The CyptoMail XMAP (Xml Messaging Access Protocol) Specification
Joshua Teitelbaum (joshuat@cryptomail.org)
Version 0.90
April 22, 2000
Introduction
The intention of this document is to specify in full detail, a way to access files and messages from a server via an intuitive XML like protocol. Much work has already gone into doing such tasks, the like the IMAP protocol and implementation, however the focus of this document is provide a subset of the functionality put forth in that specification, and to use XML as the protocol of all messages passed between entities.
What an XMAP server is intended to do?
In short, an XMAP server is intended to provide simple mail and file system services via passing XML messages.
An XMAP server MUST:
- Have a concept of users which partition the "File System" universe
- Allow an agent to list all folders
- Allow an agent to list the contents of a particular folder
- Allow an agent to retrieve a file within a folder
- Allow an agent to delete a file from a folder
- Allow an agent to copy files from one folder to another
- Allow an agent to move files from one folder to another
- Allow an agent to rename a folder
- Allow an agent to rename a file
- Allow an agent to move a folder
- Allow an agent to delete a folder
- Allow an agent to create a folder
- Allow an agent to create/upload a file within a folder
- Allow an agent to send a message
XMAP XML Data Dictionary
XMAP uses a common theme for manipulating files, directories, and messages. The following represents some of the common protocol elements:
FOLDER Tag
MESSAGEHEADER Tag
<MESSAGEHEADER MessageHandle="MessageHandle" MessageFlags="MessageStatus" MessageDate="MessageDate" MessageFrom="MessageFrom" MessageTo="MessageTo" MessageSubject="MessageSubject" MessageAttachments="MessageAttachments" MessageLength="MessageLength" MessageSessionKey="MessageSessionKey"/>
- MessageHandle is an unsigned long in a string format
- MessageStatus can assume one of these values: READ, NEW, ANSWERED, FORWARDED, DRAFT
- MessageDate is a date
- MessageFrom is from whom the message originated
- MessageTo is to whom the message is intended
- MessageSubject is the subject of the message
- MessageAttachments are the number of attachments with the message
- MessageLength is the length of the message
- MessageSessionKey is the publicly encrypted blowfish session key of the message (This is not truly needed here unless we decide to encrypt some of the meta-data) Internal emails that would not necessarily require the use of an SMTP agent may benefit from the added security of encryption of recipients, subject etc., but it should be noted that the current implemenation makes no such distinction between internal and external recipents, and this feature is not used for decrypting any of the quick listing fields in this table)
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FILEHEADER Tag
<FILEHEADER Name="Name" Date="Date" Length="Length" Key="Key"/>
- Name is the full path of the file
- Date is a date
- Length is the length of the file
- Key is the ElGamal (or Asymmetrically) encrypted blowfish (or Symmetric) key used to decrypt the file TBD(key specifiers via key meta-data attributes: Asym="ElGamal" | "RSA" Sym="BlowfishCBC" | "TwoFish"...)
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XMAP Commands
- LISTALLFOLDERS
- LISTFOLDER
- GETFILE
- GETMESSAGE
- DELETEFILE
- DELETEMESSAGE
- DELETEITEMS
- EMPTYFOLDER
- MOVEFILE
- MOVEMESSAGE
- MOVEITEMS
- COPYFILE
- COPYMESSAGE
- COPYITEMS
- NEWFILEUPLOAD
- NEWMESSAGEUPLOAD
- UPDATEMESSAGEUPLOAD
- UPDATEFILEUPLOAD
- CREATEFOLDER
- RENAMEFOLDER
- MOVEFOLDER
- SENDMAIL
Client Messages To The Server
| COMMAND |
DESCRIPTION |
XML SCHEMA |
| LISTALLFOLDERS |
Lists all the folders that belong to the user |
<LISTALLFOLDERS/> |
| LISTFOLDER |
Lists the folder with "Name" |
<LISTFOLDER Name="TargetFolder"/> |
| GETFILE |
Retrieves a file from the system |
<GETFILE Name="Full Path"/> |
| GETMESSAGE |
Retrieves a message from the system |
<GETMESSAGE MessageHandle="Handle"/> |
| DELETEFILE |
Deletes a file from the system |
<DELETEFILE Name="Full Path"/> |
| DELETEMESSAGE |
Deletes a message from the system |
<DELETEMESSAGE MessageHandle="Handle"/> |
| DELETEITEMS |
Deletes a group of items, messages or files, specified by the child nodes. |
<DELETEITEMS>
<DELETEMESSAGE MessageHandle="MessageHandle"/>
<DELETEFILE Name="Full Path"/>
</DELETEITEMS> |
| EMPTYFOLDER |
Removes all folder contents regardless of itemized specification |
<EMPTYFOLDER Name="Full Path"/> |
| MOVEFILE |
Moves a file |
<MOVEFILE Name="Full Path" TargetFolder="Full Path"/> |
| MOVEMESSAGE |
Moves a message |
<MOVEMESSAGE MessageHandle="Handle" TargetFolder="Full Path"/> |
| MOVEITEMS |
Moves a group of items, messages or files, specified by the child nodes. |
<MOVEITEMS>
<MOVEMESSAGE MessageHandle="MessageHandle" TargetFolder="Full Path"/>
<MOVEFILE Name="Full Path" TargetFolder="Full Path"/>
</MOVEITEMS> |
| COPYFILE |
Copies a file |
<COPYFILE Name="Full Path" TargetFolder="Full Path"/> |
| COPYMESSAGE |
Copies a message |
<COPYMESSAGE MessageHandle="Handle" TargetFolder=Full Path"/> |
| COPYITEMS |
Copies a group of items, messages or files, specified by the child nodes. |
<COPYITEMS>
<COPYMESSAGE MessageHandle="MessageHandle" TargetFolder="Full Path"/>
<COPYFILE Name="Full Path" TargetFolder="Full Path"/>
</COPYITEMS> |
| NEWFILEUPLOAD |
Uploads a file |
<NEWFILEUPLOAD Name="Full Path" TargetFolder="Full Path"/>
<?GOREALLYSLOW?>
</NEWFILEUPLOAD> BLOB DATA |
| NEWMESSAGEUPLOAD |
Uploads a new message |
<NEWMESSAGEUPLOAD TargetFolder="Full Path" MessageFlags="FLAGS"/>
<?GOREALLYSLOW?>
</NEWMESSAGEUPLOAD> BLOB DATA |
| UPDATEMESSAGEUPLOAD |
Updates an existing message |
<UPDATEMESSAGEUPLOAD MessageHandle="Handle" MessageFlags="FLAGS"/>
<?GOREALLYSLOW?>
</UPDATEMESSAGEUPLOAD> BLOB DATA |
| UPDATEFILEUPLOAD |
Updates an existing file |
<UPDATEFILEUPLOAD Name="Full Path" FileKey="File Key"/>
<?GOREALLYSLOW?>
</UPDATEFILEUPLOAD> BLOB DATA |
| CREATEFOLDER |
Creates a folder |
<CREATEFOLDER Name="Full Path"/> |
| RENAMEFOLDER |
Renames a folder |
<RENAMEFOLDER Name="Full Path" Destination="Full Path"/> |
| MOVEFOLDER |
Moves a folder |
<MOVEFOLDER Name="Full Path" Destination="Full Path"/> |
| SENDMAIL |
Sends Mail via SMTP and deletes existing message handle if present, and makes a copy and puts it into the target folder if present. |
<SENDMAIL MessageHandle="Existing Message Handle" TargetFolder="Full Path of where to be copied"/>
<?GOREALLYSLOW?>
</SENDMAIL> BLOB DATA |
Some notes:
For the file manipulation commands (NEWFILEUPLOAD, UPDATEFILEUPLOAD), BLOB DATA must be treated as raw binary data, while the message commands (NEWMESSAGEUPLOAD, UPDATEMESSAGEUPLOAD) BLOB DATA must be encapsulated within a MIME package. The server will interpret the contents of the MIME encapsulated BLOB in order to fill out some of the Meta-Data of the message in the server's DataTables.
Server Responses To The Client
| COMMAND |
DESCRIPTION |
XML SCHEMA |
| LISTALLFOLDERS |
Lists all the folders that belong to the user |
<XMAPROOT>
<LISTALLFOLDERS>
<FOLDER Name="Full Path"/>
</LISTALLFOLDERS>
</XMAPROOT> |
| LISTFOLDER |
Lists the folder with "Name" |
<XMAPROOT>
<LISTFOLDER Name="TargetFolder">
<MESSAGEHEADER MessageHandle="MessageHandle" MessageFlags="MessageStatus" MessageDate="MessageDate" MessageFrom="MessageFrom" MessageTo="MessageTo" MessageSubject="MessageSubject" MessageAttachments="MessageAttachments" MessageLength="MessageLength" MessageSessionKey="MessageSessionKey"/>
<FILEHEADER Name="Name" Date="Date" Length="Length" Key="Key"/>
</LISTFOLDER>
</XMAPROOT> |
| GETFILE |
Retrieves a file from the system |
BLOB DATA |
| GETMESSAGE |
Retrieves a message from the system |
BLOB DATA |
| DELETEFILE |
Deletes a file from the system |
<XMAPROOT>
<DELETEFILE Name="Full Path"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
| DELETEMESSAGE |
Deletes a message from the system |
<XMAPROOT>
<DELETEMESSAGE MessageHandle="Handle"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
| DELETEITEMS |
Deletes a group of items, messages or files, specified by the child nodes. |
<XMAPROOT>
<DELETEITEMS>
<DELETEMESSAGE MessageHandle="MessageHandle"/>
<DELETEFILE Name="Full Path"/>
</DELETEITEMS>
</XMAPROOT> |
| EMPTYFOLDER |
Removes all folder contents regardless of itemized specification |
<XMAPROOT>
<EMPTYFOLDER Name="Full Path"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
| MOVEFILE |
Moves a file |
<XMAPROOT>
<MOVEFILE Name="Full Path" TargetFolder="Full Path"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
| MOVEMESSAGE |
Moves a message |
<XMAPROOT>
<MOVEMESSAGE MessageHandle="Handle" TargetFolder="Full Path"/;>
</XMAPROOT> |
| MOVEITEMS |
Moves a group of items, messages or files, specified by the child nodes. |
<XMAPROOT>
<MOVEITEMS>
<MOVEMESSAGE MessageHandle="MessageHandle" TargetFolder="Full Path"/>
<MOVEFILE Name="Ful lPath" TargetFolder="Full Path"/>
</MOVEITEMS>
</XMAPROOT> |
| COPYFILE |
Copies a file |
<COPYFILE Name="Full Path" TargetFolder="Full Path"/> |
| COPYMESSAGE |
Copies a message |
<XMAPROOT>
<COPYMESSAGE MessageHandle="Handle" TargetFolder=Full Path">
</XMAPROOT> |
| COPYITEMS |
Copies a group of items, messages or files, specified by the child nodes. |
<XMAPROOT>
<COPYITEMS>
<COPYMESSAGE MessageHandle="MessageHandle" TargetFolder="Full Path"/>
<COPYFILE Name="Full Path" TargetFolder="Full Path"/>
</COPYITEMS>
</XMAPROOT> |
| NEWFILEUPLOAD |
Uploads a file |
<XMAPROOT>
<NEWFILEUPLOAD Name="Full Path"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
| NEWMESSAGEUPLOAD |
Uploads a new message |
<XMAPROOT>
<NEWMESSAGEUPLOAD MessageHandle="Message Handle"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
| UPDATEMESSAGEUPLOAD |
Updates an existing message |
<XMAPROOT>
<UPDATEMESSAGEUPLOAD MessageHandle="Handle"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
| UPDATEFILEUPLOAD |
Updates an existing file |
<XMAPROOT>
<UPDATEFILEUPLOAD Name="Full Path"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
| CREATEFOLDER |
Creates a folder |
<XMAPROOT>
<CREATEFOLDER Name="Full Path"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
| RENAMEFOLDER |
Renames a folder |
<XMAPROOT>
<RENAMEFOLDER Name="Folder Name"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
| MOVEFOLDER |
Moves a folder |
<XMAPROOT>
<MOVEFOLDER Name="Full Path"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
| SENDMAIL |
Sends Mail via SMTP and deletes existing message handle if present, and makes a copy and puts it into the target folder if present. |
<XMAPROOT>
<SENDMAIL MessageHandle="Handle if copied"/>
</XMAPROOT> |
Legalese
All trademarks and logos are used for identification purposes only and are owned by their respective companies. CryptoMail.org does not guarantee any satisfaction and does not provide any warranties about this document (The CyptoMail XMAP Specification). This document is posted as public domain information. If you decide to quote any information from this document, you must attribute and state the source of this document. Copyright © 2000 CryptoMail, Inc. All rights reserved.
Joshua Teitelbaum (joshuat@cryptomail.org) wrote the first version of this document in 2000. Mail me if you have any questions about this document.
The CyptoMail XMAP Specification, Version 0.90, 4/22/2000
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