RFC 2368 (rfc2368) - Page 2 of 10

The mailto URL scheme

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RFC 2368                 The mailto URL scheme                 July 1998


     mailtoURL  =  "mailto:" [ to ] [ headers ]
     to         =  #mailbox
     headers    =  "?" header *( "&" header )
     header     =  hname "=" hvalue
     hname      =  *urlc
     hvalue     =  *urlc

   "#mailbox" is as specified in RFC 822 [RFC 822]. This means that it
   consists of zero or more comma-separated mail addresses, possibly
   including "phrase" and "comment" components. Note that all URL
   reserved characters in "to" must be encoded: in particular,
   parentheses, commas, and the percent sign ("%"), which commonly occur
   in the "mailbox" syntax.

   "hname" and "hvalue" are encodings of an RFC 822 header name and
   value, respectively. As with "to", all URL reserved characters must
   be encoded.

   The special hname "body" indicates that the associated hvalue is the
   body of the message. The "body" hname should contain the content for
   the first text/plain body part of the message. The mailto URL is
   primarily intended for generation of short text messages that are
   actually the content of automatic processing (such as "subscribe"
   messages for mailing lists), not general MIME bodies.

   Within mailto URLs, the characters "?", "=", "&" are reserved.

   Because the "&" (ampersand) character is reserved in HTML, any mailto
   URL which contains an ampersand must be spelled differently in HTML
   than in other contexts.  A mailto URL which appears in an HTML
   document must use "&" instead of "&".

   Also note that it is legal to specify both "to" and an "hname" whose
   value is "to". That is,

     mailto:addr1%2C%20addr2

     is equivalent to

     mailto:?to=addr1%2C%20addr2

     is equivalent to

     mailto:addr1?to=addr2

   8-bit characters in mailto URLs are forbidden. MIME encoded words (as
   defined in [RFC 2047]) are permitted in header values, but not for any
   part of a "body" hname.



Hoffman, et. al.            Standards Track
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