Hey Paul,
I did a little investigation and have found a number of issues related to
the iCal format of the file and the ability to import it into Outlook.
Some at least one problem is definitely a microsoft issue, and one problem
seems to be with your implementation of the iCal RFC (don't hold me to
that, just my novice point of view after reading the RFC).
First issue is that Microsoft's seems to be looking for a Property Name of
"METHOD" (I think the RFC designates this as optional, but apparently MS
requires it). I just set the METHOD property equal to "PUBLISH" and this
seemed to help things along.
Next issue is there appears to be 2 DTSTAMP properties definied per VEVENT
entry. It looks like you defined one DTSTAMP as the date the file was
created and the other as the date the item was required. I believe the
DTSTAMP should be the date the item was created. I'm not sure if this was
interferring with the import, just something I noticed.
And here is the one I'm not sure who's problem it is: All day events are
being defined as TWO day events when imported into Outlook. I know you
just made a fix where you set the DTSTART and DTEND dates as sequential
dates for all day items. This doesn't seem to go over well with Outlook.
Again, I'm not sure who's issue this one is.
And the last item is apparently a microsoft issue, apparently it doesn't
like recurring entries that recur monthly. Not sure why, your export file
looked fine with regards to the RRULE definition, but everytime I imported
it would choke on that entry, I copied another entry's RRULE there and it
worked fine.
Anyway, that's what I've learned. Right now I have got it to import all
entries, except All Day events end up being two-day events, and I cannot
have monthly recurring items. This is all dependent on me going into the
text file and adding the METHOD property and removing the extra DTSTAMP's.
Not really an acceptable export inport situation. I hope the info I've
provided helps with a resolution to exporting Squirrelmail Calendar data
into Outlook someday. :-) Looking forward. Thanx again for all your
time and help up to this point. (Only reason I want to get this import to
work is so I can use Outlook to sync with my cell phone calendar. No
worries if you don't want or have time to deal with Microsoft's
non-compliance to the RFC. Totally understand)
Jz.
Paul Lesneiwski said:
>> Thanx for sending that new version with the checkbox! Unfortunately I
>> am
>> getting the same behavior with the new exported file, as mentioned
>> below,
>> when attempting to import into Outlook 2003. I kind of expected this as
>> I
>> had already saved the previous file in MS PC format with no success. I
>> wish I knew why Outlook was choking on this file. I have gone through
>> the
>> file and saved into PC format again. I have removed a number of fields.
>> All to the exact same effect. I even removed ALL events except one with
>> the same error. I think Outlook just doesn't want us Exporting or
>> Importing data. Just use their crack, and only their crack.
>
> Well, I wish I knew what the problem was, but as far as I know, the iCal
> generated by the plugin should be all valid per RFC. If not, I'd like
> to know. You may want to keep Googling for other solutions, or even
> visit M$ knowledgebase. I don't have the time or willingness to submit
> to their whims right now.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Paul
>
>
>> Paul Lesneiwski said:
>>
>>>Joel Zucker wrote:
>>>
>>>>:-)
>>>>I'm just learning to work with C++ and MFC (Microsoft's Foundation
>>
>> Classes). Half the time I saying, "I don't understand, why did they do
>> this THIS way???". But they is da giant. So I just do it their way and
>> shake da head.
>>
>>>>I'll just use Textpad to convert the file until (if ya decide) there is
>>
>> a
>>
>>>>feature to export the way the giant says you must.
>>>
>>>Sending you another new version off-list; it has a checkbox on the cal
>>
>> list page which, if clicked, uses MS-non-standard linefeeds. I don't
>> run
>> LookOut, so you'll have to test and tell me if this even works at all.
>>
>>> - paul
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>>Joel Zucker wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>Hey Paul,
>>>>>>Everything is working on the Squirrelmail side, but now I'm trying to
>>
>> use
>>
>>>>>>the exported ics file with Outlook and Outlook says there is
>>>>>> something
>>
>> wrong with the format of the file.
>>
>>>>>>The error it gives is:
>>>>>>===================================================================
>>
>> This error can appear if you have attempted to save a recurring Lunar
>> appointment in iCalendar format.
>>
>>>>>>To avoid this error, set the appointment option to Gregorian instead
>>
>> of
>>
>>>>>>Lunar.
>>>>>>====================================================================
>>
>> This doesn't make much sense as the "CALSCALE" in the ics file is set
>>
>>>>>>to
>>>>>>GREGORIAN. Any idea why this is not working?
>>>>>
>>>>>Yeah, MS can go take a #%^@#&@# #@$@#!! ^&%.... uh, oh...
>>>>>There are tons of reports about this on Google, and only one solution
>>
>> to
>>
>>>>>be had, which is to convert all linefeeds in the file to just \n,
>>
>> which,
>>
>>>>>surprise surprise, is NOT part of the iCal standard.
>>>>>Therefore, I don't think I'm too interested in offering a "fix".
>>
>> You'll
>>
>>>>>want to try converting the file to "DOS" format or some such thing and
>>
>> trying again.
>>
>>>>>I dunno, if it really helps, maybe I can put a checkbox on the export
>>
>> page or maybe an option buried in the calendar prefs for this.
>>
>>>>>MS sucks.
>>>>> -paul
>>>
>>>--
>
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