iCalendar event generator
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I was looking for a way to export data in an iCalendar (RFC 2445) compatible format. To accomplish this I created a helper class that generates this code using the iCalcreator class.
There are two major iCalendar classes available for PHP, phpicalendar http://phpicalendar.net/ and iCalcreator http://www.kigkonsult.se/iCalcreator/index.php. I chose the later since it was a single class file and slightly better from a object oriented point of view.
The first step is to download a copy of iCalcreator and place the iCalcreator.class.php file in your /vendors folder. http://www.kigkonsult.se/downloads/index.php
Now place the following helper class into your /views/helpers folder.
Once you have completed this step you may want to support ics extensions in your application, which is required by some calendar applications.
To do this, add ics to your router extensions in config/routes.php
Now setup a function in your controller for your calendar view. It might look something like:
Now create a view for your data. In my case to speed up the operation I used the caching instructions from http://bakery.cakephp.org/articles/view/optimizing-your-cakephp-elements-and-views-with-caching and created an element (elements/projects_due.ctp) to handle the conversion of to ics.
Now include this element in your view (views/projects/due.ctp).
Now go to http://yourdomain.com/projects/due.ics and you should get an ics file download that you can open in any icalendar compatible program or you can paste that URL in Google calendar.
The first step is to download a copy of iCalcreator and place the iCalcreator.class.php file in your /vendors folder. http://www.kigkonsult.se/downloads/index.php
Now place the following helper class into your /views/helpers folder.
Helper Class:
<?php
require_once('vendors/iCalcreator.class.php');
class ICalHelper extends
Helper
{
var $name = 'ICalHelper';
var $errorCode = null;
var $errorMessage = null;
var $calendar;
function create($name, $description='', $tz='US/Eastern')
{
$v = new vcalendar();
$v->setConfig('unique_id', $name.'.'.'yourdomain.com');
$v->setProperty('method', 'PUBLISH');
$v->setProperty('x-wr-calname', $name.' Calendar');
$v->setProperty("X-WR-CALDESC", $description);
$v->setProperty("X-WR-TIMEZONE", $tz);
$this->calendar = $v;
}
function addEvent($start, $end=false, $summary, $description='', $extra=false)
{
$start = strtotime($start);
$vevent = new vevent();
if(!$end)
{
$end = $start + 24*60*60;
$vevent->setProperty('dtstart', date('Ymd', $start), array('VALUE'=>'DATE'));
$vevent->setProperty('dtend', date('Ymd', $end), array('VALUE'=>'DATE'));
}
else
{
$end = strtotime($end);
$end = getdate($end);
$end['sec'] = $end['second'];
$end['hour'] = $end['hours'];
$end['min'] = $end['minutes'];
$end['month'] = $end['mon'];
$start = getdate($start);
$start['sec'] = $start['second'];
$start['hour'] = $start['hours'];
$start['min'] = $start['minutes'];
$start['month'] = $start['mon'];
$vevent->setProperty('dtstart', $start);
$vevent->setProperty('dtend', $end);
}
$vevent->setProperty('summary', $summary);
$vevent->setProperty('description', $description);
if(is_array($extra))
{
foreach($extra as $key=>$value)
{
$vevent->setProperty($key, $value);
}
}
$this->calendar->setComponent($vevent);
}
function getCalendar()
{
return $this->calendar;
}
function render()
{
$this->calendar->returnCalendar();
}
}
?>
Once you have completed this step you may want to support ics extensions in your application, which is required by some calendar applications.
To do this, add ics to your router extensions in config/routes.php
Router::parseExtensions('ics');
Now setup a function in your controller for your calendar view. It might look something like:
Controller Class:
<?php
class Project extends AppController
{
var $helpers = array('Html', 'Text', 'ICal');
function due() {
$this->Project->recursive = 0;
$this->paginate = array(
'Project' => array(
'order' => 'due ASC',
'limit' => 5,
'scope' => array('complete = 0 AND due IS NOT NULL')
)
);
$projects_due = $this->paginate();
return $projects_due;
}
}
?>
Now create a view for your data. In my case to speed up the operation I used the caching instructions from http://bakery.cakephp.org/articles/view/optimizing-your-cakephp-elements-and-views-with-caching and created an element (elements/projects_due.ctp) to handle the conversion of to ics.
<?php
$projects = $this->requestAction('projects/due');
$iCal->create('Activeprojects', 'Active outstanding projects', 'US/Eastern');
foreach($projects as $Project)
{
$iCal->addEvent($Project['Project']['due'], false, $Project['Project']['title'], $Project['Project']['description']."\n\n".$html->url('/Project/view/'.$Project['Project']['id'], true), array('UID'=>$Project['Project']['id'], 'attach'=>$html->url('/Project/view/'.$Project['Project']['id'], true), 'organizer'=>$Project['User']['username'], 'location'=>$Project['location']));
}
$iCal->render();
?>
Now include this element in your view (views/projects/due.ctp).
View Template:
<?php
echo $this->element('projects_due', array('cache'=>'+1 hour'));
?>
Now go to http://yourdomain.com/projects/due.ics and you should get an ics file download that you can open in any icalendar compatible program or you can paste that URL in Google calendar.
the helper is still working with cake 1.3.6
Just a note, if you want to export the GEO property of the VEVENT. While trying to export it, I had to treat the property individually:
foreach($extra as $key=>$value)
{
if($key == 'geo') {
$vevent->setProperty($key, $value['latitude'], $value['longitude']);
}
else {
$vevent->setProperty($key, $value);
}
}
(instead of
foreach($extra as $key=>$value)
{
$vevent->setProperty($key, $value);
}
in the helper class)
Didn't check other array based properties, perhaps it could be generalized
iCalcreator library checks the type of input by counting array's element. So, I changed helper class like this:
function addEvent($start, $end=false, $summary, $description='', $extra=false)
.
.
.
else
{
$end = strtotime($end);
$start = getdate($start);
$a_start['year'] = $start['year'];
$a_start['month'] = $start['mon'];
$a_start['day'] = $start['mday'];
$a_start['hour'] = $start['hours'];
$a_start['min'] = $start['minutes'];
$a_start['sec'] = $start['seconds'];
$end = getdate($end);
$a_end['year'] = $end['year'];
$a_end['month'] = $end['mon'];
$a_end['day'] = $end['mday'];
$a_end['sec'] = $end['seconds'];
$a_end['hour'] = $end['hours'];
$a_end['min'] = $end['minutes'];
$vevent->setProperty('dtstart', $a_start);
$vevent->setProperty('dtend', $a_end);
}
.
.
.
Any ideas why this is happening?
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