UMCal
This guide was last updated on August 23, 2006
Summary: This guide will show you how to convert from an existing Meeting Maker calendar system to UMCal.

Conversion-MM-OSX

Contents:

1. Pre-Install Requirements

Conversion Tools Needed

  • Windows Meeting Maker to UMCal Converter - not yet updated for the coming DST changes; write to umcal@umn.edu if you have a need for this tool

General Requirements & Info

  • The conversion utility will ONLY work on OSX.
  • You must have Java version 1.4 or higher installed.
  • Meeting Maker will not export repeating meeting information. Instead it will export each meeting as an individual event. There are three ways to handle this:
    • Delete all recurrences of a meeting (keeping only the original). After importing, in UMCal, re-create the recurrences
    • Keep Meeting Maker content the way it is. After importing, in UMCal, find the last meeting of the set and set up the recurrence into the future.
    • Leave well enough alone. All of the meetings will carry over from Meeting Maker to UMCal. The only information lost is the little bit that keeps the meetings linked as a recurring meeting.
  • The exported file (from Meeting Maker) MUST be named mmexport.txt
  • Non ascii characters will be replaced by a "-" these substitutions will be noted in error.txt
  • If you receive a file named error.txt instead of the expected files ( ical.ics , summary.txt ), a problem occurred with the conversion - open the file error.txt and follow the instructions
    • Delete the files error.txt and mmexport.txt and start over from the beginning
    • Email the files error.txt and mmexport.txt to umcal@umn.edu We will try to determine why the converter isn't working for you.
  • The conversion utility will give you the additional file summary.txt as its output. There are some useful applications to this text file:
    • Before importing user.ics into UMCal, you can open summary.txt in Excel and take a quick look at the meetings that were exported. With summary.txt opened in Excel, you can sort meetings to find recurring meetings (if they all still have the same title)

2. Exporting from Meeting Maker

Exporting Data

  1. With Meeting Maker open go to the File menu and select Export.


  2. Click the Select button to set the time zone. Pick USA/Central (USA)


  3. Click the double headed arrows for the type of export and select Meeting Maker Text Export


  4. Make sure that only Calendar is checked at the top. Select your Starting and Ending dates. The export dialog should look similar to this one. Click the Ok button.


  5. Choose the location for the exported data. It must be in the same folder as the calconverter.jar utility.


3. Converting the Meeting Maker File

Running calconverter.jar

  1. The meeting maker export file should now be in the folder with the calconverter.jar.
    Open a Terminal Window (look in Applications/Utilities)
    In the Terminal Window type:

    User Input 

    cd desktop/location of calconverter.jar



  2. Type:

    User Input 

    Java -jar calconverter.jar
    Enter your internet id when prompted. This will allow UMCal to import the entries with a Confirmed status.


  3. After a minute (longer if your export contained a very large number of meetings), you should see two files:
    • internetid.ics - This is the file that you will use to import into UMCal
    • Summary.txt - This file can be opened in Excel to see a summarization of your meetings



  4. If you run the calconverter and it creates a file named error.txt the conversion process failed. You can open the file to see a list of the errors that occured and follow the instructions in the file.


4. Importing into UMCal

Importing through Desktop client

Note: You may import data into a resource calendar instead of your personal calendar. You must use the OS X 10.1.1.0.2 desktop client to accomplish this or the data will be imported into the calendar of the logged in user, rather than the resource. Also, if the resource is set to not allow conflicts, you will receive a message stating that you do not have the rights to invite the resouce when the first conflict arises. If your resource is set to not allow conflicts, please email umcal@umn.edu and ask that conflicts be turned on for the resource, making sure to include the resource name.

    You can use Drag and Drop to import the converted file into UMCal.
  1. Open the Oracle calendar application (aka UMCal).
  2. Drag the converted internetid.ics file from your folder and rop it onto the UMCal Agenda window.


Depending on the amount of data you are importing, the import can take a considerable amount of time. Some users who have imported thousands of items have reported that it has taken over 30 minutes to completely import the data. Patience will be rewarded.

Important: The import is creating new agenda items on your calendar. Because of this, the default entry settings in UMCal will apply to all of the imported items. Before you begin the import, you might want to review the default new entry settings in the Preferences of the UMCal application.
With UMCal open, click on [Oracle Calendar] and select [Preferences].
In the categories on the left side, select [Entry Defaults]. Note that the default settings for new meetings are:
-- Access Level = Normal
-- Importance = Normal
-- Default Reminders == ON

5. Opening Summary.txt in Excel

Viewing Summary.txt

  1. Open Excel, click File and select Open. From the open file dialog box navigate to the summary.txt file.


  2. The Text Import Wizard will be displayed. The default settings are fine to use. Click Finish


  3. Each meeting will appear on a seperate line. The meeting's title will be in the first column and the meeting's date will be in the second column.



The contents of this document are licensed under the Creative Commons - Attribution / Share Alike license.
Copyright 2004 University of Minnesota Questions, Comments, Corrections? Email umcal@umn.edu.