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7Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) A. Melnikov, Ed.
8Request for Comments: 6047 Isode Ltd
9Obsoletes: 2447 December 2010
10Category: Standards Track
11ISSN: 2070-1721
12
13
14 iCalendar Message-Based Interoperability Protocol (iMIP)
15
16Abstract
17
18 This document, "iCalendar Message-Based Interoperability Protocol
19 (iMIP)", specifies a binding from the iCalendar Transport-independent
20 Interoperability Protocol (iTIP) to Internet email-based transports.
21 Calendaring entries defined by the iCalendar Object Model (iCalendar)
22 are wrapped using constructs from RFC 5322 and MIME (RFC 2045, RFC
23 2046, RFC 2047, and RFC 2049), and then transported over SMTP.
24
25Status of This Memo
26
27 This is an Internet Standards Track document.
28
29 This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
30 (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has
31 received public review and has been approved for publication by the
32 Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Further information on
33 Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.
34
35 Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
36 and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
37 http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6047.
38
39Copyright Notice
40
41 Copyright (c) 2010 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
42 document authors. All rights reserved.
43
44 This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
45 Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
46 (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
47 publication of this document. Please review these documents
48 carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
49 to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must
50 include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
51 the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
52 described in the Simplified BSD License.
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58Melnikov Standards Track [Page 1]
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60RFC 6047 iMIP December 2010
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62
63 This document may contain material from IETF Documents or IETF
64 Contributions published or made publicly available before November
65 10, 2008. The person(s) controlling the copyright in some of this
66 material may not have granted the IETF Trust the right to allow
67 modifications of such material outside the IETF Standards Process.
68 Without obtaining an adequate license from the person(s) controlling
69 the copyright in such materials, this document may not be modified
70 outside the IETF Standards Process, and derivative works of it may
71 not be created outside the IETF Standards Process, except to format
72 it for publication as an RFC or to translate it into languages other
73 than English.
74
75Table of Contents
76
77 1. Introduction ....................................................3
78 1.1. Related Memos ..............................................3
79 1.2. Formatting Conventions .....................................3
80 1.3. Terminology ................................................4
81 2. MIME Message Format Binding .....................................4
82 2.1. MIME Media Type ............................................4
83 2.2. Security ...................................................5
84 2.2.1. Authorization .......................................5
85 2.2.2. Authentication ......................................5
86 2.2.3. Confidentiality .....................................5
87 2.3. Email Addresses ............................................6
88 2.4. Content-Type Header Field ..................................6
89 2.5. Content-Transfer-Encoding Header Field .....................7
90 2.6. Content-Disposition Header Field ...........................8
91 3. Security Considerations .........................................8
92 4. Examples .......................................................11
93 4.1. Single Component with an ATTACH Property ..................11
94 4.2. Using multipart/alternative for Low-Fidelity Clients ......11
95 4.3. Single Component with an ATTACH Property and
96 Inline Attachment .........................................12
97 4.4. Multiple Similar Components ...............................14
98 4.5. Multiple Mixed Components .................................15
99 4.6. Detailed Components with an ATTACH Property ...............16
100 5. Recommended Practices ..........................................18
101 5.1. Use of Content and Message IDs ............................18
102 6. IANA Considerations ............................................18
103 7. References .....................................................19
104 7.1. Normative References ......................................19
105 7.2. Informative References ....................................20
106 Appendix A. Changes since RFC 2447 ................................21
107 Appendix B. Acknowledgements ......................................22
108
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118
1191. Introduction
120
121 This document provides the transport-specific information ("binding")
122 necessary to convey iCalendar Transport-independent Interoperability
123 Protocol (iTIP) [iTIP] over Internet email (using MIME) as defined in
124 [RFC5322] and [RFC2045]. Therefore, this document defines the
125 iCalendar Message-Based Interoperability Protocol (iMIP).
126
1271.1. Related Memos
128
129 Implementers will need to be familiar with several other memos that,
130 along with this memo, form a framework for Internet calendaring and
131 scheduling standards.
132
133 This document specifies an Internet email binding for iTIP.
134
135 [iCAL] specifies a core specification of objects, data types,
136 properties, and property parameters.
137
138 [iTIP] specifies an interoperability protocol for scheduling between
139 different implementations.
140
141 This memo does not attempt to repeat the specification of concepts or
142 definitions from these other memos. Where possible, references are
143 made to the memo that provides for the specification of these
144 concepts or definitions.
145
1461.2. Formatting Conventions
147
148 The mechanisms defined in this memo are defined in prose. In order
149 to refer to elements of the calendaring and scheduling model, core
150 object, or interoperability protocol defined in [iCAL] and [iTIP],
151 some formatting conventions have been used.
152
153 The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
154 "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
155 document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119].
156
157 Calendaring and scheduling roles are referred to in quoted strings of
158 text with the first character of each word in uppercase. For
159 example, "Organizer" refers to a role of a "Calendar User" within the
160 scheduling protocol defined by [iTIP].
161
162 Calendar components defined by [iCAL] are referred to with
163 capitalized, quoted strings of text. All calendar components start
164 with the letter "V". For example, "VEVENT" refers to the event
165 calendar component, "VTODO" refers to the to-do calendar component,
166 and "VJOURNAL" refers to the daily journal calendar component.
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174
175 Scheduling methods defined by [iTIP] are referred to with
176 capitalized, quoted strings of text. For example, "REQUEST" refers
177 to the method for requesting a scheduling calendar component be
178 created or modified; "REPLY" refers to the method a recipient of a
179 request uses to update their status with the "Organizer" of the
180 calendar component.
181
182 Properties defined by [iCAL] are referred to with capitalized, quoted
183 strings of text, followed by the word "property". For example,
184 "ATTENDEE" property refers to the iCalendar property used to convey
185 the calendar address of a "Calendar User".
186
187 Property parameters defined by [iCAL] are referred to with lowercase,
188 quoted strings of text, followed by the word "parameter". For
189 example, "value" parameter refers to the iCalendar property parameter
190 used to override the default data type for a property value.
191
1921.3. Terminology
193
194 The email terms used in this memo are defined in [RFC5322] and
195 [RFC2045]. The calendaring and scheduling terms used in this memo
196 are defined in [iCAL] and [iTIP].
197
1982. MIME Message Format Binding
199
200 This section defines the message binding to the MIME electronic mail
201 transport.
202
203 The sections below refer to the "originator" and the "recipient" of
204 an iMIP message. In the case of a "request" method, the originator
205 is the "Organizer" and the recipient is an "Attendee" of the event.
206 In the case of a "response" method, the originator is an "Attendee"
207 and the recipient is the "Organizer" of the event.
208
209 The [RFC5322] "Reply-To" header field typically contains the email
210 address of the originator of the scheduling message. However, this
211 cannot be guaranteed because the sender of the iMIP message might not
212 be the originator of the scheduling message and the sender's "Mail
213 User Agent" (MUA) might not enforce iMIP semantics by translating the
214 originator's address into the "Reply-To" email header field.
215
2162.1. MIME Media Type
217
218 A MIME entity containing content information formatted according to
219 this document will be referenced as a "text/calendar" content type
220 [iCAL]. It is assumed that this content type will be transported
221 through a MIME electronic mail transport.
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2312.2. Security
232
233 This section addresses several aspects of security including
234 authentication, authorization, and confidentiality. Authentication
235 and confidentiality can be achieved using Secure/MIME (S/MIME)
236 [RFC5750] [RFC5751], which uses the Security Multiparts framework for
237 MIME [RFC1847].
238
2392.2.1. Authorization
240
241 In iTIP messages [iTIP], only the "Organizer" is authorized to modify
242 or cancel calendar entries she organizes. That is,
243 spoof@xyz.example.net is not allowed to modify or cancel a meeting
244 that was organized by a@example.com. Furthermore, only the
245 respondent has the authorization to indicate their status to the
246 "Organizer". That is, the "Organizer" MUST ignore an iTIP message
247 from spoof@xyz.example.net that declines a meeting invitation for
248 b@example.com.
249
250 Implementations of iMIP SHOULD verify the authenticity of the creator
251 of an iCalendar object before taking any action. Methods for doing
252 this are presented later in this document.
253
254 [RFC1847] message flow in iTIP supports someone working on behalf of
255 a "Calendar User" through use of the "sent-by" parameter that is
256 associated with the "ATTENDEE" and "ORGANIZER" properties. However,
257 there is no mechanism to verify whether or not a "Calendar User" has
258 authorized someone to work on their behalf. It is left to
259 implementations to provide mechanisms for the "Calendar Users" to
260 make that decision.
261
2622.2.2. Authentication
263
264 Authentication MUST be performed using S/MIME [RFC5750] [RFC5751].
265 Authentication is possible only on messages that have been signed.
266 Unauthenticated messages (i.e., unsigned messages) may not be
267 trusted.
268
2692.2.3. Confidentiality
270
271 To ensure confidentiality using iMIP, implementations SHOULD utilize
272 encryption specified in S/MIME [RFC5750] [RFC5751]. iMIP does not
273 restrict a "Calendar User Agent" (CUA) from forwarding iCalendar
274 objects to other users or agents.
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2872.3. Email Addresses
288
289 The calendar address specified within the "ORGANIZER" and "ATTENDEE"
290 properties in an iCalendar object sent using iMIP MUST be a proper
291 "mailto:" [MAILTO] URI specification for the corresponding
292 "Organizer" or "Attendee" of the "VEVENT" or "VTODO".
293
294 Because [iTIP] does not preclude "Attendees" from forwarding
295 "VEVENT"s or "VTODO"s to others, the [RFC5322] "Sender" value may not
296 equal that of the "Organizer". Additionally, the "Organizer" or
297 "Attendee" cannot be reliably inferred by the [RFC5322] "Sender" or
298 "Reply-To" header field values of an iMIP message. The relevant
299 address MUST be ascertained by opening the "text/calendar" MIME body
300 part and examining the "ATTENDEE" and "ORGANIZER" properties.
301
3022.4. Content-Type Header Field
303
304 A MIME body part containing content information that conforms to this
305 document MUST have an [RFC2045] "Content-Type" value of
306 "text/calendar". The [RFC2045] "Content-Type" header field MUST also
307 include the MIME parameter "method". The value MUST be the same
308 (ignoring case) as the value of the "METHOD" property within the
309 iCalendar object.
310
311 Note 1: A MIME message containing multiple iCalendar objects with
312 different "method" values MUST be further encapsulated with a
313 "multipart/mixed" MIME entity [RFC2046]. This will allow each of
314 the iCalendar objects to be encapsulated within their own
315 "text/calendar" MIME entity.
316
317 Note 2: A MIME body part with a "Content-Type" value of
318 "text/calendar" that lacks the "method" parameter is not
319 considered to be an iMIP body part and thus is not subject to the
320 requirements specified in this document.
321
322 Note that according to [iCAL] the default character set for iCalendar
323 objects is UTF-8 [UTF-8]. However, the default character set for a
324 "text/*" MIME entity according to [RFC2046] is US-ASCII. Thus, a
325 "charset" MIME parameter MUST be present if the iCalendar object
326 contains characters that can't be represented in the US-ASCII
327 character set and, as specified in [iCAL], it MUST have the value
328 "UTF-8".
329
330 The optional "component" MIME parameter defines the iCalendar
331 component type contained within the iCalendar object.
332
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343 The following is an example of this header field with a value that
344 indicates an event message.
345
346 Content-Type: text/calendar; method=REQUEST; charset=UTF-8;
347 component=vevent
348
349 The "text/calendar" content type allows for the scheduling message
350 type to be included in a MIME message with other content information
351 (i.e., "multipart/mixed") or included in a MIME message with a clear-
352 text, human-readable form of the scheduling message (i.e.,
353 "multipart/alternative" [RFC2046]).
354
355 In order to permit the information in the scheduling message to be
356 understood by MIME User Agents (UAs) that do not support the
357 "text/calendar" content type, scheduling messages SHOULD be sent with
358 an alternative, human-readable form of the information.
359
360 Note that "multipart/alternative" MUST NOT be used to represent two
361 slightly different iCalendar objects, for example, two "VEVENT"s with
362 alternative starting times.
363
364 CUAs can use other MIME parameters of the "Content-Type" header
365 field, as well as a language specified in the Content-Language header
366 field [RFC3282], to pick a "text/calendar" part for processing if a
367 "multipart/alternative" MIME message contains more than one
368 "text/calendar" part.
369
370 Any receiving UA compliant with this specification MUST be able to
371 process "text/calendar" body parts enclosed within "multipart/*".
372 Note that a "multipart/mixed" MIME message can include multiple
373 "text/calendar" components. The receiving UA MUST be able to process
374 all of them.
375
3762.5. Content-Transfer-Encoding Header Field
377
378 Unless an iMIP message is transported over 8-bit clean transport
379 (such as SMTP [8BITMIME]), a transfer encoding such as quoted-
380 printable or base64 [RFC2045] MUST be used for iCalendar objects
381 containing any characters that can't be represented in the US-ASCII
382 character set. For example:
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399 From: user1@example.com
400 To: user2@example.com
401 Subject: Phone Conference
402 Mime-Version: 1.0
403 Date: Wed, 07 May 2008 21:30:25 +0400
404 Message-ID: <4821E731.5040506@laptop1.example.com>
405 Content-Type: text/calendar; method=REQUEST; charset=UTF-8
406 Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
407
408 BEGIN:VCALENDAR
409 PRODID:-//Example/ExampleCalendarClient//EN
410 METHOD:REQUEST
411 VERSION:2.0
412 BEGIN:VEVENT
413 ORGANIZER:mailto:user1@example.com
414 ATTENDEE;ROLE=CHAIR;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED:mailto:user1@example.com
415 ATTENDEE;RSVP=YES;CUTYPE=INDIVIDUAL:mailto:user2@example.com
416 DTSTAMP:20080507T170000Z
417 DTSTART:20080701T160000Z
418 DTEND:20080701T163000Z
419 SUMMARY:Phone call to discuss your last visit
420 DESCRIPTION:=D1=82=D1=8B =D0=BA=D0=B0=D0=BA - =D0=B4=D0=BE=D0=
421 =B2=D0=BE=D0=BB=D0=B5=D0=BD =D0=BF=D0=BE=D0=B5=D0=B7=D0=B4=D0=BA=D0
422 =BE=D0=B9?
423 UID:calsvr.example.com-8739701987387998
424 SEQUENCE:0
425 STATUS:TENTATIVE
426 END:VEVENT
427 END:VCALENDAR
428
4292.6. Content-Disposition Header Field
430
431 Implementations MAY include a "Content-Disposition" header field to
432 define a file name for an iCalendar object. However, the handling of
433 a MIME part MUST be based on its [RFC2045] "Content-Type" and not on
434 the extension specified in the "Content-Disposition", as different
435 email malware is known to trick User Agents into misinterpreting
436 content of messages by specifying a file extension in the Content-
437 Disposition header field that doesn't correspond to the value of the
438 "Content-Type" header field.
439
4403. Security Considerations
441
442 The security threats that applications must address when implementing
443 iTIP are detailed in [iTIP]. In particular, two spoofing threats are
444 identified in Section 6.1 of [iTIP]: spoofing the "Organizer", and
445 spoofing an "Attendee". To address these threats, the originator of
446 an iCalendar object must be authenticated by a recipient. Once
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455 authenticated, a determination can be made as to whether or not the
456 originator is authorized to perform the requested operation.
457 Compliant applications MUST support signing and encrypting
458 "text/calendar" body parts using a mechanism based on S/MIME
459 [RFC5750] [RFC5751] in order to facilitate the authentication of the
460 originator of the iCalendar object (see Sections 2.2.2 and 2.2.3).
461 The steps for processing a signed iMIP message are described below:
462
463 1. Using S/MIME, determine who signed the "text/calendar" body part
464 containing the iCalendar object. This is the "signer". (Note
465 that the email address of the signer MUST be specified in the
466 rfc822Name field of the "subject alternative name" extension of
467 the signer certificate, as specified in [RFC5280],
468 Section 4.1.2.6.) Note that the signer is not necessarily the
469 person sending an e-mail message, since an e-mail message can be
470 forwarded.
471
472 2. Correlate the signer to either an "ATTENDEE" property or to the
473 "ORGANIZER" property in the iCalendar object, based on the method
474 and the calendar component specified in the iCalendar object, as
475 defined in Section 1.4 of [iTIP]. If the signer cannot be
476 correlated to an "ATTENDEE"/"ORGANIZER" property, then actively
477 warn the user controlling the "Calendar User Agent" that the
478 iCalendar object is untrusted, and encourage the user to ignore
479 the message, but give advanced users the option to (a) view the
480 certificate of the signer and the entire certificate chain (if
481 any) in order to help decide if the signer should be trusted to
482 send the message, and then (b) allow the CUA to accept and process
483 the iCalendar object.
484
485 3. Determine whether or not the "ATTENDEE"/"ORGANIZER" is authorized
486 to perform the operation as defined by [iTIP]. If the conditions
487 are not met, ignore the message.
488
489 4. If all the above conditions are met, the message can be processed.
490
491 S/MIME signing also protects against malicious changes to messages in
492 transit.
493
494 If calendar confidentiality is required by the sender, signed iMIP
495 messages SHOULD be encrypted by a mechanism based on S/MIME [RFC5750]
496 [RFC5751]. If iMIP is used within a single ADministrative Management
497 Domain (ADMD) [RFC5598], SMTP STARTTLS [SMTP-TLS] (together with
498 STARTTLS in IMAP/POP [IMAP-POP-TLS]) MAY alternatively be used to
499 provide calendar confidentiality.
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511 Once a signed and/or encrypted iMIP message is received and
512 successfully verified (as detailed above) by a CUA, the CUA SHOULD
513 remember whether the sender of the message is using signing and/or
514 encrypting. If an unsigned iMIP message is received from the same
515 sender later on, the receiving CUA SHOULD warn the receiving user
516 about a possible man-in-the-middle attack and SHOULD ignore the
517 message, unless explicitly overridden by the user.
518
519 Implementations MAY provide means for users to disable signing and
520 encrypting.
521
522 It is possible to receive iMIP messages sent by someone working on
523 behalf of another "Calendar User". This is determined by examining
524 the "sent-by" parameter in the relevant "ORGANIZER" or "ATTENDEE"
525 property. [iCAL] and [iTIP] provide no mechanism to verify that a
526 "Calendar User" has authorized someone else to work on their behalf.
527 To address this security issue, implementations MUST provide
528 mechanisms for the "Calendar Users" to make that decision before
529 applying changes from someone working on behalf of a "Calendar User".
530 One way to achieve this is to reject iMIP messages sent by users
531 other than the "ORGANIZER" or the "ATTENDEE"s. Alternatively, the
532 receiver could have a list of trusted <sent-by, organizer> proxies in
533 its local security policy. And yet another way is to prompt the user
534 for confirmation.
535
536 iMIP-based calendaring is frequently deployed within a single ADMD,
537 with boundary filtering employed to restrict email calendaring flows
538 to be inside the ADMD. This can help in minimizing malicious changes
539 to calendaring messages in transit, as well as in making
540 authorization decisions less risky.
541
542 A security consideration associated with the use of the Content-
543 Disposition header field is described in Section 2.6.
544
545 Use of S/MIME makes the security considerations discussed in
546 [RFC5750] [RFC5751] relevant to this document. For additional
547 security considerations regarding certificate and Certificate
548 Revocation List (CRL) verification, please see [RFC5280].
549
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566
5674. Examples
568
5694.1. Single Component with an ATTACH Property
570
571 This minimal message shows how an iCalendar object references an
572 attachment. The attachment is accessible via its URL.
573
574 From: sman@netscape.example.com
575 To: stevesil@microsoft.example.com
576 Subject: Phone Conference
577 Mime-Version: 1.0
578 Content-Type: text/calendar; method=REQUEST; charset=US-ASCII
579 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
580
581 BEGIN:VCALENDAR
582 PRODID:-//Example/ExampleCalendarClient//EN
583 METHOD:REQUEST
584 VERSION:2.0
585 BEGIN:VEVENT
586 ORGANIZER:mailto:man@netscape.example.com
587 ATTENDEE;ROLE=CHAIR;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED:mailto:man@netscape.example.com
588 ATTENDEE;RSVP=YES:mailto:stevesil@microsoft.example.com
589 DTSTAMP:19970611T190000Z
590 DTSTART:19970701T210000Z
591 DTEND:19970701T230000Z
592 SUMMARY:Phone Conference
593 DESCRIPTION:Please review the attached document.
594 UID:calsvr.example.com-873970198738777
595 ATTACH:ftp://ftp.bar.example.com/pub/docs/foo.doc
596 STATUS:CONFIRMED
597 END:VEVENT
598 END:VCALENDAR
599
6004.2. Using multipart/alternative for Low-Fidelity Clients
601
602 This example shows how a client can emit a multipart message that
603 includes both a plain text version and the full iCalendar object.
604 Clients that do not support "text/calendar" will still be capable of
605 rendering the plain text representation.
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623 From: foo1@example.com
624 To: foo2@example.com
625 Subject: Phone Conference
626 Mime-Version: 1.0
627 Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="01BD3665.3AF0D360"
628
629 --01BD3665.3AF0D360
630 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
631 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
632
633 This is an alternative representation of a "text/calendar"
634 MIME object.
635
636 When: 7/1/1997 10:00AM PDT - 7/1/97 10:30AM PDT
637 Where:
638 Organizer: foo1@example.com
639 Summary: Phone Conference
640
641 --01BD3665.3AF0D360
642 Content-Type: text/calendar; method=REQUEST; charset=US-ASCII
643 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
644
645 BEGIN:VCALENDAR
646 PRODID:-//Example/ExampleCalendarClient//EN
647 METHOD:REQUEST
648 VERSION:2.0
649 BEGIN:VEVENT
650 ORGANIZER:mailto:foo1@example.com
651 ATTENDEE;ROLE=CHAIR;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED:mailto:foo1@example.com
652 ATTENDEE;RSVP=YES;CUTYPE=INDIVIDUAL:mailto:foo2@example.com
653 DTSTAMP:19970611T190000Z
654 DTSTART:19970701T170000Z
655 DTEND:19970701T173000Z
656 SUMMARY:Phone Conference
657 UID:calsvr.example.com-8739701987387771
658 SEQUENCE:0
659 STATUS:CONFIRMED
660 END:VEVENT
661 END:VCALENDAR
662
663 --01BD3665.3AF0D360
664
6654.3. Single Component with an ATTACH Property and Inline Attachment
666
667 This example shows how a message containing an iCalendar object
668 references an attached document. The reference is made using a
669 Content-ID (CID). Thus, the iCalendar object and the document are
670 packaged in a "multipart/related" encapsulation.
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678
679 From: foo1@example.com
680 To: foo2@example.com
681 Subject: Phone Conference
682 Mime-Version: 1.0
683 Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="boundary-example-1"
684
685 --boundary-example-1
686
687 Content-Type: text/calendar; method=REQUEST; charset=US-ASCII
688 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
689 Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="event.ics"
690
691 BEGIN:VCALENDAR
692 PRODID:-//Example/ExampleCalendarClient//EN
693 METHOD:REQUEST
694 VERSION:2.0
695 BEGIN:VEVENT
696 ORGANIZER:mailto:foo1@example.com
697 ATTENDEE;ROLE=CHAIR;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED:mailto:foo1@example.com
698 ATTENDEE;RSVP=YES;CUTYPE=INDIVIDUAL:mailto:foo2@example.com
699 DTSTAMP:19970611T190000Z
700 DTSTART:19970701T180000Z
701 DTEND:19970701T183000Z
702 SUMMARY:Phone Conference
703 UID:calsvr.example.com-8739701987387771
704 ATTACH:cid:123456789@example.com
705 SEQUENCE:0
706 STATUS:CONFIRMED
707 END:VEVENT
708 END:VCALENDAR
709
710 --boundary-example-1
711 Content-Type: application/msword; name="FieldReport.doc"
712 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
713 Content-Disposition: inline; filename="FieldReport.doc"
714 Content-ID: <123456789@example.com>
715
716 0M8R4KGxGuEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPgADAP7/CQAGAAAAAAAAAAABAAAARAAAAAAA
717 AAAAEAAAQAAAAAEAAAD+////AAAAAEUAAAD/////////////////////////////////
718 ...
719
720 --boundary-example-1--
721
722
723
724
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730Melnikov Standards Track [Page 13]
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732RFC 6047 iMIP December 2010
733
734
7354.4. Multiple Similar Components
736
737 Multiple iCalendar components of the same type can be included in the
738 iCalendar object when the "METHOD" is the same for each component.
739
740 From: foo1@example.com
741 To: foo2@example.com
742 Subject: Summer Company Holidays
743 Mime-Version: 1.0
744 Content-Type: text/calendar; method=PUBLISH; charset=US-ASCII
745 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
746 Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="event.ics"
747
748 BEGIN:VCALENDAR
749 PRODID:-//Example/ExampleCalendarClient//EN
750 METHOD:PUBLISH
751 VERSION:2.0
752 BEGIN:VEVENT
753 ORGANIZER:mailto:foo1@example.com
754 DTSTAMP:19970611T150000Z
755 DTSTART:19970701T150000Z
756 DTEND:19970701T230000Z
757 SUMMARY:Company Picnic
758 DESCRIPTION:Food and drink will be provided
759 UID:calsvr.example.com-873970198738777-1
760 SEQUENCE:0
761 STATUS:CONFIRMED
762 END:VEVENT
763 BEGIN:VEVENT
764 ORGANIZER:mailto:foo1@example.com
765 DTSTAMP:19970611T190000Z
766 DTSTART:19970715T150000Z
767 DTEND:19970715T230000Z
768 SUMMARY:Company Bowling Tournament
769 DESCRIPTION:We have 10 lanes reserved
770 UID:calsvr.example.com-873970198738777-2
771 SEQUENCE:0
772 STATUS:CONFIRMED
773 END:VEVENT
774 END:VCALENDAR
775
776
777
778
779
780
781
782
783
784
785
786Melnikov Standards Track [Page 14]
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788RFC 6047 iMIP December 2010
789
790
7914.5. Multiple Mixed Components
792
793 Different component types must be encapsulated in separate iCalendar
794 objects.
795
796 From: foo1@example.com
797 To: foo2@example.com
798 Subject: Phone Conference
799 Mime-Version: 1.0
800 Content-Type: multipart/mixed;
801 boundary="--FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C"
802
803 This is a multi-part message in MIME format.
804
805 ----FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C
806 Content-Type: text/calendar; method=REQUEST; charset=US-ASCII
807 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
808 Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="event1.ics"
809
810 BEGIN:VCALENDAR
811 PRODID:-//Example/ExampleCalendarClient//EN
812 METHOD:REQUEST
813 VERSION:2.0
814 BEGIN:VEVENT
815 ORGANIZER:mailto:foo1@example.com
816 ATTENDEE;ROLE=CHAIR;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED:mailto:foo1@example.com
817 ATTENDEE;RSVP=YES;CUTYPE=INDIVIDUAL:mailto:foo2@example.com
818 DTSTAMP:19970611T190000Z
819 DTSTART:19970701T210000Z
820 DTEND:19970701T230000Z
821 SUMMARY:Phone Conference
822 DESCRIPTION:Discuss what happened at the last meeting
823 UID:calsvr.example.com-8739701987387772
824 SEQUENCE:0
825 STATUS:CONFIRMED
826 END:VEVENT
827 END:VCALENDAR
828
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842Melnikov Standards Track [Page 15]
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844RFC 6047 iMIP December 2010
845
846
847 ----FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C
848 Content-Type: text/calendar; method=REQUEST; charset=US-ASCII
849 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
850 Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="todo1.ics"
851
852 BEGIN:VCALENDAR
853 PRODID:-//Example/ExampleCalendarClient//EN
854 METHOD:REQUEST
855 VERSION:2.0
856 BEGIN:VTODO
857 DUE:19970701T160000Z
858 ORGANIZER:mailto:foo1@example.com
859 ATTENDEE;ROLE=CHAIR;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED:mailto:foo1@example.com
860 ATTENDEE;RSVP=YES:mailto:foo2@example.com
861 SUMMARY:Phone Conference
862 DESCRIPTION:Discuss a new location for the company picnic
863 UID:calsvr.example.com-td-8739701987387773
864 SEQUENCE:0
865 STATUS:NEEDS-ACTION
866 END:VEVENT
867 END:VCALENDAR
868
869 ----FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C
870
8714.6. Detailed Components with an ATTACH Property
872
873 This example shows the format of a message containing a group meeting
874 between three individuals. The "multipart/related" encapsulation is
875 used because the iCalendar object contains an ATTACH property that
876 uses a CID to reference the attachment.
877
878 From: foo1@example.com
879 MIME-Version: 1.0
880 To: foo2@example.com,foo3@example.com
881 Subject: REQUEST - Phone Conference
882 Content-Type: multipart/related;
883 boundary="--FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C"
884
885 ----FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C
886 Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
887 boundary="--00FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C00"
888
889
890
891
892
893
894
895
896
897
898Melnikov Standards Track [Page 16]
899
900RFC 6047 iMIP December 2010
901
902
903 ----00FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C00
904 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
905 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
906
907 When: 7/1/1997 10:00PM PDT - 7/1/97 10:30 PM PDT
908 Where:
909 Organizer: foo1@example.com
910 Summary: Let's discuss the attached document
911
912 ----00FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C00
913
914 Content-Type: text/calendar; method=REQUEST; charset=US-ASCII;
915 Component=vevent
916 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
917 Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="event.ics"
918
919 BEGIN:VCALENDAR
920 PRODID:-//Example/ExampleCalendarClient//EN
921 METHOD:REQUEST
922 VERSION:2.0
923 BEGIN:VEVENT
924 ORGANIZER:foo1@example.com
925 ATTENDEE;ROLE=CHAIR;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED:foo1@example.com
926 ATTENDEE;RSVP=YES;CUTYPE=INDIVIDUAL:mailto:foo2@example.com
927 ATTENDEE;RSVP=YES;CUTYPE=INDIVIDUAL:mailto:foo3@example.com
928 DTSTAMP:19970611T190000Z
929 DTSTART:19970621T170000Z
930 DTEND:199706211T173000Z
931 SUMMARY:Let's discuss the attached document
932 UID:calsvr.example.com-873970198738777-8aa
933 ATTACH:cid:calsvr.example.com-12345aaa
934 SEQUENCE:0
935 STATUS:CONFIRMED
936 END:VEVENT
937 END:VCALENDAR
938
939 ----00FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C00
940
941
942
943
944
945
946
947
948
949
950
951
952
953
954Melnikov Standards Track [Page 17]
955
956RFC 6047 iMIP December 2010
957
958
959 ----FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C
960 Content-Type: application/msword; name="FieldReport.doc"
961 Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
962 Content-Disposition: inline; filename="FieldReport.doc"
963 Content-ID: <calsvr.example.com-12345aaa>
964
965 R0lGODdhTAQZAJEAAFVVVd3d3e4AAP///ywAAAAATAQZAAAC/5yPOSLhD6OctNqLs94Xq
966 AG4kiW5omm6sq27gvH8kzX9o1y+s73/g8MCofEovGITCoxKMbyCR16cNSq9YrNarfcrvd
967 riIH5LL5jE6rxc3G+v2cguf0uv2Oz+v38L7/DxgoOKjURnjIIbe3yNjo+AgZWYVIWWl5i
968 ZnJY6J
969 ...
970
971 ----FEE3790DC7E35189CA67CE2C
972
9735. Recommended Practices
974
975 This section outlines a series of recommended practices when using a
976 messaging transport to exchange iCalendar objects.
977
9785.1. Use of Content and Message IDs
979
980 The [iCAL] specification makes frequent use of the URI for data types
981 in properties such as "DESCRIPTION", "ATTACH", "CONTACT", and others.
982 Two forms of URIs are the Message ID (MID) and the Content-ID (CID).
983 These are defined in [RFC2392]. Although [RFC2392] allows
984 referencing messages or MIME body parts in other MIME entities or
985 stores, it is strongly RECOMMENDED that iMIP implementations include
986 all referenced messages and body parts in a single MIME entity.
987 Simply put, if an iCalendar object contains CID or MID references to
988 other messages or body parts, implementations should ensure that
989 these messages and/or body parts are transmitted with the iCalendar
990 object. If they are not, there is no guarantee that the receiving
991 CUA will have the access or the authorization to view those objects.
992
9936. IANA Considerations
994
995 The "text/calendar" MIME media type was registered in [iCAL].
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
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1010Melnikov Standards Track [Page 18]
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1012RFC 6047 iMIP December 2010
1013
1014
10157. References
1016
10177.1. Normative References
1018
1019 [iCAL] Desruisseaux, B., Ed., "Internet Calendaring and
1020 Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar)",
1021 RFC 5545, September 2009.
1022
1023 [iTIP] Daboo, C., Ed., "iCalendar Transport-Independent
1024 Interoperability Protocol (iTIP)", RFC 5546, December
1025 2009.
1026
1027 [RFC5322] Resnick, P., Ed., "Internet Message Format", RFC 5322,
1028 October 2008.
1029
1030 [MAILTO] Duerst, M., Masinter, L., and J. Zawinski, "The 'mailto'
1031 URI Scheme", RFC 6068, October 2010.
1032
1033 [RFC1847] Galvin, J., Murphy, S., Crocker, S., and N. Freed,
1034 "Security Multiparts for MIME: Multipart/Signed and
1035 Multipart/Encrypted", RFC 1847, October 1995.
1036
1037 [RFC2045] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
1038 Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format of Internet Message
1039 Bodies", RFC 2045, November 1996.
1040
1041 [RFC2046] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
1042 Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types", RFC 2046,
1043 November 1996.
1044
1045 [RFC2392] Levinson, E., "Content-ID and Message-ID Uniform Resource
1046 Locators", RFC 2392, August 1998.
1047
1048 [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
1049 Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
1050
1051 [UTF-8] Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO
1052 10646", STD 63, RFC 3629, November 2003.
1053
1054 [SMTP-TLS] Hoffman, P., "SMTP Service Extension for Secure SMTP over
1055 Transport Layer Security", RFC 3207, February 2002.
1056
1057 [IMAP-POP-TLS]
1058 Newman, C., "Using TLS with IMAP, POP3 and ACAP",
1059 RFC 2595, June 1999.
1060
1061
1062
1063
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1066Melnikov Standards Track [Page 19]
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1068RFC 6047 iMIP December 2010
1069
1070
1071 [RFC5750] Ramsdell, B. and S. Turner, "Secure/Multipurpose Internet
1072 Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Certificate
1073 Handling", RFC 5750, January 2010.
1074
1075 [RFC5751] Ramsdell, B. and S. Turner, "Secure/Multipurpose Internet
1076 Mail Extensions (S/MIME) Version 3.2 Message
1077 Specification", RFC 5751, January 2010.
1078
1079 [RFC5280] Cooper, D., Santesson, S., Farrell, S., Boeyen, S.,
1080 Housley, R., and W. Polk, "Internet X.509 Public Key
1081 Infrastructure Certificate and Certificate Revocation
1082 List (CRL) Profile", RFC 5280, May 2008.
1083
10847.2. Informative References
1085
1086 [8BITMIME] Klensin, J., Freed, N., Rose, M., Stefferud, E., and D.
1087 Crocker, "SMTP Service Extension for 8bit-MIMEtransport",
1088 RFC 1652, July 1994.
1089
1090 [RFC5598] Crocker, D., "Internet Mail Architecture", RFC 5598, July
1091 2009.
1092
1093 [RFC3282] Alvestrand, H., "Content Language Headers", RFC 3282, May
1094 2002.
1095
1096
1097
1098
1099
1100
1101
1102
1103
1104
1105
1106
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1116
1117
1118
1119
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1122Melnikov Standards Track [Page 20]
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1124RFC 6047 iMIP December 2010
1125
1126
1127Appendix A. Changes since RFC 2447
1128
1129 Updated references. Split them into Normative and Informative.
1130
1131 Updated examples to use example.com/example.net domains.
1132
1133 Corrected usage of RFC 2119 language.
1134
1135 Clarified that charset=UTF-8 is required, unless the calendar can be
1136 entirely represented in US-ASCII.
1137
1138 Clarified that 7-bit content transfer encodings should be used unless
1139 the calendar object is known to be transferred over 8-bit clean
1140 transport.
1141
1142 Clarified that file extension specified in the Content-Disposition
1143 header field is not to be used to override the "Content-Type" MIME
1144 type.
1145
1146 Disallowed use of "multipart/alternative" for slightly different
1147 representations of the same calendar.
1148
1149 Clarified handling of the "method" MIME parameter of the "Content-
1150 Type" header field.
1151
1152 Clarified that in an iMIP message an ORGANIZER/ATTENDEE property
1153 contains a mailto: URI.
1154
1155 Fixed examples with ATTENDEE property to use "CUTYPE=" instead of
1156 "TYPE=".
1157
1158 Clarified that message integrity/confidentiality should be achieved
1159 using S/MIME.
1160
1161 Provided additional examples.
1162
1163 Improved the Security Considerations section.
1164
1165 Made multiple editorial changes to different sections of the
1166 document.
1167
1168
1169
1170
1171
1172
1173
1174
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1176
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1178Melnikov Standards Track [Page 21]
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1180RFC 6047 iMIP December 2010
1181
1182
1183Appendix B. Acknowledgements
1184
1185 The editor of this document wishes to thank Frank Dawson, Steve
1186 Mansour, and Steve Silverberg, the original authors of RFC 2447, as
1187 well as the following individuals who have participated in the
1188 drafting, review, and discussion of this memo:
1189
1190 Reinhold Kainhofer, Cyrus Daboo, Bernard Desruisseaux, Eliot Lear,
1191 and Peter Saint-Andre.
1192
1193Author's Address
1194
1195 Alexey Melnikov (editor)
1196 Isode Ltd
1197 5 Castle Business Village
1198 36 Station Road
1199 Hampton, Middlesex TW12 2BX
1200 UK
1201
1202 EMail: Alexey.Melnikov@isode.com
1203
1204
1205
1206
1207
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1209
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1211
1212
1213
1214
1215
1216
1217
1218
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