UICalendar (Oracle Calendar) Problem with 2007 Daylight Saving Time Change

• Starting this year, due to an Act of Congress, Daylight Saving Time (DST) will begin on the second Sunday in March and end on the first Sunday in November. Previously, the dates were the first Sunday in April and the last Sunday in October.

• ACCC applied a DST fix patch from Oracle to the UICalendar Server sometime in early 2006 and the Server has been compliant since. Unfortunately we don't know the exact date the patch was applied, so we recommend that all UICal users read on and follow the instructions for patching your PC's operating system, patchng Outlook if necessary and and doing a manual check of the problematic date ranges in any calendars you own.
• Oracle has since alerted us of possible problems as described in Oracle Technical Note 399739.1

• Problem Issue 1 - Events Entered before the Server Patch was Applied
  Events that were scheduled before the patch was applied by ACCC and that fall into the Problem Ranges displayed in the table below, may appear on your calendar to start one hour later than they should.

• Problem Issue 2 - Events Scheduled via Oracle Connector for Outlook
  Microsoft Outlook also requires its own DST patch from Microsoft. If you used Oracle Connector for Outlook to schedule any meetings that fall into Problem Ranges then these events may also display an hour off once you apply the Outlook patch described later.

• First, Patch Your Windows, Mac or Linux Operating System

  ACCC's complete Daylight Saving Time Coverage Page
  Windows Patching Instructions
  Mac Patching Instructions
  Linux/Unix Patching Instructions
  

• Next, Patch Microsoft Outlook if you use Oracle Connector for Outlook

  Patching Instructions for Microsoft Outlook
  You should apply the Outlook patch immediately after patching your Windows Operating System.
  

• Then, Manually Compare and Adjust Events that may have been Affected
  • Only meetings that you scheduled prior to early 2006 and that fall into the Problem Ranges displayed in the table above are affected. In most cases, these will be long-reaching repeating events that were entered before 2006. We expect few users will be seriously affected, but we do recommend that everyone check the calendars that they own, just to be certain.

  • By February 16th, ACCC will email each calendar owner (personal, resource, departmental) with the names of possibly affected calendars along with a list of any events that fall into the problematic date ranges.

  • We have made available a special reference-only copy of the Oracle Calendar server that does not have the new DST patch so that you can see the actual time your events were originally scheduled. It is available only via web browser, but you can use this to print copies that you can use for comparison against your current real UICal online calendar. This copy is static and is running against a database backup copy made 02/11/07.

  • So, to accommodate comparison and adjustment, we recommend you that you...
    1. Point your web browser to:

       http://uical-old-dst.cc.uic.edu

       !!! Ignore and bypass any SSL certificate mismatch warnings you receive from your browser

    2. Always login to your own personal calendar first, even if you want to check other calendars. If you do want to view other calendars then:
       • click the "Veiw Agenda's" icon (person standing next to a calendar)
       • Select the proper search button ("Name Search" for "people" and "departmental calendars" or "Resource Search" for "resource" calendars.
       • click "View" or "Act as Designate" (if you have designate privs).
    3. Go to the "monthly" view by clicking the 3rd checkboard icon near the top left.
    4. Use the black arrows on the mini-calendar at the top left of the screen navigate to a month that encompasses part of the Problem Ranges listed in the table above (March 2007 for starters).
    5. Click the "Printer-friendly format" link near the top right and print that month using your browser's print icon.
    6. Repeat these steps to print other months that also encompass one of the Problem Ranges listed in the table above. Do not modify this calendar - it is a reference copy only!

    7. Once printing is complete, login to the production online calendar server using your installed Oracle Calendar Desktop Client, Connector for Outlook or the web client (http://uical.uic.edu.)

    8. Compare the events in the Problem Ranges to those on your printouts. Problematic meetings will appear on your screen as starting one hour later than they do on your printout.

    9. Adjust the start time of any problematic meeting back one hour.

       You should then manually re-adjust any problematic events (move the start time an hour earlier).

       !!!Note: You can only adjust meetings that you "own" (that you initiated). You can tell if you own a meeting because meetings owned by others will display something similar to the following near the top of the screen:

       Proposed by: (someone other than you)
       or, if the meeting was entered by someone acting as designate for another:

       Proposed by: (someone other than you) on behalf of (someone else other than you)

       Outlook will show: Organized by (someone other than you)

       If you don't own a meeting that has the wrong time you may wish to contact the owner of the meeting and ask them to fix the start time.

• If you encounter difficulties, please send a detailed email message to systems@uic.edu