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MIME Encapsulation of Aggregate Documents, such as HTML (MHTML)
draft-ietf-mhtml-rev-07

The information below is for an old version of the document that is already published as an RFC.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 2557.
Authors Alex Hopmann , Jacob Palme , Nick H. Shelness
Last updated 2020-01-21 (Latest revision 1998-09-08)
RFC stream Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)
Intended RFC status Proposed Standard
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Additional resources Mailing list discussion
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IESG IESG state Became RFC 2557 (Proposed Standard)
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draft-ietf-mhtml-rev-07
Network Working Group                                      Jacob Palme
Internet Draft                                Stockholm University/KTH
draft-ietf-mhtml-rev-07.txt                          Alexander Hopmann
IETF status to be: Proposed standard             Microsoft Corporation
Replaces: RFC 2110                                       Nick Shelness
                                                     Lotus Corporation
Expires: August 1998                                     February 1998

MIME Encapsulation of Aggregate Documents, such as HTML (MHTML)

Status of this Document

This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working
documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and
its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working
documents as Internet-Drafts.

Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material
or to cite them other than as ``work in progress.''

To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the
``1id-abstracts.txt'' listing contained in the Internet-Drafts Shadow
Directories on ftp.is.co.za (Africa), nic.nordu.net (Europe),
munnari.oz.au (Pacific Rim), ds.internic.net (US East Coast), or
ftp.isi.edu (US West Coast).

Copyright (C) The Internet Society 1998. All Rights Reserved.
Abstract

HTML [RFC 1866] defines a powerful means of specifying multimedia
documents. These multimedia documents consist of a text/html root
resource (object) and other subsidiary resources (image, video clip,
applet, etc. objects) referenced by Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs)
within the text/html root resource. When an HTML multimedia document is
retrieved by a browser, each of these component resources is
individually retrieved in real time from a location, and using a
protocol, specified by each URI.

In order to transfer a complete HTML multimedia document in a single
e-mail message, it is necessary to: a) aggregate a text/html root
resource and all of the subsidiary resources it references into a
single composite message structure, and b) define a means by which URIs
in the text/html root can reference subsidiary resources within that
composite message structure.

This document a) defines the use of a MIME multipart/related structure
to aggregate a text/html root resource and the subsidiary resources it
references, and b) specifies one MIME content-headers
(Content-Location) that allow URIs in a multipart/related text/html
root body part to reference subsidiary resources in other body parts of
the same multipart/related structure.

While initially designed to support e-mail transfer of complete
multi-resource HTML multimedia documents, these conventions can also be
employed by other transfer protocols such as HTTP and FTP to retrieve a
complete multi-resource HTML multimedia document in a single transfer
or for storage and archiving of complete HTML-documents.

Differences between this and a previous version of this standard, which
was published as RFC 2110, are summarized in chapter 12.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Terminology
   2.1 Conformance requirement terminology
   2.2 Other terminology
3. Overview
4. The Content-Location MIME Content Header
   4.1 MIME content headers
   4.2 The Content-Location Header
   4.3 URIs of MHTML aggregates
   4.4 Encoding and decoding of URIs in MIME header fields
5. Base URIs for resolution of relative URIs
6. Sending documents without linked objects
7. Use of the Content-Type "multipart/related"
8. Usage of Links to Other Body Parts
   8.1 General principle
   8.2 Resolution of URIs in text/html body parts
   8.3 Use of the Content-ID header and CID URLs
9. Examples
   9.1 Example of a HTML body without included linked objects
   9.2 Example with an absolute URI to an embedded GIF picture
   9.3 Example with relative URIs to embedded GIF pictures
   9.4 Example with a relative URI and no BASE available
   9.5 Example using CID URL and Content-ID header to an embedded GIF
        picture
   9.6 Example showing permitted and forbidden references between
        nested body parts
10. Character encoding issues and end-of-line issues
11. Security Considerations
   11.1 Security considerations not related to caching
   11.2 Security considerations related to caching
12. Differences as compared to the previous version of this proposed
   standard in RFC 2110
13. Copyright
14. Acknowledgments
15. References
16. Author's Addresses

Differences since version 06 of this draft

Changed the syntax of the start parameter in examples, to show that it
must always be quoted (since it contains the special character "@", and
all Content-Type parameters containing special characters must be
quoted according to MIME.

Also the list of references has been updated.

Differences since version 05 of this draft

The definition of "HTML aggregate objects" has been changed from
    HTML objects together with some or all objects, to which the HTML
    object contains hyperlinks.
to
    HTML objects together with some or all objects, to which the HTML
    object contains hyperlinks, directly or indirectly.

Erroneous quotes around "multipart/related" have been removed in the
example in section 4.2.

In section 8.2, the following sentence:
    The resolution of URIs in text/html body parts is performed in the
    following way:
has been changed to
    The resolution of inline, retrieval and other kinds of URIs in
    text/html body parts is performed in the following way:
in order to remind the reader that also parts which are not inline can
be sent with MHTML.

In section 8.2, the following text:
   (d) For each referencing URI in a text/html body part, compare the
       value of the referencing URI after resolution as described in (a)
       and (b), with the URI derived from Content-ID and Content-Location
       headers for other body parts within the same Multipart/related
       structure.
has been changed to:
   (d) For each referencing URI in a text/html body part, compare the
       value of the referencing URI after resolution as described in (a)
       and (b), with the URI derived from Content-ID and Content-Location
       headers for other body parts within the same or a surrounding
       Multipart/related structure.

In section 9.3, the following text:
   ; Note - Relative Content-Location is resolved by base
   ; specified in the Multipart/Related heading
has been changed to:
   ; Note - Relative Content-Location is resolved by base
   ; specified in the Multipart/Related Content-Location heading

In section 11.1, the following paragraph has been added:
   HTML-formatted messages can be used to investigate user behaviour
   for example to break anonymity, in ways which invade the privacy of
   individuals. If you send a message with a inline link to an object
   which is not itself included in the message, the recipients mailer
   or browser may request that object through HTTP. The HTTP
   transaction will then reveal who is reading the message. Example: A
   person who wants to find out who is behind an anonymous user
   identity, or from which workstation a user is reading his mail, can
   do this by sending a message with an inline link and then observe
   from where this link is used to request the object.

In all the examples, all indentation which was there to make the text
more legible, but which was not correct according to RFC822, has been
removed. In one case, indentation was missing on a continuation line
and has been added.

Mailing List Information

To write contributions

 Further discussion on this document should be done through the
 mailing list MHTML@SEGATE.SUNET.SE.

 Comments on less important details may also be sent to the editor,
 Jacob Palme <jpalme@dsv.su.se>.

To subscribe

 To subscribe to this mailing list, send a message to
 LISTSERV@SEGATE.SUNET.SE
 which contains the text
 SUB MHTML <your name (not your email address)>

To unsubscribe

 To unsubscribe from this list, send a message to
 LISTSERV@SEGATE.SUNET.SE
 which contains the text
 UNS MHTML

To access mailing list archives

 Archives of this list are available for bulk downloading by
 anonymous ftp from
 FTP://SEGATE.SUNET.SE/lists/mhtml/

 The archives are available for browsing from
 HTTP://segate.sunet.se/archives/mhtml.html

 and may be available in searchable format from

 http://www.reference.com/cgi-bin/pn/listarch?list=MHTML@segate.sunet.se

 Finally, the archives are available by email. Send a message to
 LISTSERV@SEGATE.SUNET.SE with the text "INDEX MHTML" to get a list
 of the archive files, and then a new message "GET <file name>" to
 retrieve archive files.

More information

 Information about the IETF work in developing this standard may also
be available at URL:
 http://www.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/ietf/mhtml.html

 A collection of test messages is available at
 http://www.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/mimetest/MHTML-test-messages.html

An informational draft [INFO] with advice on how to implement this
standard is under development. You can find the most recent draft from
http://www.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/ietf/mhtml.html#drafts, or, after it has
been published, from
http://www.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/ietf/mhtml.html#published.

1.    Introduction

There are a number of document formats (Hypertext Markup Language
[HTML2], Extended Markup Language [XML], Portable Document format [PDF]
and Virtual Reality Markup Language [VRML]) that specify documents
consisting of a root resource and a number of distinct subsidiary
resources referenced by URIs within that root resource. There is an
obvious need to be able to send such multi-resource documents in e-mail
[SMTP], [RFC822] messages.

The standard defined in this document specifies how to aggregate such
multi-resource documents in MIME-formatted [MIME1 to MIME5] messages
for precisely this purpose.

While this specification was developed to satisfy the specific
aggregation requirements of multi-resource HTML documents, it may also
be applicable to other multi-resource document representations linked
by URIs. While this is the case, there is no requirement that
implementations claiming conformance to this standard be able to handle
any URI linked document representations other than those whose root is
HTML.

This aggregation into a single message of a root resource and the
subsidiary resources it references may also be applicable to other
protocols such as HTTP or FTP, or to the archiving of complete web
pages as they appeared at a particular point in time.

An informational RFC will be published as a supplement to this
standard. The informational RFC will discuss implementation methods and
some implementation problems. Implementers are strongly recommended to
read this informational RFC when developing implementations of this
standard. You can find it through URL
http://www.dsv.su.se/~jpalme/ietf/mhtml.html.

This standard specifies that body parts to be referenced can be
identified either by a Content-ID (containing a Message-ID value) or by
a Content-Location (containing an arbitrary URL). The reason why this
standard does not only recommend the use of Content-ID-s is that it
should be possible to forward existing web pages via e-mail without
having to rewrite the source text of the web pages. Such rewriting has
several disadvantages, one of them that security checksums will
probably be invalidated.

2.    Terminology

2.1   Conformance requirement terminology

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 [IETF-TERMS].

An implementation is not compliant if it fails to satisfy one or more
of the MUST requirements for the protocols it implements. An
implementation that satisfies all the MUST and all the SHOULD
requirements for its protocols is said to be "unconditionally
compliant"; one that satisfies all the MUST requirements but not all
the SHOULD requirements for its protocols is said to be "conditionally
compliant."

2.2   Other terminology

Most of the terms used in this document are defined in other RFCs.

Absolute URI,         See Relative Uniform Resource Locators [RELURL].
AbsoluteURI
CID                   See Message/External Body Content-ID [MIDCID].

Content-Base          This header was specified in RFC 2110, but has been
                      removed in this new version of the MHTML standard.

Content-ID            See Message/External Body Content-ID [MIDCID].

Content-Location      MIME message or content part header with one URI of
                      the MIME message or content part body, defined in
                      section 4.2 below.

Content-Transfer-Enco Conversion of a text into 7-bit octets as specified
ding                  in [MIME1] chapter 6.

CR                    See [RFC822].

CRLF                  See [RFC822].

Displayed text        The text shown to the user reading a document with
                      a web browser. This may be different from the HTML
                      markup, see the definition of HTML markup below.

Header                Field in a message or content heading specifying
                      the value of one attribute.

Heading               Part of a message or content before the first
                      CRLFCRLF, containing formatted fields with
                      attributes of the message or content.

HTML                  See HTML 2 specification [HTML2].

HTML Aggregate        HTML objects together with some or all objects, to
objects               which the HTML object contains hyperlinks, directly
                      or indirectly.

HTML markup           A file containing HTML encodings as specified in
                      [HTML] which may be different from the displayed
                      text which a person using a web browser sees. For
                      example, the HTML markup may contain "&lt;" where
                      the displayed text contains the character "<".

LF                    See [RFC822].

MIC                   Message Integrity Codes, codes use to verify that a
                      message has not been modified.

MIME                  See the MIME specifications [MIME1 to MIME5].

MUA                   Messaging User Agent.

PDF                   Portable Document Format, see [PDF].

Relative URI,         See HTML 2 [HTML2] and RFC 1808[RELURL].
RelativeURI
URI, absolute and     See RFC 1866 [HTML2].
relative
URL                   See RFC 1738 [URL].

URL, relative         See Relative Uniform Resource Locators [RELURL].

VRML                  See Virtual Reality Markup Language [VRML].

3.    Overview

An aggregate document is a MIME-encoded message that contains a root
resource (object) as well as other resources linked to it via URIs.
These other resources may be required to display a multimedia document
based on the root resource (inline pictures, style sheets, applets,
etc.), or be the root resources of other multimedia documents. It is
important to keep in mind that aggregate documents need to satisfy the
differing needs of several audiences.

Mail sending agents might send aggregate documents as an encoding of
normal day-to-day electronic mail. Mail sending agents might also send
aggregate documents when a user wishes to mail a particular document
from the web to someone else. Finally mail sending agents might send
aggregate documents as automatic responders, providing access to WWW
resources for non-IP connected clients. Also with other protocols such
as HTTP or FTP, there may sometimes be a need to retrieve aggregate
documents. Receiving agents also have several differing needs. Some
receiving agents might be able to receive an aggregate document and
display it just as any other text content type would be displayed.
Others might have to pass this aggregate document to a browsing
program, and provisions need to be made to make this possible.

Finally several other constraints on the problem arise. It is important
that it be possible for a document to be signed and for it to be
transmitted and displayed without breaking the message integrity (MIC)
checksum that is part of the signature.

4.    The Content-Location MIME Content Header

4.1   MIME content headers

In order to resolve URI references to resources in other body parts,
one MIME content header is defined, Content-Location. This header can
occur in any message or content heading.

The syntax for this header is, using the syntax definition tools from
[ABNF]:

quoted-pair      =   ("\" text)

text             =   %d1-9 / ; Characters excluding CR and LF
                     %d11-12 /
                     %d14-127

WSP              =   SP / HTAB ; Whitespace characters

FWS              =   ([*WSP CRLF] 1*WSP) ; Folding white-space

ctext            =   NO-WS-CTL / ; Non-white-space controls
                     %d33-39 / ; The rest of the US-ASCII
                     %d42-91 / ; characters not including "(",
                     %d93-127 ; ")", or "\"

comment          =  "(" *([FWS] (ctext / quoted-pair / comment))
                     [FWS] ")"

CFWS             =   *([FWS] comment) (([FWS] comment) / FWS)

content-location =   "Content-Location:" [CFWS] URI [CFWS]

URI              =   absoluteURI | relativeURI

where URI is restricted to the syntax for URLs as defined in Uniform
Resource Locators [URL] until IETF specifies other kinds of URIs.

4.2   The Content-Location Header

A Content-Location header specifies an URI that labels the content of a
body part in whose heading it is placed. Its value CAN be an absolute
or a relative URI. Any URI or URL scheme may be used, but use of
non-standardized URI or URL schemes might entail some risk that
recipients cannot handle them correctly.

An URI in a Content-Location header need not refer to an resource which
is globally available for retrieval using this URI (after resolution of
relative URIs). However, URI-s in Content-Location headers (if
absolute, or resolvable to absolute URIs) SHOULD still be globally
unique.

A Content-Location header can thus be used to label a resource which is
not retrievable by some or all recipients of a message. For example a
Content-Location header may label an object which is only retrievable
using this URI in a restricted domain, such as within a
company-internal web space. A Content-Location header can even contain
a fictitious URI. Such an URI need not be globally unique.

A single Content-Location header field is allowed in any message or
content heading, in addition to a Content-ID header (as specified in
[MIME1]) and, in Message headings, a Message-ID (as specified in
[RFC822]). All of these constitute different, equally valid body part
labels, and any of them may be used to satisfy a reference to a body
part. Multiple Content-Location header fields in the same message
heading are not allowed.

Example of a multipart/related structure containing body parts with
both Content-Location and Content-ID labels:

   Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="boundary-example";
                 type="text/html"

   --boundary-example

   Content-Type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII

   ... ... <IMG SRC="fiction1/fiction2"> ... ...
   ... ... <IMG SRC="cid:97116092811xyz@foo.bar.net"> ... ...

   --boundary-example
   Content-Type: image/gif
   Content-ID: <97116092511xyz@foo.bar.net>
   Content-Location: fiction1/fiction2

   --boundary-example
   Content-Type: image/gif
   Content-ID: <97116092811xyz@foo.bar.net>
   Content-Location: fiction1/fiction3

   --boundary-example--

4.3   URIs of MHTML aggregates

The URI of an MHTML aggregate is not the same as the URI of its root.
The URI of its root will directly retrieve only the root resource
itself, even if it may cause a web browser to separately retrieve
in-line linked resources. If a Content-Location header field is used in
the heading of a multipart/related, this Content-Location SHOULD apply
to the whole aggregate, not to its root part.

When an URI referring to an MHTML aggregate is used to retrieve this
aggregate, the set of resources retrieved can be different from the set
of resources retrieved using the Content-Locations of its parts. For
example, retrieving an MHTML aggregate may return an old version, while
retrieving the root URI and its in-line linked objects may return a
newer version.

4.4   Encoding and decoding of URIs in MIME header fields

4.4.1 Encoding of URIs containing inappropriate characters

Some documents may contain URIs with characters that are inappropriate
for an RFC 822 header, either because the URI itself has an incorrect
syntax according to [URL] or the URI syntax standard has been changed
to allow characters not previously allowed in MIME headers. These URIs
cannot be sent directly in a message header. If such a URI occurs, all
spaces and other illegal characters in it must be encoded using one of
the methods described in [MIME3] section 4. This encoding MUST only be
done in the header, not in the HTML text. Receiving clients MUST decode
the [MIME3] encoding in the heading before comparing URIs in body text
to URIs in Content-Location headers.

The charset parameter value "US-ASCII" SHOULD be used if the URI
contains no octets outside of the 7-bit range. If such octets are
present, the correct charset parameter value (derived e.g. from
information about the HTML document the URI was found in) SHOULD be
used. If this cannot be safely established, the value "UNKNOWN-8BIT"
[RFC 1428] MUST be used.

Note, that for the matching of URIs in text/html body parts to URIs in
Content-Location headers, the value of the charset parameter is
irrelevant, but that it may be relevant for other purposes, and that
incorrect labeling MUST, therefore, be avoided. Warning: Irrelevance of
the charset parameter may not be true in the future, if different
character encodings of the same non-English filename are used in HTML.

4.4.2 Folding of long URIs

Since MIME header fields have a limited length and long URIs can result
in Content-Location  that exceed this length, Content-Location headers
may have to be folded.

Encoding as discussed in clause 4.4.1 MUST be done before such folding.
After that, the folding can be done, using the algorithm defined in
[URLBODY] section 3.1.

4.4.3 Unfolding and decoding of received URLs in MIME header fields

Upon receipt, folded MIME header fields should be unfolded, and then
any MIME encoding should be removed, to retrieve the original URI.

5.    Base URIs for resolution of relative URIs

Relative URIs inside the contents of MIME body parts are resolved
relative to a base URI using the methods for resolving relative URIs
described in [RELURL]. In order to determine this base URI, the
first-applicable method in the following list applies.

(a) There is a base specification inside the MIME body part containing
    the relative URI which resolves relative URIs into absolute URIs.
    For example, HTML provides the BASE element for this purpose.

(b) There is a Content-Location header in the immediately surrounding
    heading of the body part and it contains an absolute URI. This URI
    can serve as a base in the same way as a requested URI can serve as
    a base for relative URIs within a file retrieved via HTTP [HTTP].

(c) If necessary, step (b) can be repeated recursively to find a
    suitable Content-Location header in a surrounding multi-part and
    message heading.

(d) If the MIME object is returned in a HTTP response, use the
    URI used to initiate the request

(e) When the methods above do not yield an absolute URI, a base URL of
    "this_message:/" MUST be employed. This base URL has been defined
    for the sole purpose of resolving relative references within a
    multipart/related structure when no other base URI is specified.

This is also described in other words in section 8.2 below.

6.    Sending documents without linked objects

If a text/html resource (object) is sent without subsidiary resources,
to which it refers, it MAY be sent by itself. In this case, embedding
it in a multipart/related structure is not necessary.

Such a text/html resource may either contain no URIs, or URIs which the
recipient is expected to retrieve (if possible) via a URI specified
protocol. A text/html resource may also be sent with unresolvable links
in special cases, such as when two authors exchange drafts of
unfinished resources.

Inclusion of URIs referencing resources which the recipient has to
retrieve via an URI specified protocol may not work for some
recipients. This is because not all e-mail recipients have full
Internet connectivity, or because URIs which work for a sender will not
work for a recipient. This occurs, for example, when an URI refers to a
resource within a company-internal network that is not accessible from
outside the company.

7.    Use of the Content-Type "multipart/related"

If a message contains one or more MIME body parts containing URIs and
also contains as separate body parts, resources, to which these URIs
(as defined, for example, in HTML 2.0 [HTML2]) refer, then this whole
set of body parts (referring body parts and referred-to body parts)
SHOULD be sent within a multipart/related structure as defined in
[REL].

Even though headers can occur in a message that lacks an associated a
multipart/related structure, this standard only covers their use for
resolution of URIs between body parts inside a multipart/related
structure. This standard does cover the case where a resource in a
nested multipart/related structure contains URIs that reference MIME
body parts in another  multipart/related structure, in which it is
enclosed. This standard does not cover the case where a resource in a
multipart/related structure contains URIs that reference MIME body
parts in another parallel or nested multipart/related structure, or in
another MIME message, even if methods similar to those described in
this standard are used. Implementers who employ such URIs are warned
that receiving agents implementing this standard may not be able to
process such references.

When the start body part of a multipart/related structure is an atomic
object, such as a text/html resource, it SHOULD be employed as the root
resource of that multipart/related structure. When the start body part
of a multipart/related structure is a multipart/alternative structure,
and that structure contains at least one alternative body part which is
a suitable atomic object, such as a text/html resource, then that body
part SHOULD be employed as the root resource of the aggregate document.
Implementers are warned, however, that some receiving agents treat
multipart/alternative as if it had been multipart/mixed (even though
MIME [MIME1] requires support for multipart/alternative).

[REL] specifies that a type parameter is mandatory in a "Content-Type:
multipart/related" header, and requires that it be employed to specify
the type of the multipart/related start object. Thus, the type
parameter value shall be "multipart/alternative", when the start part
is of "Content-type multipart/alternative", even if the actual root
resource is of type "text/html". In addition, if the multipart/related
start object is not the first body part in a multipart/related
structure, [REL] further requires that its Content-ID MUST be specified
as the value of a start parameter in the "Content-Type:
multipart/related" header.

When rendering a resource in a multipart/related structure, URI
references within that resource can be satisfied by body parts within
the same multipart/related structure. This is useful:

(a) For those recipients who only have email but not full Internet
    access.

(b) For those recipients who for other reasons, such as firewalls or
    the use of company-internal links, cannot retrieve  URI referenced
    resources via URI specified protocols.

    Note, that this means that you can, via e-mail, send text/html
    objects which includes URIs which the recipient cannot resolve via
    HTTP or other connectivity-requiring URIs.

(c) To send a document whose content is preserved even if the
    resources to which embedded URIs refer are later changed
    or deleted.

(d) For resources  which are not available for protocol based
    retrieval.

(e) To speed up access.

When a sending MUA sends objects which were retrieved from the WWW, it
SHOULD maintain their WWW URIs. It SHOULD not transform these URIs into
some other URI form prior to transmitting them. This will allow the
receiving MUA to both verify MICs included with the message, as well as
verify the documents against their WWW counterpoints, if this is
appropriate.

In certain cases this will not work - for example, if a resource
contains URIs as parameters to objects and applets. In such a case, it
might be better to rewrite the document before sending it. This problem
is discussed in more detail in the informational RFC which will be
published as a supplement to this standard.

Within a multipart/related structure, each body part MUST have, if
assigned, a different Content-ID header value and a Content-Location
header field values which resolve to a different URI.

Two body parts in the same multipart/related structure can have the
same relative Content-Location header value, only if when resolved to
absolute URIs they become different.

8.    Usage of Links to Other Body Parts

8.1   General principle

A body part, such as a text/html body part, may contain URIs that
reference resources which are included as body parts in the same
message -- in detail, as body parts within the same multipart/related
structure. Often such URI linked resources are meant to be displayed
inline to the viewer of the referencing body part; for example, objects
referenced with the SRC attribute of the IMG element in HTML 2.0
[HTML2]. New elements and attributes with this property are proposed in
the ongoing development of HTML (examples: applet, frame, profile,
OBJECT, classid, codebase, data, SCRIPT). A sender might also want to
send a set of HTML documents which the reader can traverse, and which
are related with the attribute href of the A element.

If a user retrieves and displays a web page formed from a text/html
resource, and the subsidiary resources it references, and merely saves
the text/html resource, that user may not at a later time be able to
retrieve and display the web page as it appeared when saved. The format
described in this standard can be used to archive and retrieve all of
the resources required to display the web page, as it originally
appeared at a certain moment of time, in one aggregate file.

In order to send or store complete such messages, there is a need to
specify how a URI in one body part can reference a resource in another
body part.

8.2   Resolution of URIs in text/html body parts

The resolution of inline, retrieval and other kinds of URIs in
text/html body parts is performed in the following way:

(a) Unfold multiple line header values according to [URLBODY]. Do NOT
    however translate character encodings of the kind described in
    [URL]. Example: Do not transform "a%2eb/c%20d" into "a/b/c d".

(b) Remove all MIME encodings, such as content-transfer encoding and
    header encodings as defined in MIME part 3 [MIME3] Do NOT however
    translate character encodings of the kind described in [URL].
    Example: Do not transform "a%2eb/c%20d" into "a/b/c d".

(c) Try to resolve all relative URIs in the HTML content and in
    Content-Location headers using the procedure described in chapter
    5 above. The result of this resolution can be an absolute URI,
    or an absolute URI with the base "this_message:/" as specified
    in chapter 5.

(d) For each referencing URI in a text/html body part, compare the
    value of the referencing URI after resolution as described in (a)
    and (b), with the URI derived from Content-ID and Content-Location
    headers for other body parts within the same or a surrounding
    Multipart/related structure. If the strings are identical, octet by
    octet, then the referencing URI references that body part. This
    comparison will only succeed if the two URIs are identical. This
    means that if one of the two URIs to be compared was a fictitious
    absolute URI with the base"this_message:/", the other must also be
    such a fictitious absolute URI, and not resolvable to a real
    absolute URI.

(e) If (d) fails, try to retrieve the URI referenced resource
    hyperlink through ordinary Internet lookup. Resolution of URIs of
    the URL-types "mid" or "cid" to other content-parts, outside the
    same multipart/related structure, or in other separately sent
    messages, is not covered by this standard, and is thus neither
    encouraged nor forbidden.

8.3   Use of the Content-ID header and CID URLs

When URIs employing a CID (Content-ID) scheme as defined in [URL] and
[MIDCID] are used to reference other body parts in an MHTML
multipart/related structure, they MUST only be matched against
Content-ID header values, and not against Content-Location header with
CID: values. Thus, even though the following two headers are identical
in meaning, only the Content-ID value will be matched, and the
Content-Location value will be ignored.

   Content-ID: <foo@bar.net>
   Content-Location: CID: foo@bar.net

Note: Content-IDs MUST be globally unique [MIME1]. It is thus not
permitted to make them unique only within a message or within a single
multipart/related structure.

9.    Examples

Warning: The examples are provided for illustrative purposes only. If
there is a contradiction between the explanatory text and the examples
in this standard, then the explanatory text is normative.

Notation: The examples contain indentation to show the structure, the
real objects should not be indented in this way.

9.1   Example of a HTML body without included linked objects

The first example is the simplest form of an HTML email message. This
message does not contain an aggregate HTML object, but simply a message
with a single HTML body part. This body part contains a URI but the
messages does not contain the resource referenced by that URI. To
retrieve the resource referenced by the URI the receiving client would
need either IP access to the Internet, or an electronic mail web
gateway.

   From: foo1@bar.net
   To: foo2@bar.net
   Subject: A simple example
   Mime-Version: 1.0
   Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit

   <HTML>
   <head></head>
   <body>
   <h1>Acute accent</h1>
   The following two lines look have the same screen rendering:<p>
   E with acute accent becomes É.<br>
   E with acute accent becomes &Eacute;.<p>
   Try clicking <a href="http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/">
   here.</a><p>
   </body></HTML>

9.2   Example with an absolute URI to an embedded GIF picture

The second example is an HTML message which includes a single image,
referenced using the Content-Location mechanism.

   From: foo1@bar.net
   To: foo2@bar.net
   Subject: A simple example
   Mime-Version: 1.0
   Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="boundary-example";
           type="text/html"; start="<foo3@foo1@bar.net>"

   --boundary-example
   Content-Type: text/html;charset=US-ASCII
   Content-ID: <foo3@foo1@bar.net>

   ... text of the HTML document, which might contain a URI
   referencing a resource in another body part, for example
   through a statement such as:
   <IMG SRC="http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/images/ietflogo.gif"
    ALT="IETF logo">

   --boundary-example
   Content-Location:
      http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/images/ietflogo.gif
   Content-Type: IMAGE/GIF
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64

   R0lGODlhGAGgAPEAAP/////ZRaCgoAAAACH+PUNvcHlyaWdodCAoQykgMTk5
   NSBJRVRGLiBVbmF1dGhvcml6ZWQgZHVwbGljYXRpb24gcHJvaGliaXRlZC4A
   etc...

   --boundary-example--

9.3   Example with relative URIs to embedded GIF pictures

In this example, a Content-Location header field in the outermost
heading will be a base to all relative URLs, also inside the HTML text
being sent.

   From: foo1@bar.net
   To: foo2@bar.net
   Subject: A simple example
   Mime-Version: 1.0
   Content-Location: http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/
   Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="boundary-example";
           type="text/html"

   --boundary-example
   Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE

   ... text of the HTML document, which might contain URIs
   referencing resources in other body parts, for example through
   statements such as:

   <IMG SRC="/images/ietflogo1.gif" ALT="IETF logo1">
   <IMG SRC="/images/ietflogo2.gif" ALT="IETF logo2">
   <IMG SRC="/images/ietflogo3.gif" ALT="IETF logo3">

   Example of a copyright sign encoded with Quoted-Printable: =A9
   Example of a copyright sign mapped onto HTML markup: &#168;

   --boundary-example
   Content-Location:
            http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/images/ietflogo1.gif
   ; Note - Absolute Content-Location does not require a
   ; base
   Content-Type: IMAGE/GIF
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64

   R0lGODlhGAGgAPEAAP/////ZRaCgoAAAACH+PUNvcHlyaWdodCAoQykgMTk5
   NSBJRVRGLiBVbmF1dGhvcml6ZWQgZHVwbGljYXRpb24gcHJvaGliaXRlZC4A
   etc...

   --boundary-example
   Content-Location: ietflogo2.gif
   ; Note - Relative Content-Location is resolved by base
   ; specified in the Multipart/Related Content-Location heading
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64

   R0lGODlhGAGgAPEAAP/////ZRaCgoAAAACH+PUNvcHlyaWdodCAoQykgMTk5
   NSBJRVRGLiBVbmF1dGhvcml6ZWQgZHVwbGljYXRpb24gcHJvaGliaXRlZC4A
   etc...

   --boundary-example
   Content-Location:
            http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/images/ietflogo3.gif
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64

   R0lGODlhGAGgAPEAAP/////ZRaCgoAAAACH+PUNvcHlyaWdodCAoQykgMTk5
   NSBJRVRGLiBVbmF1dGhvcml6ZWQgZHVwbGljYXRpb24gcHJvaGliaXRlZC4A
   etc...

   --boundary-example--

9.4   Example with a relative URI and no BASE available

   From: foo1@bar.net
   To: foo2@bar.net
   Subject: A simple example
   Mime-Version: 1.0
   Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="boundary-example";
           type="text/html"

   --boundary-example
   Content-Type: text/html; charset=iso-8859-1
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE

   ... text of the HTML document, which might contain a URI
   referencing a resource in another body part, for example
   through a statement such as:
   <IMG SRC="ietflogo.gif" ALT="IETF logo">
   Example of a copyright sign encoded with Quoted-Printable: =A9
   Example of a copyright sign mapped onto HTML markup: &#168;

   --boundary-example
   Content-Location: ietflogo.gif
   Content-Type: IMAGE/GIF
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64

   R0lGODlhGAGgAPEAAP/////ZRaCgoAAAACH+PUNvcHlyaWdodCAoQykgMTk5
   NSBJRVRGLiBVbmF1dGhvcml6ZWQgZHVwbGljYXRpb24gcHJvaGliaXRlZC4A
   etc...

   --boundary-example--

9.5   Example using CID URL and Content-ID header to an embedded GIF
picture

   From: foo1@bar.net
   To: foo2@bar.net
   Subject: A simple example
   Mime-Version: 1.0
   Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="boundary-example";
           type="text/html"

   --boundary-example
   Content-Type: text/html; charset=US-ASCII

   ... text of the HTML document, which might contain a URI
   referencing a resource in another body part, for example
   through a statement such as:
   <IMG SRC="cid:foo4@foo1@bar.net" ALT="IETF logo">

   --boundary-example
   Content-Location: CID:something@else ; this header is disregarded
   Content-ID: <foo4@foo1@bar.net>
   Content-Type: IMAGE/GIF
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64

   R0lGODlhGAGgAPEAAP/////ZRaCgoAAAACH+PUNvcHlyaWdodCAoQykgMTk5
   NSBJRVRGLiBVbmF1dGhvcml6ZWQgZHVwbGljYXRpb24gcHJvaGliaXRlZC4A
   etc...

   --boundary-example--

9.6   Example showing permitted and forbidden references between nested
body parts

This example shows in which cases references are allowed between
multiple multipart/related body parts in a message.

   From: foo1@bar.net
   To: foo2@bar.net
   Subject: A simple example
   Mime-Version: 1.0
   Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="boundary-example-1";
             type="text/html"

   --boundary-example-1
   Content-Type: text/html;charset=US-ASCII
   Content-ID: <foo3@foo1@bar.net>

   The image reference below will be resolved with the image
   in the next body part.
   <IMG SRC="http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/images/ietflogo.gif"
   ALT="IETF logo with white background">

   The image reference below cannot be resolved within this
   MIME message, since it contains a reference from an outside
   body part to an inside body part, which is not supported
   by this standard.
   <IMG SRC=images/ietflogo2e.gif"
   ALT="IETF logo with transparent background">

   The anchor reference immediately below will be resolved with
   the nested text/html body part below:
   <A HREF="http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/more-info>
   More info</A>

   The anchor reference immediately below will be resolved with
   the nested text/html body part below:
   <A HREF="http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/even-more-info>
   Even more info</A>

   --boundary-example-1
   Content-Location:
            http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/images/ietflogo.gif
   Content-Type: IMAGE/GIF
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64

   R0lGODlhGAGgAPEAAP/////ZRaCgoAAAACH+PUNvcHlyaWdodCAoQykgMTk5
   NSBJRVRGLiBVbmF1dGhvcml6ZWQgZHVwbGljYXRpb24gcHJvaGliaXRlZC4A
   etc...

   --boundary-example-1
   Content-Location:
        http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/more-info
   Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="boundary-example-2";
              type="text/html"
   --boundary-example-2
   Content-Type: text/html;charset=US-ASCII
   Content-ID: <foo4@foo1@bar.net>

   The image reference below will be resolved with the image
   in the surrounding multipart/related above.
   <IMG SRC=images/ietflogo.gif"
   ALT="IETF logo with white background">

   The image reference below will be resolved with the image
   inside the current nested multipart/related below.
   <IMG SRC=images/ietflogo2e.gif"
   ALT="IETF logo with transparent background">

   --boundary-example-2
   Content-Location: http:images/ietflogo2e.gif
   Content-Type: IMAGE/GIF
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64

   R0lGODlhGAGgANX/ACkpKTExMTk5OUJCQkpKSlJSUlpaWmNjY2tra3Nzc3t7e4
   SEhIyMjJSUlJycnKWlpa2trbW1tcDAwM7Ozv/eQnNzjHNzlGtrjGNjhFpae1pa
   etc...

   --boundary-example-2--
   --boundary-example-1
   Content-Location:
              http://www.ietf.cnri.reston.va.us/more-info
   Content-Type: multipart/related; boundary="boundary-example-3";
              type="text/html"
   --boundary-example-3
   Content-Type: text/html;charset=US-ASCII
   Content-ID: <4@foo@bar.net>

   The image reference below will be resolved with the image
   inside the current nested multipart/related below.
   <IMG SRC=images/ietflogo2d.gif"
   ALT="IETF logo with shadows">

   The image reference below cannot be resolved according to
   this standard since references between parallel multipart/
   related structures are not supported.
   <IMG SRC=images/ietflogo2e.gif"
   ALT="IETF logo with transparent background">

   --boundary-example-3
   Content-Location: http:images/ietflogo2d.gif
   Content-Type: IMAGE/GIF
   Content-Transfer-Encoding: BASE64

   R0lGODlhGAGgANX/AMDAwCkpKTExMTk5OUJCQkpKSlJSUlpaWmNjY2tra3Nz
   c3t7e4SEhIyMjJSUlJycnKWlpa2trbW1tb29vcbGxs7OztbW1t7e3ufn5+/v
   etc...

   --boundary-example-3--
   --boundary-example-1--

10.   Character encoding issues and end-of-line issues

For the encoding of characters in HTML documents and other text
documents into a MIME-compatible octet stream, the following mechanisms
are relevant:

-  HTML [HTML2], [HTML-I18N] as an application of SGML [SGML] allows
   characters to be denoted by character entities as well as by numeric
   character references (e.g. "Latin small letter a with acute accent"
   may be represented by "&aacute;" or "&#225;") in the HTML markup.

-  HTML documents, in common with other documents of the MIME
   Content-Type "text", can be represented in MIME using one of several
   character encodings. The MIME Content-Type "charset" parameter value
   indicates the particular encoding used. For the exact meaning and
   use of the "charset" parameter, please see [MIME2] chapter 4.

   Note that the "charset" parameter refers only to the MIME character
   encoding. For example, the string "&aacute;" can be sent in MIME
   with "charset=US-ASCII", while the raw character "Latin small letter
   a with acute accent" cannot.

The above mechanisms are well defined and documented, and therefore not
further explained here. In sending a message, all the above mentioned
mechanisms MAY be used, and any mixture of them MAY occur when sending
the document in MIME format. Receiving user agents (together with any
Web browser they may use to display the document) MUST be capable of
handling any combinations of these mechanisms.

Also note that:

-  Any documents including HTML documents that contain octet values
   outside the 7-bit range need a content-transfer-encoding applied
   before transmission over certain transport protocols [MIME1,
   chapter 5].

-  The MIME standard [MIME2] requires that e-mailed documents of
   "Content-Type: Text/ MUST be in canonical form before a
   Content-Transfer-Encoding is applied, i.e. that line breaks are
   encoded as CRLFs, not as bare CRs or bare LFs or something else.
   This is in contrast to [HTTP] where section 3.6.1 allows other
   representations of line breaks.

Note that this might cause problems with integrity checks based on
checksums, which might not be preserved when moving a document from the
HTTP to the MIME environment. If a document has to be converted in such
a way that a checksum based message integrity check becomes invalid,
then this integrity check header SHOULD be removed from the document.

Other sources of problems are Content-Encoding used in HTTP but not
allowed in MIME, and character sets that are not able to represent line
breaks as CRLF. A good overview of the differences between HTTP and
MIME with regards to Content-Type: "text" can be found in [HTTP],
appendix C.

Some transport mechanisms may specify a default "charset" parameter if
none is supplied [HTTP, MIME1]. Because the default differs for
different mechanisms, when HTML is transferred through e-mail, the
charset parameter SHOULD be included, rather than relying on the
default.

11.   Security Considerations

11.1  Security considerations not related to caching

It is possible for a message sender to misrepresent the source of a
multipart/related body part to a message recipient by labeling it with
a Content-Location URI that references another resource. Therefore,
message recipients should only interpret Content-Location URIs as
labeling a body part for the resolution of references from body parts
in the same multipart/related message structure, and not as the source
of a resource, unless this can be verified by other means.

URIs, especially File URIs, if used without change in a message, may
inadvertently reveal information that was not intended to be revealed
outside a particular security context. Message senders should take care
when constructing messages containing the new header fields, defined in
this standard, that they are not revealing information outside of any
security contexts to which they belong.

Some resource servers hide passwords and tickets (access tokens to
information which should not be reveled to others) and other sensitive
information in non-visible  fields or URIs within a text/html resource.
If such a text/html resource is forwarded in an email message, this
sensitive information may be inadvertently revealed to others.

Since HTML documents can either directly contain executable content
(i.e., JavaScript) or indirectly reference executable content (The
"INSERT" specification, Java). It is exceedingly dangerous for a
receiving User Agent to execute content received in a mail message
without careful attention to restrictions on the capabilities of that
executable content. (Why??? I do not understand this! What
resdtrictions of what capabilities???/jp)

HTML-formatted messages can be used to investigate user behaviour, for
example to break anonymity, in ways which invade the privacy of
individuals. If you send a message with a inline link to an object
which is not itself included in the message, the recipients mailer or
browser may request that object through HTTP. The HTTP transaction will
then reveal who is reading the message. Example: A person who wants to
find out who is behind an anonymous user identity, or from which
workstation a user is reading his mail, can do this by sending a
message with an inline link and then observe from where this link is
used to request the object.

11.2  Security considerations related to caching

There is a well-known problem with the caching of directly retrieved
web resources. A resource retrieved from a cache may differ from that
re-retrieved from its source. This problem, also manifests itself when
a copy of a resource is delivered in a multipart/related structure.

When processing (rendering) a text/html body part in an MHTML
multipart/related structure, all URIs in that text/html body part which
reference subsidiary resources within the same multipart/related
structure SHALL be satisfied by those resources and not by resources
from any another local or remote source.

Therefore, if a sender wishes a recipient to always retrieve an URI
referenced resource from its source, an URI labeled copy of that
resource MUST NOT be included in the same multipart/related structure.

In addition, since the source of a resource received in a
multipart/related structure can be misrepresented (see 11.1 above), if
a resource received in multipart/related structure is stored in a
cache, it MUST NOT be retrieved from that cache other than by a
reference contained in a body part of the same multipart/related
structure. Failure to honor this directive will allow a
multipart/related structure to be employed as a Trojan Horse. For
example, to inject bogus resources (i.e. a misrepresentation of a
competitor's Web site) into a recipient's generally accessible Web
cache.

12.   Differences as compared to the previous version of this proposed
standard in RFC 2110

The specification has been changed to show that the formats described
do not only apply to multipart MIME in email, but also to multipart
MIME transferred through other protocols such as HTTP or FTP.

In order to agree with [RELURL], Content-Location headers in multipart
Content-Headings can now be used as a base to resolve relative URIs in
their component parts, but only if no base URI can be derived from the
component part itself. Base URIs in Content-Location header fields in
inner headings have precedence over base URIs in outer multipart
headings.

The Content-Base header, which was present in RFC 2110, has been
removed. A conservative implementor may choose to accept this header in
input for compatibility with implementations of RFC 2110, but MUST
never send any Content-Base header, since this header is not any more a
part of this standard.

A section 4.4.1 has been added, specifying how to handle the case of
sending a body part whose URI does not agree with the correct URI
syntax.

The handling of relative and absolute URIs for matching between body
parts have been merged into a single description, by specifying that
relative URIs, which cannot be resolved otherwise, should be handled as
if they had been given the URL "this_message:/".

13.   Copyright

Copyright (C) The Internet Society 1998. All Rights Reserved.

This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or
assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and
distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind,
provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this
document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the
copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing
Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined
in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to
translate it into languages other than English.

The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
"AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT
NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL
NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

14.   Acknowledgments

Harald T. Alvestrand, Richard Baker, Isaac Chan, Dave Crocker, Martin
J. Duerst, Lewis Geer, Roy Fielding, Ned Freed, Al Gilman, Paul
Hoffman, Andy Jacobs, Richard W. Jesmajian, Mark K. Joseph, Greg
Herlihy, Valdis Kletnieks, Daniel LaLiberte, Ed Levinson, Jay Levitt,
Albert Lunde, Larry Masinter, Keith Moore, Gavin Nicol, Martyn W. Peck,
Pete Resnick, Jon Smirl, Einar Stefferud, Jamie Zawinski, Steve Zilles
and several other people have helped us with preparing this document. I
alone take responsibility for any errors which may still be in the
document.

15.   References

Ref.            Author, title
---------       --------------------------------------------------------

|ABNF]          D. Rocker, P. Overell: Augmented BNF for Syntax
                Specifications: ABNF, RFC 2234, November 1997.

[CONDISP]       R. Troost, S. Dorner: "Communicating Presentation
                Information in Internet Messages: The
                Content-Disposition Header", RFC 2183, August 1997.

[HOSTS]         R. Braden (editor): "Requirements for Internet Hosts --
                Application and Support", STD-3, RFC 1123, October 1989.

[HTML-I18N]     F. Yergeau, G. Nicol, G. Adams, & M. Duerst:
                "Internationalization of the Hypertext Markup Language".
                RFC 2070, January 1997.

[HTML2]         T. Berners-Lee, D. Connolly: "Hypertext Markup Language
                - 2.0", RFC 1866, November 1995.

[HTML3.2]       Dave Raggett: HTML 3.2 Reference Specification, W3C
                Recommendation, January 1997, at URL
                http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html32.html

[HTTP]          T. Berners-Lee, R. Fielding, H. Frystyk: Hypertext
                Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.0. RFC 1945, May 1996.

[IETF-TERMS]    S. Bradner: Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
                Requirements Levels. RFC 2119, March 1997.

[INFO]          J. Palme: Sending HTML in MIME, an informational
                supplement to the RFC: MIME Encapsulation of Aggregate
                Documents, such as HTML (MHTML), work in progress within
                IETF in April 1998.

[MD5]           R. Rivest: "The MD5 Message-Digest Algorithm", RFC 1321,
                April 1992.

[MIDCID]        E. Levinson: Content-ID and Message-ID Uniform Resource
                Locators", draft-ietf-mhtml-cid-v2-00.txt, July 1997.

[MIME1]         N. Freed, N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
                Extensions (MIME) Part One: Format of Internet Message
                Bodies", RFC 2045, December 1996.
                .
[MIME2]         N. Freed, N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
                Extensions (MIME) Part Two: Media Types", RFC 2046,
                December 1996.

[MIME3]         K. Moore, "MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)
                Part Three: Message Header Extensions for Non-ASCII
                Text", RFC 2047, December 1996.

[MIME4]          N. Freed, J. Klensin, J. Postel, "Multipurpose Internet
                Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Four: Registration
                Procedures", RFC 2048, January 1997.

[MIME5]         "Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) Part Five:
                Conformance Criteria and Examples", RFC 2049, December
                1996.

[NEWS]          M.R. Horton, R. Adams: "Standard for interchange of
                USENET messages", RFC 1036, December 1987.

[PDF]           Tim Bienz and Richar Cohn: "Portable Document Format
                Reference Manual", Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, USA,
                1993, ISBN 0-201-62628-4.

[REL]           Edward Levinson: "The MIME
                Multipart/Related"multipart/related" Content-Type",
                draft-ietf-mhtml-re-v2-00.txt, September 1997.

[RELURL]        R. Fielding: "Relative Uniform Resource Locators", RFC
                1808, June 1995.

[RFC822]        D. Crocker: "Standard for the format of ARPA Internet
                text messages." STD 11, RFC 822, August 1982.

[SGML]          ISO 8879. Information Processing -- Text and Office -
                Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML), 1986.
                <URL:http://www.iso.ch/cate/d16387.html>

[SMTP]          J. Postel: "Simple Mail Transfer Protocol", STD 10, RFC
                821, August 1982.

[URL]           T. Berners-Lee, L. Masinter, M. McCahill: "Uniform
                Resource Locators (URL)", RFC 1738, December 1994.

[URLBODY]       N. Freed and Keith Moore: "Definition of the URL MIME
                External-Body Access-Type", RFC 2017, October 1996.

[VRML]          Gavin Bell, Anthony Parisi, Mark Pesce: "Virtual Reality
                Modeling Language (VRML) Version 1.0 Language
                Specification." May 1995,
                http://www.vrml.org/Specifications/.

[XML]           Extensible Markup Language, published by the World Wide
                Web Consortium, URL http://www.w3.org/XML/

16.   Author's Addresses

For contacting the editors, preferably write to Jacob Palme.

Jacob Palme                    Phone: +46-8-16 16 67
Stockholm University and KTH   Fax: +46-8-783 08 29
Electrum 230                   Email: jpalme@dsv.su.se
S-164 40 Kista, Sweden

Alex Hopmann                   Email: alexhop@microsoft.com
Microsoft Corporation          Phone: +1-425-703-8238
One Microsoft Way
Redmond WA 98052

Nick Shelness                 Email: Shelness@lotus.com
Lotus Development Corporation
55 Cambridge Parkway
Cambridge MA  02142-1295

Working group chairman:

Einar Stefferud               Email: stef@nma.com