IMAP Support for UTF-8
RFC 5738

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Network Working Group                                         P. Resnick
Request for Comments: 5738                         Qualcomm Incorporated
Updates: 3501                                                  C. Newman
Category: Experimental                                  Sun Microsystems
                                                              March 2010

                         IMAP Support for UTF-8

Abstract

   This specification extends the Internet Message Access Protocol
   version 4rev1 (IMAP4rev1) to support UTF-8 encoded international
   characters in user names, mail addresses, and message headers.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for examination, experimental implementation, and
   evaluation.

   This document defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
   community.  This document is a product of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF
   community.  It has received public review and has been approved for
   publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not
   all documents approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of
   Internet Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5738.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2010 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
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   (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
   publication of this document.  Please review these documents
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   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Resnick & Newman              Experimental                      [Page 1]
RFC 5738                 IMAP Support for UTF-8               March 2010

   This document may contain material from IETF Documents or IETF
   Contributions published or made publicly available before November
   10, 2008.  The person(s) controlling the copyright in some of this
   material may not have granted the IETF Trust the right to allow
   modifications of such material outside the IETF Standards Process.
   Without obtaining an adequate license from the person(s) controlling
   the copyright in such materials, this document may not be modified
   outside the IETF Standards Process, and derivative works of it may
   not be created outside the IETF Standards Process, except to format
   it for publication as an RFC or to translate it into languages other
   than English.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  Conventions Used in This Document  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   3.  UTF8=ACCEPT IMAP Capability  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     3.1.  IMAP UTF-8 Quoted Strings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     3.2.  UTF8 Parameter to SELECT and EXAMINE . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.3.  UTF-8 LIST and LSUB Responses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.4.  UTF-8 Interaction with IMAP4 LIST Command Extensions . . .  6
       3.4.1.  UTF8 and UTF8ONLY LIST Selection Options . . . . . . .  6
       3.4.2.  UTF8 LIST Return Option  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   4.  UTF8=APPEND Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   5.  UTF8=USER Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   6.  UTF8=ALL Capability  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   7.  UTF8=ONLY Capability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   8.  Up-Conversion Server Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
   9.  Issues with UTF-8 Header Mailstore . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   10. IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   11. Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   12. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     12.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     12.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   Appendix A.  Design Rationale  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   Appendix B.  Examples Demonstrating Relationships between
                UTF8= Capabilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   Appendix C.  Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Resnick & Newman              Experimental                      [Page 2]
RFC 5738                 IMAP Support for UTF-8               March 2010

1.  Introduction

   This specification extends IMAP4rev1 [RFC3501] to permit UTF-8