Appendix G: Oracle Calendar Sync for PDAs: Install and Use

These pages explain how to sync PDAs with UICalendar using physical connections.

• Syncing by cradle works fine with Windows machines and the PDAs and phones that it works with. There can more problems with Macs, but it works OK with them also. However,
  
  
• If your PDA is a cell phone or if you have a wireless connection on your PDA, check out Appendix H: Oracle Calendar Mobile Data Sync, which allows you to sync with UICal wherever and whenever you have a connection to the Web. It works much better and doesn't tie you down to syncing with one personal computer, whether Mac or Windows.

There are two special cases:

• Blackberries: There is now a mobile data sync that works fine with Blackberries. Do yourself a favor and use it. Don't try to sync via a cradle.
  
  
• Apple iPhones:The best way at this point is to use Safari on the iPhone to use UICal on the Web; the URL is: http://uical.uic.edu
  There are alternatives, which involve syncing iCal on a Mac with UICal and then syncing that iCal with the iPhone. This is explained in ACCC services and the iPhone.

Note: Once you've synced your PDA or phone with Oracle Calendar Moble Data Sync, do not go back and sync it with a cradle sync as described here. They are incompatible. (Or at least Oracle says they are. I did it and didn't seem to suffer any consequences. But your mileage may certainly vary; it always does with syncing.)

• Oracle Calendar Sync 9 for Palm: Windows Install and Setup
  This is for a previous version, but is modified for UIC; see also Oracle's Oracle Calendar Sync 10 for Palm: Windows
• Oracle Calendar Sync 9.0.4 for Palm: Macintosh Install and Setup
  This is a previous version, but is modified for UIC, see also Oracle's Oracle Calendar Sync 10 for Palm: Macintosh

• Palm Desktop and the HotSync Manager must be installed before you install Calendar Sync.
  
  
• Perform a synchronization before you install Oracle Calendar Sync for Palm.
  
  
• Calendar Sync works with HotSync. By default, Calendar Sync takes over the HotSync conduits for the Datebook, the Address Book, and the To Do list.
  
  
• Before you begin using Oracle Calendar Sync for Palm, verify that your Palm device is set to the correct date. An incorrect date leads to unexpected results when performing a synchronization.
  
  
  
• Windows Only: If you choose a Custom installation of Calendar Sync you can install only selected conduits, in which case only those aspects would be synced with UICalendar. So, for example, if you didn't want your address book on your PDA to be synced with your UICal address book, you would choose Custom install when installing Calendar Sync and not install the Address book conduit. Then your Address book would continue to be synced with the Palm Desktop rather then UICal. This can only be done during Calendar Sync installation.
  
  
• You decide when you set Calendar Sync up what you will do whenever there is a conflicting change in an item between your PDA and the UICal. It will not warn you when there is a conflict; it will just resolve it as you instructed it in your Rules setting.
  
  
  
• Please read the Oracle instructions for your type of device; they have very valuable information.

Palm Sign-In Settings for Ada Byron:

After you install Calendar Sync, the Calendar Sync for Palm Synchronization Settings application automatically opens. Or you can open it yourself with:

Start -> Programs -> Oracle Calendar Sync for Palm -> Settings.

Enter your user information, including netid, ACCC common password, calendar server and node ID. For Ada Byron, these are:

User Information:
User:

her netid: adabryon

Password:

her ACCC Common password

Server Information:

Server:

uicalendar.uic.edu

Node:

1000

-- Date Book Settings

The Settings choices are:

Synchronize Refused Events

You might want not to check this; sometimes things you've deleted will come back to haunt you if you check it.

Add Attendee names to Notes.

If you attend meetings and want to keep track of who's coming, you will want to check this. It is the only way to get Attendee names to the PDA. They go into a special section the Notes section of a PDA datebook entry.

Limit Details - Maximum size in kilobytes (of each item)

Unless you have really big details or attachments, this one doesn't much matter; it's in Kilobytes and even 1 kilobyte is pretty big.

Add Location to Title

This one you do want to check. The PDA doesn't have a location field. This adds the UICal location to end of the title, enclosed in parentheses.

You can also add Locations to items that originate on the PDA that will be brought up to UICal, if you add the location to the end of the title, enclose it in parentheses, and put an "at" sign in front. For example, a PDA item with
this Title: Lunch with Jane @(Fresco's)
would yield a UICal calendar item with
the Title: Lunch with Jane and Location: Fresco's

-- Date Book Date Range

The Date Range choices are From and To, with choice in days, weeks, or months, or you can select a date. (Selecting a date doesn't seem to be terribly useful in the long run.)

If you have a very full calendar, your choice in date range is going to be important. Too long a range, and the calendar database that you download to your PDA is going to be too big and you're going to overfill your PDA. My advice it to start small. The UICal database is your definitive calendar; your PDA is just a portable tool that you use to carry around a few weeks or months of data so you can keep track of your schedule.

My recommendation is 1 month in the past and 1 or 2 months in the future.

This one is very important!

The Rules settings is important; you need to decide which of the two settings you want to choose. The two choices are:

If there is a modified item on both the calendar server and your mobile device

• Replace mobile device item with calendar server item
• Replace calendar server item with mobile device item

In other words, you have to decide ahead of time how to resolve conflicts if they ever arise. If the same item is changed on both the server and the PDA, choose the first if you want the version on the calendar server to be definitive and choose the second if you want the one on the PDA to be definitive.

For To Dos you have the choice of limiting the size of each item and the date range (there's a complicated formula about which To Do falls under which date; again, see the Oracle document on Calendar Sync.) For the Address Book, you can limit the size of each item, and tell Calendar Sync to synchronize contacts whose categories match categories in your Palm address book.

In addition, To Do and Address Book have the Rules choices as the Date Book. If you always choose Replace mobile device item with calendar server item, you will never get into trouble.

Oracle CorporateSync for PocketPC After you install and set up Oracle Calendar Sync for your PDA, you use your sync software pretty much like you used to, except you're syncing against your UICal Oracle Calendar data.

It's best to decide that either the PDA or UICal has the definitive copy of your calendar. You'll get into trouble if you change the same item in both.

Oracle Outlook Connector also has a sync option; it's described in Oracle Connector for Outlook and also in the Outlook Connector online help.

The Oracle Outlook Connector is compatible with most types of third-party PDA-Outlooksynchronization software. Basically, it works like this -- however you synced your PDA (Palm OS or PocketPC) with Outlook before, you probably can continue to do so now.