Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Stephen Eglen]

I'm experimenting using ical2org.sh to import google calendars.  One
limitation, as noted in the header is:

# - does process RRULE recurring events, but ignores COUNT specifiers

so if you have a repeating event in google (e.g. every day for four
week), the ics file has:

RRULE:FREQ=DAILY;COUNT=4

The script will take the first day of the event, but not the remaining
three days.  I think this could be solved in a couple of ways:

1. create four events, moving the date by one each time.

2. extending the syntax of timestamps so that something like:

          * Pick up Sam at school
            <2007-05-16 Wed 12:30 3+1w>

means repeat this event 3 times (rather than indefinitely).  Or "+1w:3"
or something similar, I don't mind the syntax as long as it doesn't
break other parts of timestamps.

Has extending the syntax of the repeater interval been considered to
allow finite number of repeats?  I can offer to code something up for
consideration if this sounds sensible.

Thanks, Stephen

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Guido Van Hoecke]

Hu Stephen,

Stephen Eglen <S.J.Eglen@damtp.cam.ac.uk> writes:

> I'm experimenting using ical2org.sh to import google calendars.  One
> limitation, as noted in the header is:
>
> # - does process RRULE recurring events, but ignores COUNT specifiers
>
> so if you have a repeating event in google (e.g. every day for four
> week), the ics file has:
>
> RRULE:FREQ=DAILY;COUNT=4
>
> The script will take the first day of the event, but not the remaining
> three days.  I think this could be solved in a couple of ways:
>
> 1. create four events, moving the date by one each time.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I'm afraid that pure AWK does not provide
date computation support. That's why I did not implement this.
So I would definitely vote to extend the repeater syntax with a count.

>
> 2. extending the syntax of timestamps so that something like:
>
>           * Pick up Sam at school
>             <2007-05-16 Wed 12:30 3+1w>
>
> means repeat this event 3 times (rather than indefinitely).  Or
> "+1w:3"

I assume that your initial example RRULE would require either "...4+1d>"
or "+1d:4"

> or something similar, I don't mind the syntax as long as it doesn't
> break other parts of timestamps.
>
> Has extending the syntax of the repeater interval been considered to
> allow finite number of repeats?  I can offer to code something up for
> consideration if this sounds sensible.

+1


Guido

--
We're constantly being bombarded by insulting and humiliating music, which
people are making for you the way they make those Wonder Bread products.
Just as food can be bad for your system, music can be bad for your spirtual
and emotional feelings.  It might taste good or clever, but in the long run,
it's not going to do anything for you.
		-- Bob Dylan, "LA Times", September 5, 1984

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Simon Thum]

It's not exactly answering your question but my little tool

https://github.com/simonthum/ical2org

handles these.

HTH,

Simon

On 07/08/2013 05:00 PM, Stephen Eglen wrote:
> I'm experimenting using ical2org.sh to import google calendars.  One
> limitation, as noted in the header is:
>
> # - does process RRULE recurring events, but ignores COUNT specifiers
>
> so if you have a repeating event in google (e.g. every day for four
> week), the ics file has:
>
> RRULE:FREQ=DAILY;COUNT=4
>
> The script will take the first day of the event, but not the remaining
> three days.  I think this could be solved in a couple of ways:
>
> 1. create four events, moving the date by one each time.
>
> 2. extending the syntax of timestamps so that something like:
>
>            * Pick up Sam at school
>              <2007-05-16 Wed 12:30 3+1w>
>
> means repeat this event 3 times (rather than indefinitely).  Or "+1w:3"
> or something similar, I don't mind the syntax as long as it doesn't
> break other parts of timestamps.
>
> Has extending the syntax of the repeater interval been considered to
> allow finite number of repeats?  I can offer to code something up for
> consideration if this sounds sensible.
>
> Thanks, Stephen
>
>

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Stephen Eglen]

> It's not exactly answering your question but my little tool
>
> https://github.com/simonthum/ical2org

Thanks, this is a nice workaround, it just worked well on my google
calendar import.  Should we add a link to this on 
http://orgmode.org/worg/org-tutorials/org-google-sync.html
(how do I edit that?)

Is there a  typo in the install section of the doc? I had to do "gem
install ri_cal" (rather than rical)?

Would still be interested though in thoughts about finite repeater
intervals.

Stephen

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Stephen Eglen]

> Correct me if I am wrong, but I'm afraid that pure AWK does not provide
> date computation support. That's why I did not implement this.
okay, it does sound like a lot to ask awk to do.

> So I would definitely vote to extend the repeater syntax with a count.

great.

> I assume that your initial example RRULE would require either "...4+1d>"
> or "+1d:4"

Yes, thanks.

Stephen

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Simon Thum]

On 07/16/2013 06:02 PM, Stephen Eglen wrote:
>
>> It's not exactly answering your question but my little tool
>>
>> https://github.com/simonthum/ical2org
>
> Dear Simon,
> Does your script handle summer time differences?  My google calendar
> items are importing okay, but they are off by one hour.  I've tried
> setting
> DEFAULT_TZ = 'Europe/London'
>
> in your script, but still I see no change.  Below is one such entry, if
> that helps.  The [UTC] after the timestamp would indicate to me that the
> time is correct (09:10 UTC, or 10:10 with one hour added for British
> Summer Time).  But orgmode doesn't recognise the [UTC] note I think.

Hi, thanks for your report. I did not immediately see your mail due to 
an email config problem.

Regarding your earlier mail, I fixed the typo.

Yes, org-mode does not recognize the [UTC], that is just a helper for 
exactly this case: The ical's timezone is emitted in case it is 
different from your DEFAULT_TZ. For me it worked fine so far.

What it does is to set the default timzone in ri_cal which I read as 
being enough, but it is possible that it is not. In fact, I did not test 
the timezone features very much.

could you please try the follwing:

Subsitute the second line in orgTimeSpanTZ

def orgTimeSpanTZ(tstart, tend, repeaterClause = nil)
   res = orgTimeSpan(tstart, tend, repeaterClause)

for
   res = orgTimeSpan(tstart.ruby_value, tend.ruby_value, repeaterClause)

?

It's not tested but might do the job.

HTH,

Simon

>
> Stephen
>
>
>
>
> * L+J have jabs with Millie (CONFIRMED)
>    :PROPERTIES:
>    :ID: kcd35lc23lt4260bovkc0gch1o@google.com
>    :icalCategories:
>    :END:
>    <2013-07-23 Tu 09:10-09:30> [UTC]
>    Location:
>
>
>    :ICALENDAR:
> BEGIN:VEVENT
> CREATED;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130716T082258Z
> DTEND;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130723T093000Z
> STATUS:CONFIRMED
> DTSTART;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130723T091000Z
> TRANSP:OPAQUE
> DTSTAMP;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130716T154820Z
> LAST-MODIFIED;VALUE=DATE-TIME:20130716T082349Z
> ATTENDEE;CN=Family;CUTYPE=INDIVIDUAL;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;X-NUM-GUESTS=0:mailto:9j2ef3g23899k14qu5d3qe5d7o@group.calendar.google.com
> UID:kcd35lc23lt4260bovkc0gch1o@google.com
> DESCRIPTION:
> SUMMARY:L+J have jabs with Millie
> LOCATION:
> SEQUENCE:1
> END:VEVENT
>    :END:
>
>
> Stephen
>

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Stephen Eglen]

>
> Yes, org-mode does not recognize the [UTC], that is just a helper for 
> exactly this case: The ical's timezone is emitted in case it is 
> different from your DEFAULT_TZ. For me it worked fine so far.

Thanks.

>    res = orgTimeSpan(tstart, tend, repeaterClause)
>
> for
>    res = orgTimeSpan(tstart.ruby_value, tend.ruby_value, repeaterClause)
>
Thanks very much Simon, but when I do that, I get:

undefined method `ruby_value' for #<DateTime:0x00000001d0e700>
["/local/data/home/stephen/langs/ruby/ical2org/ical2org.rb:126:in
`orgTimeSpanTZ'", 


Stephen

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Simon Thum]

Hi,

sorry the patch was incomplete. The correct one is on a branch I just 
pushed named "tz-test".

For me it works the same but maybe it works for you.

Cheers,

Simon


On 07/23/2013 04:42 PM, Stephen Eglen wrote:
>>
>> Yes, org-mode does not recognize the [UTC], that is just a helper for
>> exactly this case: The ical's timezone is emitted in case it is
>> different from your DEFAULT_TZ. For me it worked fine so far.
>
> Thanks.
>
>>     res = orgTimeSpan(tstart, tend, repeaterClause)
>>
>> for
>>     res = orgTimeSpan(tstart.ruby_value, tend.ruby_value, repeaterClause)
>>
> Thanks very much Simon, but when I do that, I get:
>
> undefined method `ruby_value' for #<DateTime:0x00000001d0e700>
> ["/local/data/home/stephen/langs/ruby/ical2org/ical2org.rb:126:in
> `orgTimeSpanTZ'",
>
>
> Stephen
>
>

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Stephen Eglen]

> sorry the patch was incomplete. The correct one is on a branch I just 
> pushed named "tz-test".
>
> For me it works the same but maybe it works for you.

Thanks Simon, but unfortuantely I'm still seeing [UTC].

Stephen

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Simon Thum]

Hi Stephen,

I probably did not express myself well: The [UTC] means the timestamp 
was converted from UTC, which is the case. It is probably quite 
confusing to attach a TZ which is no longer supposed to be the case. I 
will probably change that.

Is the org-mode time a correct local time now? I understand from ri_cal 
docs that ri_cal should do conversion as expected, but if not I can 
probably fix it easily.

Cheers,

Simon


On 07/30/2013 03:06 PM, Stephen Eglen wrote:
>
>> sorry the patch was incomplete. The correct one is on a branch I just
>> pushed named "tz-test".
>>
>> For me it works the same but maybe it works for you.
>
> Thanks Simon, but unfortuantely I'm still seeing [UTC].
>
> Stephen
>
>

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Neil Smithline]

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On Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Guido Van Hoecke <guivho@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Correct me if I am wrong, but I'm afraid that pure AWK does not provide
> date computation support. That's why I did not implement this.
> So I would definitely vote to extend the repeater syntax with a count.


Before defending my precious AWK, I'll say that I think that repeating
timestamps are a good idea and I'm not trying to talk anyone out of it.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awk: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awk>

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Awk>>> Although AWK and sed were designed to
support one-liner programs, even the early:
>> Bell Labs users of AWK often wrote well-structured large AWK programs,
and despite
>> its limited intended area of use, AWK is ____Turing-complete____

I wouldn't recommend starting out to write a significant app in AWK, but
adding a feature to an existing script doesn't seem unreasonable. The time
functions are documented at
http://www.gnu.org/software/gawk/manual/gawk.html#Time-Functions. The input
may need a bit of string preprocessing before being passed to the time
functions and, as we all know, AWK does a fine job of string manipulation.

While I don't have time to bang on a huge script, if someone gives me the
input and output for the time conversion, I should be able to whip that up
pretty quickly.

Neil

PS: You crazy kids and your lack of respect for antiquated UNIX utilities
;-)

In the interest of full disclosure, the quote above from the WIkipedia is
immediately followed by:
>> The power, terseness, and limits of early AWK programs inspired Larry
Wall to write Perl

So your lack of AWK knowledge seems reasonable as there are many better
utilities.

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Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Guido Van Hoecke]

Neil Smithline <emacs-orgmode@neilsmithline.com> writes:

> On Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 11:55 AM, Guido Van Hoecke <guivho@gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>     
>     
>     Correct me if I am wrong, but I'm afraid that pure AWK does not
>     provide date computation support.

Apparently I was not very awake when I wrote that. Awk could be used to
increment dates by n days, weeks, moths or years. But this would only be
needed if we want / need to turn iCal RRULE events with COUNT specifier
into COUNT separate org events (trying to circumvent the lack of such a
COUNT specifier in org repeating dates).

So although it is feasable, I'm still not sure it is the proper way to
go. However, I am willing to implement it if needed / desired.

>     So I would definitely vote to extend the repeater syntax with a
>     count.

I still think that this is the correct approach.

> PS: You crazy kids and your lack of respect for antiquated UNIX
> utilities ;-) 

Oooch, that hurts this crazy 66 year old kid :)


Guido

--
Expect the worst, it's the least you can do.

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Simon Thum]

Yes, probably, but don't count on me in the next 4 days (vacation).


On 07/31/2013 11:08 PM, Stephen Eglen wrote:
>
> On Wed, Jul 31 2013, Simon Thum wrote:
>
>> Hi Stephen,
>>
>> I probably did not express myself well: The [UTC] means the timestamp
>> was converted from UTC, which is the case. It is probably quite
>> confusing to attach a TZ which is no longer supposed to be the case. I
>> will probably change that.
>>
>> Is the org-mode time a correct local time now? I understand from ri_cal
>> docs that ri_cal should do conversion as expected, but if not I can
>> probably fix it easily.
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Simon
>
> hi Simon, (dropping orgmode for now until we find a solution!)
>
> no, the org mode times are still GMT rather than with summer time added.
>
> Would it help if I made a test calendar to share with you?
>
> Stephen
>

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Simon Thum]

Stephen,

I now have time to take a look if you send me an example ical.

Cheers,

Simon


On 07/31/2013 11:18 PM, Simon Thum wrote:
> Yes, probably, but don't count on me in the next 4 days (vacation).
>
>
> On 07/31/2013 11:08 PM, Stephen Eglen wrote:
>>
>> On Wed, Jul 31 2013, Simon Thum wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Stephen,
>>>
>>> I probably did not express myself well: The [UTC] means the timestamp
>>> was converted from UTC, which is the case. It is probably quite
>>> confusing to attach a TZ which is no longer supposed to be the case. I
>>> will probably change that.
>>>
>>> Is the org-mode time a correct local time now? I understand from ri_cal
>>> docs that ri_cal should do conversion as expected, but if not I can
>>> probably fix it easily.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>>
>>> Simon
>>
>> hi Simon, (dropping orgmode for now until we find a solution!)
>>
>> no, the org mode times are still GMT rather than with summer time added.
>>
>> Would it help if I made a test calendar to share with you?
>>
>> Stephen
>>
>
>
>

Re: Handling Repeating events from google calendar / repeater interval

[Simon Thum]

I pushed some conversion code which I am more confident about to the 
tz-test branch. If you want to re-test, please do so.

Cheers,

Simon


On 08/08/2013 10:56 PM, Simon Thum wrote:
> Stephen,
>
> I now have time to take a look if you send me an example ical.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Simon
>
>
> On 07/31/2013 11:18 PM, Simon Thum wrote:
>> Yes, probably, but don't count on me in the next 4 days (vacation).
>>
>>
>> On 07/31/2013 11:08 PM, Stephen Eglen wrote:
>>>
>>> On Wed, Jul 31 2013, Simon Thum wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Stephen,
>>>>
>>>> I probably did not express myself well: The [UTC] means the timestamp
>>>> was converted from UTC, which is the case. It is probably quite
>>>> confusing to attach a TZ which is no longer supposed to be the case. I
>>>> will probably change that.
>>>>
>>>> Is the org-mode time a correct local time now? I understand from ri_cal
>>>> docs that ri_cal should do conversion as expected, but if not I can
>>>> probably fix it easily.
>>>>
>>>> Cheers,
>>>>
>>>> Simon
>>>
>>> hi Simon, (dropping orgmode for now until we find a solution!)
>>>
>>> no, the org mode times are still GMT rather than with summer time added.
>>>
>>> Would it help if I made a test calendar to share with you?
>>>
>>> Stephen
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>