OASIS ebXML Messaging Services TC

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RE: Use of MIME multipart for zero payload containers

  • 1.  RE: Use of MIME multipart for zero payload containers

    Posted 09-19-2001 13:17
    multipart-body := [preamble CRLF]
                           dash-boundary transport-padding CRLF
                           body-part *encapsulation
                           close-delimiter transport-padding
                           [CRLF epilogue]
    
    From RFC 2046.
    
    And from RFC 2234 (ABNF syntax)
    
       The operator "*" preceding an element indicates repetition. The full
       form is:
    
            <a>*<b>element
    
       where <a> and <b> are optional decimal values, indicating at least
       <a> and at most <b> occurrences of element.
    
       Default values are 0 and infinity so that *<element> allows any
       number, including zero; 1*<element> requires at  least  one;
       3*3<element> allows exactly 3 and 1*2<element> allows one or two.
    
    
    The syntax, as I decipher it, requires one body-part but
    zero or more encapsulations (which is what a second or nth
    body part is called). So multiparts with just one part
    are allowed.
    
    That does not settle what do in ebxml, but there is 
    nothing "wrong" with a multipart with one body part.