iCal Export Not Working to iCal 2.0.4

iCal Export Not Working to iCal 2.0.4

[Alan Dove]

Hey, folks:

Before I get to the problem, I have to say that Org-mode is awesome.  
I just started using it recently, and suspect I'm going to be living  
inside this application pretty soon.

Unfortunately, I can't get the exported icalenders to work with iCal  
(Mac OS 10.4.8, iCal 2.0.4). Whenever I try to open an exported Org- 
mode .ics file, iCal gives me "This calendar file is unreadable. No  
events have been added to your iCal calendar." I've googled this  
problem extensively and looked through the mailing list archives, but  
didn't find anything about this. I'm starting to suspect that it's  
unique to this version of iCal.

So far, I've discovered that iCal underwent a transition at some  
point when I wasn't looking. My calendars used to live in ~/Library/ 
Calendars/, and they were just individual .ics files, e.g. Work.ics.  
Now they're squirreled away in cryptically named directories like: ~/ 
Library/Application Support/iCal/Sources/7B3B2392-10AE-4544- 
BC41-3D38FD428927.calendar/corestorage.ics. Besides the  
corestorage.ics file, there's also an Index file of unknown format,  
and an Info.plist property list file. Each calendar has its own such  
folder with these files.

I'm not wedded to iCal, especially with the bizarre file structure  
Apple seems to have adopted now, so if there are other icalendar- 
based organizers that are working well with Org-mode on the Mac  
platform, I'm all ears. On the other hand, if this is a real bug,  
it's probably worth fixing for the millions of folks out there who do  
rely on iCal. Let me know if I should post more information, and  
thanks again for developing this outstanding mode.

           --Alan

--
Alan Dove, Ph.D.
alan.dove@gmail.com
917.273.0544
http://dovdox.com
Gizmo or Skype: alandove

Re: iCal Export Not Working to iCal 2.0.4

[Philipp Raschdorff]

Hi Alan,

I came across org-mode some time ago:
- I like the clutter  free way to enter and organize data, and
- it is truly platform independ: I use emacs on my MacBook running OS  
X and on the office I use a portable xemacs running under cygwin on  
my USB-stick.
- I can even access my .org file from my nokia-handset when using  
MidpSSH (should work on any java enabled phone) - http://www.xk72.com/ 
midpssh/

*** org-mode and iCal -> org-mode-mailinglist archives

I wrote a request regarding org-mode and the export to .ics or iCal  
in august last year.
I got some helpful suggestions especially from Piotr Zielinski and  
Pete Philips.
You can find more in the org-mode-archives:

	Subject: Emacs-Calendar export to iCal/vcal
	Date: 2006-08-23
	URL to topic: http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.orgmode/546

*** export from org-mode to iCal

How does it works:

1. create an .org-file that will include your appointments and todos  
using the org-mode syntax
2. putting this file to your webserver document root. On Mac OS X  
this is the ~/Sites folder.
3. Enable Web Sharing in the System Preferences
4. export this file to a .ics file using org-mode-export-to-ical
5. subscribing this calendar using iCal (your .ics file should be at  
http://localhost/~USERNAME/SUBDIRECTORY/.../FILE.ICS

Another approach would be to symlink the .ics file that has been  
exported from org-mode to corestorage.ics.
But when you try this, the link will be overwritten each time, when  
you change something in the calendar in iCal (even when you make the  
link (read only).

If you want a more detailed description how to use the Symlink- 
Approach drop me an email.

Ok, back to the subscribe-to-ical-approach:

1. Create an org-file with your appointments and todos.
HINT 1: It seems that there has to be a first headline, when  
exporting  to an .ics-file, because if the first line is a todo it  
will not get exported correctly.
HINT 2: 	Todos without a deadline will not be exported!
HINT 3: it doesn't matter if a todo is marked done!

For testing you can copy & paste the content of my test.org-file:
=====================
Begin of file: test.org
=====================

* MyEmacsCalendar
** TODO [#A] built up a new bike
    DEADLINE: <2007-02-19>
** DONE [#A] read a good book
    DEADLINE: <2007-02-20>
** TODO [#B] save the planet
    DEADLINE: <2007-02-21>
** Meeting in the Office <2007-02-19 10:00>
** Run-Run-Run <2007-02-19 15:00>--<2007-02-19 Wed 17:30>
** Yoga <2007-02-20 08:00>--<2007-02-20 Thu 09:00>

=====================
Begin of file: test.org
=====================

2. Copy this file to your document root of your webserver:
The document root is the directory were your local webserver is  
hosting its files, you can check it out, by looking for the search  
term DocumentRoot in /etc/httpd/httpd.conf (this is your webserver  
configuration file)
On a normal Mac OS X system, the document root is at ~/Sites (that is  
the Sites folder in your home directory).
You can access these files with http://localhost/~USERNAME/

3. make sure to enable 'Personal Web Sharing' in the System  
Preferences pane ('Sharing').

4. Open the .org-file with your appointments from the webserver  
document root location and export to an .ics file with:
     Ctrl+C   Ctrl+e   i

5. Start iCal and subcribe to the new .ics-file with http://localhost/ 
test.ics
     (if the file is in the webservers document root directory)

Please keep me informed when you run into any problems - we will  
figure it out :-)

*** export from org-mode to iCal and back to org-mode

Haven't tried any of the suggestions described above in the mailing- 
list archives, but it seems to be possible :-)

MY QUESTIONS regarding the topig org-mode and .ics/iCal:
- How can I export TODOS with missing Deadlines?
- How can I export TODOS that are marked DONE?
- More detailed instructions for syncing todos/appointments  
between .ics files (iCal) and emacs org-mode


sorry for any mistakes, but its in the middle of the night here...

- P hil

Re: iCal Export Not Working to iCal 2.0.4

[Carsten Dominik]

Hi Philipp,

thanks a lot for this great summary.  I am wondering:  Would you like, 
after
digesting the changes in the forthcoming 4.66, to make this into a FAQ 
entry?


On Feb 18, 2007, at 2:39, Philipp Raschdorff wrote:

> 1. Create an org-file with your appointments and todos.
> HINT 1: It seems that there has to be a first headline, when exporting 
>  to an .ics-file, because if the first line is a todo it will not get 
> exported correctly.

Fixed in 4.66

> HINT 2: 	Todos without a deadline will not be exported!

you need:

      (setq org-icalendar-include-todo t)

TODO's with a deadline are exported as calendar entries (VEVENT),
not at all as TODO items (VTODO).  With the above setting, you will
get them as VTODO, so they will (for example in iCal) show up in
the TODO list, not in the calendar itself.

> HINT 3: it doesn't matter if a todo is marked done!

in 4.66, you can get the DONE ones as well with:

       (setq org-icalendar-include-todo 'all)
>
> MY QUESTIONS regarding the topig org-mode and .ics/iCal:
> - How can I export TODOS with missing Deadlines?

See above

> - How can I export TODOS that are marked DONE?

See above

> - More detailed instructions for syncing todos/appointments between 
> .ics files (iCal) and emacs org-mode

 From iCalendar to org-mode, this will remain difficult until someone has
a brilliant idea.  I don't.

- Carsten

Re: iCal Export Not Working to iCal 2.0.4

[Alan Dove]

Hey, folks:

Yes, this explanation was quite thorough. I had figured out most of  
it on my own by the time I got the email, but it would certainly be  
useful to put something like this in the documentation. You might  
also add a note that, at this writing, the Aquamacs distribution of  
Emacs has an unidentified bug in Org mode calendar export - using  
regular Emacs, everything works fine.

           --Alan

--
Alan Dove, Ph.D.
alan.dove@gmail.com
917.273.0544
http://dovdox.com
Gizmo or Skype: alandove