> From: "Roger S. Cohen" <[email protected]> > Date: Sun, 27 Dec 2009 11:20:20 -0500 > > Nadyne Richmond <[email protected]> wrote on 12/23/09 4:12 PM: > >> Technically, we don't sync with iCal. Instead, we use OS X Sync Services to >> sync with the back-end database known as The Truth. > > Here is the tale of woe. I am describing this in *excruciating detail*, so > that you can understand the problem with syncing Entourage calendar with > iCal.
[snip] Hi Roger! I read through the first part of your experience and skimmed a few parts. This is a great end-user story and I appreciate the level of detail you included. Sync issues are something I normally shy away from when answering newsgroup or mailing list questions simply because I believe the problem is faulty software, not user error. As you've probably determined, very little can be done by us to make this work reliably. I'm just adding an observation. > Apple responds: "We know. Entourage screws this up with its Entourage > calendar sync to iCal's 'Entourage' calendar. We have reviewed all the text > inside each calendar entry, and they appear to be the same. 'Restore from > .icbu' _should_ work fine. But it does not. All we know is that there is > corruption introduced by Entourage, and we can not find out where it is." The fact that Apple support says something like "there is corruption introduced by Entourage" doesn't quite float with me for a few of reasons. 1. As you know, the entire purpose of the truth database is to interchange data between disparate systems. If something is coming from Entourage that's causing the sync problem, then I have to believe the truth is allowing it when it shouldn't be allowing it. 2. True, this corruption may be "triggered" by something Entourage is doing, but that doesn't necessarily mean Entourage is injecting something incorrectly into the truth database. Maybe it's introducing something "unexpected". This may be a case where Microsoft has followed Apple's syncing guidelines to the letter but caught Apple by surprise. 3. It's iCal's responsibility to export a correct .icbu file. Assuming Entourage *does* introduce some sort of corruption, iCal is still the application that produces the backup file and it is the only application that can normalize the data. Microsoft can't control this. Instructing you to re-key three years of events is preposterous, however, I understand it's the only solution a support desk can provide. I'm curious: Can you tell if one-way syncing from Entourage works for you? This has often been my advice to folks because I never had problems with it myself when I was using Sync Services. I would make all changes in Entourage and then let them propagate out to iCal, my Palm, MobileMe (.Mac at the time), etc. I would never modify data anywhere other than Entourage. My impression has always been that modifying content (originating from Entourage) outside of Entourage begins the sync errors. Granted, this isn't how sync is suppose to work. We should be able to modify wherever we like. But this does help narrow down where the problem begins. If I had to point blame, I would say the truth is faulty. This is probably why we keep hearing Microsoft say, "We are working with Apple on this issue." IMHO, that's a polite way of hinting where the problem lies without directly stating it. Sync problems are a major sore spot for Microsoft's customers and I'm sure it would like this problem off its plate. -- bill Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/> Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/> YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk> Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck> -- YouTalk mailing list List address: [email protected] List information: http://entourage.mvps.org/support_options/list.html List moderator: [email protected], [email protected] To unsubscribe: mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe
