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19
docs/draft/README
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19
docs/draft/README
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@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
|
||||
Last Updated: 6 March 2008
|
||||
|
||||
This directory contains Internet Drafts which, at the time of release of
|
||||
this software, were not yet been published as RFCs. These documents are
|
||||
expected to be released as RFCs in the near future.
|
||||
|
||||
This software adheres to the specification in these documents, which
|
||||
are included for informational purposes. Note, however, that these
|
||||
documents must be considered preliminary in nature and will be superceded
|
||||
by the successor RFC.
|
||||
|
||||
File Name I-D Name
|
||||
--------- --------
|
||||
sort.txt draft-ietf-imapext-sort-20.txt
|
||||
;; SORT and THREAD commands
|
||||
;; Status: approved, blocked waiting for i18n
|
||||
|
||||
i18n.txt draft-ietf-imapext-i18n-15.txt
|
||||
;; internationalization in IMAP
|
1140
docs/draft/i18n.txt
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1140
docs/draft/i18n.txt
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File diff suppressed because it is too large
Load Diff
885
docs/draft/sort.txt
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885
docs/draft/sort.txt
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@@ -0,0 +1,885 @@
|
||||
IMAP Extensions Working Group M. Crispin
|
||||
Internet-Draft K. Murchison
|
||||
Intended status: Proposed Standard March 10, 2008
|
||||
Expires: September 10, 2008
|
||||
Document: internet-drafts/draft-ietf-imapext-sort-20.txt
|
||||
|
||||
INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - SORT AND THREAD EXTENSIONS
|
||||
|
||||
Status of this Memo
|
||||
|
||||
By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that
|
||||
any applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is
|
||||
aware have been or will be disclosed, and any of which he or she
|
||||
becomes aware will be disclosed, in accordance with Section 6 of
|
||||
BCP 79.
|
||||
|
||||
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
|
||||
Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that
|
||||
other groups may also distribute working documents as
|
||||
Internet-Drafts.
|
||||
|
||||
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
|
||||
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
|
||||
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
|
||||
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
|
||||
|
||||
The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
|
||||
http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt
|
||||
|
||||
The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
|
||||
http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.
|
||||
|
||||
A revised version of this draft document will be submitted to the RFC
|
||||
editor as a Proposed Standard for the Internet Community. Discussion
|
||||
and suggestions for improvement are requested, and should be sent to
|
||||
ietf-imapext@IMC.ORG.
|
||||
|
||||
Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
|
||||
|
||||
Abstract
|
||||
|
||||
This document describes the base-level server-based sorting and
|
||||
threading extensions to the [IMAP] protocol. These extensions
|
||||
provide substantial performance improvements for IMAP clients which
|
||||
offer sorted and threaded views.
|
||||
|
||||
1. Introduction
|
||||
|
||||
The SORT and THREAD extensions to the [IMAP] protocol provide a means
|
||||
of server-based sorting and threading of messages, without requiring
|
||||
that the client download the necessary data to do so itself. This is
|
||||
particularly useful for online clients as described in [IMAP-MODELS].
|
||||
|
||||
A server which supports the base-level SORT extension indicates this
|
||||
with a capability name which starts with "SORT". Future,
|
||||
upwards-compatible extensions to the SORT extension will all start
|
||||
with "SORT", indicating support for this base level.
|
||||
|
||||
A server which supports the THREAD extension indicates this with one
|
||||
or more capability names consisting of "THREAD=" followed by a
|
||||
supported threading algorithm name as described in this document.
|
||||
This provides for future upwards-compatible extensions.
|
||||
|
||||
A server which implements the SORT and/or THREAD extensions MUST
|
||||
collate strings in accordance with the requirements of I18NLEVEL=1,
|
||||
as described in [IMAP-I18N], and SHOULD implement and advertise the
|
||||
I18NLEVEL=1 extension. Alternatively, a server MAY implement
|
||||
I18NLEVEL=2 (or higher) and comply with the rules of that level.
|
||||
|
||||
Discussion: the SORT and THREAD extensions predate [IMAP-I18N] by
|
||||
several years. At the time of this writing, all known server
|
||||
implementations of SORT and THREAD comply with the rules of
|
||||
I18NLEVEL=1, but do not necessarily advertise it. As discussed
|
||||
in [IMAP-I18N] section 4.5, all server implementations should
|
||||
eventually be updated to comply with the I18NLEVEL=2 extension.
|
||||
|
||||
Historical note: the REFERENCES threading algorithm is based on the
|
||||
[THREADING] algorithm written used in "Netscape Mail and News"
|
||||
versions 2.0 through 3.0.
|
||||
|
||||
2. Terminology
|
||||
|
||||
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 [KEYWORDS].
|
||||
|
||||
The word "can" (not "may") is used to refer to a possible
|
||||
circumstance or situation, as opposed to an optional facility of the
|
||||
protocol.
|
||||
|
||||
"User" is used to refer to a human user, whereas "client" refers to
|
||||
the software being run by the user.
|
||||
|
||||
In examples, "C:" and "S:" indicate lines sent by the client and
|
||||
server respectively.
|
||||
|
||||
2.1 Base Subject
|
||||
|
||||
Subject sorting and threading use the "base subject," which has
|
||||
specific subject artifacts removed. Due to the complexity of these
|
||||
artifacts, the formal syntax for the subject extraction rules is
|
||||
ambiguous. The following procedure is followed to determine the
|
||||
"base subject", using the [ABNF] formal syntax rules described in
|
||||
section 5:
|
||||
|
||||
(1) Convert any RFC 2047 encoded-words in the subject to
|
||||
UTF-8 as described in "internationalization
|
||||
considerations." Convert all tabs and continuations to
|
||||
space. Convert all multiple spaces to a single space.
|
||||
|
||||
(2) Remove all trailing text of the subject that matches
|
||||
the subj-trailer ABNF, repeat until no more matches are
|
||||
possible.
|
||||
|
||||
(3) Remove all prefix text of the subject that matches the
|
||||
subj-leader ABNF.
|
||||
|
||||
(4) If there is prefix text of the subject that matches the
|
||||
subj-blob ABNF, and removing that prefix leaves a non-empty
|
||||
subj-base, then remove the prefix text.
|
||||
|
||||
(5) Repeat (3) and (4) until no matches remain.
|
||||
|
||||
Note: it is possible to defer step (2) until step (6), but this
|
||||
requires checking for subj-trailer in step (4).
|
||||
|
||||
(6) If the resulting text begins with the subj-fwd-hdr ABNF
|
||||
and ends with the subj-fwd-trl ABNF, remove the
|
||||
subj-fwd-hdr and subj-fwd-trl and repeat from step (2).
|
||||
|
||||
(7) The resulting text is the "base subject" used in the
|
||||
SORT.
|
||||
|
||||
All servers and disconnected (as described in [IMAP-MODELS]) clients
|
||||
MUST use exactly this algorithm to determine the "base subject".
|
||||
Otherwise there is potential for a user to get inconsistent results
|
||||
based on whether they are running in connected or disconnected mode.
|
||||
|
||||
2.2 Sent Date
|
||||
|
||||
As used in this document, the term "sent date" refers to the date and
|
||||
time from the Date: header, adjusted by time zone to normalize to
|
||||
UTC. For example, "31 Dec 2000 16:01:33 -0800" is equivalent to the
|
||||
UTC date and time of "1 Jan 2001 00:01:33 +0000".
|
||||
|
||||
If the time zone is invalid, the date and time SHOULD be treated as
|
||||
UTC. If the time is also invalid, the time SHOULD be treated as
|
||||
00:00:00. If there is no valid date or time, the date and time
|
||||
SHOULD be treated as 00:00:00 on the earliest possible date.
|
||||
|
||||
This differs from the date-related criteria in the SEARCH command
|
||||
(described in [IMAP] section 6.4.4), which use just the date and not
|
||||
the time, and are not adjusted by time zone.
|
||||
|
||||
If the sent date can not be determined (a Date: header is missing or
|
||||
can not be parsed), the INTERNALDATE for that message is used as the
|
||||
sent date.
|
||||
|
||||
When comparing two sent dates that match exactly, the order in which
|
||||
the two messages appear in the mailbox (that is, by sequence number)
|
||||
is used as a tie-breaker to determine the order.
|
||||
|
||||
3. Additional Commands
|
||||
|
||||
These commands are extension to the [IMAP] base protocol.
|
||||
|
||||
The section headings are intended to correspond with where they would
|
||||
be located in the main document if they were part of the base
|
||||
specification.
|
||||
|
||||
BASE.6.4.SORT. SORT Command
|
||||
|
||||
Arguments: sort program
|
||||
charset specification
|
||||
searching criteria (one or more)
|
||||
|
||||
Data: untagged responses: SORT
|
||||
|
||||
Result: OK - sort completed
|
||||
NO - sort error: can't sort that charset or
|
||||
criteria
|
||||
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
||||
|
||||
The SORT command is a variant of SEARCH with sorting semantics for
|
||||
the results. Sort has two arguments before the searching criteria
|
||||
argument; a parenthesized list of sort criteria, and the searching
|
||||
charset.
|
||||
|
||||
The charset argument is mandatory (unlike SEARCH) and indicates
|
||||
the [CHARSET] of the strings that appear in the searching
|
||||
criteria. The US-ASCII and UTF-8 charsets MUST be implemented.
|
||||
All other charsets are optional.
|
||||
|
||||
There is also a UID SORT command which returns unique identifiers
|
||||
instead of message sequence numbers. Note that there are separate
|
||||
searching criteria for message sequence numbers and UIDs; thus the
|
||||
arguments to UID SORT are interpreted the same as in SORT. This
|
||||
is analogous to the behavior of UID SEARCH, as opposed to UID
|
||||
COPY, UID FETCH, or UID STORE.
|
||||
|
||||
The SORT command first searches the mailbox for messages that
|
||||
match the given searching criteria using the charset argument for
|
||||
the interpretation of strings in the searching criteria. It then
|
||||
returns the matching messages in an untagged SORT response, sorted
|
||||
according to one or more sort criteria.
|
||||
|
||||
Sorting is in ascending order. Earlier dates sort before later
|
||||
dates; smaller sizes sort before larger sizes; and strings are
|
||||
sorted according to ascending values established by their
|
||||
collation algorithm (see under "Internationalization
|
||||
Considerations").
|
||||
|
||||
If two or more messages exactly match according to the sorting
|
||||
criteria, these messages are sorted according to the order in
|
||||
which they appear in the mailbox. In other words, there is an
|
||||
implicit sort criterion of "sequence number".
|
||||
|
||||
When multiple sort criteria are specified, the result is sorted in
|
||||
the priority order that the criteria appear. For example,
|
||||
(SUBJECT DATE) will sort messages in order by their base subject
|
||||
text; and for messages with the same base subject text will sort
|
||||
by their sent date.
|
||||
|
||||
Untagged EXPUNGE responses are not permitted while the server is
|
||||
responding to a SORT command, but are permitted during a UID SORT
|
||||
command.
|
||||
|
||||
The defined sort criteria are as follows. Refer to the Formal
|
||||
Syntax section for the precise syntactic definitions of the
|
||||
arguments. If the associated RFC-822 header for a particular
|
||||
criterion is absent, it is treated as the empty string. The empty
|
||||
string always collates before non-empty strings.
|
||||
|
||||
ARRIVAL
|
||||
Internal date and time of the message. This differs from the
|
||||
ON criteria in SEARCH, which uses just the internal date.
|
||||
|
||||
CC
|
||||
[IMAP] addr-mailbox of the first "cc" address.
|
||||
|
||||
DATE
|
||||
Sent date and time, as described in section 2.2.
|
||||
|
||||
FROM
|
||||
[IMAP] addr-mailbox of the first "From" address.
|
||||
|
||||
REVERSE
|
||||
Followed by another sort criterion, has the effect of that
|
||||
criterion but in reverse (descending) order.
|
||||
Note: REVERSE only reverses a single criterion, and does not
|
||||
affect the implicit "sequence number" sort criterion if all
|
||||
other criteria are identicial. Consequently, a sort of
|
||||
REVERSE SUBJECT is not the same as a reverse ordering of a
|
||||
SUBJECT sort. This can be avoided by use of additional
|
||||
criteria, e.g. SUBJECT DATE vs. REVERSE SUBJECT REVERSE
|
||||
DATE. In general, however, it's better (and faster, if the
|
||||
client has a "reverse current ordering" command) to reverse
|
||||
the results in the client instead of issuing a new SORT.
|
||||
|
||||
SIZE
|
||||
Size of the message in octets.
|
||||
|
||||
SUBJECT
|
||||
Base subject text.
|
||||
|
||||
TO
|
||||
[IMAP] addr-mailbox of the first "To" address.
|
||||
|
||||
Example: C: A282 SORT (SUBJECT) UTF-8 SINCE 1-Feb-1994
|
||||
S: * SORT 2 84 882
|
||||
S: A282 OK SORT completed
|
||||
C: A283 SORT (SUBJECT REVERSE DATE) UTF-8 ALL
|
||||
S: * SORT 5 3 4 1 2
|
||||
S: A283 OK SORT completed
|
||||
C: A284 SORT (SUBJECT) US-ASCII TEXT "not in mailbox"
|
||||
S: * SORT
|
||||
S: A284 OK SORT completed
|
||||
|
||||
BASE.6.4.THREAD. THREAD Command
|
||||
|
||||
Arguments: threading algorithm
|
||||
charset specification
|
||||
searching criteria (one or more)
|
||||
|
||||
Data: untagged responses: THREAD
|
||||
|
||||
Result: OK - thread completed
|
||||
NO - thread error: can't thread that charset or
|
||||
criteria
|
||||
BAD - command unknown or arguments invalid
|
||||
|
||||
The THREAD command is a variant of SEARCH with threading semantics
|
||||
for the results. Thread has two arguments before the searching
|
||||
criteria argument; a threading algorithm, and the searching
|
||||
charset.
|
||||
|
||||
The charset argument is mandatory (unlike SEARCH) and indicates
|
||||
the [CHARSET] of the strings that appear in the searching
|
||||
criteria. The US-ASCII and UTF-8 charsets MUST be implemented.
|
||||
All other charsets are optional.
|
||||
|
||||
There is also a UID THREAD command which returns unique
|
||||
identifiers instead of message sequence numbers. Note that there
|
||||
are separate searching criteria for message sequence numbers and
|
||||
UIDs; thus the arguments to UID THREAD are interpreted the same as
|
||||
in THREAD. This is analogous to the behavior of UID SEARCH, as
|
||||
opposed to UID COPY, UID FETCH, or UID STORE.
|
||||
|
||||
The THREAD command first searches the mailbox for messages that
|
||||
match the given searching criteria using the charset argument for
|
||||
the interpretation of strings in the searching criteria. It then
|
||||
returns the matching messages in an untagged THREAD response,
|
||||
threaded according to the specified threading algorithm.
|
||||
|
||||
All collation is in ascending order. Earlier dates collate before
|
||||
later dates and strings are collated according to ascending values
|
||||
established by their collation algorithm (see under
|
||||
"Internationalization Considerations").
|
||||
|
||||
Untagged EXPUNGE responses are not permitted while the server is
|
||||
responding to a THREAD command, but are permitted during a UID
|
||||
THREAD command.
|
||||
|
||||
The defined threading algorithms are as follows:
|
||||
|
||||
ORDEREDSUBJECT
|
||||
|
||||
The ORDEREDSUBJECT threading algorithm is also referred to as
|
||||
"poor man's threading." The searched messages are sorted by
|
||||
base subject and then by the sent date. The messages are then
|
||||
split into separate threads, with each thread containing
|
||||
messages with the same base subject text. Finally, the threads
|
||||
are sorted by the sent date of the first message in the thread.
|
||||
|
||||
The first message of each thread are siblings of each other
|
||||
(the "root"). The second message of a thread is the child of
|
||||
the first message, and subsequent messages of the thread are
|
||||
siblings of the second message and hence children of the
|
||||
message at the root. Hence, there are no grandchildren in
|
||||
ORDEREDSUBJECT threading.
|
||||
|
||||
Children in ORDEREDSUBJECT threading do not have descendents.
|
||||
Client implementations SHOULD treat descendents of a child in
|
||||
a server response as being siblings of that child.
|
||||
|
||||
REFERENCES
|
||||
|
||||
The REFERENCES threading algorithm threads the searched
|
||||
messages by grouping them together in parent/child
|
||||
relationships based on which messages are replies to others.
|
||||
The parent/child relationships are built using two methods:
|
||||
reconstructing a message's ancestry using the references
|
||||
contained within it; and checking the original (not base)
|
||||
subject of a message to see if it is a reply to (or forward of)
|
||||
another message.
|
||||
|
||||
Note: "Message ID" in the following description refers to a
|
||||
normalized form of the msg-id in [RFC-2822]. The actual
|
||||
text in an RFC 2822 may use quoting, resulting in multiple
|
||||
ways of expressing the same Message ID. Implementations of
|
||||
the REFERENCES threading algorithm MUST normalize any msg-id
|
||||
in order to avoid false non-matches due to differences in
|
||||
quoting.
|
||||
|
||||
For example, the msg-id
|
||||
<"01KF8JCEOCBS0045PS"@xxx.yyy.com>
|
||||
and the msg-id
|
||||
<01KF8JCEOCBS0045PS@xxx.yyy.com>
|
||||
MUST be interpreted as being the same Message ID.
|
||||
|
||||
The references used for reconstructing a message's ancestry are
|
||||
found using the following rules:
|
||||
|
||||
If a message contains a References header line, then use the
|
||||
Message IDs in the References header line as the references.
|
||||
|
||||
If a message does not contain a References header line, or
|
||||
the References header line does not contain any valid
|
||||
Message IDs, then use the first (if any) valid Message ID
|
||||
found in the In-Reply-To header line as the only reference
|
||||
(parent) for this message.
|
||||
|
||||
Note: Although [RFC-2822] permits multiple Message IDs in
|
||||
the In-Reply-To header, in actual practice this
|
||||
discipline has not been followed. For example,
|
||||
In-Reply-To headers have been observed with message
|
||||
addresses after the Message ID, and there are no good
|
||||
heuristics for software to determine the difference.
|
||||
This is not a problem with the References header however.
|
||||
|
||||
If a message does not contain an In-Reply-To header line, or
|
||||
the In-Reply-To header line does not contain a valid Message
|
||||
ID, then the message does not have any references (NIL).
|
||||
|
||||
A message is considered to be a reply or forward if the base
|
||||
subject extraction rules, applied to the original subject,
|
||||
remove any of the following: a subj-refwd, a "(fwd)"
|
||||
subj-trailer, or a subj-fwd-hdr and subj-fwd-trl.
|
||||
|
||||
The REFERENCES algorithm is significantly more complex than
|
||||
ORDEREDSUBJECT and consists of six main steps. These steps are
|
||||
outlined in detail below.
|
||||
|
||||
(1) For each searched message:
|
||||
|
||||
(A) Using the Message IDs in the message's references, link
|
||||
the corresponding messages (those whose Message-ID header
|
||||
line contains the given reference Message ID) together as
|
||||
parent/child. Make the first reference the parent of the
|
||||
second (and the second a child of the first), the second the
|
||||
parent of the third (and the third a child of the second),
|
||||
etc. The following rules govern the creation of these
|
||||
links:
|
||||
|
||||
If a message does not contain a Message-ID header line,
|
||||
or the Message-ID header line does not contain a valid
|
||||
Message ID, then assign a unique Message ID to this
|
||||
message.
|
||||
|
||||
If two or more messages have the same Message ID, then
|
||||
only use that Message ID in the first (lowest sequence
|
||||
number) message, and assign a unique Message ID to each
|
||||
of the subsequent messages with a duplicate of that
|
||||
Message ID.
|
||||
|
||||
If no message can be found with a given Message ID,
|
||||
create a dummy message with this ID. Use this dummy
|
||||
message for all subsequent references to this ID.
|
||||
|
||||
If a message already has a parent, don't change the
|
||||
existing link. This is done because the References
|
||||
header line may have been truncated by a MUA. As a
|
||||
result, there is no guarantee that the messages
|
||||
corresponding to adjacent Message IDs in the References
|
||||
header line are parent and child.
|
||||
|
||||
Do not create a parent/child link if creating that link
|
||||
would introduce a loop. For example, before making
|
||||
message A the parent of B, make sure that A is not a
|
||||
descendent of B.
|
||||
|
||||
Note: Message ID comparisons are case-sensitive.
|
||||
|
||||
(B) Create a parent/child link between the last reference
|
||||
(or NIL if there are no references) and the current message.
|
||||
If the current message already has a parent, it is probably
|
||||
the result of a truncated References header line, so break
|
||||
the current parent/child link before creating the new
|
||||
correct one. As in step 1.A, do not create the parent/child
|
||||
link if creating that link would introduce a loop. Note
|
||||
that if this message has no references, that it will now
|
||||
have no parent.
|
||||
|
||||
Note: The parent/child links created in steps 1.A and 1.B
|
||||
MUST be kept consistent with one another at ALL times.
|
||||
|
||||
(2) Gather together all of the messages that have no parents
|
||||
and make them all children (siblings of one another) of a dummy
|
||||
parent (the "root"). These messages constitute the first
|
||||
(head) message of the threads created thus far.
|
||||
|
||||
(3) Prune dummy messages from the thread tree. Traverse each
|
||||
thread under the root, and for each message:
|
||||
|
||||
If it is a dummy message with NO children, delete it.
|
||||
|
||||
If it is a dummy message with children, delete it, but
|
||||
promote its children to the current level. In other words,
|
||||
splice them in with the dummy's siblings.
|
||||
|
||||
Do not promote the children if doing so would make them
|
||||
children of the root, unless there is only one child.
|
||||
|
||||
(4) Sort the messages under the root (top-level siblings only)
|
||||
by sent date as described in section 2.2. In the case of a
|
||||
dummy message, sort its children by sent date and then use the
|
||||
first child for the top-level sort.
|
||||
|
||||
(5) Gather together messages under the root that have the same
|
||||
base subject text.
|
||||
|
||||
(A) Create a table for associating base subjects with
|
||||
messages, called the subject table.
|
||||
|
||||
(B) Populate the subject table with one message per each
|
||||
base subject. For each child of the root:
|
||||
|
||||
(i) Find the subject of this thread, by using the base
|
||||
subject from either the current message or its first
|
||||
child if the current message is a dummy. This is the
|
||||
thread subject.
|
||||
|
||||
(ii) If the thread subject is empty, skip this message.
|
||||
|
||||
(iii) Look up the message associated with the thread
|
||||
subject in the subject table.
|
||||
|
||||
(iv) If there is no message in the subject table with the
|
||||
thread subject, add the current message and the thread
|
||||
subject to the subject table.
|
||||
|
||||
Otherwise, if the message in the subject table is not a
|
||||
dummy, AND either of the following criteria are true:
|
||||
|
||||
The current message is a dummy, OR
|
||||
|
||||
The message in the subject table is a reply or forward
|
||||
and the current message is not.
|
||||
|
||||
then replace the message in the subject table with the
|
||||
current message.
|
||||
|
||||
(C) Merge threads with the same thread subject. For each
|
||||
child of the root:
|
||||
|
||||
(i) Find the message's thread subject as in step 5.B.i
|
||||
above.
|
||||
|
||||
(ii) If the thread subject is empty, skip this message.
|
||||
|
||||
(iii) Lookup the message associated with this thread
|
||||
subject in the subject table.
|
||||
|
||||
(iv) If the message in the subject table is the current
|
||||
message, skip this message.
|
||||
|
||||
Otherwise, merge the current message with the one in the
|
||||
subject table using the following rules:
|
||||
|
||||
If both messages are dummies, append the current
|
||||
message's children to the children of the message in
|
||||
the subject table (the children of both messages
|
||||
become siblings), and then delete the current message.
|
||||
|
||||
If the message in the subject table is a dummy and the
|
||||
current message is not, make the current message a
|
||||
child of the message in the subject table (a sibling
|
||||
of its children).
|
||||
|
||||
If the current message is a reply or forward and the
|
||||
message in the subject table is not, make the current
|
||||
message a child of the message in the subject table (a
|
||||
sibling of its children).
|
||||
|
||||
Otherwise, create a new dummy message and make both
|
||||
the current message and the message in the subject
|
||||
table children of the dummy. Then replace the message
|
||||
in the subject table with the dummy message.
|
||||
|
||||
Note: Subject comparisons are case-insensitive, as
|
||||
described under "Internationalization
|
||||
Considerations."
|
||||
|
||||
(6) Traverse the messages under the root and sort each set of
|
||||
siblings by sent date as described in section 2.2. Traverse
|
||||
the messages in such a way that the "youngest" set of siblings
|
||||
are sorted first, and the "oldest" set of siblings are sorted
|
||||
last (grandchildren are sorted before children, etc). In the
|
||||
case of a dummy message (which can only occur with top-level
|
||||
siblings), use its first child for sorting.
|
||||
|
||||
Example: C: A283 THREAD ORDEREDSUBJECT UTF-8 SINCE 5-MAR-2000
|
||||
S: * THREAD (166)(167)(168)(169)(172)(170)(171)
|
||||
(173)(174 (175)(176)(178)(181)(180))(179)(177
|
||||
(183)(182)(188)(184)(185)(186)(187)(189))(190)
|
||||
(191)(192)(193)(194 195)(196 (197)(198))(199)
|
||||
(200 202)(201)(203)(204)(205)(206 207)(208)
|
||||
S: A283 OK THREAD completed
|
||||
C: A284 THREAD ORDEREDSUBJECT US-ASCII TEXT "gewp"
|
||||
S: * THREAD
|
||||
S: A284 OK THREAD completed
|
||||
C: A285 THREAD REFERENCES UTF-8 SINCE 5-MAR-2000
|
||||
S: * THREAD (166)(167)(168)(169)(172)((170)(179))
|
||||
(171)(173)((174)(175)(176)(178)(181)(180))
|
||||
((177)(183)(182)(188 (184)(189))(185 186)(187))
|
||||
(190)(191)(192)(193)((194)(195 196))(197 198)
|
||||
(199)(200 202)(201)(203)(204)(205 206 207)(208)
|
||||
S: A285 OK THREAD completed
|
||||
|
||||
Note: The line breaks in the first and third server
|
||||
responses are for editorial clarity and do not appear in
|
||||
real THREAD responses.
|
||||
|
||||
4. Additional Responses
|
||||
|
||||
These responses are extensions to the [IMAP] base protocol.
|
||||
|
||||
The section headings of these responses are intended to correspond
|
||||
with where they would be located in the main document.
|
||||
|
||||
BASE.7.2.SORT. SORT Response
|
||||
|
||||
Data: zero or more numbers
|
||||
|
||||
The SORT response occurs as a result of a SORT or UID SORT
|
||||
command. The number(s) refer to those messages that match the
|
||||
search criteria. For SORT, these are message sequence numbers;
|
||||
for UID SORT, these are unique identifiers. Each number is
|
||||
delimited by a space.
|
||||
|
||||
Example: S: * SORT 2 3 6
|
||||
|
||||
BASE.7.2.THREAD. THREAD Response
|
||||
|
||||
Data: zero or more threads
|
||||
|
||||
The THREAD response occurs as a result of a THREAD or UID THREAD
|
||||
command. It contains zero or more threads. A thread consists of
|
||||
a parenthesized list of thread members.
|
||||
|
||||
Thread members consist of zero or more message numbers, delimited
|
||||
by spaces, indicating successive parent and child. This continues
|
||||
until the thread splits into multiple sub-threads, at which point
|
||||
the thread nests into multiple sub-threads with the first member
|
||||
of each subthread being siblings at this level. There is no limit
|
||||
to the nesting of threads.
|
||||
|
||||
The messages numbers refer to those messages that match the search
|
||||
criteria. For THREAD, these are message sequence numbers; for UID
|
||||
THREAD, these are unique identifiers.
|
||||
|
||||
Example: S: * THREAD (2)(3 6 (4 23)(44 7 96))
|
||||
|
||||
The first thread consists only of message 2. The second thread
|
||||
consists of the messages 3 (parent) and 6 (child), after which it
|
||||
splits into two subthreads; the first of which contains messages 4
|
||||
(child of 6, sibling of 44) and 23 (child of 4), and the second of
|
||||
which contains messages 44 (child of 6, sibling of 4), 7 (child of
|
||||
44), and 96 (child of 7). Since some later messages are parents
|
||||
of earlier messages, the messages were probably moved from some
|
||||
other mailbox at different times.
|
||||
|
||||
-- 2
|
||||
|
||||
-- 3
|
||||
\-- 6
|
||||
|-- 4
|
||||
| \-- 23
|
||||
|
|
||||
\-- 44
|
||||
\-- 7
|
||||
\-- 96
|
||||
|
||||
Example: S: * THREAD ((3)(5))
|
||||
|
||||
In this example, 3 and 5 are siblings of a parent which does not
|
||||
match the search criteria (and/or does not exist in the mailbox);
|
||||
however they are members of the same thread.
|
||||
|
||||
5. Formal Syntax of SORT and THREAD Commands and Responses
|
||||
|
||||
The following syntax specification uses the Augmented Backus-Naur
|
||||
Form (ABNF) notation as specified in [ABNF]. It also uses [ABNF]
|
||||
rules defined in [IMAP].
|
||||
|
||||
sort = ["UID" SP] "SORT" SP sort-criteria SP search-criteria
|
||||
|
||||
sort-criteria = "(" sort-criterion *(SP sort-criterion) ")"
|
||||
|
||||
sort-criterion = ["REVERSE" SP] sort-key
|
||||
|
||||
sort-key = "ARRIVAL" / "CC" / "DATE" / "FROM" / "SIZE" /
|
||||
"SUBJECT" / "TO"
|
||||
|
||||
thread = ["UID" SP] "THREAD" SP thread-alg SP search-criteria
|
||||
|
||||
thread-alg = "ORDEREDSUBJECT" / "REFERENCES" / thread-alg-ext
|
||||
|
||||
thread-alg-ext = atom
|
||||
; New algorithms MUST be registered with IANA
|
||||
|
||||
search-criteria = charset 1*(SP search-key)
|
||||
|
||||
charset = atom / quoted
|
||||
; CHARSET values MUST be registered with IANA
|
||||
|
||||
sort-data = "SORT" *(SP nz-number)
|
||||
|
||||
thread-data = "THREAD" [SP 1*thread-list]
|
||||
|
||||
thread-list = "(" (thread-members / thread-nested) ")"
|
||||
|
||||
thread-members = nz-number *(SP nz-number) [SP thread-nested]
|
||||
|
||||
thread-nested = 2*thread-list
|
||||
|
||||
The following syntax describes base subject extraction rules (2)-(6):
|
||||
|
||||
subject = *subj-leader [subj-middle] *subj-trailer
|
||||
|
||||
subj-refwd = ("re" / ("fw" ["d"])) *WSP [subj-blob] ":"
|
||||
|
||||
subj-blob = "[" *BLOBCHAR "]" *WSP
|
||||
|
||||
subj-fwd = subj-fwd-hdr subject subj-fwd-trl
|
||||
|
||||
subj-fwd-hdr = "[fwd:"
|
||||
|
||||
subj-fwd-trl = "]"
|
||||
|
||||
subj-leader = (*subj-blob subj-refwd) / WSP
|
||||
|
||||
subj-middle = *subj-blob (subj-base / subj-fwd)
|
||||
; last subj-blob is subj-base if subj-base would
|
||||
; otherwise be empty
|
||||
|
||||
subj-trailer = "(fwd)" / WSP
|
||||
|
||||
subj-base = NONWSP *(*WSP NONWSP)
|
||||
; can be a subj-blob
|
||||
|
||||
BLOBCHAR = %x01-5a / %x5c / %x5e-ff
|
||||
; any CHAR8 except '[' and ']'
|
||||
|
||||
NONWSP = %x01-08 / %x0a-1f / %x21-ff
|
||||
; any CHAR8 other than WSP
|
||||
|
||||
6. Security Considerations
|
||||
|
||||
The SORT and THREAD extensions do not raise any security
|
||||
considerations that are not present in the base [IMAP] protocol, and
|
||||
these issues are discussed in [IMAP]. Nevertheless, it is important
|
||||
to remember that [IMAP] protocol transactions, including message
|
||||
data, are sent in the clear over the network unless protection from
|
||||
snooping is negotiated, either by the use of STARTTLS, privacy
|
||||
protection is negotiated in the AUTHENTICATE command, or some other
|
||||
protection mechanism.
|
||||
|
||||
Although not a security consideration, it is important to recognize
|
||||
that sorting by REFERENCES can lead to misleading threading trees.
|
||||
For example, a message with false References: header data will cause
|
||||
a thread to be incorporated into another thread.
|
||||
|
||||
The process of extracting the base subject may lead to incorrect
|
||||
collation if the extracted data was significant text as opposed to
|
||||
a subject artifact.
|
||||
|
||||
7. Internationalization Considerations
|
||||
|
||||
As stated in the introduction, the rules of I18NLEVEL=1 as described
|
||||
in [IMAP-I18N] MUST be followed; that is, the SORT and THREAD
|
||||
extensions MUST collate strings according to the i;unicode-casemap
|
||||
collation described in [UNICASEMAP]. Servers SHOULD also advertise
|
||||
the I18NLEVEL=1 extension. Alternatively, a server MAY implement
|
||||
I18NLEVEL=2 (or higher) and comply with the rules of that level.
|
||||
|
||||
As discussed in [IMAP-I18N] section 4.5, all server implementations
|
||||
should eventually be updated to support the [IMAP-I18N] I18NLEVEL=2
|
||||
extension.
|
||||
|
||||
Translations of the "re" or "fw"/"fwd" tokens are not specified for
|
||||
removal in the base subject extraction process. An attempt to add
|
||||
such translated tokens would result in a geometrically complex, and
|
||||
ultimately unimplementable, task.
|
||||
|
||||
Instead, note that [RFC-2822] section 3.6.5 recommends that "re:"
|
||||
(from the Latin "res", in the matter of) be used to identify a reply.
|
||||
Although it is evident that, from the multiple forms of token to
|
||||
identify a forwarded message, there is considerable variation found
|
||||
in the wild, the variations are (still) manageable. Consequently, it
|
||||
is suggested that "re:" and one of the variations of the tokens for
|
||||
forward supported by the base subject extraction rules be adopted for
|
||||
Internet mail messages, since doing so makes it a simple display time
|
||||
task to localize the token language for the user.
|
||||
|
||||
8. IANA Considerations
|
||||
|
||||
[IMAP] capabilities are registered by publishing a standards track or
|
||||
IESG approved experimental RFC. This document constitutes
|
||||
registration of the SORT and THREAD capabilities in the [IMAP]
|
||||
capabilities registry.
|
||||
|
||||
This document creates a new [IMAP] threading algorithms registry,
|
||||
which registers threading algorithms by publishing a standards track
|
||||
or IESG approved experimental RFC. This document constitutes
|
||||
registration of the ORDEREDSUBJECT and REFERENCES algorithms in that
|
||||
registry.
|
||||
|
||||
9. Normative References
|
||||
|
||||
The following documents are normative to this document:
|
||||
|
||||
[ABNF] Crocker, D. and Overell, P. "Augmented BNF
|
||||
for Syntax Specifications: ABNF", RFC 5234
|
||||
January 2008
|
||||
|
||||
[CHARSET] Freed, N. and Postel, J. "IANA Character Set
|
||||
Registration Procedures", RFC 2978, October
|
||||
2000.
|
||||
|
||||
[IMAP] Crispin, M. "Internet Message Access Protocol -
|
||||
Version 4rev1", RFC 3501, March 2003.
|
||||
|
||||
[IMAP-I18N] Newman, C. and Gulbrandsen, A. "Internet
|
||||
Message Access Protocol Internationalization",
|
||||
Work in Progress.
|
||||
|
||||
[KEYWORDS] Bradner, S. "Key words for use in RFCs to
|
||||
Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
|
||||
March 1997.
|
||||
|
||||
[RFC-2822] Resnick, P. "Internet Message Format", RFC
|
||||
2822, April 2001.
|
||||
|
||||
[UNICASEMAP] Crispin, M. "i;unicode-casemap - Simple Unicode
|
||||
Collation Algorithm", RFC 5051.
|
||||
|
||||
10. Informative References
|
||||
|
||||
The following documents are informative to this document:
|
||||
|
||||
[IMAP-MODELS] Crispin, M. "Distributed Electronic Mail Models
|
||||
in IMAP4", RFC 1733, December 1994.
|
||||
|
||||
[THREADING] Zawinski, J. "Message Threading",
|
||||
http://www.jwz.org/doc/threading.html,
|
||||
1997-2002.
|
||||
|
||||
Appendices
|
||||
|
||||
Author's Address
|
||||
|
||||
Mark R. Crispin
|
||||
Networks and Distributed Computing
|
||||
University of Washington
|
||||
4545 15th Avenue NE
|
||||
Seattle, WA 98105-4527
|
||||
|
||||
Phone: +1 (206) 543-5762
|
||||
|
||||
EMail: MRC@CAC.Washington.EDU
|
||||
|
||||
Kenneth Murchison
|
||||
Carnegie Mellon University
|
||||
5000 Forbes Avenue
|
||||
Cyert Hall 285
|
||||
Pittsburgh, PA 15213
|
||||
|
||||
Phone: +1 (412) 268-2638
|
||||
Email: murch@andrew.cmu.edu
|
||||
|
||||
Full Copyright Statement
|
||||
|
||||
Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2008).
|
||||
|
||||
This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions
|
||||
contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors
|
||||
retain all their rights.
|
||||
|
||||
This document and the information contained herein are provided on an
|
||||
"AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS
|
||||
OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY, THE IETF TRUST AND
|
||||
THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM 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.
|
||||
|
||||
Intellectual Property
|
||||
|
||||
The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any
|
||||
Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to
|
||||
pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in
|
||||
this document or the extent to which any license under such rights
|
||||
might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has
|
||||
made any independent effort to identify any such rights. Information
|
||||
on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be
|
||||
found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.
|
||||
|
||||
Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any
|
||||
assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an
|
||||
attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of
|
||||
such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this
|
||||
specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at
|
||||
http://www.ietf.org/ipr.
|
||||
|
||||
The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any
|
||||
copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary
|
||||
rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement
|
||||
this standard. Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-
|
||||
ipr@ietf.org.
|
||||
|
||||
Acknowledgement
|
||||
|
||||
Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
|
||||
Internet Society.
|
Reference in New Issue
Block a user