Multiple Language Content Type
RFC 8255
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) N. Tomkinson
Request for Comments: 8255 N. Borenstein
Category: Standards Track Mimecast, Ltd.
ISSN: 2070-1721 October 2017
Multiple Language Content Type
Abstract
This document defines the 'multipart/multilingual' content type,
which is an addition to the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
(MIME) standard. This content type makes it possible to send one
message that contains multiple language versions of the same
information. The translations would be identified by a language tag
and selected by the email client based on a user's language settings.
Status of This Memo
This is an Internet Standards Track document.
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). Further information on
Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 7841.
Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8255.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2017 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
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
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described in the Simplified BSD License.
Tomkinson & Borenstein Standards Track [Page 1]
RFC 8255 Multiple Language Content Type October 2017
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1. Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. The Content-Type Header Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. The Message Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1. The Multilingual Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.2. The Language Message Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.3. The Language-Independent Message Part . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. Message Part Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5. The Content-Language Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6. The Content-Translation-Type Field . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
7. The Subject Field in the Language Message Parts . . . . . . . 8
8. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
8.1. An Example of a Simple Multiple-Language Email Message . 8
8.2. An Example of a Multiple-Language Email Message with a
Language-Independent Part . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
8.3. An Example of a Complex Multiple-Language Email Message
with a Language-Independent Part . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
9. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
9.1. The 'multipart/multilingual' Media Type . . . . . . . . . 13
9.2. The Content-Translation-Type Field . . . . . . . . . . . 15
9.3. The Content-Translation-Type Header Field Values . . . . 15
10. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
11. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
11.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
11.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1. Introduction
Since the invention of email and the rapid spread of the Internet,
more and more people have been able to communicate in more and more
countries and in more and more languages. But during this time of
technological evolution, email has remained a single-language
communication tool, whether it is English to English, Spanish to
Spanish, or Japanese to Japanese.
Also during this time, many corporations have established their
offices in multicultural cities and have formed departments and teams
that span continents, cultures, and languages. Thus, the need to
communicate efficiently with little margin for miscommunication has
grown significantly.
This document defines the 'multipart/multilingual' content type,
which is an addition to the Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
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