Message Disposition Notification Receipts

A message disposition notification (MDN) receipt is a transport level acknowledgement.

When an Initiator sends a request, it can request a signed or unsigned MDN receipt from the Responder. The Responder then creates and sends the appropriate MDN receipt to notify the Initiator that its request message was successfully delivered. If the content of a signed, or encrypted, or signed and encrypted document cannot be verified for integrity, then the MDN receipt indicates the failure.

An MDN receipt does not guarantee that the document from the Initiator has been validated by the Responder’s translator. An MDN receipt merely states that the document was received and its contents were verified for integrity.

When an Initiator is configured to request an MDN receipt from a trading partner, TIBCO BusinessConnect Container Edition adds MIME message headers to the outbound message.

Three types of headers are possible.

  • The presence of a Disposition-Notifications-To MIME header indicates that a MDN receipt was requested. This header is valid for AS2-HTTP/S, AS1, and Email.
  • The presence of a Disposition-Notification-Options MIME header indicates that a signed MDN receipt was requested. This header is valid for AS2-HTTP/S and Email.
  • A third MIME header distinguishes between sending MDN receipts synchronously or asynchronously. This message header can be activated by putting a value in the Request Receipt URL field. For more in formation, see Request Receipt.

This field should have a valid URL for asynchronous MDN receipts. This header is valid for AS2-HTTP/S.

If the Initiator requests and receives a signed MDN receipt, the Initiator can authenticate that the Responder received the request by verifying the Responder’s digital signature on the MDN receipt. Only signed MDN receipts can be logged in the TIBCO BusinessConnect Container Edition non-repudiation scheme.

For Email, TIBCO BusinessConnect Container Edition follows the AS1 specification for MDN receipts. For AS2-HTTP/S, TIBCO BusinessConnect Container Edition follows the AS2 specification for MDN receipts. For AS2-HTTP/S, synchronous or asynchronous receipts can be requested. See http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2298.txt?number=2298 for more information on how MDN receipts are constructed and handled.