Internet DRAFT - draft-ietf-calext-subscription-upgrade

draft-ietf-calext-subscription-upgrade







Network Working Group                                        M. Douglass
Internet-Draft                                          15 February 2024
Updates: 5545 (if approved)                                             
Intended status: Standards Track                                        
Expires: 18 August 2024


                     Calendar subscription upgrades
               draft-ietf-calext-subscription-upgrade-09

Abstract

   This specification updates RFC5545 to add the value DELETED to the
   STATUS property.

   This specification also adds values to the Preferences Registry
   defined in RFC7240 to add the subscribe-enhanced-get and limit
   preferences and to the link relations directory defined in RFC8288.

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF).  Note that other groups may also distribute
   working documents as Internet-Drafts.  The list of current Internet-
   Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.

   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."

   This Internet-Draft will expire on 18 August 2024.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2024 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.











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   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
   license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.  Code Components
   extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
   described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are
   provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     2.1.  Terms and Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Discovering alternative access methods  . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Enhanced GET  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.1.  General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.2.  Deletions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.3.  Paging the response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.4.  Caching of responses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     4.5.  Examples  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   5.  Changes to the iCalendar specifications . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     5.1.  Redefined Status property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
   6.  Header Field: Sync-Token  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   7.  New Prefer header field preferences . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     7.1.  Preference subscribe-enhanced-get . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     7.2.  Preference limit  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   8.  Link relations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     8.1.  General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     8.2.  subscribe-caldav  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     8.3.  subscribe-caldav-auth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     8.4.  subscribe-webdav-sync . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     8.5.  subscribe-enhanced-get  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   9.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   10. Privacy Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   11. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     11.1.  Sync-Token HTTP Header Field Registration  . . . . . . .  13
     11.2.  Preference Registrations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     11.3.  Link Relation Registrations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
   12. Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
   Appendix A.  Open issues  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   Appendix B.  Change log . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15








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1.  Acknowledgements

   The author would also like to thank the members of the CalConnect
   Calendar Sharing technical committee and the following individuals
   for contributing their ideas and support:

   Marten Gajda, Ken Murchison, Garry Shutler

   The authors would also like to thank CalConnect, the Calendaring and
   Scheduling Consortium, for advice with this specification.

2.  Introduction

   Currently, clients subscribe to calendar feeds as an iCalendar file
   which is often published as a resource accessible using the
   unofficial 'webcal' scheme.

   The only available option for updating that resource is the usual
   HTTP polling of cached resources using Etags or Last-Modified.

   There is the usual tension between clients wishing to see a timely
   response to changes and servers not wishing to be overloaded by
   frequent requests for possibly large amounts of data.

   This specification introduces an approach whereby clients can
   discover a more performant access method.  Given the location of the
   resource as an iCalendar file, the client can perform a HEAD request
   on the resource and inspect the returned headers which will offer a
   number of alternative access methods.

   Given that many clients and servers already support CalDAV this
   provides an easy upgrade path for those clients.  Additionally, an
   enhanced GET protocol is specified here to allow a lightweight
   implementation.

   The use of subscription upgrade may help reduce load on servers, but
   perhaps more importantly it allows mobile devices to use a more
   efficient update mechanism, reducing data transferred and presumably
   improving battery life.

2.1.  Terms and Definitions

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
   "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP
   14 [RFC2119] [RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
   capitals, as shown here.




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   Additionally, the rule for URI is included from [RFC3986].

3.  Discovering alternative access methods

   The advertising of other access points is achieved through the use of
   the LINK header as defined in [RFC8288].  New link relation types are
   defined in this specification - each being associated with a protocol
   or protocol subset.

   These LINK headers will be delivered when a client carries out a HEAD
   request targeting the URL of the resource.

   EXAMPLE

   This is an example of a HEAD request and the response from a server
   that supports the enhanced GET method.

       >> Request <<

       HEAD /caldata/events.ics HTTP/1.1
       Host: example.com
       Accept: text/calendar

       >> Response <<

       HTTP/1.1 200 OK
       Content-Length: xxxx
       Link: <https://example.com/subscribe/events.ics>;
                    rel="subscribe-enhanced-get"

   Note that the target for an upgraded service may be the same as for
   the initial resource.

4.  Enhanced GET

4.1.  General

   This is a lightweight protocol which allows simple clients to
   efficiently discover and download changes in the targeted resource.

   It has many similarities to WebDAV sync and for a server could be
   implemented as an extension of the specification.

   In this protocol the client MUST include the Prefer header field
   preference "subscribe-enhanced-get".  If a sync token is available it
   is passed as a Sync-Token header field.





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   The resource is treated as a set of individual events each of which
   may be updated or deleted separately.  The client will first fetch
   the entire iCalendar file.  On subsequent requests it uses the Prefer
   header field and a Sync-Token header field to indicate that it wants
   a set of changes since the last fetch.

   If no Sync-Token header field is supplied or thetoken is invalid the
   server MUST respond with a full set of data and SHOULD set the
   Preference-Applied header field and a new Sync-Token header field
   value.

   Otherwise, (the token is valid), it SHOULD return with a set of
   changed entities and MUST set the Preference-Applied header field and
   a new Sync-Token header field value.

   When a server receives an invalid token it MUST return a 409 status
   (Conflict).  The server MAY choose to return an error message in the
   body.

   The client MUST respond to this error by restarting the interaction
   from scratch, i.e. retrieve the full set of data then poll for
   updates.

4.2.  Deletions

   When an entity (VEVENT, VTODO or other valid top-level component) is
   deleted from the source data the server needs to be able to inform a
   client of the deletion.  This specification introduces a new value
   for the STATUS property of DELETED.

   On the first enhanced GET after the entity has been deleted a
   skeleton, but valid, entity will be returned with STATUS: DELETED.
   The receiving client is free to remove the entity or update its
   STATUS property.

   On subsequent fetches the entity will not be returned.

4.3.  Paging the response

   A client may explicitly request a limit on the size of the response
   by specifying the Prefer header field preference "limit=n" where n is
   the number of components.









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   When a server receives a request specifying such a limit it SHOULD
   limit the response to that number of components.  If the limit causes
   a truncation in the response the server should respond with a
   Preference-Applied header specifying the limit that was applied and
   return a sync token which may be used to retrieve the next batch of
   data.

   This allows the client to immediately resubmit a request for the next
   batch using the updated token.

   A server MAY choose to limit the response size.  The behavior MUST be
   as if the client had provided a preference for that size - allowing
   the client to retrieve the full set of data in batches.

4.4.  Caching of responses

   To enable proper caching of responses the server SHOULD provide a
   vary header field in responses that names the Prefer and Sync-Token
   header fields along with any other that are appropriate.

   Clients should order the preferences as following so that identical
   responses can be identified:

   *  subscribe-enhanced-get

   *  limit

4.5.  Examples

   EXAMPLE 1

   This is an example of the initial request and response from a server
   that supports the enhanced GET method.  Note the use of the Vary
   header so a caching proxy can key off the client's Sync-Token and
   preference.
















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       >> Request <<

       GET /events.ics HTTP/1.1
       Host: example.com
       Accept: text/calendar
       Prefer: subscribe-enhanced-get

       >> Response <<

       HTTP/1.1 200 OK
       Content-Length: xxxx
       Sync-Token: "data:,1234567"
       Preference-Applied: subscribe-enhanced-get
       Vary: Prefer, Sync-Token

       BEGIN:VCALENDAR:
       ?  /* full feed */
       END:VCALENDAR

   EXAMPLE 2

   This is an example of the subsequent request and response when no
   changes have occurred.

       >> Request <<

       GET /events.ics HTTP/1.1
       Host: example.com
       Accept: text/calendar
       Prefer: subscribe-enhanced-get
       Sync-Token: "data:,1234567"

       >> Response <<

       HTTP/1.1 304 Not Modified
       Content-Length: 0
       Sync-Token: "data:,1234567"
       Preference-Applied: subscribe-enhanced-get
       Vary: Prefer, Sync-Token

   EXAMPLE 3

   This is an example of the subsequent request and response for an old
   or invalid token.







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   >> Request <<

       GET /events.ics HTTP/1.1
       Host: example.com
       Accept: text/calendar
       Sync-Token: "data:,1234567"
       Prefer: subscribe-enhanced-get

       >> Response <<

       HTTP/1.1 409 Conflict
       Content-Length: xxxx
       Preference-Applied: subscribe-enhanced-get

   EXAMPLE 4

   This is an example of the subsequent request and response when
   changes have occurred.

   >> Request <<

       GET /events.ics HTTP/1.1
       Host: example.com
       Accept: text/calendar
       Sync-Token: "data:,1234567"
       Prefer: subscribe-enhanced-get

       >> Response <<

       HTTP/1.1 200 OK
       Content-Type: text/calendar
       Vary: Prefer, Sync-Token
       Sync-Token: "data:,4567890"
       Preference-Applied: subscribe-enhanced-get

       BEGIN:VCALENDAR:
       ... only new/changed events
       ... deleted events have STATUS:DELETED
       END:VCALENDAR

5.  Changes to the iCalendar specifications

   This specification updates [RFC5545] to add the value DELETED to the
   STATUS property.







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5.1.  Redefined Status property

   Property name  STATUS

   Purpose  This property defines the overall status or confirmation for
      the calendar component.

   Value Type  TEXT

   Property Parameters  IANA and non-standard property parameters can be
      specified on this property.

   Conformance  This property can be specified once in "VEVENT",
      "VTODO", or "VJOURNAL" calendar components.

   Description  In a group-scheduled calendar component, the property is
      used by the "Organizer" to provide a confirmation of the event to
      the "Attendees".  For example in a "VEVENT" calendar component,
      the "Organizer" can indicate that a meeting is tentative,
      confirmed, or cancelled.  In a "VTODO" calendar component, the
      "Organizer" can indicate that an action item needs action, is
      completed, is in process or being worked on, or has been
      cancelled.  In a "VJOURNAL" calendar component, the "Organizer"
      can indicate that a journal entry is draft, final, or has been
      cancelled or removed.

   Format Definition

   This property is defined by the following notation:






















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   status          = "STATUS" statparam ":" statvalue CRLF

   statparam       = *(";" other-param)

   statvalue       = (statvalue-event
                   /  statvalue-todo
                   /  statvalue-jour)

   statvalue-event = "TENTATIVE"    ;Indicates event is tentative.
                   / "CONFIRMED"    ;Indicates event is definite.
                   / "CANCELLED"    ;Indicates event was cancelled.
                   / "DELETED"      ;Indicates event was deleted.
   ;Status values for a "VEVENT"

   statvalue-todo  = "NEEDS-ACTION" ;Indicates to-do needs action.
                   / "COMPLETED"    ;Indicates to-do completed.
                   / "IN-PROCESS"   ;Indicates to-do in process of.
                   / "CANCELLED"    ;Indicates to-do was cancelled.
                   / "DELETED"      ;Indicates to-do was deleted.
   ;Status values for "VTODO".

   statvalue-jour  = "DRAFT"        ;Indicates journal is draft.
                   / "FINAL"        ;Indicates journal is final.
                   / "CANCELLED"    ;Indicates journal is removed.
                   / "DELETED"      ;Indicates journal was deleted.
   ;Status values for "VJOURNAL".

   Example

   EXAMPLE 1

   The following is an example of this property for a "VEVENT" calendar
   component:

   STATUS:TENTATIVE

   EXAMPLE 2

   The following is an example of this property for a "VTODO" calendar
   component:

   STATUS:NEEDS-ACTION

   EXAMPLE 3

   The following is an example of this property for a "VJOURNAL"
   calendar component:




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   STATUS:DRAFT

6.  Header Field: Sync-Token

   This specification defines a new header field Sync-Token for use by
   the enhanced GET method.

       Sync-Token = DQUOTE URI DQUOTE

   The value MUST be a URI.  This will generally be a data URI
   representing an opaque token.  Client MUST not attempt to interpret
   the data URI value.

   EXAMPLE

   This is an example of the Sync-Token header field:

       Sync-Token: "data:,1234567"

7.  New Prefer header field preferences

7.1.  Preference subscribe-enhanced-get

   This indicates that the client expects the server to handle the GET
   method according to the specifications for enhanced get.

       pref-subscribe-enhanced-get = "subscribe-enhanced-get"

7.2.  Preference limit

   This preference parameter provides a limit on the number of
   components returned for enhanced get.

       pref-limit = "limit" BWS "=" BWS 1*DIGIT

8.  Link relations

8.1.  General

   This clause defines a number of new link relations required to
   facilitate subscription upgrades.

8.2.  subscribe-caldav

   This specifies an access point which is a full implementation of
   caldav but requires no authentication.  The end point allows the full
   range of reports as defined by the CalDAV specification.




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   The client MUST follow the specification to determine exactly what
   operations are allowed on the access point - for example to determine
   if DAV:sync-collection is supported.

   The URL MAY include some form of token to allow write access to the
   targeted collection.  The client must check its permissions to
   determine whether it has been granted write access.

8.3.  subscribe-caldav-auth

   This specifies an access point which is a full implementation of
   caldav and requires authentication.  This may allow read-write access
   to the resource.

   The client MUST follow the specification to determine exactly what
   operations are allowed on the access point - for example to determine
   if DAV:sync-collection is supported.

8.4.  subscribe-webdav-sync

   This specifies an access point which supports only webdav sync.

   This allows the client to issue a DAV:sync-collection report on the
   resource to obtain updates.

   The client MUST follow that specification.

8.5.  subscribe-enhanced-get

   This specifies an access point which supports something new.

   The client MUST follow that specification.

9.  Security Considerations

   Applications using these properties need to be aware of the risks
   entailed in using the URIs provided as values.  See [RFC3986] for a
   discussion of the security considerations relating to URIs.

10.  Privacy Considerations

   Properties with a "URI" value type can expose their users to privacy
   leaks as any network access of the URI data can be tracked.  Clients
   SHOULD NOT automatically download data referenced by the URI without
   explicit instruction from users.  This specification does not
   introduce any additional privacy concerns beyond those described in
   [RFC5545].




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11.  IANA Considerations

11.1.  Sync-Token HTTP Header Field Registration

   This specification updates the "Message Headers" registry entry for
   "Sync-Token" in [RFC3864] to refer to this document.

   Header Field Name: Sync-Token
   Protocol: http
   Status: standard
   Reference: <this-document>

                                  Figure 1

11.2.  Preference Registrations

   The following preferences have been added to the HTTP Preferences
   Registry defined in [RFC7240]

   Preference  subscribe-enhanced-get

   Value  None.

   Description  Marks the interaction as enhanced get and provides the
      optional sync-token and page size.

   Reference  this document

   Preference  limit

   Value  An integer page size.

   Description  Provide a limit on the number of components in the
      response.

   Reference  this document

11.3.  Link Relation Registrations

   The following link relation values have been added to the Reference
   Types Registry defined in Section 6.2.2 of [RFC8288]:










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          +========================+=============+=============+
          | Relation Name          | Description | Reference   |
          +========================+=============+=============+
          | subscribe-caldav       | Current     | Section 8.2 |
          +------------------------+-------------+-------------+
          | subscribe-caldav_auth  | Current     | Section 8.3 |
          +------------------------+-------------+-------------+
          | subscribe-webdav-sync  | Current     | Section 8.4 |
          +------------------------+-------------+-------------+
          | subscribe-enhanced_get | Current     | Section 8.5 |
          +------------------------+-------------+-------------+

                                 Table 1

12.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", RFC 2119, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC3864]  Klyne, G., Nottingham, M., and J. Mogul, "Registration
              Procedures for Message Header Fields", RFC 3864, RFC 3864,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3864, September 2004,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3864>.

   [RFC3986]  Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R., and L. Masinter, "Uniform
              Resource Identifier (URI): Generic Syntax", RFC 3986,
              RFC 3986, DOI 10.17487/RFC3986, January 2005,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3986>.

   [RFC5545]  Desruisseaux, B., Ed., "Internet Calendaring and
              Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar)", RFC
              5545, RFC 5545, DOI 10.17487/RFC5545, September 2009,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5545>.

   [RFC7240]  Snell, J., "Prefer Header for HTTP", RFC 7240, RFC 7240,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7240, June 2014,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7240>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", RFC 8174, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

   [RFC8288]  Nottingham, M., "Web Linking", RFC 8288, RFC 8288,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8288, October 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8288>.




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Appendix A.  Open issues

   Vary  Ensure we get that right.

Appendix B.  Change log

   calext00 2019-06-05 MD

   *  First calext version

   *  Use Sync-Token header rather than parameter

   v04 2019-03-07 MD

   *  Reference to RFC 6538 - WebDAV sync and RFC 7240 Prefer

   *  Go back to HEAD

   *  New Preference and parameters.

   *  Examples

   *  More text for extended get.  Talk about deletions.

   v01 2017-02-17 MD

   *  Add text about OPTIONS

   *  Add text abut read/write CalDAV

   v00 2017-02-15 MD

   *  First pass

Author's Address

   Michael Douglass
   Email: mdouglass@bedework.com













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