Subject: [Ietf-calsify] Include scheduling data in ITIP VEVENT REPLY?

From: caleb at everyone.net (Caleb Richardson)
Date: Mon Jun 19 12:39:28 2006

Is is required to include the original scheduling data (DTSTART 
property, DTEND property, VTIMEZONE component, DURATION property) when 
sending an ITIP REPLY for a VEVENT?

RFC 2446 section 3.2.3:

The optional properties listed in the table below (those listed as "0+" 
or "0 or 1") MUST NOT be changed from those of the original request.  If 
property changes are desired the COUNTER message must be used.

RFC 2446 section 4.2.2

    BEGIN:VCALENDAR
    PRODID:-//ACME/DesktopCalendar//EN
    METHOD:REPLY
    VERSION:2.0
    BEGIN:VEVENT
    ATTENDEE;PARTSTAT=ACCEPTED:Mailto:[email-masked]
    ORGANIZER:MAILTO:[email-masked]
    UID:[email-masked]
    SEQUENCE:0
    REQUEST-STATUS:2.0;Success
    DTSTAMP:19970612T190000Z
    END:VEVENT
    END:VCALENDAR

So this seems to indicate that no, scheduling data is not required to be 
included. However in my interoperability testing I have found that 
Google Calendar requires scheduling data to be present.

What is the purpose of including VEVENT scheduling data in a REPLY? Why 
does the spec even indicate it as optional? Is Google correct in their 
requirement?

Thanks,

Caleb Richardson
[email-masked]

---

From: cyrus at daboo.name (Cyrus Daboo)
Date: Tue Jun 20 06:57:11 2006

Hi Caleb,

--On June 19, 2006 12:35:57 PM -0700 Caleb Richardson <[email-masked]> 
wrote:

> included. However in my interoperability testing I have found that Google
> Calendar requires scheduling data to be present.
>

I think your reading of 2446 is correct - the original event data is not 
required in the REPLY (except for those items needed to identify it - UID 
etc). If Google has a problem with that, then I think you need to report it 
as a bug to them.

NB There is one minor issue with the 2446 text thought. It states that if 
you do include the original data it must be unchanged. But it also says a 
COMMENT property can be added to the reply. So what happens if the original 
also contained a COMMENT? Given that the COMMENT property can only occur at 
most once, it must be possible therefore to return the original data with a 
different COMMENT value, violating the 2446 'unchanged' rule.

-- 
Cyrus Daboo