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7Network Working Group J. Palme
8Request for Comments: 2076 Stockholm University/KTH
9Category: Informational February 1997
10
11
12 Common Internet Message Headers
13
14Status of this Memo
15
16 This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo
17 does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of
18 this memo is unlimited.
19
20Abstract
21
22 This memo contains a table of commonly occurring headers in headings
23 of e-mail messages. The document compiles information from other RFCs
24 such as RFC 822, RFC 1036, RFC 1123, RFC 1327, RFC 1496, RFC 1521,
25 RFC 1766, RFC 1806, RFC 1864 and RFC 1911. A few commonly occurring
26 headers which are not defined in RFCs are also included. For each
27 header, the memo gives a short description and a reference to the RFC
28 in which the header is defined.
29
30Table of contents
31 1. Introduction.............................................. 2
32 2. Use of gatewaying headers................................. 3
33 3. Table of headers.......................................... 3
34 3.1 Phrases used in the tables.......................... 3
35 3.2 Trace information................................... 5
36 3.3 Format and control information...................... 5
37 3.4 Sender and recipient indication..................... 6
38 3.5 Response control.................................... 9
39 3.6 Message identification and referral headers......... 11
40 3.7 Other textual headers............................... 12
41 3.8 Headers containing dates and times.................. 13
42 3.9 Quality information................................. 13
43 3.10 Language information............................... 14
44 3.11 Size information................................... 14
45 3.12 Conversion control................................. 15
46 3.13 Encoding information............................... 15
47 3.14 Resent-headers..................................... 16
48 3.15 Security and reliability........................... 16
49 3.16 Miscellaneous...................................... 16
50 4. Acknowledgments........................................... 18
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58Palme Informational [Page 1]
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60RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
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63 5. References................................................ 18
64 6. Author's Address.......................................... 20
65 Appendix A:
66 Headers sorted by Internet RFC document in which they appear. 21
67 Appendix B:
68 Alphabetical index........................................... 25
69
701. Introduction
71
72 Many different Internet standards and RFCs define headers which may
73 occur on Internet Mail Messages and Usenet News Articles. The
74 intention of this document is to list all such headers in one
75 document as an aid to people developing message systems or interested
76 in Internet Mail standards.
77
78 The document contains all headers which the author has found in the
79 following Internet standards: , RFC 822 [2], RFC 1036 [3], RFC 1123
80 [5], RFC 1327 [7], RFC 1496 [8], RFC 1521 [11], RFC 1766 [12], RFC
81 1806 [14], RFC 1864[17] and RFC 1911[20]. Note in particular that
82 heading attributes defined in PEM (RFC 1421-1424) and MOSS (RFC 1848
83 [16]) are not included. PEM and MOSS headers only appear inside the
84 body of a message, and thus are not headers in the RFC 822 sense.
85 Mail attributes in envelopes, i.e. attributes controlling the message
86 transport mechanism between mail and news servers, are not included.
87 This means that attributes from SMTP [1], UUCP [18] and NNTP [15] are
88 mainly not covered either. Headings used only in HTTP [19] are not
89 included yet, but may be included in future version of this memo. A
90 few additional headers which often can be found in e-mail headings
91 but are not part of any Internet standard are also included.
92
93 For each header, the document gives a short description and a
94 reference to the Internet standard or RFC, in which they are defined.
95
96 The header names given here are spelled the same way as when they are
97 actually used. This is usually American but sometimes English
98 spelling. One header in particular, "Organisation/Organization",
99 occurs in e-mail headers sometimes with the English and other times
100 with the American spelling.
101
102 The following words are used in this memo with the meaning specified
103 below:
104
105 heading Formatted text at the top of a message, ended by a
106 blank line
107
108 header = heading One field in the heading, beginning with a field
109 field name, colon, and followed by the field value(s)
110
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114Palme Informational [Page 2]
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116RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
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118
119 It is my intention to continue updating this document after its
120 publication as an RFC. The latest version, which may be more up-to-
121 date (but also less fully checked out) will be kept available for
122 downloading from URL
123 http://www.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/ietf-mail-attributes.pdf.
124
125 Please e-mail me (Jacob Palme <jpalme@dsv.su.se>) if you have noted
126 headers which should be included in this memo but are not.
127
1282. Use of gatewaying headers
129
130 RFC 1327 defines a number of new headers in Internet mail, which are
131 defined to map headers which X.400 has but which were previously not
132 standardized in Internet mail. The fact that a header occurs in RFC
133 1327 indicates that it is recommended for use in gatewaying messages
134 between X.400 and Internet mail, but does not mean that the header is
135 recommended for messages wholly within Internet mail. Some of these
136 headers may eventually see widespread implementation and use in
137 Internet mail, but at the time of this writing (1996) they are not
138 widely implemented or used.
139
140 Headers defined only in RFC 1036 for use in Usenet News sometimes
141 appear in mail messages, either because the messages have been
142 gatewayed from Usenet News to e-mail, or because the messages were
143 written in combined clients supporting both e-mail and Usenet News in
144 the same client. These headers are not standardized for use in
145 Internet e-mail and should be handled with caution by e-mail agents.
146
1473. Table of headers
148
1493.1 Phrases used in the tables
150
151 "not for general Used to mark headers which are defined in RFC
152 usage" 1327 for use in messages from or to Internet
153 mail/X.400 gateways. These headers have not
154 been standardized for general usage in the
155 exchange of messages between Internet mail-
156 based systems.
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172RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
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174
175 "not standardized Used to mark headers defined only in RFC 1036
176 for use in e-mail" for use in Usenet News. These headers have no
177 standard meaning when appearing in e-mail,
178 some of them may even be used in different
179 ways by different software. When appearing in
180 e-mail, they should be handled with caution.
181 Note that RFC 1036, although generally used as
182 a de-facto standard for Usenet News, is not an
183 official IETF standard or even on the IETF
184 standards track.
185
186 "non-standard" This header is not specified in any of
187 referenced RFCs which define Internet
188 protocols, including Internet Standards, draft
189 standards or proposed standards. The header
190 appears here because it often appears in e-
191 mail or Usenet News. Usage of these headers is
192 not in general recommended. Some header
193 proposed in ongoing IETF standards development
194 work, but not yet accepted, are also marked in
195 this way.
196
197 "discouraged" This header, which is non-standard, is known
198 to create problems and should not be
199 generated. Handling of such headers in
200 incoming mail should be done with great
201 caution.
202
203 "controversial" The meaning and usage of this header is
204 controversial, i.e. different implementors
205 have chosen to implement the header in
206 different ways. Because of this, such headers
207 should be handled with caution and
208 understanding of the different possible
209 interpretations.
210
211 "experimental" This header is used for newly defined headers,
212 which are to be tried out before entering the
213 IETF standards track. These should only be
214 used if both communicating parties agree on
215 using them. In practice, some experimental
216 protocols become de-facto-standards before
217 they are made into IETF standards.
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228RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
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230
2313.2 Trace information
232
233 Used to convey the information Return-Path: RFC 821,
234 from the MAIL FROM envelope RFC 1123: 5.2.13.
235 attribute in final delivery, when
236 the message leaves the SMTP
237 environment in which "MAIL FROM"
238 is used.
239
240 Trace of MTAs which a message has Received: RFC 822: 4.3.2,
241 passed. RFC 1123: 5.2.8.
242
243 List of MTAs passed. Path: RFC 1036: 2.1.6,
244 only in Usenet
245 News, not in e-
246 mail.
247
248 Trace of distribution lists DL-Expansion- RFC 1327, not for
249 passed. History- general usage.
250 Indication:
251
2523.3 Format and control information
253
254 An indicator that this message is MIME-Version: RFC 1521: 3.
255 formatted according to the MIME
256 standard, and an indication of
257 which version of MIME is
258 utilized.
259
260 Special Usenet News actions only. Control: RFC 1036: 2.1.6,
261 only in Usenet
262 News, not in e-
263 mail.
264
265 Special Usenet News actions and a Also-Control: son-of-RFC1036
266 normal article at the same time. [21], non-
267 standard, only in
268 Usenet News, not
269 in e-mail
270
271 Which body part types occur in Original- RFC 1327, not for
272 this message. Encoded- general usage.
273 Information-
274 Types:
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284RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
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286
287 Controls whether this message may Alternate- RFC 1327, not for
288 be forwarded to alternate Recipient: general usage.
289 recipients such as a postmaster
290 if delivery is not possible to
291 the intended recipient. Default:
292 Allowed.
293
294 Whether recipients are to be told Disclose- RFC 1327, not for
295 the names of other recipients of Recipients: general usage.
296 the same message. This is
297 primarily an X.400 facility. In
298 X.400, this is an envelope
299 attribute and refers to
300 disclosure of the envelope
301 recipient list. Disclosure of
302 other recipients is in Internet
303 mail done via the To:, cc: and
304 bcc: headers.
305
306 Whether a MIME body part is to be Content- RFC 1806,
307 shown inline or is an attachment; Disposition: experimental
308 can also indicate a suggested
309 filename for use when saving an
310 attachment to a file.
311
3123.4 Sender and recipient indication
313
314 Authors or persons taking From: RFC 822: 4.4.1,
315 responsibility for the message. RFC 1123: 5.2.15-
316 16, 5.3.7,
317 Note difference from the "From " RFC 1036 2.1.1
318 header (not followed by ":")
319 below.
320
321
322 (1) This header should never From not standardized
323 appear in e-mail being sent, and for use in e-mail
324 should thus not appear in this
325 memo. It is however included,
326 since people often ask about it.
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340RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
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342
343 This header is used in the so-
344 called Unix mailbox format, also
345 known as Berkely mailbox format
346 or the MBOX format. This is a
347 format for storing a set of
348 messages in a file. A line
349 beginning with "From " is used to
350 separate successive messages in
351 such files.
352
353 This header will thus appear when
354 you use a text editor to look at
355 a file in the Unix mailbox
356 format. Some mailers also use
357 this format when printing
358 messages on paper.
359
360 The information in this header
361 should NOT be used to find an
362 address to which replies to a
363 message are to be sent.
364
365 (2) Used in Usenet News mail From RFC 976: 2.4 for
366 transport, to indicate the path or use in Usenet News
367 through which an article has gone >From
368 when transferred to a new host.
369
370 Sometimes called "From_" header.
371
372 Name of the moderator of the Approved: RFC 1036: 2.2.11,
373 newsgroup to which this article not standardized
374 is sent; necessary on an article for use in e-mail.
375 sent to a moderated newsgroup to
376 allow its distribution to the
377 newsgroup members. Also used on
378 certain control messages, which
379 are only performed if they are
380 marked as Approved.
381
382 The person or agent submitting Sender: RFC 822: 4.4.2,
383 the message to the network, if RFC 1123: 5.2.15-
384 other than shown by the From: 16, 5.3.7.
385 header.
386
387 Primary recipients. To: RFC 822: 4.5.1,
388 RFC 1123: 5.2.15-
389 16, 5.3.7.
390
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396RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
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398
399 Secondary, informational cc: RFC 822: 4.5.2,
400 recipients. (cc = Carbon Copy) RFC 1123. 5.2.15-
401 16, 5.3.7.
402
403 Recipients not to be disclosed to bcc: RFC 822: 4.5.3,
404 other recipients. (bcc = Blind RFC 1123: 5.2.15-
405 Carbon Copy). 16, 5.3.7.
406
407 Primary recipients, who are For-Handling: Non-standard
408 requested to handle the
409 information in this message
410 or its attachments.
411
412 Primary recipients, who are For-Comment: Non-standard
413 requested to comment on the
414 information in this message
415 or its attachments.
416
417 In Usenet News: group(s) to which Newsgroups: RFC 1036: 2.1.3,
418 this article was posted. not standardized
419 Some systems provide this header and controversial
420 also in e-mail although it is not for use in e-mail.
421 standardized there.
422
423 Unfortunately, the header can
424 appear in e-mail with two
425 different and contradictory
426 meanings:
427
428 (a) Indicating the newsgroup
429 recipient of an article/message
430 sent to both e-mail and Usenet
431 News recipients.
432
433 (b) In a personally addressed
434 reply to an article in a news-
435 group, indicating the newsgroup
436 in which this discussion
437 originated.
438
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452RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
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455 Inserted by Sendmail when there Apparently- Non-standard,
456 is no "To:" recipient in the To: discouraged,
457 original message, listing mentioned in
458 recipients derived from the RFC 1211.
459 envelope into the message
460 heading. This behavior is not
461 quite proper, MTAs should not
462 modify headings (except inserting
463 Received lines), and it can in
464 some cases cause Bcc recipients
465 to be wrongly divulged to non-Bcc
466 recipients.
467
468 Geographical or organizational Distribution: RFC 1036: 2.2.7,
469 limitation on where this article not standardized
470 can be distributed. for use in e-mail.
471
472 Fax number of the originator. Fax:, Non-standard.
473 Telefax:
474
475 Phone number of the originator. Phone: Non-standard.
476
477 Information about the client Mail-System- Non-standard.
478 software of the originator. Version:,
479 Mailer:,
480 Originating-
481 Client:, X-
482 Mailer, X-
483 Newsreader
484
4853.5 Response control
486
487 This header is meant to indicate Reply-To: RFC 822: 4.4.3,
488 where the sender wants replies to RFC 1036: 2.2.1
489 go. Unfortunately, this is controversial.
490 ambiguous, since there are
491 different kinds of replies, which
492 the sender may wish to go to
493 different addresses. In
494 particular, there are personal
495 replies intended for only one
496 person, and group replies,
497 intended for the whole group of
498 people who read the replied-to
499 message (often a mailing list,
500 anewsgroup name cannot appear
501 here because of different syntax,
502 see "Followup-To" below.).
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508RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
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510
511 Some mail systems use this header
512 to indicate a better form of the
513 e-mail address of the sender.
514 Some mailing list expanders puts
515 the name of the list in this
516 header. These practices are
517 controversial. The personal
518 opinion of the author of this RFC
519 is that this header should be
520 avoided except in special cases,
521 but this is a personal opinion
522 not shared by all specialists in
523 the area.
524
525 Used in Usenet News to indicate Followup-To: RFC 1036: 2.2.3,
526 that future discussions (=follow- not standardized
527 up) on an article should go to a for use in e-mail.
528 different set of newsgroups than
529 the replied-to article. The most
530 common usage is when an article
531 is posted to several newsgroups,
532 and further discussions is to
533 take place in only one of them.
534
535 In e-mail, this header may occur
536 in a message which is sent to
537 both e-mail and Usenet News, to
538 show where follow-up in Usenet
539 news is wanted. The header does
540 not say anything about where
541 follow-up in e-mail is to be
542 sent.
543
544 Note that the value of this
545 header must always be one or more
546 newsgroup names, never e-mail
547 addresses.
548
549 Address to which notifications Errors-To:, Non-standard,
550 are to be sent and a request to Return- discouraged.
551 get delivery notifications. Receipt-To:
552 Internet standards recommend,
553 however, the use of RCPT TO and
554 Return-Path, not Errors-To, for
555 where delivery notifications are
556 to be sent.
557
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564RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
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566
567 Whether non-delivery report is Prevent- RFC 1327, not for
568 wanted at delivery error. Default NonDelivery- general usage.
569 is to want such a report. Report:
570
571 Whether a delivery report is Generate- RFC 1327, not for
572 wanted at successful delivery. Delivery- general usage.
573 Default is not to generate such a Report:
574 report.
575
576 Indicates whether the content of Content- RFC 1327, not for
577 a message is to be returned with Return: general usage.
578 non-delivery notifications.
579
580 Possible future change of name X400-Content- non-standard
581 for "Content-Return:" Return:
582
5833.6 Message identification and referral headers
584
585 Unique ID of this message. Message-ID: RFC 822: 4.6.1
586 RFC 1036: 2.1.5.
587
588 Unique ID of one body part of the Content-ID: RFC 1521: 6.1.
589 content of a message.
590
591 Base to be used for resolving Content-Base: Non-standard
592 relative URIs within this content
593 part.
594
595 URI with which the content of Content- Non-standard
596 this content part might be Location:
597 retrievable.
598
599 Reference to message which this In-Reply-To: RFC 822: 4.6.2.
600 message is a reply to.
601
602 In e-mail: reference to other References: RFC 822: 4.6.3
603 related messages, in Usenet News: RFC 1036: 2.1.5.
604 reference to replied-to-articles.
605
606 References to other related See-Also: Son-of-RFC1036
607 articles in Usenet News. [21], non-standard
608
609 Reference to previous message Obsoletes: RFC 1327, not for
610 being corrected and replaced. general usage.
611 Compare to "Supersedes:" below.
612 This field may in the future be
613 replaced with "Supersedes:".
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620RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
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622
623 Commonly used in Usenet News in Supersedes: son-of-RFC1036
624 similar ways to the "Obsoletes" [21], non-standard
625 header described above. In Usenet
626 News, however, Supersedes causes
627 a full deletion of the replaced
628 article in the server, while
629 "Supersedes" and "Obsoletes" in e-
630 mail is implemented in the client
631 and often does not remove the old
632 version of the text.
633
634 Only in Usenet News, similar to Article- son-of-RFC1036
635 "Supersedes:" but does not cause Updates: [21], non-standard
636 the referenced article to be
637 physically deleted.
638
639 Reference to specially important Article- son-of-RFC1036
640 articles for a particular Usenet Names: [21], non-standard
641 Newsgroup.
642
6433.7 Other textual headers
644
645 Search keys for data base Keywords: RFC 822: 4.7.1
646 retrieval. RFC 1036: 2.2.9.
647
648 Title, heading, subject. Often Subject: RFC 822: 4.7.1
649 used as thread indicator for RFC 1036: 2.1.4.
650 messages replying to or
651 commenting on other messages.
652
653 Comments on a message. Comments: RFC 822: 4.7.2.
654
655 Description of a particular body Content- RFC 1521: 6.2.
656 part of a message. Description:
657
658 Organization to which the sender Organization: RFC 1036: 2.2.8,
659 of this article belongs. not standardized
660 for use in e-mail.
661
662 See Organization above. Organisation: Non-standard.
663
664 Short text describing a longer Summary: RFC 1036: 2.2.10,
665 article. Warning: Some mail not standardized
666 systems will not display this for use in e-mail,
667 text to the recipient. Because of discouraged.
668 this, do not use this header for
669 text which you want to ensure
670 that the recipient gets.
671
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678
679 A text string which identifies Content- RFC 1327, not for
680 the content of a message. Identifier: general usage.
681
6823.8 Headers containing dates and times
683
684 The time when a message was Delivery- RFC 1327, not for
685 delivered to its recipient. Date: general usage.
686
687 In Internet, the date when a Date: RFC 822: 5.1,
688 message was written, in X.400, RFC 1123: 5.2.14
689 the time a message was submitted. RFC 1036: 2.1.2.
690 Some Internet mail systems also
691 use the date when the message was
692 submitted.
693
694 A suggested expiration date. Can Expires: RFC 1036: 2.2.4,
695 be used both to limit the time of not standardized
696 an article which is not for use in e-mail.
697 meaningful after a certain date,
698 and to extend the storage of
699 important articles.
700
701 Time at which a message loses its Expiry-Date: RFC 1327, not for
702 validity. This field may in the general usage.
703 future be replaced by "Expires:".
704
705 Latest time at which a reply is Reply-By: RFC 1327, not for
706 requested (not demanded). general usage.
707
7083.9 Quality information
709
710 Can be "normal", "urgent" or "non- Priority: RFC 1327, not for
711 urgent" and can influence general usage.
712 transmission speed and delivery.
713
714 Sometimes used as a priority Precedence: Non-standard,
715 value which can influence controversial,
716 transmission speed and delivery. discouraged.
717 Common values are "bulk" and
718 "first-class". Other uses is to
719 control automatic replies and to
720 control return-of-content
721 facilities, and to stop mailing
722 list loops.
723
724
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734
735 A hint from the originator to the Importance: RFC 1327 and
736 recipients about how important a RFC 1911,
737 message is. Values: High, normal experimental
738 or low. Not used to control
739 transmission speed.
740
741 How sensitive it is to disclose Sensitivity: RFC 1327 and
742 this message to other people than RFC 1911,
743 the specified recipients. Values: experimental
744 Personal, private, company
745 confidential. The absence of this
746 header in messages gatewayed from
747 X.400 indicates that the message
748 is not sensitive.
749
750 Body parts are missing. Incomplete- RFC 1327, not for
751 Copy: general usage.
752
7533.10 Language information
754
755 Can include a code for the Language: RFC 1327, not for
756 natural language used in a general usage.
757 message, e.g. "en" for English.
758
759 Can include a code for the Content- RFC 1766, proposed
760 natural language used in a Language: standard.
761 message, e.g. "en" for English.
762
7633.11 Size information
764
765 Inserted by certain mailers to Content- Non-standard,
766 indicate the size in bytes of the Length: discouraged.
767 message text. This is part of a
768 format some mailers use when
769 showing a message to its users,
770 and this header should not be
771 used when sending a message
772 through the net. The use of this
773 header in transmission of a
774 message can cause several
775 robustness and interoperability
776 problems.
777
778 Size of the message. Lines: RFC 1036: 2.2.12,
779 not standardized
780 for use in e-mail.
781
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790
7913.12 Conversion control
792
793 The body of this message may not Conversion: RFC 1327, not for
794 be converted from one character general usage.
795 set to another. Values:
796 Prohibited and allowed.
797
798 Non-standard variant of Content- Non-standard.
799 Conversion: with the same values. Conversion:
800
801 The body of this message may not Conversion- RFC 1327, not for
802 be converted from one character With-Loss: general usage.
803 set to another if information
804 will be lost. Values: Prohibited
805 and allowed.
806
8073.13 Encoding information
808
809 Format of content (character set Content-Type: RFC 1049,
810 etc.) Note that the values for RFC 1123: 5.2.13,
811 this header are defined in RFC 1521: 4.
812 different ways in RFC 1049 and in RFC 1766: 4.1
813 MIME (RFC 1521), look for the
814 "MIME-version" header to
815 understand if Content-Type is to
816 be interpreted according to RFC
817 1049 or according to MIME. The
818 MIME definition should be used in
819 generating mail.
820
821 RFC 1766 defines a parameter
822 "difference" to this header.
823
824 Information from the SGML entity Content-SGML- non-standard
825 declaration corresponding to the Entity:
826 entity contained in the body of
827 the body part.
828
829 Coding method used in a MIME Content- RFC 1521: 5.
830 message body. Transfer-
831 Encoding:
832
833 Only used with the value Message-Type: RFC 1327, not for
834 "Delivery Report" to indicates general usage.
835 that this is a delivery report
836 gatewayed from X.400.
837
838
839
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846
847 Used in several different ways by Encoding: RFC 1154,
848 different mail systems. Some use RFC 1505,
849 it for a kind of content-type experimental.
850 information, some for encoding
851 and length information, some for
852 a kind of boundary information,
853 some in other ways.
854
8553.14 Resent-headers
856
857 When manually forwarding a Resent-Reply- RFC 822: C.3.3.
858 message, headers referring to the To:,
859 forwarding, not to the original Resent-From:,
860 message. Note: MIME specifies Resent-
861 another way of resending Sender:,
862 messages, using the "Message" Resent-From:,
863 Content-Type. Resent-Date:,
864 Resent-To:,
865 Resent-cc:,
866 Resent-bcc:,
867 Resent-
868 Message-ID:
869
8703.15 Security and reliability
871
872 Checksum of content to ensure Content-MD5: RFC 1864, proposed
873 that it has not been modified. standard.
874
875 Used in Usenet News to store Xref: RFC 1036: 2.2.13,
876 information to avoid showing a only in Usenet
877 reader the same article twice if News, not in e-
878 it was sent to more than one mail.
879 newsgroup. Only for local usage
880 within one Usenet News server,
881 should not be sent between
882 servers.
883
8843.16 Miscellaneous
885
886 Name of file in which a copy of Fcc: Non-standard.
887 this message is stored.
888
889 Has been automatically forwarded. Auto- RFC 1327, not for
890 Forwarded: general usage.
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898Palme Informational [Page 16]
899
900RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
901
902
903 Can be used in Internet mail to Discarded- RFC 1327, not for
904 indicate X.400 IPM extensions X400-IPMS- general usage.
905 which could not be mapped to Extensions:
906 Internet mail format.
907
908 Can be used in Internet mail to Discarded- RFC 1327, not for
909 indicate X.400 MTS extensions X400-MTS- general usage.
910 which could not be mapped to Extensions:
911 Internet mail format.
912
913 This field is used by some mail Status: Non-standard,
914 delivery systems to indicate the should never
915 status of delivery for this appear in mail in
916 message when stored. Common transit.
917 values of this field are:
918
919 U message is not downloaded
920 and not deleted.
921
922 R message is read or
923 downloaded.
924
925 O message is old but not
926 deleted.
927
928 D to be deleted.
929
930 N new (a new message also
931 sometimes is distinguished
932 by not having any "Status:"
933 header.
934
935 Combinations of these characters
936 can occur, such as "Status: OR"
937 to indicate that a message is
938 downloaded but not deleted.
939
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954Palme Informational [Page 17]
955
956RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
957
958
9594. Acknowledgments
960
961 Harald Tveit Alvestrand, Ned Freed, Olle Jdrnefors, Keith Moore, Nick
962 Smith and several other people have helped me with compiling this
963 list. I especially thank Ned Freed and Olle Jdrnefors for their
964 thorough review and many helpful suggestions for improvements. I
965 alone take responsibility for any errors which may still be in the
966 list.
967
968 An earlier version of this list has been published as part of [13].
969
9705. References
971
972Ref. Author, title IETF status
973 (July 1996)
974----- --------------------------------------------- -----------
975[1] J. Postel: "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol", Standard,
976 STD 10, RFC 821, August 1982. Recommended
977
978[2] D. Crocker: "Standard for the format of ARPA Standard,
979 Internet text messages." STD 11, RFC 822, Recommended
980 August 1982.
981
982[3] M.R. Horton, R. Adams: "Standard for Not an offi-
983 interchange of USENET messages", RFC 1036, cial IETF
984 December 1987. standard,
985 but in
986 reality a de-
987 facto
988 standard for
989 Usenet News
990
991[4] M. Sirbu: "A Content-Type header header for Standard,
992 internet messages", RFC 1049, March 1988. Recommended,
993 but can in
994 the future
995 be expected
996 to be
997 replaced by
998 MIME
999
1000[5] R. Braden (editor): "Requirements for Standard,
1001 Internet Hosts -- Application and Support", Required
1002 STD-3, RFC 1123, October 1989.
1003
1004[6] D. Robinson, R. Ullman: "Encoding Header Non-standard
1005 Header for Internet Messages", RFC 1154,
1006 April 1990.
1007
1008
1009
1010Palme Informational [Page 18]
1011
1012RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
1013
1014
1015[7] S. Hardcastle-Kille: "Mapping between Proposed
1016 X.400(1988) / ISO 10021 and RFC 822", RFC standard,
1017 1327 May 1992. elective
1018
1019[8] H. Alvestrand & J. Romaguera: "Rules for Proposed
1020 Downgrading Messages from X.400/88 to standard,
1021 X.400/84 When MIME Content-Types are Present elective
1022 in the Messages", RFC 1496, August 1993.
1023
1024[9] A. Costanzo: "Encoding Header Header for Non-standard
1025 Internet Messages", RFC 1154, April 1990.
1026
1027[10] A. Costanzo, D. Robinson: "Encoding Header Experimental
1028 Header for Internet Messages", RFC 1505,
1029 August 1993.
1030
1031[11] N. Borenstein & N. Freed: "MIME (Multipurpose Draft
1032 Internet Mail Extensions) Part One: Standard,
1033 Mechanisms for Specifying and Describing the elective
1034 Format of Internet Message Bodies", RFC 1521,
1035 Sept 1993.
1036
1037[12] H. Alvestrand: "Tags for the Identification Proposed
1038 of Languages", RFC 1766, February 1995. standard,
1039 elective
1040
1041[13] J. Palme: "Electronic Mail", Artech House Non-standard
1042 publishers, London-Boston January 1995.
1043
1044[14] R. Troost, S. Dorner: "Communicating Experimental
1045 Presentation Information in Internet
1046 Messages: The Content-Disposition Header",
1047 RFC 1806, June 1995.
1048
1049[15] B. Kantor, P. Lapsley, "Network News Transfer Proposed
1050 Protocol: "A Proposed Standard for the Stream- standard
1051 Based Transmission of News", RFC 977, January
1052 1986.
1053
1054[16] 1848 PS S. Crocker, N. Freed, J. Galvin, Proposed
1055 S. Murphy, "MIME Object Security Services", standard
1056 RFC 1848, March 1995.
1057
1058[17] J. Myers, M. Rose: The Content-MD5 Header Draft
1059 Header, RFC 1864, October 1995. standard
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066Palme Informational [Page 19]
1067
1068RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
1069
1070
1071[18] M. Horton, UUCP mail interchange format Not an offi-
1072 standard, RFC 976, Januari 1986. cial IETF
1073 standard,
1074 but in
1075 reality a de-
1076 facto
1077 standard for
1078 Usenet News
1079
1080[19] T. Berners-Lee, R. Headering, H. Frystyk: Not an official
1081 Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.0, IETF standard,
1082 RFC 1945, May 1996. but the defacto
1083 standard until
1084 the next
1085 version is
1086 published
1087
1088[20] G. Vaudreuil: Voice Profile for Internet Experimental
1089 Mail, RFC 1911, February 1996.
1090
1091[21] H. Spencer: News Article Format and Not even an
1092 Transmission, June 1994, RFC, but
1093 FTP://zoo.toronto.edu/pub/news.ps still widely
1094 FTP://zoo.toronto.edu/pub/news.txt.Z used and
1095 partly
1096 This document is often referenced under the almost a de-
1097 name "son-of-RFC1036". facto
1098 standard for
1099 Usenet News
1100
1101
11026. Author's Address
1103
1104 Jacob Palme Phone: +46-8-16 16 67
1105 Stockholm University/KTH Fax: +46-8-783 08 29
1106 Electrum 230 E-mail: jpalme@dsv.su.se
1107 S-164 40 Kista, Sweden
1108
1109
1110
1111
1112
1113
1114
1115
1116
1117
1118
1119
1120
1121
1122Palme Informational [Page 20]
1123
1124RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
1125
1126
1127Appendix A:
1128 Headers sorted by Internet RFC document in which they appear.
1129
1130 RFC 822
1131 -------
1132
1133 bcc
1134 cc
1135 Comments
1136 Date
1137 From
1138 In-Reply-To
1139 Keywords
1140 Message-ID
1141 Received
1142 References
1143 Reply-To
1144 Resent-
1145 Resent-bcc
1146 Resent-cc
1147 Resent-Date
1148 Resent-From
1149 Resent-From
1150 Resent-Message-ID
1151 Resent-Reply-To
1152 Resent-To
1153 Return-Path
1154 Sender
1155 Sender
1156 Subject
1157 To
1158
1159 RFC 976
1160 -------
1161
1162 "From " (followed by space, not colon (:")
1163
1164
1165
1166
1167
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173
1174
1175
1176
1177
1178Palme Informational [Page 21]
1179
1180RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
1181
1182
1183 RFC 1036
1184 --------
1185
1186 Approved
1187 Control
1188 Distribution
1189 Expires
1190 Followup-To
1191 Lines
1192 Newsgroups
1193 Organization
1194 Path
1195 Summary
1196 Xref
1197
1198 RFC 1049
1199 --------
1200
1201 Content-Type
1202
1203 RFC 1327
1204 --------
1205
1206 Alternate-recipient
1207 Auto-Forwarded
1208 Autoforwarded
1209 Content-Identifier
1210 Content-Return
1211 Conversion
1212 Conversion-With-Loss
1213 Delivery-Date
1214 Discarded-X400-IPMS-Extensions
1215 Discarded-X400-MTS-Extensions
1216 Disclose-Recipients
1217 DL-Expansion-History
1218 Expiry-Date
1219 Generate-Delivery-Report
1220 Importance
1221 Incomplete-Copy
1222 Language
1223 Message-Type Delivery
1224 Obsoletes
1225 Original-Encoded-Information-Types
1226 Prevent-NonDelivery-Report
1227 Priority
1228 Reply-By
1229 Report
1230 Sensitivity
1231
1232
1233
1234Palme Informational [Page 22]
1235
1236RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
1237
1238
1239 RFC 1505
1240 --------
1241
1242 Encoding
1243
1244 RFC 1521
1245 --------
1246
1247 Content-Description
1248 Content-ID
1249 Content-Transfer-Encoding
1250 Content-Type
1251 MIME-Version
1252
1253 RFC 1806
1254 --------
1255
1256 Content-Disposition
1257
1258 RFC 1864
1259 --------
1260
1261 Content-MD5
1262
1263 RFC 1911
1264 --------
1265
1266 Importance
1267 Sensitivity
1268
1269 son-of-RFC1036 [21]
1270 -------------------
1271
1272 Also-Control
1273 Article-Names
1274 Article-Updates
1275 See-Also
1276 Supersedes
1277
1278
1279
1280
1281
1282
1283
1284
1285
1286
1287
1288
1289
1290Palme Informational [Page 23]
1291
1292RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
1293
1294
1295 Not Internet standard
1296 ---------------------
1297
1298 Apparently-to
1299 Content-Base
1300 Content-Length
1301 Content-Location
1302 Content-SGML-Entity
1303 Encoding
1304 Errors-To
1305 Return-Receipt-To
1306 Fax
1307 "From " (not followed by ":")
1308 Telefax
1309 Fcc
1310 For-Comment
1311 For-Handling
1312 Mail-System-Version
1313 Mailer
1314 Organisation
1315 Originating-Client
1316 Phone
1317 Status
1318 Supersedes
1319 X400-Content-Return
1320 X-Mailer
1321 X-Newsreader
1322
1323
1324
1325
1326
1327
1328
1329
1330
1331
1332
1333
1334
1335
1336
1337
1338
1339
1340
1341
1342
1343
1344
1345
1346Palme Informational [Page 24]
1347
1348RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
1349
1350
1351Appendix B:
1352 Alphabetical index
1353
1354 Section Heading-header
1355 ------- --------------
1356
1357 3.3 Also-Control
1358 3.3 Alternate-Recipient
1359 3.4 Apparently-To
1360 3.4 Approved
1361 3.6 Article-Names
1362 3.6 Article-Updates
1363 3.16 Auto-Forwarded
1364 3.4 bcc
1365 3.4 cc
1366 Client, see Originating-Client
1367 3.7 Comments
1368 3.6 Content-Base
1369 3.12 Content-Conversion
1370 3.7 Content-Description
1371 3.3 Content-Disposition
1372 3.6 Content-ID
1373 3.7 Content-Identifier
1374 3.10 Content-Language see also Language
1375 3.11 Content-Length
1376 3.6 Content-Location
1377 3.15 Content-MD5
1378 3.4 Content-Return
1379 3.13 Content-SGML-Entity
1380 3.13 Content-Transfer-Encoding
1381 3.13 Content-Type
1382 3.3 Control
1383 3.12 Conversion
1384 3.12 Conversion-With-Loss
1385 3.8 Date
1386 3.8 Delivery-Date
1387 Delivery-Report, see Generate-Delivery-Report, Prevent-
1388 Delivery-Report, Non-Delivery-Report, Content-Type
1389 Description, see Content-Description
1390 3.16 Discarded-X400-IPMS-Extensions
1391 3.16 Discarded-X400-MTS-Extensions
1392 3.3 Disclose-Recipients
1393 Disposition, see Content-Disposition
1394 3.4 Distribution
1395 3.2 DL-Expansion-History-Indication
1396 3.13 Encoding see also Content-Transfer-Encoding
1397 3.4 Errors-To
1398
1399
1400
1401
1402Palme Informational [Page 25]
1403
1404RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
1405
1406
1407 3.8 Expires
1408 Extension see Discarded-X400-IPMS-Extensions, Discarded-
1409 X400-MTS-Extensions
1410 3.4 Fax
1411 3.16 Fcc
1412 3.4 Followup-To
1413 Forwarded, see Auto-Forwarded
1414 3.4 For-Comment
1415 3.4 For-Handling
1416 3.4 From
1417 3.4 Generate-Delivery-Report
1418 History, see DL-Expansion-History-Indication
1419 ID, see Content-ID and Message-ID
1420 Identifier, see Content-ID and Message-ID
1421 3.9 Importance
1422 3.6 In-Reply-To
1423 3.9 Incomplete-Copy
1424 3.7 Keywords
1425 3.10 Language see also Content-Language
1426 Length see Content-Length
1427 3.11 Lines
1428 3.4 Mail-System-Version see also X-mailer
1429 3.4 Mailer
1430 MD5 see Content-MD5
1431 3.6 Message-ID
1432 3.13 Message-Type
1433 3.3 MIME-Version
1434 3.4 Newsgroups
1435 Newsreader, see X-Newsreader
1436 3.6 Obsoletes
1437 3.7 Organisation
1438 3.7 Organization
1439 3.3 Original-Encoded-Information-Types
1440 3.4 Originating-Client
1441 3.2 Path
1442 3.4 Phone
1443 3.9 Precedence
1444 3.4 Prevent-NonDelivery-Report
1445 3.9 Priority
1446 3.2 Received
1447 Recipient, see To, cc, bcc, Alternate-Recipient, Disclose-
1448 Recipient
1449 3.6 References
1450 3.8 Reply-By
1451 3.4 Reply-To, see also In-Reply-To, References
1452 3.14 Resent-
1453 Return see also Content-Return
1454 3.2 Return-Path
1455
1456
1457
1458Palme Informational [Page 26]
1459
1460RFC 2076 Internet Message Headers February 1997
1461
1462
1463 3.5 Return-Receipt-To
1464 3.6 See-Also
1465 3.4 Sender
1466 3.9 Sensitivity
1467 3.16 Status
1468 3.7 Subject
1469 3.7 Summary
1470 3.6 Supersedes
1471 3.4 Telefax
1472 3.4 To
1473 Transfer-Encoding see Content-Transfer-Encoding
1474 Type see Content-Type, Message-Type, Original-Encoded-
1475 Information-Types
1476 Version, see MIME-Version, X-Mailer
1477 3.4 X400-Content-Return
1478 3.4 X-Mailer see also Mail-System-Version
1479 3.4 X-Newsreader
1480 3.15 Xref
1481
1482
1483
1484
1485
1486
1487
1488
1489
1490
1491
1492
1493
1494
1495
1496
1497
1498
1499
1500
1501
1502
1503
1504
1505
1506
1507
1508
1509
1510
1511
1512
1513
1514Palme Informational [Page 27]
1515
1516