K
Keith Esau
How do I get Entourage to add events to the calendar via standard .ics
files?
files?
B
Barry Wainwright
Drag one to the desktop, select it and do a 'get info' in the info box, set
Entourage as the app to open the file and click the 'change all' button.
K
Keith Esau
Well, that get Entourage to appear to open them, but the Calendar item is
not added. How do I get the calendar item in the .ics file to be added?
not added. How do I get the calendar item in the .ics file to be added?
B
Barry Wainwright
Sorry, I don't understand - what is entourage opening the ics file as, if
not a calendar event? If it is opened as a calendar event it will be in the
calendar - unless you close the ics window by pressing the delete icon
instead of the close icon.
not a calendar event? If it is opened as a calendar event it will be in the
calendar - unless you close the ics window by pressing the delete icon
instead of the close icon.
K
Keith Esau
It ACTS as though it opens it, but nothing happens. No error, no window, no
calendar event.
calendar event.
K
Keith Esau
I tracked down more of the problem. The files I am receiving are produced by
Webex, and appear to have LF line endings. Entourage ONLY likes .ics files
with CR or CR/LF line endings. (MacOS X is Unix! LF is the standard line
ending, not that is should matter. Any line ending should work.)
Still, after converting the line endings, the files come in, and the event
when opened is set to the correct day and time, but the event shows up 3
days off in the calendar.
Webex, and appear to have LF line endings. Entourage ONLY likes .ics files
with CR or CR/LF line endings. (MacOS X is Unix! LF is the standard line
ending, not that is should matter. Any line ending should work.)
Still, after converting the line endings, the files come in, and the event
when opened is set to the correct day and time, but the event shows up 3
days off in the calendar.
B
Barry Wainwright
Can you open one of these files in a text editor and post the text in a
message here? We may be able to identify the problem.
message here? We may be able to identify the problem.
C
Chris Ridd
RFC 2445, which defines the vCalendar format, requires that lines are ended
by CRLF (see section 4.1).
Interpreting other kinds of line endings would of course be a sensible thing
to do from an interoperability standpoint. You should raise a bug with MS.
Cheers,
Chris
P
Paul Berkowitz
As far as it being a _bug_, as opposed to a "feature request", surely the
issue should be raised with Webex which is sending out non-standard .ics
files. For some protocols, such as MBOX, Entourage does understand various
line endings. But that might be because MBOX was originally a Unix format,
so LF endings are quite common. Still, a feature request might be in order.
In the meantime, until Webex complies with RFC standards, it should be
pretty simple to convert the line endings.
--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>
Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.
PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.
K
Keith Esau
I pasted it below. I replaced certain non-crucial info (web addresses, pass
codes and and phone numbers) with x's.
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID: -//WebEx//WebEx Meeting Center 6.0//EN
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:REQUEST
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID
acific Time
BEGIN:STANDARD
DTSTART:20031001T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=10
TZOFFSETFROM:-700
TZOFFSETTO:-800
TZNAME:Standard Time
END:STANDARD
BEGINAYLIGHT
DTSTART:20030401T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=4
TZOFFSETFROM:-800
TZOFFSETTO:-700
TZNAMEaylight Savings Time
ENDAYLIGHT
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
ATTENDEE;CN="Keith
Esau";ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;RSVP=TRUE:MAILTO:[email protected]
ORGANIZER;CN="Yoram Schwarz":MAILTO:[email protected]
DTSTART;TZID="Pacific Time":20050217T090000
DTEND;TZID="Pacific Time":20050217T100000
LOCATION:https://xxx.webex.com/xxx/
TRANSP:OPAQUE
SEQUENCE:1
UID:WEBEX-MEETING CENTER-6.03700-85034082
DTSTAMP:20050216T173517Z
DESCRIPTION:Hello Keith Esau, \n\nYoram Schwarz has invited you to join a
meeting on the Web, using WebEx. \n\nTopic: dP. Look & feel \nDate:
Thursday, February 17, 2005 \nTime: 9:00 am, Pacific Standard Time (GMT
-08:00, San Francisco) \nMeeting number: 334 XXX 211 \nMeeting password:
xxxxxxxx \n\nPlease click the following link to see more information, or to
join the meeting. \nNEW USER? Prepare your computer in advance of the
meeting by clicking New User on the navigation bar.
\n\n<https://xxx.webex.com/xxx/j.php?ED=BOGUS&UID=bogus2>
\n\nTeleconference: Tel: 1-888-xxx-xxxx\nPasscode: xxxxxx \n\nTo contact
Yoram Schwarz, call 1-408-xxxxxxx or, \nsend a message to this address:
[email protected] \n\n \n\nTo add this meeting to your calendar program
(for example, Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes), do the following: \n\n*
For all calendar programs (except Lotus Notes), click the following link, or
copy the link and paste it into your Web browser:
\n<https://xxx.webex.com/xxx/j.php?ED=BOGUS&UID=bogus2&ICS=MI> \n\n*For
Lotus Notes, follow these steps: \n1.Right-click the attached iCalendar
format (*.ics) file, and then choose View. \n2.Click Import All. A new
broadcast email message is added to your Inbox. \n3.Open the new message.
\n4.Click Respond button. A menu appears. \n5.Click Accept. \n\n
\n\nhttp://www.webex.com \nWe've got to start meeting like this(TM) \n \n
SUMMARY:XX. Look & feel
PRIORITY:5
CLASSUBLIC
BEGIN:VALARM
TRIGGERT15M
ACTIONISPLAY
DESCRIPTION:Reminder
END:VALARM
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR
codes and and phone numbers) with x's.
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID: -//WebEx//WebEx Meeting Center 6.0//EN
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:REQUEST
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID
acific TimeBEGIN:STANDARD
DTSTART:20031001T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=10
TZOFFSETFROM:-700
TZOFFSETTO:-800
TZNAME:Standard Time
END:STANDARD
BEGIN
AYLIGHTDTSTART:20030401T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;INTERVAL=1;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=4
TZOFFSETFROM:-800
TZOFFSETTO:-700
TZNAME
aylight Savings TimeEND
AYLIGHTEND:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
ATTENDEE;CN="Keith
Esau";ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;RSVP=TRUE:MAILTO:[email protected]
ORGANIZER;CN="Yoram Schwarz":MAILTO:[email protected]
DTSTART;TZID="Pacific Time":20050217T090000
DTEND;TZID="Pacific Time":20050217T100000
LOCATION:https://xxx.webex.com/xxx/
TRANSP:OPAQUE
SEQUENCE:1
UID:WEBEX-MEETING CENTER-6.03700-85034082
DTSTAMP:20050216T173517Z
DESCRIPTION:Hello Keith Esau, \n\nYoram Schwarz has invited you to join a
meeting on the Web, using WebEx. \n\nTopic: dP. Look & feel \nDate:
Thursday, February 17, 2005 \nTime: 9:00 am, Pacific Standard Time (GMT
-08:00, San Francisco) \nMeeting number: 334 XXX 211 \nMeeting password:
xxxxxxxx \n\nPlease click the following link to see more information, or to
join the meeting. \nNEW USER? Prepare your computer in advance of the
meeting by clicking New User on the navigation bar.
\n\n<https://xxx.webex.com/xxx/j.php?ED=BOGUS&UID=bogus2>
\n\nTeleconference: Tel: 1-888-xxx-xxxx\nPasscode: xxxxxx \n\nTo contact
Yoram Schwarz, call 1-408-xxxxxxx or, \nsend a message to this address:
[email protected] \n\n \n\nTo add this meeting to your calendar program
(for example, Microsoft Outlook or Lotus Notes), do the following: \n\n*
For all calendar programs (except Lotus Notes), click the following link, or
copy the link and paste it into your Web browser:
\n<https://xxx.webex.com/xxx/j.php?ED=BOGUS&UID=bogus2&ICS=MI> \n\n*For
Lotus Notes, follow these steps: \n1.Right-click the attached iCalendar
format (*.ics) file, and then choose View. \n2.Click Import All. A new
broadcast email message is added to your Inbox. \n3.Open the new message.
\n4.Click Respond button. A menu appears. \n5.Click Accept. \n\n
\n\nhttp://www.webex.com \nWe've got to start meeting like this(TM) \n \n
SUMMARY:XX. Look & feel
PRIORITY:5
CLASS
UBLICBEGIN:VALARM
TRIGGER
T15MACTION
ISPLAYDESCRIPTION:Reminder
END:VALARM
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR
P
Paul Berkowitz
We've been through this. There's nothing wrong with the content of the file.
The problem was the non-standard LF line endings. Pasting the content into
email and sending it will have replaced the LF line-endings with CRLFs
during encoded transport and by straight CR endings when arriving at
Entourage and decoded, so that has disguised the problem entirely. The
pasted text here won't have LFs although the originals did.
You can run the Webex .ics files through a utility, or text editor, or an
applescript, that replaces the LFs by CRLFs or CRs, whatever is easier. Do
you need any help with that, or do you have an easy way to do it?
--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>
Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.
PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.
The problem was the non-standard LF line endings. Pasting the content into
email and sending it will have replaced the LF line-endings with CRLFs
during encoded transport and by straight CR endings when arriving at
Entourage and decoded, so that has disguised the problem entirely. The
pasted text here won't have LFs although the originals did.
You can run the Webex .ics files through a utility, or text editor, or an
applescript, that replaces the LFs by CRLFs or CRs, whatever is easier. Do
you need any help with that, or do you have an easy way to do it?
--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>
Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.
PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.
B
Barry Wainwright
Paul,
I asked him to post the content of a ics file because he was also
complaining that AFTER he had replaced the LF line endings, the event showed
up, but 3 hours out of place.
Now, looking at the file data, it seems the most likely explanation for this
is that in the TimeZone definition part of the ICS data, the timezone offset
is displayed as a 3 digit number. Checking the RFC quickly (not an easy
thing to do!) it doesn't seem to explicitly state the format should have
leading zeros on the hour, but all the examples are displayed that way, and
that is certainly how it appears in every ICS I have ever examined before. I
suspect, but can't be sure, that this may be causing the time offset.
I asked him to post the content of a ics file because he was also
complaining that AFTER he had replaced the LF line endings, the event showed
up, but 3 hours out of place.
Now, looking at the file data, it seems the most likely explanation for this
is that in the TimeZone definition part of the ICS data, the timezone offset
is displayed as a 3 digit number. Checking the RFC quickly (not an easy
thing to do!) it doesn't seem to explicitly state the format should have
leading zeros on the hour, but all the examples are displayed that way, and
that is certainly how it appears in every ICS I have ever examined before. I
suspect, but can't be sure, that this may be causing the time offset.
K
Keith Esau
I can fix the files manually, including the time codes.
Webex says they work in Outlook and Lotus Notes 9sort of), so who cares...
(Maybe Outlook could be fixed to work like Entourage if Entourage won't be
fixed to work like Outlook.)
BTW, iCal has no problem with these files either. Therefore it seems like
Entourage is the only program that can't handle them.
Webex says they work in Outlook and Lotus Notes 9sort of), so who cares...
(Maybe Outlook could be fixed to work like Entourage if Entourage won't be
fixed to work like Outlook.)
BTW, iCal has no problem with these files either. Therefore it seems like
Entourage is the only program that can't handle them.
C
Chris Ridd
In fact, the RFC *does* specify that 2 digits are used for the hour. The
grammar is nicely spread around the RFC, but here's the gist:
---
; from 4.3.12
time-hour = 2DIGIT ;00-23
time-minute = 2DIGIT ;00-59
time-second = 2DIGIT ;00-60
;The "60" value is used to account for "leap" seconds.
; from 4.3.14
utc-offset = time-numzone ;As defined above in time data type
time-numzone = ("+" / "-") time-hour time-minute [time-
second]
; from 4.8.3.3
tzoffsetfrom = "TZOFFSETFROM" frmparam ":" utc-offset
CRLF
frmparam = *(";" xparam)
---
So the offset must either be 4 digits, or 6 digits. Webex is broken again,
but why didn't Entourage complain somewhere that the time offset was bogus
and that it was going to use a different one?
Cheers,
Chris