304948 - Time shifts when importing .ics files from MS Outlook 2003

Status: RESOLVED WORKSFORME

(Calendar :: Import and Export, defect)

Description

[Ronald]

User-Agent:       Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.7.10) Gecko/20050716 Firefox/1.0.6
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.7.10) Gecko/20050716 Firefox/1.0.6

when trying to import an .ics file generated by MS Outlook 2003 Calendar, the
import went ok except that the start/end times are 1 hour different (later) from
the original event. my timezone is +GMT 10, and have set the "My Timezone" in
Sunbird to "Australia/Sydney" though i know that this feature is not currently
in use.
I've checked the settings in MS Outlook 2003, and can confirm that the timezone
setting there is also correct.



Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. create event in the "Calendar" section of MS Outlook 2003. 
2. export event as an iCalendar (.ics) file using the "Forward as iCalendar"
option under "Actions".
3. import the .ics file into Sunbird.
Actual Results:  
the .ics file gets imported fine, but the start and end times are different from
the original.

Expected Results:  
the start and end times should be the same as those created in MS Outlook 2003
Calendar.

below is an example that i've created in Outlook 2003, where the event start and
end date/time is meant to be: 18 Aug 2005, 14:00 to 18 Aug 2005, 14:30 hrs.
(+GMT 10). however, after importing into Sunbird, the entry comes up as 18 Aug
2005, 15:00 to 18 Aug 2005, 15:30 hrs.

----------------------------------

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//Microsoft Corporation//Outlook 11.0 MIMEDIR//EN
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
ORGANIZER:MAILTO:[e-mail]
DTSTART:20050818T040000Z
DTEND:20050818T043000Z
LOCATION:here there everywhere
TRANSP:OPAQUE
SEQUENCE:0
UID:040000008200E00074C5B7101A82E008000000007010B2A463A3C5010000000000000000100
 00000409137D6C779124FBC0E2FFE1F82162D
DTSTAMP:20050817T094121Z
SUMMARY:Test test test
PRIORITY:5
X-MICROSOFT-CDO-IMPORTANCE:1
CLASS:PUBLIC
BEGIN:VALARM
TRIGGER:-PT15M
ACTION:DISPLAY
DESCRIPTION:Reminder
END:VALARM
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

Comment 1

[Ronald]

oh.. forgot to add that the version of Sunbird is: 0.2
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.8a5) Gecko/20050203 Mozilla
Sunbird/0.2

Comment 2

[Robin Edrenius]

Do you live in a region that have DST, and if so, is it currently active?

Comment 3

[Ronald]

yes, i'm in a DST region (Sydney, Australia).. it is currently not active:
http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=240

Comment 4

[Robin Edrenius]

I wonder if this is a duplicate of Bug 254893.
Ronald, read through that bug and tell me what you think.

Comment 5

[Ronald]

it appears to be related with the same outcome though with different DST set ups.

in that bug entry, a DST seems to be applied to that region (Argentina) even
though, to my knowledge, no DST exists for that region. 
on the other hand, i'm experiencing a similar effect except that i'm in a region
that has DST albeit not currently active.

having a look at the US timezone at the moment, using Washington DC as a guide,
it is currently on DST, which adds +1 hr to the time. i'm guessing that my
example .ics file will appear with the correct time if imported to Sunbird in
the US.

maybe the logic of the DST code in Sunbird is based on the US DST, regardless of
which region you are in, whether DST exists in your region, or if DST is
currently active. hence, any time before Nov 1 will be set to +1 hr and any time
after Nov 1 will be correct. this is just a wild deduction :)

Comment 6

[Robin Edrenius]

(In reply to comment #5)
> it appears to be related with the same outcome though with different DST set ups.
> 
> in that bug entry, a DST seems to be applied to that region (Argentina) even
> though, to my knowledge, no DST exists for that region. 
> on the other hand, i'm experiencing a similar effect except that i'm in a region
> that has DST albeit not currently active.
> 
> having a look at the US timezone at the moment, using Washington DC as a guide,
> it is currently on DST, which adds +1 hr to the time. i'm guessing that my
> example .ics file will appear with the correct time if imported to Sunbird in
> the US.
> 
> maybe the logic of the DST code in Sunbird is based on the US DST, regardless of
> which region you are in, whether DST exists in your region, or if DST is
> currently active. hence, any time before Nov 1 will be set to +1 hr and any time
> after Nov 1 will be correct. this is just a wild deduction :)
Hmm... That may be the problem. Could you, if you don't mind, upload the .ics
and I'll try and import it to see if I see the same error (I live in Sweden,
which currently have DST)

Comment 7

[Ronald]

Attachment: example .ics file

this is the example test file i've used to create the bug for my region
(DST+10).

Comment 8

[Ronald]

Comment on attachment 193117 [details]
example .ics file

oops.. meant to say GMT+10 instead of DST :)
also, just to reiterate, that the expected event start/end time is meant to be:
18 Aug 2005, 14:00 to 18 Aug 2005, 14:30 hrs.

Comment 9

[Robin Edrenius]

(In reply to comment #7)
> Created an attachment (id=193117) [edit]
> example .ics file
> 
> this is the example test file i've used to create the bug for my region
> (DST+10).

I see it on 18th August 06:00 to 18th August 06:30.
This is in GMT+1 (with DST currently active = GMT+2)
That seems to be correct, 14-8=6.
I guess it's a Timezone/DST issue.

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9a1) Gecko/20050816 Mozilla
Sunbird/0.2+

Do you see the same bug if you export an event from a day that has DST active?

Comment 10

[Ronald]

yes, the bug still seem to occur when i set an event that is in the future where
DST is active, except that the imported event is now 1 hour earlier.

i did a few test scenarios:

(1) using the current date/time settings on the PCs where MS Outlook 2003 and
Sunbird are installed, ie. where DST not currently active:
- i set an event from MS Outlook 2003 and emailed it out as an .ics file.
- i call this file "Christmas Lunch.ics". 
- for this event, the intended date/time is: 25th December 2005, starting at
1300 hrs and ending at 1400 hrs.
- i imported into Sunbird, and the date/time that gets imported is: 25th
December 2005, starting at 1200 hrs, ending at 1300 hrs (ie. 1 hr earlier, which
is the opposite to my previous experience).

(2) using the same .ics file created in scenario (1), but now i've set the
date/time to a future date where DST is meant to be active (eg. 20th December
2005) on the PC where Sunbird is installed, and imported this .ics file into
Sunbird.
- same outcome as (1), where the time is still 1 hr early.

(3) now, setting the date/time on the PCs where MS Outlook 2003 and Sunbird are
installed to a future date (eg. both to 20th December 2005) where DST is meant
to be active.
- i set another event from MS Outlook 2003 and emailed it out as an .ics file.
- i called this file "Another Christmas Lunch.ics".
- for this event, the date/time is: 25th December 2005, starting at 1500 hrs and
ending at 1600 hrs.
- i imported into Sunbird, and the times are imported 1 hr earlier, starting at
1400 hrs and ending 1500 hrs.

in all these 3 test cases, they produced the same effect of events being
imported 1 hr earlier than intended in an active DST date/time period.
it appears that it doesn't matter whether the events are created inside or
outside of DST.

i shall provide the 2 test .ics files in the file attachments above, and have
copied them here as text below:

---- Christmas Lunch.ics ----
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//Microsoft Corporation//Outlook 11.0 MIMEDIR//EN
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
ORGANIZER:MAILTO:[e-mail]
DTSTART:20051225T020000Z
DTEND:20051225T030000Z
LOCATION:somewhere out there
TRANSP:OPAQUE
SEQUENCE:0
UID:040000008200E00074C5B7101A82E0080000000060D2EEBB45A7C5010000000000000000100
 000003225B107AEA7BD4DBCB9C62612F3CF38
DTSTAMP:20050822T081719Z
SUMMARY:Christmas Lunch
PRIORITY:5
X-MICROSOFT-CDO-IMPORTANCE:1
CLASS:PUBLIC
BEGIN:VALARM
TRIGGER:-PT15M
ACTION:DISPLAY
DESCRIPTION:Reminder
END:VALARM
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

---- Another Christmas Lunch.ics ----
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//Microsoft Corporation//Outlook 11.0 MIMEDIR//EN
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
ORGANIZER:MAILTO:[e-mail]
DTSTART:20051225T040000Z
DTEND:20051225T050000Z
LOCATION:here there
TRANSP:OPAQUE
SEQUENCE:0
UID:040000008200E00074C5B7101A82E008000000004050A3BA2407C6010000000000000000100
 000002BB517DD78552242A71AB9F8963CDEE0
DTSTAMP:20051222T072255Z
SUMMARY:Another Christmas Lunch
PRIORITY:5
X-MICROSOFT-CDO-IMPORTANCE:1
CLASS:PUBLIC
BEGIN:VALARM
TRIGGER:-PT15M
ACTION:DISPLAY
DESCRIPTION:Reminder
END:VALARM
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

Comment 11

[Ronald]

Attachment: Christmas Lunch.ics

the expected date/time for this event is:
25th December 2005, starting at 1300 hrs, ending at 1400 hrs.
timezone: GMT+10 where DST is active in this December period.

Comment 12

[Ronald]

Comment on attachment 193420 [details]
Christmas Lunch.ics

Example .ics used in test scenario where event is in active DST for GMT+10
region

Comment 13

[Ronald]

Attachment: Another Christmas Lunch.ics

2nd example .ics used in test scenario where event is in active DST for GMT+10
region.

the expected date/time for this 2nd event is:
25th December 2005, starting at 1500 hrs, ending at 1600 hrs.
timezone: GMT+10 where DST is active in this December period.

Comment 14

[Sebastian Schwieger]

I tried all three test cases with system timezone GMT+2:00 (Berlin) and with system timezone GMT+10:00 (Sydney). Sunbird timezone: Australia/Sydney. 
All three test cases show up as expected.

using: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.9a1) Gecko/20061105 Calendar/0.4a1

Comment 15

[Sebastian Schwieger]

Resolving this bug as WORKSFORME. Reporter, if you still encounter the same problem with the recent release of Sunbird 0.3, please REOPEN!

Comment 16

[Damian Szczepanik]

Litmus testcase 3002 created