[kwlug-disc] Android / Google calendar - events as tasks.

[Bob Jonkman]

I've often thought that a Project Management application could use
CalSch standards to store tasks and sub-tasks (nested without limit),
and vCards for resources.  The output could be entirely iCal and vCard
feeds, compatible with any calendaring software. Add some basic mail
functionality (Zawinski's Law for servers), and you'd have a dandy
Project Management/Calendar/Mail system. Haven't found any such software
yet..

I am still looking for a Free/Libre calendar/mail server. I just
uninstalled Zimbra Open Source; partly due to admin interface
shortcomings (lack of granularity in managing the non-standard,
out-of-date Postfix server), partly lack of full calendar integration
(no CalDAV; no iCal feeds for input), and partly because of a dependency
on Adobe Flash for admin reports.

About two years ago I installed Kolab, but at that time the version in
the Ubuntu repositories wasn't supported by kolab.org, and the version
distributed by kolab.org used a proprietary package manager (which I
think is no longer supported either).

I've been making a list at
http://bob.jonkman.ca/blogs/2012/10/12/calendaring-server-software/  If
anyone can help fill in the blanks, or has additional recommendations
please let me know.

--Bob.

Bob Jonkman <bjonkman at sobac.com>         http://sobac.com/sobac/
SOBAC Microcomputer Services              Phone: +1-519-669-0388
6 James Street, Elmira ON Canada  N3B 1L5  Cell: +1-519-635-9413
Software   ---   Office & Business Automation   ---   Consulting



On 12-10-22 07:24 PM, unsolicited wrote:
> To your point(s) ...
> 
> I came across yesterday somewhere that Google only just announced 
> CardDAV support in the last few weeks.
> 
> On 12-10-04 06:35 PM, Bob Jonkman wrote:
>> I've been using Google Calendar for events for years, even when I
>> was still using a paper-based appointment book (long since
>> abandoned). Google is one of the few calendar providers that comes
>> close to following the IETF CalSch standards (RFC5545 et al).
>> 
>> I don't use tasks much, but the calendar Web interface for tasks
>> does have a "completed" status and indicator (either a check mark
>> for complete items, or an empty checkbox for incomplete items).
>> I'm using 
>> https://google.com/calendar/render?gsessionid=<SomeHexNumber> with 
>> Chromium or Firefox.
> 
> Yep. Ugly. (Web interface.) Wish there were a standalone java / Linux
> / Windows app. (Preferably all 3.) But I don't know of any.
> 
>> The Google task list shows up as another calendar instance in the
>> Web calendar interface, but the tasks do not seem to appear in any
>> of the calendars; the tasks seem to be in some other calendar
>> store.  I've added my Google calendars to the Thunderbird Lightning
>> plugin.  I cannot see the tasks in those calendars, and it does not
>> seem that I can export the task list, or link to it.
> 
> Lightning doesn't understand tasks / anything that isn't a calendar. 
> [Not to say there aren't addons out there fudging it (somewhat?).
> e.g. Toodledo. And not to say it doesn't have (internal) tasks.] They
> just haven't gotten that far / sync wise. I doubt that they will any
> time soon. Calendars are a big enough ongoing problem, development is
> being scaled back on TB, ...
> 
>> I've also added a bunch of external calendars to my Google
>> calendar list, including the .ics link from Meetup, and the iCal
>> link from http://sobac.com/~stopthestink/events-calendar/   That
>> all seems to work fine.
>> 
>> I'm not using the Google calendar app for Android, but the mobile
>> web interface for tasks:
>> http://mail.google.com/tasks?source=mog&gly=ca (which will redirect
>> to the mobile Task interface on an Android phone).
> 
> Yeah, there's that, or the similar widget for calendars. Right-side 
> loading that will also expand out, screen wise. Just like gmail
> version does.)
> 
>> So, if you want to use Google Tasks, stick to their Web interface, 
>> either desktop or mobile.
> 
> I don't actually know of any (standalone) desktop apps that will
> deal with gtasks.  See TaskUnifier on sourceforge for the sort of
> thing I mean, vs. inclusion in an awkward user interface within
> korganizer, evolution, etc.
> 
>> If you want tasks  integrated with events (with import/export) try 
>> Thunderbird's Lightning plugin.  Not sure how conformant Lightning
>> tasks are to the CalSch standards.
>> 
>> I've used Evolution for event scheduling as well, but I don't
>> remember how well it handles tasks or how conformant it is to
>> standards.
>> 
>> From RFC5545, a task (called a "To-Do") is an event with rollover
>> and completion - if a task has no completed date then it appears
>> the next day.  If there is a due date then it can appear as
>> "overdue" when it rolls past the due date.  If there is a start
>> date then it does not appear in the task list until that date.
> 
> It's subtasks that are the real showstopper. Very few facilities
> have them (except for google) - which means there's little point to
> google having them / using them - they can't sync anywhere / lack of 
> standalone/desktop) interface. e.g. Toodledo claims subtasks, but
> it's only 1 level. Beats me how they get away with such
> marketing-speak.
> 
>> RFC5545: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5545
>> 
>> On 12-10-01 06:01 PM, unsolicited wrote:
>>> One of the annoying things about (Google) calendar is that it has
>>> no sense of tasks as events (or vice versa). [Never mind google
>>> tasks for the purpose of this message.]
>>> 
>>> It just occurred to me I could create two calendars, 'mycal'
>>> (shown) and 'mycal-done' (not shown). When a meeting has
>>> happened, for example, moving the event from 'mycal' to
>>> 'mycal-done' would be the equivalent to marking the meeting as
>>> completed. (Or cancelled.) Turning the display of 'mycal-done'
>>> on/off would be the equivalent to ticking (or not) 'Show 
>>> Completed'.
>>> 
>>> It also occurs to me that if one has a regular 'project' [never
>>> mind that by definition a project is unique], one could export
>>> the (calendar) project as a .csv, edit the dates for the next
>>> round, and import the modified .csv.
>>> 
>>> [<tongue in cheek> Should I be looking to apply for a software
>>> patent for these ideas?]
>>> 
>>> Any reasons why approaching these these ways doesn't make sense /
>>> are there better ways?
>>> 
>>> Anyone know of any good web places where such tips and 'tricks'
>>> are bandied about?
>>> 
>>> [It appears to be pointless to hold one's breath that google will
>>> ever add the concept of 'complete' to calendar events / integrate
>>> tasks into calendar - a la Palm Desktop / Agendus / DateBk.]
> 
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