Towards an unified description of total and diffractive structure functions at HERA in the QCD dipole picture

It is argued that the QCD dipole picture allows to build an unified theoretical description -based on BFKL dynamics- of the total and diffractive nucleon structure functions. This description is in qualitative agreement with the present collection of data obtained by the H1 collaboration. More precise theoretical estimates, in particular the determination of the normalizations and proton transverse momentum behaviour of the diffractive components, are shown to be required in order to reach definite conclusions.