Kontact/Akonadi/Google(whatever) work.

[woodsmoke]

Well, as they say, all things must end some time.

Kontact/Akonadi/Google(whatever) now works, simple as that.

The problem is not with Kontact it is with either:

a) the distro / base OS
b) the user.

This has been verified by the author with:
a) a plain vanilla Ubuntu Oneric with Unity.
b) a tweaked Ubuntu with Gnome 2
c) a plain vanilla Debian
d) a tweaked Ubuntu with KDE
e) a Precise KDE which had the calendar work but the mail did not.

The highly pregnant item (above) is "e".

If the "problem" is Kontact/Akonadi/Gwhatever then why is it that with the other items ( a - d ) Kontact/Akonadi/Googlewhatever worked and produced on a consistent basis, for two or more days:

a) the gmail worked
b) the calendar worked both as an "upload" from Kontact and as a "download" from Gcalendar with both a "positive" thing, making a date in the calendar and a "negative" think the removal of a thing from the calendar. To restate that: one can make an item in either Kontact or in gCalendar or remove a thing in Kontact or gCalendar and the "thing" works. And this is almost instantaneous. The reasoning is that the author had both open on the desktop at the same time and observed the almost instantaneous changes between Kontact/calendar and Google/calendar.
c) the contacts work.

So, why has this happened? The author has no clue since he is obviously an idiot and knows nothing except applications and hardware but the author thinks that there was an "indirect" change to libgcal in an update during the last few days prior to this post. That being since the author watches the updates.

Be that as it may.

To get the situation straightened, the user must do this.

A) This is complicated the gentle reader may have to read it several times.

B) If one has not previously tried to set up Kontact/Akonadi/Googlewhatever, the go to D) below.

C) If one has attempted to get Kontact to work with Gmail through Akonadi, then FIRST remove the Akonadi resources, all of them including the IMAP resource from your "user" settings. In a Gnome environment that will be through the personal settings in settings. In other distros one will have to work through Kontact, and even though it is "supposed" to be set up in a consistent manner....it is not....it is tweaked by the people who make the particular flavour of the distro. One must do a lot of "clicking" of "set up....Kmail, Kcalendar, etc." working backward to clear out all of the passwords because passwords and mySQL .....WERE the problem. Apparently, mySQL has been "fixed" in it's interaction with things such as libgcal and other things...the situation for the person who has been fiddling with Kontact is to clear out the passwords; all of them.

Go to B or C below.

B) In Gnome-ring, one should go to the provided menu item and remove ANY AND ALL password references to Google, no matter what it is in no uncertain terms.

C) In KDE repeat the above in KDE wallet by removing the folders with the passwords in them. That means ANY and ALL folders with passwords, even if the folder does not seem related. If one does not have KwalletManager installed then one should do so from Syanptic.

Note: To all the CLI people who are just waiting to jump in and show all the rest of the folks how smart you are, since you obviously had this working ( but didn't post it ) don't insult the intelligence of the non-CLI people by posting...."well......if you just do THIS...then....".....they don't need the condescending attitude.

D) Shutdown and restart between each of the above actions. AND....wait....for things to straighten themselves out. A minute or two at least before trying Kontact.

E) The critical things to do in Akonadi.

i) the critical gmail settings are:

a) server: imap.gmail.com

If one uses POP then one need not proceed further, one is on one's own because the author uses only IMAP.

(Please.....users of POP, do not post a rant about how good POP is as opposed to IMAP. Nobody really cares.).

b) the user is " the user's gmail name completely, in toto with @gmail.com"....not an abbreviation...or "why can't I just do this"....just type out the complete google e-mail.

(Ranting about "why can't I do this"...will take a LOT LONGER than just typing out the whole stupid gmail addy. It is really beyond the understanding of the author that there are people on the net, bleating about why those devs at Kontact can't get this or that to work when they won't do LESS work by just entering WHAT GOOGLE WANTS....than ranting at the devs of Kontact. Just the author's rant, put up with it or stop reading).

c) in security the settings should be for SSL and for 993.

Here is the critical thing that almost every poster on the net that has complained about Kontact/Akonadi/Googlwhatever.....and......

has NOT DONE.....

CHANGE THE STUPID ENTRY of "PLAIN" to ........."CLEAR TEXT".

"Plain" is NOT...."Clear text"....

Here is a clue: There are dozens of posts littering the net, in which somebody has posted an image of their setup in which the "clear text" was OBVIOUSLY there and the person who was SO ...SMART....because THEY had it working.....never told the NEWBIE.....that they should....maybe.....change plain to clear text.... for those who have eyes to see, and a brain to think...they might learn something from that.

Ok close everything and shut down and restart.

As to the contacts...... for some strange reason, the people who coded the interactive box for those items has ticked as a pre-condition that it is "read only".

The author, personally, thinks that this is because the coders were going to err on the side of safety so that the user could not inadvertently delete contacts....but don't know about the to-dos....that is kind of a stretch...

But anyway....one might have to "go back and forth" with that module to get it to "save" in the configuration of not having "read only" ticked.

A restart and re-entering passwords for BOTH....Kwallet and Googlewhatever if one wants to make the attempt, will have to be done.

The test to verify if everything is working is very simple.

Open Kontact and check mail etc. and reload the calendar, if it all works correctly one should be asked for BOTH Kwallet password and Google mail password.

CHECK TO VERIFY THAT ONE IS CHECKING THE AKONADI MAIL SOURCE AND NOT LOCAL MAIL FOLDER!

A common mistake, and one NOT REFERENCED by the people who are supposedly giving advice is to check which mail module is being used.

ANOTHER common mistake and one NOT REFERENCED by the people who are supposedly giving advice is to check which CALENDAR module is being used.

Then open GoogleMail in a browser and ANOTHER mail client like Yahoo. Send an e-mail from the other mail client to Google Mail and it should quickly appear in the Gmail client in the browser. One will have to "check mail" in Kontact. It may take a few minutes depending on one's setup, DSL, cable dialup etc.

Note, one can use gmail to send an e-mail to one's self in gmail. That is an obvious situation. The advice to use another client is to get one away from gmail so that one can....

WATCH....in real time.....the e-mail moving from place to place so that one can discern where the problem may lie. If it GETS TO....gmail....then the "other person's e-mail client is not a problem".

If it does NOT get to g-mail then the problem is either g-mail or the other client but NOT Kontact.

THE ABOVE is not an obvious thing to the new user. The new user just gets frustrated and blames whatever is on the screen before her or him.

****************

When one has confirmed that an e-mail moves from say, Yahoo, to Gmail, to Akonadi, to Kontact Mail then that is finished.

Then go to Calendar in Google and setup an appointment in Google calendar on the day in question and set a time for it. SAVE.

The author emphasizes SAVE....

Wait a while, although it may be instantaneous.

Go to Kontact calendar and...... don't just try to "reload the tab".

Go to the Akonadi resource gcalendar that will be in the calendar window, click it once to highlight it and then right click to reload and one should see the appointment in the calendar window.

There are DOZENS of posts littering the net in which it is quite obvious that the user THINKS that he or she is checking the Akonadi resource but in reality is checking the local resource.

One might ask why it is that the person supposedly helping the new user does not suggest checking that rather OBVIOUS problem....but it is seldom done.

The author humbly suggests removing the local calendar completely for the new user.

Of course the EXPERIENCED user know what to do all the time and knows "just do this." But, one suggests that possibly the new users are....new users....and possibly should just be allowed to get Kontact working and relax for a while so that the user can LATER.... then "just do this".

CAVEAT....... The situation with Kontact/Akonadi/Googlewhatever works, and the verification of that is that the author has it working on the distros/OSs mentioned above.

One then can go to the meta language that the author has gone to all of this trouble to make this post and it is all just a joke and that the author is laughing up his, or her, sleeve. Or one might just trust the author and try it....if it doesn't work.....then so post.

That it does not work on Precise speaks to the fact that Precise is in early days and ONLY that...the author is confident that Precise will, indeed, work with Kontact/Akonadi/Googlewhatever.

*************************

If the above does not work in one's situation, given that one's situation is one of the above, then....

Be prepared to fiddle with the MYRIAD of settings.... because the trio do work with the exception noted.

*******************

The above does NOT APPLY to any other distros/OSs although they might....one must be prepared to fiddle with one's settings if one wants the trio to work.

*******************

NOTE:......

The developers of KDE, Kontact, Akonadi, are deserving of great applause, kudos, and thanks for having toiled in fields of what can only be considered Herculean proportions to get Kontact/Akonadi/Googlewhatever working.

The authors hat is off to you, if you are reading this, or to them...if they are not.

There is an old flyover country saying about people who "get things done".

That saying is ....."his/her...hand....fits a shovel...."

The developers hands....truely.....fit a shovel.

woodsmoke

[woodsmoke]

Todos in Kontact/Akonadi/Googlecalendar/tasks/Cell phone

Hi
This is a follow on to the above post and it is about how to do a "to do" in the "system" of Kontact todo list, Akonadi, Google/"tasks(todos)" and the cellphone.

One NOVEL item is that in one part of the "mix" of the whole thing a .pdf file can be generated which can then be "printed" as one would normally expect, as a hard copy to carry around or.....

One can move the .pdf to a smart cellphone and, using an app like "pdf reader" read the pdf on the phone instead of carrying the paper.

+++++++++++++++

This post will not be arranged "normally" because the whole thing is a "system" and one needs to step back and look at the "forest" before wandering through the trees.

A) It will first be about "how people use" and "how people generate" a todo list.

B) Second it will be about the interaction of the "system" mentioned in the title: that of: Kontact todo, Kcalendar, Akonadi, Google mail, Google calendar and the cell phone.

Fundamentally, one can say that "moving todos around between platforms" is still in the export/import .ical stage that calendars were not a long time ago.

C) It will then be about specifics of how a todo is "made" and then "moved" around in the system.

A)
a) First, let it be said that if one really uses todos in an industrial strength manner, that possibly the best thing to do would be to purchase a todo system that is designed, first and foremost, to operate from a cell phone and that also places the todos on "the cloud" and then one can also interact with them by making paper printouts and working on a desktop or laptop. Some of them are really "free" as in RTM or Remember the Milk, but even those are coming under the big guns of lawsuits of people who sell stuff. Evernote is another. However, I have not "particularly" used them to check out their full potential.

The simple fact of the matter is that given whatever type of PIM client one uses that is "based" in Linux, that it "goes through" other things and is not really what one would call heavy duty caliber in terms of doing something like doing a "mass change" to things like tags, whatever.

b) If one is a casual user of todos then one should consider which "part" of the system mentioned in (B) above that one feels the most comfortable using and what works best in the situation.

In other words, if one really only wants to make a paper printout and carry it in the classic notebook then one can use just about any Linux PIM and any version of a todo and that will work very well. These really have been pretty well worked out for some time now.

If one wants to use the Google end of things, it tries to be the "middle", then the todo function, called "tasks" is rather rudimentary at the best.

If one wants to use only the cellphone then, again, a free, or paid, app is the best way to go and don't worry about any of the rest of it.

B)

i) The following will be a discussion of how Google is used to make a "todo" (task) and where it can go to interact with other applications what format is produced and how it can be printed out.

Google's version of a "todo" is in mail, presently up in the top left corner and it is called "tasks". When one clicks the tasks word, one gets, presently, a small box at the bottom right with a not to intuitive interface that one can fiddle with to make a small todo. Todos are not really that big anyway so that is not a big deal. One can enter as many things as want and make several tasks. One can then send it as an e-mail to one's self. One then moves this mail to the inbox to an appropriate folder or one of one's making, the author used the " INBOX/calendar". There is a "more" tab above the e-mail with a variety of options one of which is "make an event". One clicks the item and gets what APPEARS to be "the calendar". However, that is not correct, it is, instead, a seperate window. When the event has appeared, one has to close the window. Then reload the "real" calendars tab and the event appears in the calendar.

In other words, the todo becomes an "event".

The important part of this process for the purposes of this discussion is that with the next sync the event will appear in the Kontact Calendar and that allows one to further manipulate it.

The main reason for this capability ( in the opinion of the author, and for the "casual user" ) is that if one is at work, suddenly thinks of a todo, and has it on that machine as a todo but also has moved it to the "home machine". It is also quickly on the cell phone. However, if one does not need the to do on the work machine, one can just make the "todo" as an "event" and that serves the same function about getting it to the "work machine".

ii) The following will be a discussion of how Kontact makes a todo and how it can "accept another item", such as an Ical from Google calendar, and how that can be used to make a todo and then how these can be used in other parts of the system or printed out.

This discussion is about how to make a "todo" of "an event" in Kontact whether the event arrived from the todo/event process at Google Calendar or if one made it as an event in Kontact calendar and then decided to make it a "todo".

However the event appeared in Kontact calendar, right click it and choose the option of "send as .ical" and then send it to ones self at gmail, (which is the default since this is about using gmail in the system. ONE WILL BE ASKED for the e-mail and password, but it will be rejected and the e-mail will then be in the outbox. If in a later operation it chooses to take the password it will go to gmail and then have to reappear at the inbox. But, the system is designed to not have that occur. One gets a popup which complains that the function cannot be carried out. It is recommended to then make a folder just for the icals of this type and move the e-mail to that folder.

Open the e-mail and in the lower pane will be a black box that has the item and inside it there will be a note to yourself, IF you have written such a note. The note will be the text of the todo. Right click that box and and select create an event or to do. One does not want to make and event of an event, so one clicks "make a todo" and the todo is made in both the calendar and in the todo window.

IT IS RECOMMENDED TO HAVE THE ITEM NOT BE A CONTINUING EVENT OR AN EVENT THAT GOES OVERNIGHT. It is reommended that one REDO IT....to make it an hour long. Akonadi sometimes balks at opening a daylong event or an overnight event. Just a piece of advice.

One will get a complaint box that local folder was not loaded, however, one did have it ticked and it will appear as a to do in the local calendar and in the todo window.

NOTE ON PRINTING A LIST IN THE TODO MODULE.

One prints from "file" but the actual item that is presented to print is a .pdf. The simple reason for this is that data can be lost if the todo list is so long that it flows over several pages. The data is lost in the transition between pages.

Printing to a .pdf saves the data.

Of course, this is not a "real" print to .pdf. It is really a form of the old style "print to file". The file is in dropped into "home" and, if one has not retitled it it has a name somewhat like "job X.... something".pdf.
The .pdf is very nicely formatted with a colour title at the top, date of creation, etc. In other words everything one needs for a paper format.

PLEASE SEE NOTE IN NEXT SECTION ABOUT READING THE .PDF in one's cellphone.

iii) The following will be a discussion of how a cellphone can be used to make a "todo like thing" and how Kontact, and also how Google calendar, can interact with it.

a) Assuming that one is using the above system, there is an app in the Android phone that is called: "pdf reader". It is very small and works very well.

I )One can move the .pdf to the phone in any way one wishes, as an attachment in an e-mail, or the recommended way of tethering or using bluetooth.

In EITHER CASE....one now has the "paper list" IN THE PHONE!! kewl! No need to carry the paper list if one does not want to do that.

II) One can also purchase a version of a kind of "Open Office" and if one want's to select the text from the .pdf on the computer and save it as a .doc, or whatever, and move it to the phone one can interact with the text, possibly deleting a finished to do, or marking it done, or something, on the phone.

This will NOT sync back with Kontact, but it is a novel way of using the .pdf on the phone.


b) Install or purchase an app that will produce an .ical file that can be e-mailed to the rest of the system or make an event and follow the above steps.

c) Sync with either a tether or Bluetooth to skip the above steps and go directly to making the todo in Kontact.

So, to summarize what was a LONG post.

The whole process is rather labyrinthine, and in the style of the old process of moving an .ical file around and around in a circle. It is not something that most people would want to do for a large bulk of "previous stuff". But it works well enough for the casual user who wants to use "the whole system".

However, There really are two "cut to the chases" and one of them is novel( and I have not seen it elsewhere, it is possibly unique to the author).

X) Most folks will "probably" just use the paper version.
X') instead of printing the .pdf move it to a cellphone and read it using a "pdf reader" app.

Hope this helps someone and if there are questions, please ask.

woodsmoke

[woodsmoke]

fixed: IMAP error: unable to append item flags problem

Hello.
Since these threads are rather intertwined, and some people may be working with a Precise OS, I have placed a fix in the HowTo section, one may read it HERE

woodsmoke

[woodsmoke]

Recurring events in Kcalendar problem, partial fix

Kcalendar: the “recurring events problem”.

Working on Kubuntu Precise one can, indeed, schedule a recurring event.

The caveat to this is IF ONE IS GOING TO SYNC TO GOOGLE CALENDAR...that Kontact/Akonadi will send the event to Google, but Google only accepts the first iteration of the event and then will delete ALL of the events back in Kcalendar.

This writing will be in two parts: a) how to enable recurring events in Kontact which will send a first iteration to Google using Akonadi, and b) which will illustrate why the situation is with Google calendar and not Kontact/Akonadi(at least in this writer's opinion).

A) how to enable a recurring event upon which Akonadi, in and of itself, will not “strangle”.

In the recurrence tab one can tick for the event to recur on say, every Monday.

The problem is the “never” button. Yes, all calendar databases have code to stop the recurrence in say... 2085 on the third Monday in March, but apparently dealing with an almost infinite recurrence situation and probably fifteen more other recurring events that the user FORGOT ABOUT!....can cause a problem within Kontact/Akonadi/Nepomuk itself.

There is a simple PARTIAL(when one considers Gcal) fix.

Set a date to end it with the “ends on” button which appears when one UN-ticks “never”.

But.....what about my little Sister's birthday? I don't know when she is going to pass from this mortal coil.

Ummmm yeah, but one could probably assume that she possibly won't live for say a hundred and fifty years...so pick a convenient year.

Besides.....one is supposed to KNOW one's sister's birthday.

There is also the option of the birthday module.

So...one can indeed have recurring events in Kcalendar.

b) But, what about interacting with Google calendar using Akonadi?

The following is rather labyrinthine logic, but work with it and one will see that the problem is with Google Calendar and not Kontact/Akonadi.

One should open Google Calendar in a browser and also Kontact calendar and resize them so that one can see both at the same time.

Please enter a recurring event in Kcalendar, and one will see ONE instance of it appear in Google Calendar.

That is not Akonadi's “fault” it is Google's “fault”. Akonadi sent what it was given by Kontact to Google and Google Calendar registered the receipt of the first occurrence.

Now WHILE WATCHING Kcalendar.

Reload the Google calendar tab and one will see ALL of the recurrences, and the original,disappear from Kcalendar.

And that is without even having to reload the calendar in Kontact.

So.... Google sent something to Kcalendar through Akonadi, the situation happened immediately remember, and that then deleted all occurrences in Kcalendar.

So, to repeat, unless someone more knowlegeable would care to address the topic, it would seem, on the face of it, that the problem is with Google and not the Kontact app.

And, not to beat the point to death, but this has been mentioned several times by the KDE team; however nobody seems to want to listen.

Now, does that FIX the situation if one NEEDS Kontact and Akonadi, and Google calendar to show recurring instances? No. In that situation, one should use one of the several other Linux PIMS which, basically, just feed Google through the app to the user directly.

However, Kcalendar does, indeed make recurring events. When Google decides to work with the KDEPIM teams to provide the proper code, then the recurring event should also, then, appear in Google Calendar.

THE FULL FIX....is to do the recurring events in Kontact in "local folders"... placing only single events in the Akonadi system, then when the event appears in Google Calendar then convert it to recurring.

The event will then disappear in the Kcalendar, but by having both the local calendar and the Akonadi calendar in view one sees both the single events, which will "stick" and the recurring events.

The same recurring event only at Google calendar then presents the "illusion" of having the recurring events on both systems.

When, or if, Google decides to be more forthcoming then things can possibly be moved along.

However, if all this is just way too much work, then one always has the option of using another PIM program.

woodsmoke

woodsmoke