add some hints for best migration to nextcloud-calendar

[DJCrashdummy]

it is not a big issue, but it could save much time and headache (especially for newbies):

in advance i use nextcloud mainly as sync-server and its webGUI as fallback solution... now i had to move local calendars (with special recurring events and tasks) into the cloud and because i was also changing the client, i simply used the import-function within nextcloud, but then the calendar was messed up! 😞 (some events were present with the hint that this recurring-rule is not supported, but some events completely vanished!)

BUT when i create a new calendar in the webGUI, integrate it into the local client and then move the events within the client from the old calendar to the new one, everything is fine (and it seems also in the webGUI)! at least the ics-file downloaded via the webGUI is almost identical to the original ics-file. 😌

i would suggest to include a mini migration-guide resp. hint for a flawless migration in the readme or at least at the wiki (although it seems not to be used that much)...!

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[georgehrke]

i simply used the import-function within nextcloud

What did the import function show you? If events are missing, it probably told you that were where errors while importing.

some events were present with the hint that this recurring-rule is not supported,

This hint is only about editing those rules. They should still be displayed correctly.

[DJCrashdummy]

What did the import function show you?

i tried it with several calendars, and some were imported without any hassle, but the most problematic one kept the "importing-info" for ages (more than 15-20 minutes), although the calendar only contains a handful of entries. but after reloading, the calendar was displayed and seemed to be imported.
i also had a look at the admin-logs, but neither down to the info- nor debug-level, there wasn't even a word about it. (another sign, why i assumed it should have worked.)

This hint is only about editing those rules. They should still be displayed correctly.

yes, this hint is displayed when opening the event, where you may edit it (if supported).
--> this is perfectly fine for me (as long as the event stays untouched, is synced anyway and can be edited with other clients - which all seems to be the case 👍).
whats really problematic is, that some events completely vanished!

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BUT i have to admit, i may have mixed some things in order to get everything working:
thinking once again about the whole process and its details, it may be possible, that recurring todos with alarms caused the issues while importing and the vanished entries may be a consequential error. 😕

[georgehrke]

but the most problematic one kept the "importing-info" for ages (more than 15-20 minutes), although the calendar only contains a handful of entries. but after reloading, the calendar was displayed and seemed to be imported.

What are you referring to by importing-info? The progress bar?

whats really problematic is, that some events completely vanished!

Did the import show you some error message that the import failed for a certain number of events?

--> this is perfectly fine for me (as long as the event stays untouched, is synced anyway and can be edited with other clients - which all seems to be the case 👍).

Yes, the recurrence rule is only reset / change if you decide to edit the recurrence setting. Otherwise it stays untouched.

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It would be really important to have the javascript error log / browser network log here to find out what kind of errors we are talking about. Otherwise we are simply fumbling in the dark.

[DJCrashdummy]

What are you referring to by importing-info? The progress bar?

yes and no...:

Did the import show you some error message that the import failed for a certain number of events?

no, not any message at all! neither within the import-function nor in the nextcloud-logs.
as already said, the only "error-indicator" is the stalled import.

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It would be really important to have the javascript error log / browser network log here to find out what kind of errors we are talking about.

if you can give me some hints/advise/recourses how i can gather and provide this info (firefox & linux preferred) i'll do it with pleasure.

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while retrying i noticed some interesting and irritating behavior:

• when i try to import the calendar in question, the first existing calendar is selected by default in the import-message (and everything seems fine)
• when i choose to create a new calendar, also everything seems fine
• BUT when i change the calendar to an other existing one (an empty and in nextcloud newly created one), in front of the drop-down a small (and a little but cut) exclamation mark shows up with the tool-tip "the file contains objects, which are not compatible with the chosen calendar"
• and when i change back to the first calendar (which was chosen by default without any notice), the notice stays there!

[DJCrashdummy]

additional i have to say: for sure, importing, editing and processing everything correct and not having to think about anything would be the ideal solution... but as a "quick workaround" i think of a hint - like described in my initial post - in the readme and maybe also in conjunction with this exclamation mark while importing (which is IMHO a kind of misleading), because the calendars seem to support the recurring-rules of the todos, only nextcloud may have problems displaying them?!
--> otherwise my "alternative migration-process" from the initial post wouldn't have worked.

[DJCrashdummy]

and funny once again...
if i import the calendar (with recurring todos and alarms) into an existing calendar in defiance of the described exclamation mark, the import-process does NOT stall and the elements seem to get imported.
to check what didn't work i downloaded the ics-file from the nextcloud webGUI and beside the differences in the "calendar-header" which are present in all calendars from nextcloud, only in the VALARM-section were differences present:
the line TRIGGER;VALUE=DURATION;RELATED=END:PT0S was changed to TRIGGER;RELATED=END:PT0S.

[no-response]

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