Tech Forum

The event I posted came from an export of the calendar at new.lds.org. We entered our stake calendar into a google calendar and then exported it. I then tried to import it into new.lds.org which failed. I then thought there was something wrong with the file so I tried to import it into outlook (2010) which worked just fine. I then exported from outlook to import -- which failed as well. That is when I decided to get to a basic file. I do not think it is very feasible as I would be spending the same if not more time "fixing" the file rather than manually adding each calendar item.

It still seems like the import function is missing something from the iCal standard.

This is an export form Google Calendar, which does not work either:

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20111231
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20120101
DTSTAMP:20101203T161522Z
UID:CSVConvert32ded60d050733c54c1d1a109ab1fb9a
CREATED:20101128T151621Z
DESCRIPTION:
LAST-MODIFIED:20101128T151621Z
LOCATION:United States
SEQUENCE:0
STATUS:CONFIRMED
SUMMARY:New Year's Eve
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

mzundel wrote:It still seems like the import function is missing something from the iCal standard.

This is an export form Google Calendar, which does not work either:

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20111231
DTEND;VALUE=DATE:20120101
DTSTAMP:20101203T161522Z
UID:CSVConvert32ded60d050733c54c1d1a109ab1fb9a
CREATED:20101128T151621Z
DESCRIPTION:
LAST-MODIFIED:20101128T151621Z
LOCATION:United States
SEQUENCE:0
STATUS:CONFIRMED
SUMMARY:New Year's Eve
TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

hmm. It worked fine for me. I simply copied and pasted that exact text into a text file called test.ics and imported it. I was told that it imported successfully, and indeed the New Year's Eve 2011 event was on the calendar.

What leads you to say it didn't work? Did you get an error message, or did the event simply not appear?

The error that I receive is:
"We encountered an error with your ICS file. You may need to create a new ICS file, or try again later."

Also of note is that the importer throws an error when using the one-way sync files it generates.

Granted this shouldn't be used much/at all (Our stake isn't using the calendar yet, so I created all of the stake events in a ward-level calendar and was then trying to make a copy to push to stake level. I want a copy just so my work isn't "lost" and we fly blind again )

Specific error message:
"There was an error while trying to parse your ICS file. We currently support ICAL files created by Google Calendar or Outlook. If you are importing from one of these applications please report the issues to customer service."

For me it would be helpful to know which event in the ICS file had an error/what the error is so I can correct it. In order to keep it user friendly perhaps the prompt could operate like the Windows Vista (& 7?) copy dialog where there's the general message and then a "more information" describing the technical aspects.

I tried to repair the files using regular expression replacements in Notepad++
find replace with which successfully implemented mstauff's suggestion, but was given the same error message.

mzundel wrote:The error that I receive is:
"We encountered an error with your ICS file. You may need to create a new ICS file, or try again later."

What browser(s) have you tried it in? I think I saw that error in chrome, but then tried it in FF and IE and it worked in both of them. I realize it's a long shot that that would be the issue, but at least worth considering since that event imported for Alan_Brown.

I tried the above mentioned date changing and it still doesn't import for me with that same error message "We encountered an error with your ICS file. You may need to create a new ICS file, or try again later."

My sample file:
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20101231T152728Z
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20110101
SUMMARY:News Year's Day
UID:629958A
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

nerenberg wrote:I tried the above mentioned date changing and it still doesn't import for me with that same error message "We encountered an error with your ICS file. You may need to create a new ICS file, or try again later."

My sample file:
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20101231T152728Z
DTSTART;VALUE=DATE:20110101
SUMMARY:News Year's Day
UID:629958A
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

I saved your sample data as test.ics and imported it into our stake's calendar on lds.org/church-calendar using Options > Import iCal Events. It worked exactly as expected -- the event was imported on 1 Jan 2011.

Are you a calendar administrator ("approver") for your unit? Are you an editor for the calendar you are trying to import this event into? Is it a regular public calendar, or a private calendar?

I had this problem, well sort of. Instead of getting an error, the dialog box just kept spinning like it was importing 45 billion events. I opened the ICS in Notepad++ and did and EOL conversion to Linux/Unix style and the ICS imported in the twinkle of an eye.

This is a problem with the importer code. It should either recognize that some people use Windows (so EOL characters are \r\n) or convert EOL characters to \r\n.