[Python-Dev] Parameters in message headers (original) (raw)

Gustavo Niemeyer niemeyer@conectiva.com
Sun, 7 Apr 2002 18:49:57 -0300

Hi Barry!

I've had some problems with messages which doesn't follow the RFC when regarding to parameter building. More specificaly, I've found the following header in a message (in one line):

Content-Type: multipart/mixed; boundary = b71528a4d486932a8bdd3c50d1048d7c7

This breaks the email package because, following the RFC, there should be no spaces surrounding the "=" symbol, and the Message class, as expected, breaks this spliting in "=". OTOH, the RFC defines parameters as follows:

parameter := attribute "=" value

attribute := token ; Matching of attributes ; is ALWAYS case-insensitive.

value := token / quoted-string

token := 1*<any (US-ASCII) CHAR except SPACE, CTLs, or tspecials>

So, there's no chance of finding a space surrounding "=", unless the parameter is not written as defined in the RFC. Thus, it's safe to strip the name and value fields.

If you choose to keep following the RFC strictly, I'll understand. OTOH, parsing bad written headers safely would be nice as well. I can send a patch, if necessary.

Thanks!

-- Gustavo Niemeyer

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