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When a meeting is added to UMCal, it's start and end times are typically converted to UTC/GMT and stored, based on the user's time zone. Prior to February 5, 2006, when updated time zone definitions were applied to the UMCal server, meetings that were created during the new daylight saving time period (the additional four weeks per year) had their times converted to UTC incorrectly.
The Oracle Connector for Outlook stores information in a different manner, referencing time zone for recurring events. At this time, Outlook 2003 SP2, OCFO 10.1.2.0.5, and the Windows time zone update (MS928388) are necessary for the correct display and storage of meetings. Without the updated time zone definitions for Windows, meetings created in OCFO will appear incorrectly to non-OCFO users, four weeks per year.
Note that you can export data from UMCal using a desktop client and, with the 10.1.x clients, the export will contain the CREATED attribute. This is useful in identifying exactly what meeting(s) is affected. This information has been used to flag users with potentially bad data.
Not only will adjusting the time of an affected meeting not fully correct the underlying data in all cases, we use the creation timestamp to aid in identifying meetings that may be stored incorrectly. If it is necessary to extract data and attempt an identifation of potentially bad data in the future, recreating events will help to elminate false positives. Always recreate affected meetings.
Starting Feb. 5, 2006, web and desktop clients used updated time zone information from the server, so newly created meetings, or subsequently modified meetings, were stored with the correct UTC times. Incorrect meetings should be deleted and recreated.
The simplest solution for OCFO users with light calendars is to delete and recreate all entries in the affected date ranges, after updating Outlook, OCFO, and Windows time zone definitions as described (on the general page). Depending on the age of the entries and the OCFO/Outlook version when created (esp. before Feb. 5, 2006), the entries may appear incorrectly in OCFO, even when Outlook/OCFO/Win time zones have been updated. Regardless of whether or not an entry already appears at the correct time in a fully patched environment, it should be recreated, as it may appear incorrectly in other clients.
For users with larger calendars, an alternate process is:
Devices running Palm OS store events without regard for time zone. A bug has been discovered where events between March 7, 2007 at 8:00 p.m. and March 11, 2007 at 2:00 a.m. are shifted ahead one hour on the device, when they originate in UMCal. A similar shift occurs prior to each "Spring forward" and "Fall back." A bug is open with Oracle at this time, but is not yet resolved.
This behavior has only been noted for users of SyncML.
During the four weeks per year where DST has been extended, events will be shifted one hour on the device.
At last check, no flash/ROM updates were available for commons devices that include time zone definition updates. It is possible to patch devices using a CAB file that contains updated registry information, however these changes will be lost if the device is hard reset. If you are interested in this option, you can find a description from Microsoft at at http://support.microsoft.com/kb/923953.
You can find a pre-packaged version of the registry changes at http://www.edgeblog.net/2007/daylight-saving-time-windows-mobile-fix/, as well as some discussion. Download it directly to the device or copy it over through the Mobile Device entry in My Computer and launch it on the device (look for File Manager). After opening the CAB, change and save the time zone on the device, then return the time zone to US/Central (this is included in the discussion).
If you find a device that has updated automatically (smartphone), please let us know the make, model, and cell provider. If you see an update available for a device you support, let us know (we are looking at Dell and HP due to the popularity of the Axim and iPAQ lines). We'll post additional notes here.
We may provide data on client usage (for OCFO and mobile device users) to technical staff in the departments and colleges that are working directly with their users. Notes on client data:
