EAS, Activesync, eSync, z-push in current master of egroupware: Calendar - syncing calendars from other users

umehner 2016-07-30 20:39:38 UTC #1

Syncing calendars from other users can be set in esync settings (given the appropriate rights to read and edit).

This works well for initial sync, but later changes in other users calendars don’t get synced until the OWN calender has got changes. This might be related to the new code beeing based on syncstate returned by AlterPingChanges … .
AlterPingChanges in egroupware/calendar/inc/class.calendar_zpush.inc.php generates a MAX(cal_modified) lookup only for entries owned by the current user (and the groups he belongs to). I think it should lookup calendar changes for all the users (groups) the user has choosen in esync settings as well.

So my suggestion for improvement is this additional code for function AlterPingChanges(…) in
egroupware/calendar/inc/class.calendar_zpush.inc.php :

                //$ctag = $this->calendar->get_ctag($owner,'owner',true);       // true only consider recurrence master
 
// Check for changes in calendar of additional users/groups from esync settings/preferences
if ( $owner == $GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['account_id'] )
{
        if ( ! is_array( $owner ) )
        {
            $owner = (array)$owner;
        }
        foreach ( explode( ',' , $GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['activesync']['calendar-cals'] ) as $esynccals_uid )
        {
                if ( $esynccals_uid < 0 ) // Get users/members from groups ...
                {
                        foreach((array)$GLOBALS['egw']->accounts->members($esynccals_uid, true) as $member_uid)
                        {
                                if ( ! in_array($member_uid , $owner) )
                                {
                                        $owner[] = $member_uid;
                                }
                        }
                }
                else
                {
                        $owner[] = $esynccals_uid;
                }
        }
}
                $syncstate = $this->calendar->get_ctag($owner,false,true); // we only want to fetch the owners events, where he is a participant too

This works for me right now. Surely there are more elegant ways of solving this.

Cheers,
Ulle

Ralf_Becker_Stylite 2016-07-31 08:16:32 UTC #2

Hi Ulle,

Syncing calendars from other users can be set in esync settings (given the
appropriate rights to read and edit).

This works well for initial sync, but later changes in other users calendars
don’t get synced until the OWN calender has got changes. This might be
related to the new code beeing based on syncstate returned by
AlterPingChanges … .
AlterPingChanges in egroupware/calendar/inc/class.calendar_zpush.inc.php
generates a MAX(cal_modified) lookup only for entries owned by the current
user (and the groups he belongs to). I think it should lookup calendar
changes for all the users (groups) the user has choosen in esync settings as
well.

So my suggestion for improvement is this additional code for function
AlterPingChanges(…) in
egroupware/calendar/inc/class.calendar_zpush.inc.php :

Hmm, seems the mailing list bridge “eats” again your code, it’s visible
in Nabble:

http://egroupware.219119.n3.nabble.com/EAS-Activesync-eSync-z-push-in-current-master-of-egroupware-Calendar-syncing-calendars-from-ohter-uss-tp4013774.html

But not in what Nabble sends to the mailing list:

https://sourceforge.net/p/egroupware/mailman/message/35252037/

All that should not be necessary, as I understand the z-push code.
If your phone is subscribed to multiple folders, it should initialize
the changes sink for each synced folder:

https://github.com/EGroupware/activesync/blob/master/inc/class.activesync_backend.inc.php#L457

When ChangesSink is called, we request changes for every folder in line 495:

https://github.com/EGroupware/activesync/blob/master/inc/class.activesync_backend.inc.php#L495

Can you check your logs, if ChangesSinkInitialise is called for the
folders your are missing (other users calendar)?

@Sebastian: Is my reasoning true, that z-push calls a backends
ChangesSinkInitialise for every folder synced on a client?

Ralf

This works for me right now. Surely there are more elegant ways of solving
this.

Cheers,
Ulle

–
Ralf Becker
Director Software Development

Stylite AG

Isaac-Fulda-Allee 9 | Tel. +49 6131 32702-0
D-55124 Mainz | Fax. +49 6131 32702-70

Email: rb@stylite.de

www.stylite.de | www.egroupware.org

Managing Directors: Andre Keller | Gudrun Mueller
Chairman of the supervisory board: Prof. Dr. Birger Leon Kropshofer

VAT DE214280951 | Registered HRB 46224 Mainz Germany

umehner 2016-08-02 14:01:21 UTC #3

Ralf Becker Stylite AG:

Hmm, seems the mailing list bridge “eats” again your code, it’s visible
in Nabble:

http://egroupware.219119.n3.nabble.com/EAS-Activesync-eSync-z-push-in-current-master-of-egroupware-Calendar-syncing-calendars-from-ohter-uss-tp4013774.html

But not in what Nabble sends to the mailing list:
https://sourceforge.net/p/egroupware/mailman/message/35252037/

Yes, I am posting via Webpage (actually here: http://www.egroupware.org/discover/egroupware-forum#nabble-td4013774 )

You are right. ChangesSinkInitialise is called for every other user-calendar choosen in esync-settings. But I had chosen a group-calendar to be synced. And I changed those ticks from groups to users and tried with other (very old) devices, so I obviously mixed up the cause of the problem …

So, when choosing a group to be synced in esync settings, the calendar items for all members of that group get initially synced to the phone. The phone sees one calendar for “group” (and the own).
Then, when one of the group members changes or releases a calendar item, it will never get synced to the phone.

My conclusion “don’t get synced until the OWN calender has got changes” was wrong, as I was testing with old 12.1 EAS devices, which can’t handle multiple calendars with activesync. For them I run a tweaked egroupware/calendar/inc/class.calendar_zpush.inc.php version as described here:
http://www.egroupware.org/discover/egroupware-forum#nabble-td4010845
And for these devices it is needed to look at the other calendars from esync settings, as only the own folder is called for ChangesSinkInitialise, of course.

I still hope for a setting in esync to “sync multiple calendars into one” (like for addressbooks) per device … , but actually I am happy with my if(old eas-device) { … } code …

Cheers,
Ulle