[kwlug-disc] Android / Google calendar - events as tasks.

[unsolicited]

To your point(s) ...

I came across yesterday somewhere that Google only just announced 
CardDAV support in the last few weeks.

On 12-10-04 06:35 PM, Bob Jonkman wrote:
> I've been using Google Calendar for events for years, even when I was
> still using a paper-based appointment book (long since abandoned).
> Google is one of the few calendar providers that comes close to
> following the IETF CalSch standards (RFC5545 et al).
>
> I don't use tasks much, but the calendar Web interface for tasks does
> have a "completed" status and indicator (either a check mark for
> complete items, or an empty checkbox for incomplete items).  I'm using
> https://google.com/calendar/render?gsessionid=<SomeHexNumber> with
> Chromium or Firefox.

Yep. Ugly. (Web interface.) Wish there were a standalone java / Linux / 
Windows app. (Preferably all 3.) But I don't know of any.

> The Google task list shows up as another calendar instance in the Web
> calendar interface, but the tasks do not seem to appear in any of the
> calendars; the tasks seem to be in some other calendar store.  I've
> added my Google calendars to the Thunderbird Lightning plugin.  I cannot
> see the tasks in those calendars, and it does not seem that I can export
> the task list, or link to it.

Lightning doesn't understand tasks / anything that isn't a calendar. 
[Not to say there aren't addons out there fudging it (somewhat?). e.g. 
Toodledo. And not to say it doesn't have (internal) tasks.] They just 
haven't gotten that far / sync wise. I doubt that they will any time 
soon. Calendars are a big enough ongoing problem, development is being 
scaled back on TB, ...

> I've also added a bunch of external calendars to my Google calendar
> list, including the .ics link from Meetup, and the iCal link from
> http://sobac.com/~stopthestink/events-calendar/   That all seems to work
> fine.
>
> I'm not using the Google calendar app for Android, but the mobile web
> interface for tasks: http://mail.google.com/tasks?source=mog&gly=ca
> (which will redirect to the mobile Task interface on an Android phone).

Yeah, there's that, or the similar widget for calendars. Right-side 
loading that will also expand out, screen wise. Just like gmail version 
does.)

> So, if you want to use Google Tasks, stick to their Web interface,
> either desktop or mobile.

I don't actually know of any (standalone) desktop apps that will deal 
with gtasks.  See TaskUnifier on sourceforge for the sort of thing I 
mean, vs. inclusion in an awkward user interface within korganizer, 
evolution, etc.

> If you want tasks  integrated with events (with import/export) try
> Thunderbird's Lightning plugin.  Not sure how conformant Lightning tasks
> are to the CalSch standards.
>
> I've used Evolution for event scheduling as well, but I don't remember
> how well it handles tasks or how conformant it is to standards.
>
>  From RFC5545, a task (called a "To-Do") is an event with rollover and
> completion - if a task has no completed date then it appears the next
> day.  If there is a due date then it can appear as "overdue" when it
> rolls past the due date.  If there is a start date then it does not
> appear in the task list until that date.

It's subtasks that are the real showstopper. Very few facilities have 
them (except for google) - which means there's little point to google 
having them / using them - they can't sync anywhere / lack of 
standalone/desktop) interface. e.g. Toodledo claims subtasks, but it's 
only 1 level. Beats me how they get away with such marketing-speak.

> RFC5545: https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5545
>
> On 12-10-01 06:01 PM, unsolicited wrote:
>> One of the annoying things about (Google) calendar is that it has no
>> sense of tasks as events (or vice versa). [Never mind google tasks for
>> the purpose of this message.]
>>
>> It just occurred to me I could create two calendars, 'mycal' (shown) and
>> 'mycal-done' (not shown). When a meeting has happened, for example,
>> moving the event from 'mycal' to 'mycal-done' would be the equivalent to
>> marking the meeting as completed. (Or cancelled.) Turning the display of
>> 'mycal-done' on/off would be the equivalent to ticking (or not) 'Show
>> Completed'.
>>
>> It also occurs to me that if one has a regular 'project' [never mind
>> that by definition a project is unique], one could export the (calendar)
>> project as a .csv, edit the dates for the next round, and import the
>> modified .csv.
>>
>> [<tongue in cheek> Should I be looking to apply for a software patent
>> for these ideas?]
>>
>> Any reasons why approaching these these ways doesn't make sense / are
>> there better ways?
>>
>> Anyone know of any good web places where such tips and 'tricks' are
>> bandied about?
>>
>> [It appears to be pointless to hold one's breath that google will ever
>> add the concept of 'complete' to calendar events / integrate tasks into
>> calendar - a la Palm Desktop / Agendus / DateBk.]