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IETF RFC 5466
IMAP4 Extension for Named Searches (Filters)
Last modified on Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
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Network Working Group A. Melnikov
Request for Comments: 5466 C. King
Category: Standards Track Isode Ltd
February 2009
IMAP4 Extension for Named Searches (Filters)
 Status of This Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2009 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 (http://trustee.ietf.org/
license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
and restrictions with respect to this document.
Abstract
The document defines a way to persistently store named IMAP (RFC
3501) searches on the server. Such named searches can be
subsequently referenced in a SEARCH or any other command that accepts
a search criterion as a parameter.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction and Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Conventions Used in This Document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3. IMAP Protocol Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
3.1. FILTER SEARCH Criterion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3.2. Managing Filters Using SETMETADATA/GETMETADATA Commands . . 4
4. Formal Syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
6. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
7. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
8. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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RFC 5466 IMAP Filters February 2009
1. Introduction and Overview
Persistent named searches described in this document allow clients to
save favorite searches on the server. Such saved searches can save
bandwidth for clients that need to regularly repeat them.
The FILTERS IMAP extension adds a new FILTER search criterion for
referencing persistent named searches (a.k.a. "filters"), as well as
reuses GETMETADATA/SETMETADATA commands [METADATA] for listing/
creating/updating/deleting such filters.
A filter can be private (only accessible to the logged-in user) or
public (accessible to all logged-in users). Both a private and a
public filter with the same name can exist at the same time. If both
filter types with the same name exist, the FILTER SEARCH criterion
(see Section 3.1) MUST use the value of the private filter;
otherwise, it MUST use the value of the filter that exists.
Let us call a pair of filter name and filter type a "typed filter".
Each typed filter can have a value (which is a valid IMAP SEARCH
criteria conforming to ABNF for the "search-criteria" non-terminal)
and an optional human-readable description. The SETMETADATA command
creates or updates the value and/or the description of a typed
filter.
Values of all search keys stored in a filter MUST be encoded in
UTF-8.
2. Conventions Used in This Document
In examples, "C:" and "S:" indicate lines sent by the client and
server, respectively. If a single "C:" or "S:" label applies to
multiple lines, then the line breaks between those lines are for
editorial clarity only and are not part of the actual protocol
exchange.
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 [RFC 2119].
Basic familiarity with the METADATA-SERVER extension [METADATA] and
terms defined therein is required to understand this document.
3. IMAP Protocol Changes
The IMAP extension for persistent named searches is present in any
IMAP4 implementation that advertises "FILTERS" as one of the
supported capabilities in the CAPABILITY response or response code.
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RFC 5466 IMAP Filters February 2009
3.1. FILTER SEARCH Criterion
The FILTER criterion for the SEARCH command allows a client to
reference by name a filter stored on the server. Such filter was
created by setting the server annotation named "/private/filters/
values/<filter_name>" (or the server annotation "/shared/filters/
values/<filter_name>", if "/private/filters/values/<filter_name>"
doesn't exist) using the SETMETADATA command as described in
Section 3.2.
Syntax: FILTER <filter_name>
When the named filter exists, its search criterion (i.e., the
associated entry value) is inserted verbatim instead of the FILTER
search-key. For example, the following SEARCH command
C: a SEARCH UID 300:900 FILTER on-the-road SINCE "3-Dec-2002"
would be equivalent to the following
C: a SEARCH UID 300:900 OR SMALLER 5000 FROM "boss@example.com"
SINCE "3-Dec-2002"
assuming the filter "on-the-road" exists and contains the value 'OR
SMALLER 5000 FROM "boss@example.com"'.
A reference to a nonexistent or unaccessible (e.g., due to access
control restrictions) filter MUST cause failure of the SEARCH command
with the tagged NO response that includes the UNDEFINED-FILTER
response code followed by the name of the nonexistent/unaccessible
filter.
Note the server SHOULD verify that each search criterion referenced
by the FILTER search key is a full and correct search criterion. For
example, the server should fail the SEARCH command if its SEARCH
criterion references a filter containing "OR SMALLER" search
criterion, because this value is lacking one parameter and thus is
not a fully specified search criterion.
Note that a named filter itself can reference another filter using
the FILTER search-key. Implementations MUST be able to perform at
least 3 substitution passes on the SEARCH command criterion. If an
implementation allows for more passes, it MUST implement some kind of
loop detection. If an implementation detects a loop or still sees a
FILTER search-key after performing at least 3 substitutions, it MUST
behave as if the specified filter doesn't exist (as described above).
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RFC 5466 IMAP Filters February 2009
Note that use of the FILTER search key implies the CHARSET "UTF-8"
parameter to the SEARCH/UID SEARCH command. If the SEARCH/UID SEARCH
command includes the explicit CHARSET parameter with the value other
than "UTF-8" or "US-ASCII", then such command MUST result in the
tagged BAD response from the server. Such tagged response MUST
contain the BADCHARSET response code (see [RFC 3501]).
3.2. Managing Filters Using SETMETADATA/GETMETADATA Commands
Any server compliant with this document MUST either implement the
METADATA-SERVER (or METADATA) [METADATA] extension, or implement
SETMETADATA/GETMETADATA commands described in [METADATA] so that they
work for the case of empty mailbox name (i.e., for managing server
annotations) and for the entries specified in this section.
This document reserves two hierarchies of per-server entries under
the "/private/filters/values" and "/shared/filters/values" roots (see
[METADATA]) for storing filter values. The value of a "/private/
filters/values/<filter_name>" or a "/shared/filters/values/
<filter_name>" server annotation is an IMAP SEARCH criteria,
conforming to ABNF for the "search-criteria" non-terminal. A name of
a filter is governed by the ABNF for the "filter-name" non-terminal.
Note that values of all search keys stored in these entries MUST be
encoded in UTF-8.
A new filter named "<filter_name>" can be created (or an existing
filter can be modified) by storing a non-NIL value in the "/private/
filters/values/<filter_name>" server entry (or in the "/shared/
filters/values/<filter_name>") using the SETMETADATA [METADATA]
command. The server SHOULD verify that each search criterion stored
in such a server entry is a full and correct search criterion.
A filter can be deleted by storing the NIL value in both the
"/private/filters/values/<filter_name>" and the "/shared/filters/
values/<filter_name>" entries.
A filter can be renamed by first creating a filter with the new name
(that has the same value as the old one) and then deleting the filter
with the old one.
If both "/private/filters/values/<filter_name>" and "/shared/filters/
values/<filter_name>" server annotations exist, then the value of the
"/private/filters/values/<filter_name>" is used when evaluating the
corresponding FILTER SEARCH key (see Section 3.1). Otherwise the
non-NIL (existent) value is used.
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RFC 5466 IMAP Filters February 2009
If the server is unable to create a new typed filter because the
maximum number of allowed filters has already been reached, the
server MUST return a tagged NO response with a "[METADATA TOOMANY]"
response code, as defined in [METADATA].
C: a007 SETMETADATA "" ("/private/filters/values/on-the-road"
"OR SMALLER 5000 FROM \"boss@example.com\"")
S: a007 OK SETMETADATA complete
Client implementation note: As multiple clients might read and write
filter values, it is possible that one client will use a SEARCH key
that might not be recognized by another client that tries to present
a user interface for editing a filter value. In order to help other
clients to (partially) parse filter values for editing purposes, a
client storing a filter value SHOULD use () around any SEARCH key not
defined in [RFC 3501]. For example, if there is an IMAP extension
that defines a new x-dsfa SEARCH key that takes 2 parameters, then
the following SEARCH criterion 'from "@example.com>" x-dsfa from 5'
should be stored as 'from "@example.com>" (x-dsfa from 5)'.
Note that filter names are restricted to a subset of US-ASCII, as
described in Section 4. So they might not always be meaningful to
users and thus not necessarily suitable for display purposes. In
order to help with storing human-readable descriptions of filters,
this document also reserves two hierarchies of server entries under
the "/private/filters/descriptions" and "/shared/filters/
descriptions" roots. The value of a "/private/filters/descriptions/
<filter_name>" or a "/shared/filters/descriptions/<filter_name>"
server annotation is a human-readable description for the
<filter_name> filter, encoded in UTF-8 [UTF-8]. If the "/private/
filters/descriptions/<filter_name>" server annotation exists, its
value is used by the client as the filter description. Otherwise,
the value of the "/shared/filters/descriptions/<filter_name>" server
annotation is used as the filter description. In the absence of both
the "/private/filters/descriptions/<filter_name>" and the "/shared/
filters/descriptions/<filter_name>" entries, the client MAY display
the name of the filter as its description.
The description string SHOULD be annotated with one or more language
tags [RFC 4646] as specified in Chapter 16.9 of [Unicode]. In the
absence of any language tag, the "i-default" [RFC 2277] language
SHOULD be assumed. Description in multiple languages MAY be present
in a single description string. This is done by concatenating
descriptions in multiple languages into a single string, each
description prefixed with its language tag, for example
"<ru><...description in Russian...><fr-ca><...description in
French...>". Note that here <ru> is a language tag consisting of 3
Unicode characters: <U+E0001>, <U+E0072>, <U+E0075>; and <fr-ca> is a
Melnikov & King Standards Track PAGE 5
RFC 5466 IMAP Filters February 2009
language tag consisting of 6 Unicode characters: <U+E0001>,
<U+E0066>, <U+E0072>, <U+E002D>, <U+E0063>, <U+E0061>.
4. Formal Syntax
The following syntax specification uses the Augmented Backus-Naur
Form (ABNF) notation as specified in [ABNF].
Non-terminals referenced but not defined below are as defined by
[RFC 3501] or [IMAPABNF].
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.
capability =/ "FILTERS"
search-criteria = search-key *(SP search-key)
search-key =/ "FILTER" SP filter-name
;; New SEARCH criterion for referencing filters
filter-name = 1*<any ATOM-CHAR except "/">
;; Note that filter-name disallows UTF-8 or
;; the following characters: "(", ")", "{",
;; " ", "%", "*", "]". See definition of
;; ATOM-CHAR [RFC 3501].
resp-text-code =/ "UNDEFINED-FILTER" SP filter-name
5. Security Considerations
General issues relevant to [RFC 3501] (in particular to the SEARCH
command) and METADATA-SERVER extension [METADATA] are also relevant
to this document.
Note that excessive use of filters can potentially simplify denial-
of-service attacks, especially if combined with poor implementations
and lack of loop detection (i.e., detection of filters referencing
each other to create a loop). Servers that allow for anonymous
access SHOULD NOT allow anonymous users to create/edit/delete
filters.
Also note that stored filters can potentially disclose personal
information about users. When confidentiality of such information is
important, clients MUST use TLS and/or SASL security layer (or
similar) as recommended in [RFC 3501]. Also, clients should use
Melnikov & King Standards Track PAGE 6
RFC 5466 IMAP Filters February 2009
private filters instead of public, unless they desire to share such
information with other users.
As always, it is important to thoroughly test clients and servers
when implementing this extension.
6. IANA Considerations
IMAP4 capabilities are registered by publishing a Standards Track or
IESG-approved Experimental RFC. The IMAP4 capabilities registry is
available from http://www.iana.org.
This document defines the FILTERS IMAP capability. IANA has added it
to the registry.
IANA has added the following 4 entries to the [METADATA] registry:
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP METADATA Entry Registration
Type: Server
Name: /private/filters/values/<filter_name>
Description: Contains an IMAP SEARCH criteria. Defined in RFC 5466.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Alexey Melnikov
Email: alexey.melnikov@isode.com
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP METADATA Entry Registration
Type: Server
Name: /shared/filters/values/<filter_name>
Description: Contains an IMAP SEARCH criterion. Defined in RFC
5466.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Alexey Melnikov
Email: alexey.melnikov@isode.com
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP METADATA Entry Registration
Type: Server
Name: /private/filters/descriptions/<filter_name>
Description: Contains a user-specific human-readable description of
a named SEARCH criterion stored in the /private/filters/values/
<filter_name> or /shared/filters/values/<filter_name> annotation.
The value is in UTF-8. Defined in RFC 5466.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Alexey Melnikov
Email: alexey.melnikov@isode.com
Melnikov & King Standards Track PAGE 7
RFC 5466 IMAP Filters February 2009
To: iana@iana.org
Subject: IMAP METADATA Entry Registration
Type: Server
Name: /shared/filters/descriptions/<filter_name>
Description: Contains a global (shared among all users) human-
readable description of a named SEARCH criterion stored in the
/private/filters/values/<filter_name> or /shared/filters/values/
<filter_name> annotation. The value is in UTF-8. Defined in RFC
5466.
Content-type: text/plain; charset=utf-8
Contact person: Alexey Melnikov
Email: alexey.melnikov@isode.com
7. Acknowledgments
Thanks to David Cridland, Arnt Gulbrandsen, Chris Newman, and Timo
Sirainen for comments and suggestions on this document. Special
thank you to Brian E. Carpenter for the GenArt review.
8. Normative References
[ABNF] Crocker, D., Ed. and P. Overell, Ed., "Augmented BNF for
Syntax Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234,
January 2008.
[IMAPABNF] Melnikov, A. and C. Daboo, "Collected Extensions to IMAP4
ABNF", RFC 4466, April 2006.
[METADATA] Daboo, C., "The IMAP METADATA Extension", RFC 5464,
February 2009.
[RFC 2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC 2277] Alvestrand, H., "IETF Policy on Character Sets and
Languages", BCP 18, RFC 2277, January 1998.
[RFC 3501] Crispin, M., "INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION
4rev1", RFC 3501, March 2003.
[RFC 4646] Phillips, A. and M. Davis, "Tags for Identifying
Languages", BCP 47, RFC 4646, September 2006.
[UTF-8] Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO
10646", STD 63, RFC 3629, November 2003.
[Unicode] "The Unicode Standard 5.0", Unicode 5.0, 2007,
<http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode5.0.0/>.
Melnikov & King Standards Track PAGE 8
RFC 5466 IMAP Filters February 2009
Authors' Addresses
Alexey Melnikov
Isode Ltd
5 Castle Business Village
36 Station Road
Hampton, Middlesex TW12 2BX
UK
EMail: Alexey.Melnikov@isode.com
Curtis King
Isode Ltd
5 Castle Business Village
36 Station Road
Hampton, Middlesex TW12 2BX
UK
EMail: Curtis.King@isode.com
Melnikov & King Standards Track PAGE 9
IMAP4 Extension for Named Searches (Filters)
RFC TOTAL SIZE: 19415 bytes
PUBLICATION DATE: Wednesday, February 18th, 2009
LEGAL RIGHTS: The IETF Trust (see BCP 78)
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