curzonj-icalendar 1.0.2

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Files changed (44) hide show
  1. data/COPYING +56 -0
  2. data/GPL +340 -0
  3. data/README +266 -0
  4. data/Rakefile +110 -0
  5. data/docs/rfcs/itip_notes.txt +69 -0
  6. data/docs/rfcs/rfc2425.pdf +0 -0
  7. data/docs/rfcs/rfc2426.pdf +0 -0
  8. data/docs/rfcs/rfc2445.pdf +0 -0
  9. data/docs/rfcs/rfc2446.pdf +0 -0
  10. data/docs/rfcs/rfc2447.pdf +0 -0
  11. data/docs/rfcs/rfc3283.txt +738 -0
  12. data/examples/create_cal.rb +45 -0
  13. data/examples/parse_cal.rb +20 -0
  14. data/examples/single_event.ics +18 -0
  15. data/lib/hash_attrs.rb +34 -0
  16. data/lib/icalendar.rb +39 -0
  17. data/lib/icalendar/base.rb +43 -0
  18. data/lib/icalendar/calendar.rb +113 -0
  19. data/lib/icalendar/component.rb +442 -0
  20. data/lib/icalendar/component/alarm.rb +44 -0
  21. data/lib/icalendar/component/event.rb +129 -0
  22. data/lib/icalendar/component/freebusy.rb +38 -0
  23. data/lib/icalendar/component/journal.rb +61 -0
  24. data/lib/icalendar/component/timezone.rb +105 -0
  25. data/lib/icalendar/component/todo.rb +64 -0
  26. data/lib/icalendar/conversions.rb +150 -0
  27. data/lib/icalendar/helpers.rb +109 -0
  28. data/lib/icalendar/parameter.rb +33 -0
  29. data/lib/icalendar/parser.rb +396 -0
  30. data/lib/meta.rb +32 -0
  31. data/test/calendar_test.rb +71 -0
  32. data/test/component/event_test.rb +256 -0
  33. data/test/component/todo_test.rb +13 -0
  34. data/test/component_test.rb +76 -0
  35. data/test/conversions_test.rb +97 -0
  36. data/test/fixtures/folding.ics +23 -0
  37. data/test/fixtures/life.ics +46 -0
  38. data/test/fixtures/simplecal.ics +119 -0
  39. data/test/fixtures/single_event.ics +23 -0
  40. data/test/interactive.rb +17 -0
  41. data/test/parameter_test.rb +29 -0
  42. data/test/parser_test.rb +84 -0
  43. data/test/read_write.rb +23 -0
  44. metadata +105 -0
data/Rakefile ADDED
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
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+ require 'rubygems'
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+ require 'rake'
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+ require 'rake/testtask'
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+ require 'rake/rdoctask'
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+ require 'rake/clean'
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+ require 'rake/contrib/sshpublisher'
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+
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+ PKG_VERSION = "1.1.0"
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+
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+ $VERBOSE = nil
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+ TEST_CHANGES_SINCE = Time.now - 600 # Recent tests = changed in last 10 minutes
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+
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+ desc "Run all the unit tests"
14
+ task :default => [ :test, :lines ]
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+
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+ desc "Run the unit tests in test"
17
+ Rake::TestTask.new(:test) { |t|
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+ t.libs << "test"
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+ t.test_files = FileList['test/*_test.rb', 'test/component/*_test.rb']
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+ t.verbose = true
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+ }
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+
23
+ # rcov code coverage
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+ rcov_path = '/usr/local/bin/rcov'
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+ rcov_test_output = "./test/coverage"
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+ rcov_exclude = "interactive.rb,read_write.rb,fixtures"
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+
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+ # Add our created paths to the 'rake clobber' list
29
+ CLOBBER.include(rcov_test_output)
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+
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+ desc 'Removes all previous unit test coverage information'
32
+ task (:reset_unit_test_coverage) do |t|
33
+ rm_rf rcov_unit_test_output
34
+ mkdir rcov_unit_test_output
35
+ end
36
+
37
+ desc 'Run all unit tests with Rcov to measure coverage'
38
+ Rake::TestTask.new(:rcov) do |t|
39
+ t.libs << "test"
40
+ t.pattern = 'test/**/*_test.rb'
41
+ t.ruby_opts << rcov_path
42
+ t.ruby_opts << "-o #{rcov_test_output}"
43
+ t.ruby_opts << "-x #{rcov_exclude}"
44
+ t.verbose = true
45
+ end
46
+
47
+ # Generate the RDoc documentation
48
+ Rake::RDocTask.new(:doc) { |rdoc|
49
+ rdoc.main = 'README'
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+ rdoc.rdoc_files.include('lib/**/*.rb', 'README')
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+ rdoc.rdoc_files.include('GPL', 'COPYING')
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+ rdoc.rdoc_dir = 'docs/api'
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+ rdoc.title = "iCalendar -- Internet Calendaring for Ruby"
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+ rdoc.options << "--include=examples --line-numbers --inline-source"
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+ rdoc.options << "--accessor=ical_component,ical_property,ical_multi_property"
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+ }
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+
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+ Gem::manage_gems
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+ require 'rake/gempackagetask'
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+
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+ spec = Gem::Specification.new do |s|
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+ s.name = "icalendar"
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+ s.version = PKG_VERSION
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+ s.homepage = "http://icalendar.rubyforge.org/"
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+ s.platform = Gem::Platform::RUBY
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+ s.summary = "A ruby implementation of the iCalendar specification (RFC-2445)."
67
+ s.description = "Implements the iCalendar specification (RFC-2445) in Ruby. This allows for the generation and parsing of .ics files, which are used by a variety of calendaring applications."
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+
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+ s.files = FileList["{test,lib,docs,examples}/**/*"].to_a
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+ s.files += ["Rakefile", "README", "COPYING", "GPL" ]
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+ s.require_path = "lib"
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+ s.autorequire = "icalendar"
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+ s.has_rdoc = true
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+ s.extra_rdoc_files = ["README", "COPYING", "GPL"]
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+ s.rdoc_options.concat ['--main', 'README']
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+
77
+ s.author = "Sean Dague"
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+ s.email = "sean@dague.net"
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+ end
80
+
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+ Rake::GemPackageTask.new(spec) do |pkg|
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+ pkg.gem_spec = spec
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+ pkg.need_tar = true
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+ pkg.need_zip = true
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+ end
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+
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+ desc 'Install the gem globally (requires sudo)'
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+ task :install => :package do |t|
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+ `sudo gem install pkg/icalendar-#{PKG_VERSION}.gem`
90
+ end
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+
92
+ task :lines do
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+ lines = 0
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+ codelines = 0
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+ Dir.foreach("lib/icalendar") { |file_name|
96
+ next unless file_name =~ /.*rb/
97
+
98
+ f = File.open("lib/icalendar/" + file_name)
99
+
100
+ while line = f.gets
101
+ lines += 1
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+ next if line =~ /^\s*$/
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+ next if line =~ /^\s*#/
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+ codelines += 1
105
+ end
106
+ }
107
+ puts "\n------------------------------\n"
108
+ puts "Total Lines: #{lines}"
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+ puts "Lines of Code: #{codelines}"
110
+ end
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
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+ Set of methods used for transactions:
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+
3
+ PUBLISH:
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+ - Publish a calendar entry to one or more users.
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+
6
+ REQUEST:
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+ - Used to schedule a calendar entry with other users.
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+ - Require REPLY messages from others.
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+ - Used by Organizers to update status of entries.
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+
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+ REPLY:
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+ - Attendees use this to send information back to Organizers who have sent a
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+ REQUEST message.
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+
15
+ ADD:
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+ - Add one or more instances to an existing entry.
17
+
18
+ CANCEL:
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+ - Cancel a calendar item.
20
+
21
+ REFRESH:
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+ - Attendee's use this to get the latest version of an item.
23
+
24
+ COUNTER:
25
+ - Used by an attendee to negotiate a change in a calendar entry.
26
+
27
+ DECLINE-COUNTER:
28
+ - Used by an organizer to decline a COUNTER message.
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+
30
+
31
+ Transports:
32
+
33
+ Real-time vs. Store-and-forward?
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+
35
+ Entry Status:
36
+ - Only the organizer can set the STATUS property
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+ - Attendee's use the "partstat" parameter of the ATTENDEE property to convey
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+ their personal status.
39
+ - Initial value of "partstat" is set to "NEEDS-ACTION" by organizer
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+ - Modifying this state is part of an attendee's REPLY message.
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+
42
+ Sequence Property:
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+ - Used to tell manage different versions of an entry
44
+ - Has specific rules so look at these
45
+
46
+ Handling messages should be done in this manner:
47
+
48
+ 1. The primary key for referencing a particular iCalendar component
49
+ is the "UID" property value. To reference an instance of a
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+ recurring component, the primary key is composed of the "UID" and
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+ the "RECURRENCE-ID" properties.
52
+ 2. The secondary key for referencing a component is the "SEQUENCE"
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+ property value. For components where the "UID" is the same, the
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+ component with the highest numeric value for the "SEQUENCE"
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+ property obsoletes all other revisions of the component with
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+ lower values.
57
+ 3. "Attendees" send "REPLY" messages to the "Organizer". For
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+ replies where the "UID" property value is the same, the value of
59
+ the "SEQUENCE" property indicates the revision of the component
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+ to which the "Attendee" is replying. The reply with the highest
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+ numeric value for the "SEQUENCE" property obsoletes all other
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+ replies with lower values.
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+ 4. In situations where the "UID" and "SEQUENCE" properties match,
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+ the "DTSTAMP" property is used as the tie-breaker. The component
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+ with the latest "DTSTAMP" overrides all others. Similarly, for
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+ "Attendee" responses where the "UID" property values match and
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+ the "SEQUENCE" property values match, the response with the
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+ latest "DTSTAMP" overrides all others.
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+
Binary file
Binary file
Binary file
Binary file
Binary file
@@ -0,0 +1,738 @@
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+ <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//IETF//DTD HTML//EN">
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+ <HTML>
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+ <HEAD>
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+ <TITLE>RFC 3283 (rfc3283) - Guide to Internet Calendaring</TITLE>
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+ <META name="description" content="RFC 3283 - Guide to Internet Calendaring">
6
+ <script language="JavaScript1.2">
7
+ function erfc(s)
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+ {document.write("<A href=\"/rfccomment.php?rfcnum="+s+"\" target=\"_blank\" onclick=\"window.open('/rfccomment.php?rfcnum="+s+"','Popup','toolbar=no,location=no,status=no,menubar=no,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,width=680,height=530,left=30,top=43'); return false;\")>Comment on RFC "+s+"</A>\n");}
9
+ //-->
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+ </script>
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+ </HEAD>
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+ <BODY BGCOLOR="#ffffff" TEXT="#000000">
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+ <P ALIGN=CENTER><IMG SRC="/images/library.jpg" HEIGHT=62 WIDTH=150 BORDER="0" ALIGN="MIDDLE" ALT=""></P>
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+ <H1 ALIGN=CENTER>RFC 3283 (RFC3283)</H1>
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+ <P ALIGN=CENTER>Internet RFC/STD/FYI/BCP Archives</P>
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+
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+ <DIV ALIGN=CENTER>[ <a href="/rfcs/">RFC Index</a> | <A HREF="/rfcs/rfcsearch.html">RFC Search</A> | <a href="/faqs/">Usenet FAQs</a> | <a href="/contrib/">Web FAQs</a> | <a href="/docs/">Documents</a> | <a href="http://www.city-data.com/">Cities</a> ]
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+ <P>
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+ <STRONG>Alternate Formats:</STRONG>
20
+ <A HREF="/ftp/rfc/rfc3283.txt">rfc3283.txt</A></DIV>
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+ <p align=center><script language="JavaScript"><!--
22
+ erfc("3283");
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+ // --></script></p>
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+ <h3 align=center>RFC 3283 - Guide to Internet Calendaring</h3>
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+ <HR SIZE=2 NOSHADE>
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+ <PRE>
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+
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+ Network Working Group B. Mahoney
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+ Request for Comments: 3283 MIT
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+ Category: Informational G. Babics
31
+ Steltor
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+ A. Taler
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+ June 2002
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+
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+ Guide to Internet Calendaring
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+
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+ Status of this Memo
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+
39
+ This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
40
+ not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
41
+ memo is unlimited.
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+
43
+ Copyright Notice
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+
45
+ Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002). All Rights Reserved.
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+
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+ Abstract
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+
49
+ This document describes the various Internet calendaring and
50
+ scheduling standards and works in progress, and the relationships
51
+ between them. Its intent is to provide a context for these
52
+ documents, assist in their understanding, and potentially aid in the
53
+ design of standards-based calendaring and scheduling systems. The
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+ standards addressed are <A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC 2445</A> (iCalendar), <A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC 2446</A> (iTIP), and
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+ <A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC 2447</A> (iMIP). The work in progress addressed is "Calendar Access
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+ Protocol" (CAP). This document also describes issues and problems
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+ that are not solved by these protocols, and that could be targets for
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+ future work.
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+
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+ Table of Contents
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+
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+ 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
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+ 1.1 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
64
+ 1.2 Concepts and Relationships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
65
+ 2. Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
66
+ 2.1 Fundamental Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
67
+ 2.2 Protocol Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
68
+ 3. Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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+ 3.1 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
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+ 3.2 Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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+ 3.2.1 Standalone Single-user System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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+ 3.2.2 Single-user Systems Communicating . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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+ 3.2.3 Single-user with Multiple CUAs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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+ 3.2.4 Single-user with Multiple Calendars . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
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+
76
+ 3.2.5 Users Communicating on a Multi-user System . . . . . . . . . 10
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+ 3.2.6 Users Communicating through Different Multi-user Systems . . 10
78
+ 4. Important Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
79
+ 4.1 Timezones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
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+ 4.2 Choice of Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
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+ 4.3 Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
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+ 4.4 Amount of data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
83
+ 4.5 Recurring Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
84
+ 5. Open Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
85
+ 5.1 Scheduling People, not Calendars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
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+ 5.2 Administration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
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+ 5.3 Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
88
+ 6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
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+ 6.1 Access Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
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+ 6.2 Authentication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
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+ 6.3 Using E-mail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
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+ 6.4 Other Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
93
+ Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
94
+ References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
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+ Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
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+ Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
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+
98
+ 1. Introduction
99
+
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+ Calendaring and scheduling protocols are intended to aid individuals
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+ in obtaining calendaring information and scheduling meetings across
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+ the Internet, to aid organizations in providing calendaring
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+ information on the Internet, and to provide for organizations looking
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+ for a calendaring and scheduling solution to deploy internally.
105
+
106
+ It is the intent of this document to provide a context for these
107
+ documents, assist in their understanding, and potentially help in the
108
+ design of standards-based calendaring and scheduling systems.
109
+
110
+ Problems not solved by these protocols, as well as security issues to
111
+ be kept in mind, are discussed at the end of the document.
112
+
113
+ 1.1 Terminology
114
+
115
+ This memo uses much of the same terminology as iCalendar [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>],
116
+ iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>], iMIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>], and [CAP]. The following
117
+ definitions are provided as an introduction; the definitions in the
118
+ protocol specifications themselves should be considered canonical.
119
+
120
+ Calendar
121
+
122
+ A collection of events, to-dos, journal entries, etc. A calendar
123
+ could be the content of a person or resource's agenda; it could
124
+ also be a collection of data serving a more specialized need.
125
+ Calendars are the basic storage containers for calendaring
126
+ information.
127
+
128
+ Calendar Access Rights
129
+
130
+ A set of rules defining who may perform what operations, such as
131
+ reading or writing information, on a given calendar.
132
+
133
+ Calendar Service
134
+
135
+ A running server application that provides access to a number of
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+ calendar stores.
137
+
138
+ Calendar Store (CS)
139
+
140
+ A data store of a calendar service. A calendar service may have
141
+ several calendar stores, and each store may contain several
142
+ calendars, as well as properties and components outside of those
143
+ calendars.
144
+
145
+ Calendar User (CU)
146
+
147
+ An entity (often a human) that accesses calendar information.
148
+
149
+ Calendar User Agent (CUA)
150
+
151
+ Software with which the calendar user communicates with a calendar
152
+ service or local calendar store to access calendar information.
153
+
154
+ Component
155
+
156
+ A piece of calendar data such as an event, a to-do or an alarm.
157
+ Information about components is stored as properties of those
158
+ components.
159
+
160
+ Delegator
161
+
162
+ A calendar user who has assigned his or her participation in a
163
+ scheduled calendar component (e.g. a VEVENT) to another calendar
164
+ user (sometimes called the delegate or delegatee). An example of
165
+ a delegator is a busy executive sending an employee to a meeting
166
+ in his or her place.
167
+
168
+ Delegate
169
+
170
+ A calendar user (sometimes called the delegatee) who has been
171
+ assigned to participate in a scheduled calendar component (e.g. a
172
+ VEVENT) in place of one of the attendees in that component
173
+ (sometimes called the delegator). An example of a delegate is a
174
+ team member sent to a particular meeting.
175
+
176
+ Designate
177
+
178
+ A calendar user authorized to act on behalf of another calendar
179
+ user. An example of a designate is an assistant scheduling
180
+ meetings for his or her superior.
181
+
182
+ Local Store
183
+
184
+ A CS that is on the same device as the CUA.
185
+
186
+ Property
187
+
188
+ A description of some element of a component, such as a start
189
+ time, title or location.
190
+
191
+ Remote Store
192
+
193
+ A CS that is not on the same device as the CUA.
194
+
195
+ 1.2 Concepts and Relationships
196
+
197
+ iCalendar is the language used to describe calendar objects. iTIP
198
+ describes a way to use the iCalendar language to do scheduling. iMIP
199
+ describes how to do iTIP scheduling via e-mail. CAP describes a way
200
+ to use the iCalendar language to access a calendar store in real-
201
+ time.
202
+
203
+ The relationship between calendaring protocols is similar to that
204
+ between e-mail protocols. In those terms, iCalendar is analogous to
205
+ <A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2822.html">RFC 2822</A>, iTIP and iMIP are analogous to the Simple Mail Transfer
206
+ Protocol (SMTP), and CAP is analogous to the Post Office Protocol
207
+ (POP) or Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP).
208
+
209
+ 2. Requirements
210
+
211
+ 2.1 Fundamental Needs
212
+
213
+ The following scenarios illustrate people and organizations' basic
214
+ calendaring and scheduling needs:
215
+
216
+ a] A doctor wishes to keep track of all her appointments.
217
+
218
+ Need: To read and manipulate one's own calendar with only one CUA.
219
+
220
+ b] A busy musician wants to maintain her schedule with multiple
221
+ devices, such as through an Internet-based agenda and with a PDA.
222
+
223
+ Need: To read and manipulate one's own calendar, possibly with
224
+ solutions from different vendors.
225
+
226
+ c] A software development team wishes to more effectively schedule
227
+ their time through viewing each other's calendar information.
228
+
229
+ Need: To share calendar information between users of the same
230
+ calendar service.
231
+
232
+ d] A teacher wants his students to schedule appointments during
233
+ his office hours.
234
+
235
+ Need: To schedule calendar events, to-dos and journals with other
236
+ users of the same calendar service.
237
+
238
+ e] A movie theater wants to publish its schedule for prospective
239
+ customers.
240
+
241
+ Need: To share calendar information with users of other calendar
242
+ services, possibly from a number of different vendors.
243
+
244
+ f] A social club wants to schedule calendar entries effectively
245
+ with its members.
246
+
247
+ Need: To schedule calendar events and to-dos with users of other
248
+ calendar services, possibly from a number of different vendors.
249
+
250
+ 2.2 Protocol Requirements
251
+
252
+ Some of these needs can be met by proprietary solutions (a, c, d),
253
+ but others can not (b, e, f). These latter scenarios show that
254
+ standard protocols are required for accessing information in a
255
+ calendar store and scheduling calendar entries. In addition, these
256
+ protocols require a common data format for representing calendar
257
+ information.
258
+
259
+ These requirements are met by the following protocol specifications.
260
+
261
+ - Data format: iCalendar [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>]
262
+
263
+ iCalendar [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>] provides a data format for representing
264
+ calendar information, to be used and exchanged by other protocols.
265
+ iCalendar [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>] can also be used in other contexts, such as a
266
+ drag-and-drop interface, or an export/import feature. All the
267
+ other calendaring protocols depend on iCalendar [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>], so all
268
+ elements of a standards-based calendaring and scheduling systems
269
+ will have to be able to interpret iCalendar [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>].
270
+
271
+ - Scheduling protocol: iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>]
272
+
273
+ iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>] describes the messages used to schedule calendar
274
+ events. Within iTIP messages, events are represented in iCalendar
275
+ [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>] format, and have semantics that identify the message as
276
+ being an invitation to a meeting, an acceptance of an invitation,
277
+ or the assignment of a task.
278
+
279
+ iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>] messages are used in the scheduling workflow,
280
+ where users exchange messages in order to organize things such as
281
+ events and to-dos. CUAs generate and interpret iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>]
282
+ messages at the direction of the calendar user. With iTIP [RFC-
283
+ 2446] users can create, modify, delete, reply to, counter, and
284
+ decline counters to the various iCalendar [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>] components.
285
+ Furthermore, users can also request the free/busy time of other
286
+ people.
287
+
288
+ iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>] is transport-independent, and has one specified
289
+ transport binding: iMIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>] binds iTIP to e-mail. In
290
+ addition [CAP] will provide a real-time binding of iTIP [RFC-
291
+ 2446], allowing CUAs to perform calendar management and scheduling
292
+ over a single connection.
293
+
294
+ - Calendar management protocol: [CAP]
295
+
296
+ [CAP] describes the messages used to manage calendars on a
297
+ calendar store. These messages use iCalendar [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>] to
298
+ describe various components such as events and to-dos. These
299
+ messages make it possible to perform iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>] operations,
300
+ as well as other operations relating to a calendar store such as
301
+ searching, creating calendars, specifying calendar properties, and
302
+ specifying calendar access rights.
303
+
304
+ 3. Solutions
305
+
306
+ 3.1 Examples
307
+
308
+ Returning to the scenarios presented in section 2.1, the calendaring
309
+ protocols can be used in the following ways:
310
+
311
+ a] The doctor can use a proprietary CUA with a local store, and
312
+ perhaps use iCalendar [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>] as a storage mechanism. This
313
+ would allow her to easily import her data store into another
314
+ application that supports iCalendar [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>].
315
+
316
+ b] The musician who wishes to access her agenda from anywhere can
317
+ use a [CAP]-enabled calendar service accessible over the Internet.
318
+ She can then use any available [CAP] clients to access the data.
319
+
320
+ A proprietary system that provides access through a Web-based
321
+ interface could also be employed, but the use of [CAP] would be
322
+ superior in that it would allow the use of third party
323
+ applications, such as PDA synchronization tools.
324
+
325
+ c] The development team can use a calendar service which supports
326
+ [CAP], and each member can use a [CAP]-enabled CUA of their
327
+ choice.
328
+
329
+ Alternatively, each member could use an iMIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>]-enabled
330
+ CUA, and they could book meetings over e-mail. This solution has
331
+ the drawback that it is difficult to examine other users' agendas,
332
+ making the organization of meetings more difficult.
333
+
334
+ Proprietary solutions are also available, but they require that
335
+ all members use clients by the same vendor, and disallow the use
336
+ of third party applications.
337
+
338
+ d] The teacher can set up a calendar service, and have students
339
+ book time through any of the iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>] bindings. [CAP]
340
+ provides real-time access, but could require additional
341
+ configuration. iMIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>] would be the easiest to configure,
342
+ but may require more e-mail processing.
343
+
344
+ If [CAP] access is provided then determining the state of the
345
+ teacher's schedule is straightforward. If not, this can be
346
+ determined through iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>] free/busy requests. Non-
347
+ standard methods could also be employed, such as serving up
348
+ iCalendar [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>], HTML, or XML over HTTP.
349
+
350
+ A proprietary system could also be used, but would require that
351
+ all students be able to use software from a specific vendor.
352
+
353
+ e] [CAP] would be preferred for publishing a movie theater's
354
+ schedule, since it provides advanced access and search
355
+ capabilities. It also allows easy integration with customers'
356
+ calendar systems.
357
+
358
+ Non-standard methods such as serving data over HTTP could also be
359
+ employed, but would be harder to integrate with customers'
360
+ systems.
361
+
362
+ Using a completely proprietary solution would be very difficult,
363
+ if not impossible, since it would require every user to install
364
+ and use the proprietary software.
365
+
366
+ f] The social club could distribute meeting information in the
367
+ form of iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>] messages, sent via e-mail using iMIP
368
+ [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>]. The club could distribute meeting invitations, as
369
+ well as a full published agenda.
370
+
371
+ Alternatively, the club could provide access to a [CAP]-enabled
372
+ calendar service. However, this solution would be more expensive
373
+ since it requires the maintenance of a server.
374
+
375
+ 3.2 Systems
376
+
377
+ The following diagrams illustrate possible systems and their usage of
378
+ the various protocols.
379
+
380
+ 3.2.1 Standalone Single-user System
381
+
382
+ A single user system that does not communicate with other systems
383
+ need not employ any of the protocols. However, it may use iCalendar
384
+ [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>] as a data format in some places.
385
+
386
+ ----------- O
387
+ | CUA w/ | -+- user
388
+ |local store| A
389
+ ----------- / \
390
+
391
+ 3.2.2 Single-user Systems Communicating
392
+
393
+ Users with single-user systems may schedule meetings with each others
394
+ using iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>]. The easiest binding of iTIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>] to use
395
+ would be iMIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>], since messages can be held in the users'
396
+ mail queues, which we assume to already exist. [CAP] could also be
397
+ used.
398
+
399
+ O ----------- ----------- O
400
+ -+- | CUA w/ | -----[iMIP]----- | CUA w/ | -+- user
401
+ A |local store| Internet |local store| A
402
+ / \ ----------- ----------- / \
403
+
404
+ 3.2.3 Single-user with Multiple CUAs
405
+
406
+ A single user may use more than one CUA to access his or her
407
+ calendar. The user may use a PDA, a Web client, a PC, or some other
408
+ device, depending on accessibility. Some of these clients may have
409
+ local stores and others may not. Those with local stores need to
410
+ synchronize the data on the CUA with the data on the CS.
411
+
412
+ -----------
413
+ | CUA w | -----[CAP]----------+
414
+ |local store| |
415
+ O ----------- ----------
416
+ -+- | CS |
417
+ A | |
418
+ / \ ----------
419
+ ----------- |
420
+ | CUA w/o | -----[CAP]----------+
421
+ |local store|
422
+ -----------
423
+
424
+ 3.2.4 Single-user with Multiple Calendars
425
+
426
+ A single user may have many independent calendars; for example, one
427
+ may contain work-related information and another personal
428
+ information. The CUA may or may not have a local store. If it does,
429
+ then it needs to synchronize the data of the CUA with the data on
430
+ both of the CS.
431
+
432
+ ----------
433
+ +------------[CAP]------ | CS |
434
+ | | |
435
+ O ----------- ----------
436
+ -+- | CUA |
437
+ A | |
438
+ / \ -----------
439
+ | ----------
440
+ +------------[CAP]------ | CS |
441
+ | |
442
+ ----------
443
+
444
+ 3.2.5 Users Communicating on a Multi-user System
445
+
446
+ Users on a multi-user system may schedule meetings with each other
447
+ using [CAP]-enabled CUAs and services. The CUAs may or may not have
448
+ local stores. Those with local stores need to synchronize the data
449
+ on the CUAs with the data on the CS.
450
+
451
+ O -----------
452
+ -+- | CUA w | -----[CAP]----------+
453
+ A |local store| |
454
+ / \ ----------- ----------
455
+ | CS |
456
+ | |
457
+ ----------
458
+ O ----------- |
459
+ -+- | CUA w/o | -----[CAP]----------+
460
+ A |local store|
461
+ / \ -----------
462
+
463
+ 3.2.6 Users Communicating through Different Multi-user Systems
464
+
465
+ Users on a multi-user system may need to schedule meetings with users
466
+ on a different multi-user system. The services can communicate using
467
+ [CAP] or iMIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>].
468
+
469
+ O ----------- ----------
470
+ -+- | CUA w | -----[CAP]-------| CS |
471
+ A |local store| | |
472
+ / \ ----------- ----------
473
+ |
474
+ [CAP] or [iMIP]
475
+ |
476
+ O ----------- ----------
477
+ -+- | CUA w/o | -----[CAP]-------| CS |
478
+ A |local store| | |
479
+ / \ ----------- ----------
480
+
481
+ 4. Important Aspects
482
+
483
+ There are a number of important aspects of these calendaring
484
+ standards of which people, especially implementers, should be aware.
485
+
486
+ 4.1 Timezones
487
+
488
+ The dates and times in components can refer to a specific time zone.
489
+ Time zones can be defined in a central store, or they may be defined
490
+ by a user to fit his or her needs. All users and applications should
491
+ be aware of time zones and time zone differences. New time zones may
492
+
493
+ need to be added, and others removed. Two different vendors may
494
+ describe the same time zone differently (such as by using a different
495
+ name).
496
+
497
+ 4.2 Choice of Transport
498
+
499
+ There are issues to be aware of in choosing between a network
500
+ protocol such as [CAP], or a store and forward protocol, such as iMIP
501
+ [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>].
502
+
503
+ The use of a network ("on-the-wire") mechanism may require some
504
+ organizations to make provisions to allow calendaring traffic to
505
+ traverse a corporate firewall on the required ports. Depending on
506
+ the organizational culture, this may be a challenging social
507
+ exercise.
508
+
509
+ The use of an email-based mechanism exposes time-sensitive data to
510
+ unbounded latency. Large or heavily utilized mail systems may
511
+ experience an unacceptable delay in message receipt.
512
+
513
+ 4.3 Security
514
+
515
+ See the "Security Considerations" (Section 6) section below.
516
+
517
+ 4.4 Amount of data
518
+
519
+ In some cases, a component may be very large, for instance, a
520
+ component with a very large attachment. Some applications may be
521
+ low-bandwidth or may be limited in the amount of data they can store.
522
+ Maximum component size may be set in [CAP]. It can also be
523
+ controlled in iMIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>] by restricting the maximum size of the
524
+ e-mail that the application can download.
525
+
526
+ 4.5 Recurring Components
527
+
528
+ In iCAL [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>], one can specify complex recurrence rules for
529
+ VEVENTs, VTODOs, and VJOURNALs. One must be careful to correctly
530
+ interpret these recurrence rules and pay extra attention to being
531
+ able to interoperate using them.
532
+
533
+ 5. Open Issues
534
+
535
+ Many issues are not currently resolved by these protocols, and many
536
+ desirable features are not yet provided. Some of the more prominent
537
+ ones are outlined below.
538
+
539
+ 5.1 Scheduling People, not Calendars
540
+
541
+ Meetings are scheduled with people; however, people may have many
542
+ calendars, and may store these calendars in many places. There may
543
+ also be many routes to contact them. The calendaring protocols do
544
+ not attempt to provide unique access for contacting a given person.
545
+ Instead, 'calendar addresses' are booked, which may be e-mail
546
+ addresses or individual calendars. It is up to the users themselves
547
+ to orchestrate mechanisms to ensure that the bookings go to the right
548
+ place.
549
+
550
+ 5.2 Administration
551
+
552
+ The calendaring protocols do not address the issues of administering
553
+ users and calendars on a calendar service. This must be handled by
554
+ proprietary mechanisms for each implementation.
555
+
556
+ 5.3 Notification
557
+
558
+ People often wish to be notified of upcoming events, new events, or
559
+ changes to existing events. The calendaring protocols do not attempt
560
+ to address these needs in a real-time system. Instead, the ability
561
+ to store alarm information on events is provided, which can be used
562
+ to provide client-side notification of upcoming events. To organize
563
+ notification of new or changed events, clients have to poll the data
564
+ store.
565
+
566
+ 6. Security Considerations
567
+
568
+ 6.1 Access Control
569
+
570
+ There has to be reasonable granularity in the configuration options
571
+ for access to data through [CAP], so that what should be released to
572
+ requesters is released, and what shouldn't is not. Details of
573
+ handling this are described in [CAP].
574
+
575
+ 6.2 Authentication
576
+
577
+ Access control must be coupled with a good authentication system, so
578
+ that the right people get the right information. For [CAP], this
579
+ means requiring authentication before any database access can be
580
+ performed, and checking access rights and authentication credentials
581
+ before releasing information. [CAP] uses the Simple Authentication
582
+ Security Layer (SASL) for this authentication. In iMIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>],
583
+ this may present some challenges, as authentication is often not a
584
+ consideration in store-and-forward protocols.
585
+
586
+ Authentication is also important for scheduling, in that receivers of
587
+ scheduling messages should be able to validate the apparent sender.
588
+ Since scheduling messages are wrapped in MIME [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2045.html">RFC-2045</A>], signing and
589
+ encryption are freely available. For messages transmitted over mail,
590
+ this is the only available alternative. It is suggested that
591
+ developers take care in implementing the security features in iMIP
592
+ [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>], bearing in mind that the concept and need may be foreign
593
+ or non-obvious to users, yet essential for the system to function as
594
+ they might expect.
595
+
596
+ The real-time protocols provide for the authentication of users, and
597
+ the preservation of that authentication information, allowing for
598
+ validation by the receiving end-user or server.
599
+
600
+ 6.3 Using E-mail
601
+
602
+ Because scheduling information can be transmitted over mail without
603
+ any authentication information, e-mail spoofing is extremely easy if
604
+ the receiver is not checking for authentication. It is suggested
605
+ that implementers consider requiring authentication as a default,
606
+ using mechanisms such as are described in Section 3 of iMIP [RFC-
607
+ 2447]. The use of e-mail, and the potential for anonymous
608
+ connections, means that 'calendar spam' is possible. Developers
609
+ should consider this threat when designing systems, particularly
610
+ those that allow for automated request processing.
611
+
612
+ 6.4 Other Issues
613
+
614
+ The current security context should be obvious to users. Because the
615
+ underlying mechanisms may not be clear to users, efforts to make
616
+ clear the current state in the UI should be made. One example of
617
+ this is the 'lock' icon used in some Web browsers during secure
618
+ connections.
619
+
620
+ With both iMIP [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>] and [CAP], the possibilities of Denial of
621
+ Service attacks must be considered. The ability to flood a calendar
622
+ system with bogus requests is likely to be exploited once these
623
+ systems become widely deployed, and detection and recovery methods
624
+ will need to be considered.
625
+
626
+ Acknowledgments
627
+
628
+ Thanks to the following, who have participated in the development of
629
+ this document:
630
+
631
+ Eric Busboom, Pat Egen, David Madeo, Shawn Packwood, Bruce Kahn,
632
+ Alan Davies, Robb Surridge.
633
+
634
+ References
635
+
636
+ [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2445.html">RFC-2445</A>] Dawson, F. and D. Stenerson, "Internet Calendaring and
637
+ Scheduling Core Object Specification - iCalendar", RFC
638
+ 2445, November 1998.
639
+
640
+ [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC-2446</A>] Silverberg, S., Mansour, S., Dawson, F. and R. Hopson,
641
+ "iCalendar Transport-Independent Interoperability Protocol
642
+ (iTIP): Scheduling Events, Busy Time, To-dos and Journal
643
+ Entries", <A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2446.html">RFC 2446</A>, November 1998.
644
+
645
+ [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC-2447</A>] Dawson, F., Mansour, S. and S. Silverberg, "iCalendar
646
+ Message-Based Interoperability Protocol - iMIP", <A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2447.html">RFC 2447</A>,
647
+ November 1998.
648
+
649
+ [<A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2045.html">RFC-2045</A>] Freed, N. and N. Borenstein, "Multipurpose Internet Mail
650
+ Extensions (MIME) - Part One: Format of Internet Message
651
+ Bodies", <A HREF="/rfcs/rfc2045.html">RFC 2045</A>, November 1996.
652
+
653
+ [CAP] Mansour, S., Royer, D., Babics, G., and Hill, P.,
654
+ "Calendar Access Protocol (CAP)", Work in Progress.
655
+
656
+ Authors' Addresses
657
+
658
+ Bob Mahoney
659
+ MIT
660
+ E40-327
661
+ 77 Massachusetts Avenue
662
+ Cambridge, MA 02139
663
+ US
664
+
665
+ Phone: (617) 253-0774
666
+ EMail: <A HREF="mailto:bobmah@mit.edu">bobmah@mit.edu</A>
667
+
668
+ George Babics
669
+ Steltor
670
+ 2000 Peel Street
671
+ Montreal, Quebec H3A 2W5
672
+ CA
673
+
674
+ Phone: (514) 733-8500 x4201
675
+ EMail: <A HREF="mailto:georgeb@steltor.com">georgeb@steltor.com</A>
676
+
677
+ Alexander Taler
678
+
679
+ EMail: <A HREF="mailto:alex@0--0.org">alex@0--0.org</A>
680
+
681
+ Full Copyright Statement
682
+
683
+ Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002). All Rights Reserved.
684
+
685
+ This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
686
+ others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
687
+ or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
688
+ and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
689
+ kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
690
+ included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this
691
+ document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
692
+ the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
693
+ Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
694
+ developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
695
+ copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
696
+ followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
697
+ English.
698
+
699
+ The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
700
+ revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.
701
+
702
+ This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
703
+ "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
704
+ TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
705
+ BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
706
+ HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
707
+ MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
708
+
709
+ Acknowledgement
710
+
711
+ Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
712
+ Internet Society.
713
+
714
+ </PRE>
715
+ <p align=center><script language="JavaScript"><!--
716
+ erfc("3283");
717
+ // --></script></p>
718
+ &nbsp;<br>
719
+ <div align="center">
720
+ <table border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%" cellspacing="3">
721
+ <tr><td width="45%">
722
+ <p align="left">Previous: <a href="/rfcs/rfc3282.html">RFC 3282 - Content Language Headers</a>
723
+ </p></td><td width="10%">&nbsp;</td><td width="45%">
724
+ <p align="right">Next: <a href="/rfcs/rfc3284.html">RFC 3284 - The VCDIFF Generic Differencing and Compression Data Format</a>
725
+ </p></td></tr></table></div><p align="right">&nbsp;</p>
726
+ <HR SIZE=2 NOSHADE>
727
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728
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729
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730
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731
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732
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733
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734
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735
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736
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737
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738
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