RFC 2088 (rfc2088) - Page 2 of 2


IMAP4 non-synchronizing literals



Alternative Format: Original Text Document



RFC 2088                        LITERAL                     January 1997


   clients are not required to wait before sending the octets of a non-
   synchronizing literal.

   The protocol receiver of an IMAP4 server must check the end of every
   received line for an open brace ('{') followed by an octet count, a
   plus ('+'), and a close brace ('}') immediately preceeding the CRLF.
   If it finds this sequence, it is the octet count of a non-
   synchronizing literal and the server MUST treat the specified number
   of following octets and the following line as part of the same
   command.  A server MAY still process commands and reject errors on a
   line-by-line basis, as long as it checks for non-synchronizing
   literals at the end of each line.

   Example:    C: A001 LOGIN {11+}
               C: FRED FOOBAR {7+}
               C: fat man
               S: A001 OK LOGIN completed

4.   Formal Syntax

   The following syntax specification uses the augmented Backus-Naur
   Form (BNF) notation as specified in [RFC-822] as modified by [IMAP4].
   Non-terminals referenced but not defined below are as defined by
   [IMAP4].

   literal         ::= "{" number ["+"] "}" CRLF *CHAR8
                       ;; Number represents the number of CHAR8 octets

6.   References

   [IMAP4] Crispin, M., "Internet Message Access Protocol - Version 4",
   draft-crispin-imap-base-XX.txt, University of Washington, April 1996.

   [RFC-822] Crocker, D., "Standard for the Format of ARPA Internet Text
   Messages", STD 11, RFC 822.

7.   Security Considerations

   There are no known security issues with this extension.

8.   Author's Address

   John G. Myers
   Carnegie-Mellon University
   5000 Forbes Ave.
   Pittsburgh PA, 15213-3890

   Email: [email protected]



Myers                       Standards Track