Your First Guide to RemoteCalendars!


Your First Guide to RemoteCalendars Content: 1: Introduction This document is the first guide you should check if you've got problems when installing or using RemoteCalendars, so please try to follow this guide before taking any possible step.
Note: Most probably this document will never contain all the information needed to make RemoteCalendars to work on every machine, but with your help we can do it :) Take a look at the 5. I couldn't solve my problems with this guide...what should I do?
2: Problems when installing RemoteCalendars You said that RemoteCalendars works with Outlook 2007, but I cannot install it...why? Yes, RemoteCalendars can work without any problem with Outlook 2007, thanks to a new technology called VSTO. However, there is a little prerequisite: at the moment it's required that you've installed first Outlook 2003. If you had installed Outlook 2003 with RemoteCalendars and then you updated to Outlook 2007, RemoteCalendars will still work without any problem. In the future maybe I'll make an installer only for Outlook 2007, but this one is quite useful because, as you can understand, it works on both version (there is some "retrocompatibility" between these 2 versions of Outlook, for the first time). A build that would use the Outlook 2007 API's at the moment, however, would work only with Outlook 2007, and not with Outlook 2003. There are many setups in the zip...what should I do? First of all, close Outlook and obtain a runtime for the .NET framework 2.0. Then you should install the PIA from the prerequisites (run the self-extracting exe and then run setup), and the VSTOR. Finally install RemoteCalendars through the setup. All of this may require to reboot your machine, so restart it and then start Outlook. At the start-up of Outlook you should see a new toolbar, and the OptionDialog should be prompted to you (as seen in the image below). You should at least choose your TimeZone before proceeding The installation process has completed fine, but I don't see any toolbar/the Option Dialog didn't appear/Nothing happens when I click on the buttons... Unfortunately, there are some situation that may create some conflicts to RemoteCalendars...these are some collections of the most useful tips: Did you change the AntiVirus on your machine? Did you uninstall for example the Norton AntiVirus? You should check your registry file...in order to do so: Click on Start, Run and type "regedit" Look for the registry called [HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\CLSID\{0006F03A-0000-0000-C000-000000000046}\InProcServer32] If the "(Default)" contains a path, check if that path really exists...if it does exist and it's your current Antivirus, try to disable Script blocking in that software Otherwise, Right-click the "(Default)" value name in the right-hand pane, Select "Delete" from the context menu. This should leave you with a value "(Default)" where the "Data" is set to "(value not set)"
	Warning: I don't take any responsiblity for you editing your Registry. Take relevant backups etc etc as normal!
Did you check if RemoteCalendars is in the Disabled List? (only for Outlook 2003) Open Outlook, click on "?" and then "About Outlook 2003". Click on "Disabled List". If RemoteCalendars is present, try to enable it.
	Warning: This may cause Outlook to not work properly, so save anything you feel important before (at the moment,none has ever lost anything ;))
Have you got other plugins installed? Have you got Google Desktop installed? It seems that Google Desktop may cause some problems into Outlook not only to RC, but this may not be th only program...you should write and describe me your configuration Maybe it's a security issue of the Security Object Model of Outlook 2003... You may try what' s written here, it's helped a lot of guys ;) Delete the registry key [HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Security] "CheckAdminSettings"=dword:00000002 by launching regedit from Start --> Run Uninstall RemoteCalendars Log off your computer Log in your computer Reinstall RemoteCalendars and start Outlook Haven't solved yet? Write me! :) I'll try what I can ;). 3: How to set a Google Calendar sync This section will describe how to set up RemoteCalendars for a 2-way sync. Is this the only way? Well, you can subscribe Google Calendar as a normal iCalendar also...but this mean that you'll be able only to receive data from Google Calendar to Outlook, not both ways Alright, what should I do? Well, first of all you should decide in which folder you want to subscribe your Google Calendar. If you're worried to lose some important appointments, make a new folder. I would suggest to subscribe a Google Calendar in a folder where there aren't other iCalendars subscribed Now click on Subscribe an iCalendar. Paste the Privale Calendar URL as the URL of the iCalendar, and choose the "It's a Google Calendar and I want to sync both ways" You'll be asked for your username and password. After that, it could take a while since all the appointments are created into Outlook Now you can setup the publish function. Click on Publish my iCalendar. Choose the RemoteCalendar you just subscribed and move it to "RemoteCalendars already published" Choose the folder where you just subscribed your Google Calendar and move it to "Folders already published" (In order to do so you have to check first the option "Publish my local calendar" As publishing URL, copy and paste your Private Address XML url, and remember to: Change from basic to full To remove the Magic cookie from the private-Magic cookie In the end, your url should be looking like this: http://www.google.com/calendar/feeds/<the Google account of your Google Calendar>/private/full Remember to check the options "Don't publish your TaskList" and "It's a Google Calendar URL" Press OK, and insert your username and password...and you're done :) That's all. Now, if you create a new appointment in Outlook in that folder, it'll be published to Google Calendar every time you publish with RC ;)...remember to reload your Google Calendar before (if it's shared between more people) and after you published, in order to keep it consistent! RC popped up this error...what should I do? Here's a list of common errors and solutions: "Cannot update a read only event" This matter has been solved with RC 5.63. "execution of authentication request failed" Most probably you've got strange character in your password (like =,+,0)...change it, and it should be done :). However, it could be a problem made by a particular appointment: check the error, and if the end you recognize a name, you should be able to get which appointment is creating some problems...if instead it end with a number, that number it's the ID of the Event. You should try to understand which appointment is creating these problems and report the use case to the SourceForge team. "Object Reference not set to an instance..." This is usually done by a particular recurring event which isn't recognized correctly from RC...please see above how to get which appointment is causing problems and report it to the SourceForge team. "Unable to cast object of type RC.ICalGenerator.TodoComponent to type RC.ICalGenerator.EventComponent" You didn't check "Don't publish my TaskList": at the moment, Google Calendar doesn't support Tasks, so you shouldn't try to publish them to Google Calendar. I cannot reload my Google Calendar, I receive errors about TimeOut and so on... Try to close Outlook and restart it: the Google API are still in beta, and sometimes there are some problems...;) What's about the Google Calendar options? RemoteCalendars has added two useful options when publishing to Google Calendar: Just update events from today to the future: With this option, you'll update only the appointments which have got as StartDate a date equal or superior of your "today". It's quite useful really, because it makes the updates from Outlook and Google Calendar much faster Using a new Google Calendar(it's a reset): This option should be used if you wintend to change the Google Calendar used to publish to (for example, you decided to make a new secondary calendar, and you want now to publish all the events to that calendar). 4: Bottons stopped to work! Alright, don't panic :)! Usually, we can do something about it ;)... First of all, take a look at the problems when installing, because most errors have the same resolution. There might be however other problems, so I'll describe them: "Only the publish button doesn't work" Usually, this is a problem done by deleting a folder in Outlook which was used to publish...you should: Close Outlook Search for your RemoteCalendars.xml, which should be located at this path: <your harddrive>\Documents and Settings\<your username>\Application Data\ RemoteCalendars\RemoteCalendars.xml Open it with Notepad and delete all lines like this one: <CalendarFolder entryId="<big number>" storeId="<big number>" /> Close it and restart Outlook. Other problems might concern about the RemoteCalendars.xml file...you should open it and check if the structure is similare to this one (I've inserted in red some comments reguarding a description for the options):
An example for the RemoteCalendars.xml file (build 6)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> <CalendariRemoti> <Opzioni name="AutoUpdate" value="false" /> When true, RC will reload all of your remote iCalendars at Outlook Start-up <Opzioni name="UseProxy" value="false" whatProxy="" /> This property describe if you're using a proxy and which type <Opzioni name="UseProxyCredentials" value="false" username="false" password="false" /> This property saves the auth information if you're behind an authorized proxy <Opzioni name="ReloadAll" value="false" /> When true, when clicking on the reloading button, RC will reload all the iCalendars you had subscribed. <Opzioni name="NoCheckMIME" value="false" /> When true, RC won't check for the correct mime type (useful when you're trying to subscribe an iCalendar published from Mozilla Sunbird, of if you're using eGroupWare <Opzioni name="AcceptAllCertificates" value="false" /> When true, RC will accept any certificate (useful for auto-signed certificates and eGroupWare :)) <Opzioni name="TimeZone" value="Europe/Rome" /> This option contains which TimeZone you've set, which is VERY important! <Opzioni name="ReloadingTime" value="0" /> This option contains, if you choosed the AutoUpdate, the “minutes” after when all the RemoteCalendars will be reloaded. It should be a value between 0 and 4 (which of course aren't minutes ;)) --- Publish information section (only one entry like this should be present after the first publishing <Publish url="" noTaskList="true" personalCalendar="true" isGoogleCalendar="true" updateGoogleFromToday="true"> <CalendarFolder entryId="" storeId=" /> </Publish> --- Calendars subscribed section (there should be an entry like this foreach calendar you subscribed <Calendario url="" nome="" ultimoAggiornamento="" categories="" noReminders="false" noTasks="false" usesCredentials="false" userName="" password="" markPrivate="false" entryId="" storeId="" isGoogleCalendar="false" isPublished="false" /> </CalendariRemoti>
Note: Be careful to check the version you're using (it appears when clicking on the OptionDialog) and that in this document I've erased all of my personal information, so your document should be richer! :D
5: Other informations I'd like to both publish and subscribe the same iCalendar...is it possible? Yes it is,just remember that the publishing and subscribing url must be the same!. In order to do so you should: Subscribe your iCalendar in a folder where there aren't any other iCalendars Then publish both the iCalendar and the folder where it's subscribed (as described above for Google Calendar) ...in this way, the events created in that folder will be added to your iCalendar. In order to keep a consistent calendar, remember to reload after you've published! Where I can find all the features? Please visit the Help section for RemoteCalendars 6: I couldn't solve my problems with this guide...what should I do? Alright, in this case you should contact the RemoteCalendars team. In order to do so, you should register to SourceForge... I think I've found a bug... First of all, search both forums and Bug and Feature request trackers. If you don't find anything similar: Write a new post in Help forum, describing the problem and how to reproduce it. Please also post your configuration (system, version of RC you're using...) and your RemoteCalendars.xml (see above on how to get it). Or you could open a new bug tracker: you should still provide me the same informations :) If the problem is about subscribing correctly an iCalendar (something weird appears inside Outlook), please post me a sample of your iCalendar, or give me a link so I can try to subscribe it myself. If an error happened and you can still open Outlook with RemoteCalendars, you can click on the Option Dialog and then click the "Check ErrorLog file" button: it'll be prompted you a txt file with all the errors logged by RC (you can find this file in the same folder of the RemoteCalendars.xml file) It's almost the same between making a new post on the forum and opening a new bug tracker: usually I see first posts rather then trackers, however with trackers you can upload files,screenshots... I believe that this feature in RemoteCalendars would be cool... As stated before, check if someone else had your same idea (instead of making two post, you could just support the old one ;) ). If not, feel free to start a discussion in the Open Discussion forum and to open a new tracker in the Feature Request forum.

About this guide: I've asked permission to re-use the CSS from the Gentoo project documentation, and since it's licensed through the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike, also this guide is licensed in that way.