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This section describes common configuration issues for devices used with UMCal Sync Server. Please see the Customizing synchronization, Traveling across time zones and working with Daylight Savings, Safely resetting data on your device and Device-specific considerations sections for other behaviors you should be aware of.
This section contains the following topics:
Before you try to synchronize your device with UMCal Sync Server, make sure that you have:
The necessary software to connect to a SyncML server : Your device may already include SyncML software, or you may have to install it from the manufacture's CD or by downloading it from the Internet. For example, on the Nokia 3650 and 92xx, you may need to download and install an appropriate version of the software, "Remote Sync."
An appropriate network connection set up on your device : Depending on your wireless service provider, you may be able to connect to the Sync Server through, for example, a GPRS Internet connection, or you may have to dial in to the UofM. You may need to configure your SyncML software to use the right connection.
Your sign-in information : You will need your Internet ID, Internet password and Sync Server URL. You must configure your device's SyncML software with this information in order to sign in to your account.
| Note: UMCal Sync Server is configured to accept secure connections. If you are using a device that does not support this, you will not be able to use the Sync Server. For more information, see Supported Devices. |
The appropriate patch and firmware for Sony Ericsson P800 and P900 devices: Limitations with the Sony Ericsson P800 and P900 can result in discrepancies between the Calendar server and your device, including meetings that are shifted, duplicated, or incorrectly reported as deleted. To prevent this from happening, make sure you have the appropriate firmware installed on your Sony Ericsson P900 device, and the proper patch installed on your P800 or P900 device, before you set up your device for use with Oracle Sync Server.
For instructions on upgrading your firmware and installing the patch, see the Sony Ericsson P800 / P900 section of Configuring devices for UMCal.
For more device configuration information, see the Configuring devices for UMCal section or consult the documentation included with your device.
Devices differ in how they handle priority levels for tasks; for instance, Palm devices using the Synthesis SyncML client support priority levels one through five, while the Sony Ericsson T series of devices uses priority levels High, Normal and Low. Meanwhile, the Calendar server supports priority levels one through nine.
With all these different priority levels, further complicated by the use of different desktop clients, it is difficult to keep track of how priority levels are mapped to each other when synchronization occurs. The following tables document how task priorities are mapped from clients to the server, and vice versa.
Table 1 Task priority mappings from clients to the Calendar server| Oracle Connector for Outlook | High / Normal / Low | 1 / 5 / 9 |
| Oracle Calendar desktop clients and Web client | 1 through 9 | 1 through 9 |
| Nokia | High / Normal / Low | 1 / 5 / 9 |
| Siemens | 1 through 5 | 1 through 5 |
| Sony Ericsson T series | High / Normal / Low | 1 / 5 / 9 |
| Sony Ericsson P series | 1 through 9 | 1 through 9 |
| Synthesis client for Palm | 1 through 5 | 1 through 5 |
| Synthesis client for PocketPC | High / Normal / Low | 1 / 5 / 9 |
| Oracle Connector for Outlook | 1 - 3 / 4 - 6 / 7 - 9 | High / Normal / Low |
| Oracle Calendar desktop clients and Web client | 1 through 9 | 1 through 9 |
| Nokia | 1 - 3 / 4 - 6 / 7 - 9 | High / Normal / Low |
| Siemens | 1 - 5 / 6 - 9 | 1 - 5 / 5 |
| Sony Ericsson T series | 1 - 3 / 4 - 6 / 7 - 9 | High / Normal / Low |
| Sony Ericsson P series | 1 through 9 | 1 through 9 |
| Synthesis client for Palm | 1 - 5 / 6 - 9 | 1 - 5 / 5 |
| Synthesis client for PocketPC | 1 - 3 / 4 - 6 / 7 - 9 | High / Normal / Low |
Alarm settings on mobile devices are preserved. If you change an existing event's reminder settings on the server, the modification does not get propagated to your device the next time you synchronize, and vice versa.
Devices that do not support the vCalendar or iCalendar CLASS property value of "CONFIDENTIAL" are supported as best as possible. For example, CONFIDENTIAL will be mapped to PRIVATE when an event is sent to a device that lacks this support, such as with Nokia, Ericsson and Sony Ericsson products. Also, CONFIDENTIAL events will remain confidential on the calendar server even when a device attempts to change them to PRIVATE.
Ericsson, Sony Ericsson, Nokia 9210 and 9290 devices now support 160 character event and task titles. Ericsson and Sony Ericsson devices also support LOCATION and DESCRIPTION properties for events and, in the case of the T68i, tasks. There is a 32-character limit on the LOCATION field of all tested Ericsson and Sony Ericsson phones.
This section describes how to customize the way your device synchronizes information. Because SyncML is a new, developing technology, there is not as of yet a "user-friendly," standardized graphical interface for making changes like this on your device. Unless otherwise specified, make these customizations by appending ? to the appropriate URL or URI field in your device, followed by the parameters or settings you want to add. If you want to add multiple parameters to these fields, the ? need only appear once, followed by all parameters collectively.
| Note: Whenever you make changes to any URI field on a device, a slow synchronization occurs the next time you synchronize. |
This section contains the following topics:
Some devices allow you to separately specify whether or not you want to synchronize events and tasks. For example, to synchronize tasks and events on the Sony Ericsson T68i, select 8 - Connect , 4 - Synchronization , 3 - Options , 1 - Remote Settings , 2 - Applications , 2 - Calendar, then enter the following URIs:
./Calendar/EventsDevices that do not allow you to synchronize events and tasks separately only have one Calendar URI field, in which you simply enter:
./CalendarThe next time you synchronize with the server, both tasks and events will be synchronized. If you leave the field blank, neither tasks nor events will be synchronized.
The Ericsson, R520m, T39 and T68 do not support task synchronization; for these devices, you must enter
./Calendar/EventsEvents will be synchronized, but tasks will not.
When you synchronize your device with UMCal Sync Server, events and tasks that are outside of the server-defined, device-specific, date range (for example, seven days in the past to 30 days ahead), are not sent to the device, by default. Accordingly, any events or tasks outside of this range that are synchronized to the server by the device are archived on the server and deleted from the device. Both of these behaviors can be overridden with device settings.
To override the server's date range with your device, append /dr(- x , y ) to the Calendar URI on your device, with x being the number of days in the past, and y being the number of days in the future. For example:
./Calendar?/dr(-7,14) : Synchronizes events and tasks seven days in the past to 14 days in the future.
./Calendar/Events?/dr(-30,60) : Synchronizes events 30 days in the past to 60 days in the future.
./Calendar/Tasks?/dr(0,7) : Synchronizes tasks from today to seven days in the future.
To control whether or not entries outside this range are removed from the device, append the text /del( x ) to the Calendar URI on your device, with x being true or false . For example:
./Calendar/Tasks?/dr(-30,60)/del(false) : Synchronizes tasks from 30 days in the past to 60 days in the future, but does not remove tasks outside this range from the device.
./Calendar/Events?/dr(-30,60)/del(true) : Synchronizes events 30 days in the past to 60 days in the future, and removes events outside this range from the device.
Normally, to synchronize all contacts with the server, you must enter ./contacts into the appropriate URI field in your device. However, you may want to save space on your device by selecting specific categories to synchronize. While most devices do not actually support contact categories, it is possible to choose which categories you want to synchronize from the server to the device. To do this, simply append the category name or names to the URI; for example:
./contacts/business OR ./contacts/business+personal
All contacts in those categories on the server will be synchronized to your device.
Notes:
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If you specify categories to be synchronized, keep in mind the following the next time you synchronize with the server:
For devices that do not support contact categories — which at this time includes all devices except the PocketPC with Synthesis SyncML — contacts you create on the device are stored on the server using the first category specified in the URI. For example, if ./contacts/business+personal is specified on the device, a new contact created on the device will be stored on the server in the category "business."
For devices that do support contact categories — at this time, only the PocketPC with Synthesis SyncML — contacts in the categories specified in the URI are synchronized, while contacts in all other categories are stored on the server under the appropriate category, and removed from the device.
The Calendar server can store multiple categories for a contact; these will be maintained even if you make changes to the contact on your device (for example, if you change the contact's telephone number). The server will store the new information while maintaining its list of categories for the contact.
If you change the categories to be synchronized, a full synchronization will occur. Also, any contacts previously synchronized between the device and the server that are not in the new list of categories will be deleted from the device (but maintained on the server).
Occasionally, you may want to do a slow synchronization after deleting or cleaning up data on your device, as described later in this document in Safely resetting data on your device . Since it is not easy to trigger a slow synchronization on some devices, Oracle Sync Server is designed to recognize a "reset" parameter that you can enter into the Calendar URI of your device.
To trigger a slow synchronization, add the text /reset( true ) to the URI for which you want to reset data. After you synchronize, make sure to set the parameter to false so that a slow synchronization does not occur every time you synchronize.
Some examples of use:
./Calendar?/reset(true) : Forces a slow synchronization the next time you synchronize. All calendar data on the client will be refreshed.
./Calendar/Events?/reset(true) : Forces a slow synchronization the next time you synchronize. All events on the client will be refreshed.
./Calendar/Tasks?/reset(true) : Forces a slow synchronization the next time you synchronize. All tasks on the client will be refreshed.
./Contacts?/reset(true) : Forces a slow synchronization the next time you synchronize. All contacts on the client will be refreshed.
Devices synchronize data by breaking it up into pieces and transmitting these pieces to the server. The size of these pieces of data is determined by the device's default setting. Occasionally, phone carriers will halt synchronization if these pieces of data exceed their predetermined limits. To avoid this, you can set a custom limit, known as a "maximum message size," on pieces of information to synchronize. The device will break data up into manageable pieces that do not exceed this size limit.
To set the maximum message size, append the text /msgsize( x ) to the Sync Server URL on the device, where x is the maximum message size in bytes. For example:
http://umcal.umn.edu/ocst-bin/ocas.fcgi?/msgsize(4000)The following table lists some default message sizes and suggested alternatives to avoid problems.
Table 3 Message size default and suggested values in bytes| SyncML Client | Default Message Size | Suggested Alternative |
| Synthesis | 10000 | 7000 |
| Sony Ericsson T series | 2500 | 2000 |
| Sony Ericsson P Series | 40000 | 10000 |
| Nokia | 4000 | 3000 |
If a large number of data has been deleted from your device, and you do not want this data to be deleted from the server when you synchronize, you can set a limit at which to safeguard your server data. This is particularly useful for the Sony Ericsson P900, which sometimes flags records as deleted even though they are not. In fact, as a general rule for all devices, it is a good idea to limit the number of deletions on the server that can be initiated by the device during one synchronization.
To set the maximum number of deletions, append /maxdel( x ) to the appropriate URI, where x is the maximum number of deletes you want to allow. Any other deletes will be blocked. For example:
./Calendar?/maxdel(5) : Allows up to five event and task deletions coming from the client per synchronization session.
./Calendar?/maxdel(-1) : Allows all event and task deletions coming from the client per synchronization session.
./Calendar/Events?/maxdel(5) : Allows up to five event deletions coming from the client per synchronization session.
./Calendar/Tasks?/maxdel(5) : Allows up to five task deletions coming from the client per synchronization session.
./Contacts?/maxdel(5) : Allows up to five contact deletions coming from the client per synchronization session.
Deleted records that exceed this limit are archived on the server and deleted from the device. These records will only be synchronized back to the device if they are modified by another client, such as a desktop client or the Web client.
By default, refused entries are not synchronized to devices. However, you may want to see refused entries on your device and have the option to attend an event that was previously declined. To do this, append the text /ref( x ) to the Calendar URI on your device, where x is true or false . For example:
./Calendar?/ref(true) : Synchronizes all events (including refused events) and tasks.
./Calendar?/dr(-7,14)/ref(true) : Synchronizes all events (including refused events) and tasks seven days in the past and 14 days in the future.
./Calendar/Events?/ref(false) : Synchronizes only accepted and unconfirmed events.
By default, if an entry has been modified on both the server and the device, the server entry overwrites the device entry. To configure your device to overwrite an entry on the server in the case of a conflict, append the text /cr( x ) to the appropriate URI on your device. Set x to 2 to have the entry on the device prevail, or set x to 1 to have the entry on the server prevail. For example:
./Calendar?/cr(2) : Modified events or tasks on the device overwrite modified events or tasks on the server.
./Calendar/Events?/cr(1) : Modified events on the server overwrite modified events on the device.
./Calendar/Tasks?/cr(2) : Modified tasks on the device overwrite modified tasks on the server.
./Calendar/Contacts?/cr(2) : Modified contacts on the device overwrite modified contacts on the server.
