RFC 2298 (rfc2298) - Page 2 of 28
An Extensible Message Format for Message Disposition Notifications
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 2298 Message Disposition Notifications March 1998
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ............................................ 2
2. Requesting Message Disposition Notifications ............ 3
3. Format of a Message Disposition Notification ............ 7
4. Timeline of events ...................................... 17
5. Conformance and Usage Requirements ...................... 18
6. Security Considerations ................................. 19
7. Collected Grammar ....................................... 20
8. Guidelines for Gatewaying MDNs .......................... 22
9. Example ................................................. 24
10. IANA Registration Forms ................................. 25
11. Acknowledgments ......................................... 26
12. References .............................................. 26
13. Author's Address ........................................ 27
14. Copyright ............................................... 28
1. Introduction
This memo defines a MIME content-type [5] for message disposition
notifications (MDNs). An MDN can be used to notify the sender of a
message of any of several conditions that may occur after successful
delivery, such as display of the message contents, printing of the
message, deletion (without display) of the message, or the
recipient's refusal to provide MDNs. The "message/disposition-
notification" content-type defined herein is intended for use within
the framework of the "multipart/report" content type defined in RFC
1892 [7].
This memo defines the format of the notifications and the RFC 822
headers used to request them.
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.
1.1 Purposes
The MDNs defined in this memo are expected to serve several purposes:
(a) Inform human beings of the disposition of messages after
succcessful delivery, in a manner which is largely independent
of human language;
(b) Allow mail user agents to keep track of the disposition of
messages sent, by associating returned MDNs with earlier message
transmissions;
Fajman Standards Track