "ACAP -- Application
Configuration Access Protocol", RFC 2244, November 1997.
[RFC3282] Alvestrand, H., "Content Language Headers", RFC 3282,
May 2002.
[RFC3501] Crispin, M., "INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION
4rev1", RFC 3501, March 2003.
[RFC3629] Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO
10646", STD 63, RFC 3629, November 2003.
8.2. Informative References
[I-D.ietf-imapext-annotate]
Gellens, R. and C. Daboo, "IMAP ANNOTATE Extension",
draft-ietf-imapext-annotate-13 (work in progress),
April 2005.
Appendix A. Acknowledgments
The ideas expressed in this document are based on the message
annotation document that was co-authored by Randall Gellens. The
participants of the IMAPext working group made significant
contributions to this work.
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Author's Address
Cyrus Daboo
Email: cyrus@daboo.name
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The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
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This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
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ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED,
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Acknowledgment
Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
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