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Network Working Group                                          E. HuizerRequest for Comments: 1820                                    SURFnet bvCategory: Informational                                      August 1995Multimedia E-mail (MIME) User Agent ChecklistStatus of this Memo   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  This memo   does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of   this memo is unlimited.Abstract   This document presents a checklist to facilitate evaluation of MIME   capable User Agents. Access to a MIME test-responder, that generates   test-messages is described.Introduction   This document presents a checklist that facilitates evaluation of   MIME capable E-mail User Agents. It is by no means a conformance or   interoperability (both strictly defined and measurable quantities)   checklist, but rather an interworking (practical perspective)   checklist that is aimed at the users and system managers.Usage and submission   If you use this checklist against a specific product (regardless of   whether you're a vendor, implementor or user) you can submit the   result to mime-check@relay.surfnet.nl and this information will be   made available (at no cost) through WWW (to be announced) for other   people to browse through.   Although SURFnet will attempt to verify the correctness of each   submission, all submitted, information is made available as is, with   no guarantees (SURFnet does not take any responsibility for errors in   the data that is made available, or for any damages resulting from   usage of that data). Users who want to procure a UA are advised to   use the data as an orientation, and to perform their own procurement   tests (possibly using the checklist below as a guideline). Also it is   noted that vendors and implementors are encouraged to use the results   from the checklist to improve their products.Huizer                       Informational                      [Page 1]

RFC 1820               MIME User Agent Checklist             August 1995Getting test messages   For several tests in the checklist a test message is required. Test   messages can be requested in the following way: Send mail to <mime-   test@relay.surfnet.nl> with a subject field containing ONE of the   following:   text/plain   text/enriched   image/gif   image/jpeg   audio/basic   video/mpeg   application/octet-stream   application/postscript   message/rfc822   message/partial   message/external   multipart/mixed   multipart/parallel   multipart/digest   multipart/alternative   application/wordperfect5.1   application/msword   application/rtf   X-local      <to test how your UA deals with undefined content-types>   nested    <returns a message that contains nested multipart contents>   iso-8859-1    <returns a message with text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1>   A message containing the requested content-type will be returned to   the address contained in the from field.References   The reader is encouraged to also check out the following references:   The MIME standards:   -   Borenstein N. and N. Freed, "MIME (Multipurpose Internet       Mail Extensions) Part One: Mechanisms for specifying and       describing the format of Internet message bodies",RFC 1521,       Bellcore, Innosoft, September 1993.   -   Moore K., "MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) Part       Two: Message header extensions for non-Ascii text",RFC 1522,       University of Tennessee, September 1993.Huizer                       Informational                      [Page 2]

RFC 1820               MIME User Agent Checklist             August 1995   The registration procedure for content types:   -   Postel J., "Media type registration procedure",RFC 1590,       USC/Information Sciences Institute, March 1994.   Some related informational documents:   -   Borenstein N., "The text/enriched MIME content-type",RFC 1563, Bellcore, October 1994.   -   Borenstein N., "A user agent configuration mechanism for       multimedia mail format information",RFC 1524, Bellcore,       September 1993.   Registered MIME content-types can be found at the following URL:ftp://ftp.isi.edu/in-notes/iana/assignments/media-types/media-types   The SUNet MIME project:http://www.chalmers.se/SUNET/Mac-E.html This   offers evaluation tests reports of MIME products, as well as tests   and test-criteria for MIME implementors.   From Stockholm University a list of user-interface requirments for a   mail/news reader is available under: gopher://mars.dsv.su.se/11/dsv-   reports/research-reports/messaging- researchChecklist for Mime UAs   (note that for items with multiple choice options, it is possible   that more than one option is applicable)   1.  General information:   1.1 The name and version of the product   1.2 The name and addressing information of the manufacturer   1.3 What are the platforms that are supported (Operating system,       GUI and hardware requirements, if applicable: what APIs are       supported (like MAPI etc.))?  [Note: Please use separate       checklist forms for different platforms!!]   1.4 What is the platform that was used for this checklist       (Operating system, GUI and hardware)? [Note: Only one       platform per checklist!!]   1.5 Is the software available in source format or in binary       format or both.   1.6 Pricing information. Is the software available:        - In the Public Domain, free of charge        - As shareware (what is the price?)        - PD for non-profit use, but not for commercial use        - CommerciallyHuizer                       Informational                      [Page 3]

RFC 1820               MIME User Agent Checklist             August 1995   2.  System installation, configuration and management   2.1 How complex/easy is installation and configuration? Are       there any pitfalls that need attention? Can you configure       per set of users (i.e systemwide or LAN wide default       configuration) and/or per user?   2.2 Are there facilities for logging and/or accounting?   2.3 Does the UA generate correctRFC 822 headers for outgoing       messages:       From:, (and if necessary) Sender:       Date:       Message-id:   2.4 Is it possible for a non-priviledged user to change the       "from" and/or "sender" field?   2.5 Does the UA have any size restrictions (default or applied       by system manager) for:       - Message size       - Number of messages       - Number of folders       - Number of messages per folder   2.6 How secure is the users mailbox when using this UA? Can       other non-privileged usets access the mailbox?   2.7 What is the performance of the UA on this platform? (As this       is difficult to measure, give your subjective impression:       slow, reasonable or fast) E.g for:       - Displaying a text message       - Displaying a MIME message that contains an image       - Complex actions like sorting etc.   3.  General UA properties   3.1 Does the UA have a graphical or a character based interface       or both?   3.2 Does the UA support nativeRFC 822/MIME or does it require a       gateway?   3.3 Which protocols are supported for message delivery:        a. SMTP (MX records or static routing to Mailhost)        b. ESMTP        c. POP (which version)        d. IMAP        e. Co-location with specific MTA (which MTA)        f. Other ...............   3.4 Which protocols are supported for message submission:        a. SMTP        b. ESMTP        c. Co-location with specific MTA (which MTA)        d. Other ...............   3.5 Does the UA support the following basic functionalities:        - List messages        - Read messagesHuizer                       Informational                      [Page 4]

RFC 1820               MIME User Agent Checklist             August 1995        - Delete messages        - Compose new messages        - Reply to messages (Inclusion of original message-text in          reply, reply to originator or to any or all recipients          etc.)        - Forward message          o using MIME          o usingRFC 934 encapsulation; i.e.  message is            encapsulated in between:            ------- Forwarded Message  and            ------- End of Forwarded Message          o Other .......        - Distribute message (the from field does not change)   3.6 Does the UA support the following header fields and can they       be supplied by the user:         Generated correctly        Can be supplied by user       - To:       - Cc:       - Bcc:       - From:       - Reply-to:       - Subject:       - Comments:   3.7 Does the UA support filing mail into folders? Are there any       restrictions?   3.8 Does the UA support a filtering mechanism that allows the       user to configure automatic processing of incoming mail       (e.g. automatic filing into specific folders)? If so, how       simple is the configuration of these filters?   3.9 Does the UA support a sorting mechanism that allows the user       to sort mail on date and/or subject and/or from field etc?       If so describe the possibilities and restrictions.   3.10 Does the UA support address lists and/or directory services?        - Local (local address list, local aliases, local distribution                 lists etc.)        - Whois++        - Ph (to CCSO server)        - LDAP or SOLO or other access protocols to a directory          service        - Other .....   3.11 What other non-multimedia facilities does the UA support?   3.12 What secure mail protocols does the UA support (in-line):       - PEM (Privacy Enhanced Mail)       - PGP (Pretty Good Privacy)       - Other.....Huizer                       Informational                      [Page 5]

RFC 1820               MIME User Agent Checklist             August 1995   4.  MIME support   4.1 Does the UA support:       - viewing a MIME content (either in-line or through launching         an external viewer)?       - saving a MIME content in a file?       - saving one part of a multipart message in a file?       - printing a MIME content?   4.2 Does the UA support receipt of the following basic MIME       content types? Does it display them in-line and does it       support printing of such a content type? If an external       viewer is needed, is a viewer pre-configured? Is the viewer       included in the software distribution?       In-line Printing External Preconfig Included       - text/plain       - text/enriched       - image/gif       - image/jpeg       - audio/basic       - video/mpeg       - application/octet-stream       - application/postscript       - message/rfc822       - message/partial       Does the UA support ftp and/or mail access for:       - message/external       Describe how the UA supports the basic multipart types:       - multipart/mixed       - multipart/parallel       - multipart/digest       - multipart/alternative       How does the UA handle:       - X-<bilateraly defined>       - unknown/unconfigured content-types   4.3 Does the UA allow configuration for receipt of additional       content-types? If so describe the configuration procedure       and possibilities. (Is it complex/easy, give example       configuration, can you add external viewers etc.). E.g.       - application/wordperfect5.1       - application/msword   4.4 Does the UA support composition of the following basic MIME       content types? Describe how easy/complex composition of a       message with a MIME content-type is.       - text/plain       - text/enriched       - image/gif       - image/jpeg       - audio/basic       - video/mpegHuizer                       Informational                      [Page 6]

RFC 1820               MIME User Agent Checklist             August 1995       - application/octet-stream       - application/postscript       - message/rfc822       - message/partial       - message/external       - multipart/mixed       - multipart/parallel       - multipart/digest       - multipart/alternative       Does the UA generate X-<bilaterally defined> content-types       (when and why)   4.5 Does the UA support compostion of additional content-types?       If so describe how to do this (configuration and/or       compostion), e.g.:       - application/wordperfect5.1       - application/msword   4.6 What content-encodings does the UA support:       - 7bit       - quoted printable       - base64       - binary       - 8bit       - X-<bilateraly defined> (when and why)   4.7 What encoding is used for the following content-types:         7bit QP   B64   Binary 8-bit Other       - text/plain       - text/enriched       - image/gif       - image/jpeg       - audio/basic       - video/mpeg       - application/octet-stream       - application/postscript       - message/rfc822       - message/partial       - message/external       - multipart/mixed       - multipart/parallel       - multipart/digest       - multipart/alternative   4.8 Does the UA generate the correct Mime version header:       Mime-Version: 1.0   4.9 In multipart messages, give an example of the sort of       boundary string generated.   4.10 Does the UA support the use of non-ascii characters in the        headers (in subject, free form part of address etc.)?   4.11 With the content type text/plain it is possible to have a charset        parameter, indicating that a specific character set is used inHuizer                       Informational                      [Page 7]

RFC 1820               MIME User Agent Checklist             August 1995        the content type text plain. What character sets (like        iso-8859-1) does the UA support (standard or configurable)?Security Considerations   Testing a MIME UA against this checklist involves the security risks   that are described in the MIME specification (RFC 1521). Most notably   the automatic execution of general-purpose PostScript interpreters   entails serious security risks. The reader is encouraged to readRFC1521 for more detail on these security risks.Author's Address   Erik Huizer   SURFnet bv   P.O. Box 19035   3501 DA  Utrecht   The Netherlands   Phone: +31 30 305305   Fax: +31 30 305329   EMail: Erik.Huizer@SURFnet.nlHuizer                       Informational                      [Page 8]