Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) - SAVEDATE Extension
RFC 8514
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) S. Bosch
Request for Comments: 8514 Open Xchange Oy
Category: Standards Track January 2019
ISSN: 2070-1721
Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) - SAVEDATE Extension
Abstract
This document adds a new capability called "SAVEDATE" to the Internet
Message Access Protocol (IMAP). It defines a new IMAP message
attribute called "save date" that, unlike the existing "internal
date" attribute, always indicates the moment at which the message was
saved in its current mailbox. The SAVEDATE capability extends the
FETCH command with the means to retrieve the save date attribute and
extends the SEARCH command to allow using the save date attribute in
searching criteria.
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/rfc8514.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2019 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
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Bosch Standards Track [Page 1]
RFC 8514 IMAP - SAVEDATE Extension January 2019
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Save Date Message Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
4. IMAP Protocol Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.1. CAPABILITY Identification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.2. FETCH Command and Response Extensions . . . . . . . . . . 4
4.3. SEARCH Command Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
5. Formal Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
7. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
8. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1. Introduction
This document extends the Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)
[IMAP4rev1] with a new capability called "SAVEDATE". This capability
adds a new IMAP message attribute called "save date". The save date
is the date and time at which a message was saved in the mailbox in
which it currently resides. The save date is similar to the existing
"internal date" attribute in that it is set at the time of delivery.
However, the internal date attribute can be set to an arbitrary value
for messages delivered to the mailbox using the APPEND command and is
usually copied from the source message for messages delivered using
the COPY command. In contrast, the save date attribute is always set
to the current date and time at the moment the message is saved in
the mailbox, irrespective of how the message is delivered and from
where it originates.
The save date attribute is useful for implementing automated removal
of messages from a mailbox after a configured amount of time. For
that application, it is necessary to know when the message was saved
in the mailbox, which cannot be reliably determined using the
internal date attribute.
For example, a common client usage pattern is to move deleted
messages to a Trash mailbox. These messages are considered "deleted"
at the time they are moved to the Trash mailbox. In an effort to
limit the size of the Trash mailbox, a client may subsequently desire
to permanently remove (expunge) all messages in that Trash mailbox
deleted before a certain time (e.g., a configurable expiration
interval). In that case, the internal date attribute cannot be used
since it likely refers to the time at which the message was
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