iCal refresh

mfehr · Post by **mfehr** » Sat Sep 25, 2010 5:21 pm

I have subscribed some iCal feeds on my zimbra calendar (e.g. tripit.com and doodle.com) as well as some other zimbra calendars of joint family calendars.
I mainly access my calendar through the CalDAV interface from my iPhone, iPad, MacBook and Mozilla Sunbird client.
While the zimbra calendars always are up to date, it seems that the ical subscriptions from the server calendar are not automatically refreshed. How do I ensure these calendars automatically refresh and where can I define the interval?

ewilen · Post by **ewilen** » Mon Sep 27, 2010 1:14 pm

I can't help with external subscriptions (like tripit.com) but if you're accessing a local Zimbra calendar using a CalDAV/WebCal feed, you'll get better results using sharing instead.

mfehr · Post by **mfehr** » Wed Sep 29, 2010 12:06 am

Calendar data available on the same server share calendars. This was not stated clear enough. This works fine.
However, my users does not own all calendar data they want to see on their calendars. They want to make use of the iCalendar feeds to "complement" their calendar with external data.

L. Mark Stone · Post by **L. Mark Stone** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 3:39 pm

The default refresh for external calendars like that is every 12 hours.
Most external calendars accessed that way are used for things like company Holidays and other uses which don't change all that often. CalDav is better for accessing calendars with more frequently changing data.
Hope that helps,

Mark

mfehr · Post by **mfehr** » Thu Sep 30, 2010 5:23 pm

12 hours makes sense. I would argue that iCal feeds are for read-only access but your distinction of iCal and CalDav makes sense.
The problem I face is that I noticed that no refresh occurred for subscribed calendars for days. If I use the web interface, I can refresh the subscriptions and I see the data I am expecting. This confirms that the subscription is still valid.
However, I do not want to refresh manually, especially as I rarely use the web interface: I use CalDAV to access my personal calendar which includes all subscriptions.

L. Mark Stone · Post by **L. Mark Stone** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 9:27 am

There are two parts here...
Just to be absolutely clear, when say "subscribe to an iCal calendar" I am taking it to mean that a server somewhere makes an ics file available to you via a URL, right?
If so, and the iCal calendar isn't refreshing, is it possible the ics file isn't being updated by the foreign server, or that the URL results are being cached by your ISP (or elsewhere in the chain...)?
Hope that helps,

Mark

mfehr · Post by **mfehr** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 12:23 pm

[quote user="LMStone"]Just to be absolutely clear, when say "subscribe to an iCal calendar" I am taking it to mean that a server somewhere makes an ics file available to you via a URL, right?[/QUOTE]
Correct. On the Zimbra web interface, you create a new calendar, check "synchronize appointments from remote calendar" and enter the URL to the ics file made available on the internet.
[quote user="LMStone"]

If so, and the iCal calendar isn't refreshing, is it possible the ics file isn't being updated by the foreign server, or that the URL results are being cached by your ISP (or elsewhere in the chain...)?[/QUOTE]
Unfortunately not. The ics feed is ok: Calendar updates are correctly received on the iPhone or Mozilla Sunbird. - If I go to the web interface of Zimbra and select "Refresh" on the calendar, data gets updated correctly.

L. Mark Stone · Post by **L. Mark Stone** » Mon Oct 04, 2010 2:21 pm

Why not just add the ics URL as a subscribed calendar directly on the iPhone, and deselect that calendar in your iPhone's existing Zimbra CalDAV account?

mfehr · Post by **mfehr** » Sun Oct 10, 2010 3:33 pm

Sure, this is a possible work around.

tkurth · Post by **tkurth** » Fri Nov 19, 2010 8:45 am

[quote user="mfehr"]Sure, this is a possible work around.[/QUOTE]
I have the same issue. So if I do the iPhone loop, do I see the subscribed cal correctly on my Zimbra account?