Skip to main content
Felix

Automate CSV data export

Use regular BMC Remedy workflow objects to create a CSV data file with the previously documented CSV data format

btAny Calendar to Outlook

  • Performance Feature

  • The application btAny Calendar to Outlook (btAnyCalendar2OL) enables calendar files (.ICS) to be imported automatically into MS Outlook.

    The application is available in two versions:

    • Normal application, can be integrated into autostart.
    • Windows Service.

    - (FREEWARE)

  • System requirements


  •  

    Hardware Architecture

    Specification

    Processor


    2x Logical processors

    Main memory [GB]


    2

    Disk space [MB]


    10

     

    Software Architecture

    Specification

    Operating System

    Windows 10/11 (x86 & x64)

     MS Outlook 2016 (32-bit/64-bit) or higher
    Authorization to write in MS Outlook.

    SDK

    Microsoft .NET Framework Version 4.8.1 Redistributable  Package

     

The application btAny Calendar to Outlook (btAnyCalendar2OL) enables calendar files (.ICS) to be imported automatically into MS Outlook.

The application is available in two versions:

  • Normal application, can be integrated into autostart.
  • Windows Service.

- (FREEWARE)


 

Hardware Architecture

Specification

Processor


2x Logical processors

Main memory [GB]


2

Disk space [MB]


10

 

Software Architecture

Specification

Operating System

Windows 10/11 (x86 & x64)

 MS Outlook 2016 (32-bit/64-bit) or higher
Authorization to write in MS Outlook.

SDK

Microsoft .NET Framework Version 4.8.1 Redistributable  Package

 

Description

The application is waiting for appointment and task data file(s) to import it into MS Outlook.

Appointment data

The application is waiting for an appointment file like “Export.ics” or a collection of appointment files (*.ics) in a specific folder. If the file is getting in, it grabs the file and creates/update appointments in MS Outlook.

Task data

The application is waiting for an task file like “Export.csv” or a collection of task files (*.csv) in a specific folder. If the file is getting in, it grabs the file and creates/update appointments in MS Outlook.

The application is locally installed and works in the background unattended.

Installation

Install the application in any installation folder, configure and start it.

Appointment data

The ICS file format

The application assumes that the ICS Parameters are between the keywords “BEGIN:VEVENT” and “END:VEVENT”. Parameters outside this keywords are ignored entirely.

Example:

    BEGIN:VEVENT
    DTSTAMP:20170430T200254Z
    DTSTART;TZID=America/Indiana/Indianapolis:20170331T034010
    DTEND;TZID=America/Indiana/Indianapolis:20170905T170931
    SUMMARY:Deploy Expense Reporting
    TZID:America/Indiana/Indianapolis
    UID:12345
    SEQUENCE:0
    METHOD:REQUEST
    DESCRIPTION:ID:CRQ000000002165\n
    END:VEVENT

Supported ICS fields

The following ICS fields are supported by this application:

Field name

Description

DTSTAMP

Field not in use – it is a local timestamp, when the ICS file was exported.

DTSTART

Used with time zone option

DTEND

Used with time zone option

SUMMARY

Used as is

TZID

Field not in use –timestamp information, already in DTEND & DTSTART

UID

Used as a GUID

SEQUENCE

Field not in use

METHOD

REQUEST– Creates an appointment
CANCEL – Deletes an appointment

DESCRIPTION

Used as is

 

Working method – create/update appointments

The UID will be used from ICS file to create a data record in OL and is used as a GUID. The GUID is stored in the “Billinginformation” field. By reimporting the ICS data, the same data are updated in OL.

  1. Start application (manually or by “Startup”)
  2. Export ICS file and store in in the specified location.
  3. After a while – 5 seconds typically – the application grabs the ICS file for data import.
  4. The data are imported into OL into the specified OL folder.
  5. The ICS will be deleted at the end, then the application waits for a next ICS file
  6. In case a new ICS will be provided, the application start with step “3.”
  7. Exit the application if required.

One of the two methods “REQUEST” or “PUBLISH” creates an appointment.

Working method – delete appointments

The working method is like as documented in chapter ”Working method – create/update appointments”.

The method of “CANCEL” deletes an appointment.

Language support

The “Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification” (iCalendar) supports all languages.

Task data

The CSV file format

The application assumes that the CSV data are created like a standard Outlook export process would do.

If so, the data looks as shown in the below figure:

The entire CSV data format is specified as follows:

"Subject","Start Date","Due Date","Reminder On/Off","Reminder Date","Reminder Time","Date Completed","% Complete","Total Work","Actual Work","Billing Information","Categories","Companies","Contacts","Mileage","Notes","Priority","Private","Role","Schedule+ Priority","Sensitivity","Status","MarkedAsDeleted"

The data must be real comma separated, no other separation character is currently supported.

Supported CSV fields

The following CSV fields are supported by this application:

Field name

Description

Subject

Used as is

Start Date

Used as is

Due Date

Used as is

Reminder Set

Used as is

Reminder Time

Used as is

Reminder Time

Used as is

Categories

Used as is

Body

Used as is

CreationTime

Used as is

Owner

Set to ITSM

MarkedAsDeleted

Extra attribute provided by ITSM to delete a task in Outlook

 

Working method – create/update tasks

The CSV data owns no UID and therefore the application creates an own kind of GUID build by the attribute value concatenation of "Subject" and "Start Date". The GUID is stored in the “Billinginformation” field. By reimporting the CSV data, the same data are updated in OL.

  1. Start application (manually or by “Startup”)
  2. Export CSV file and store in in the specified location.
  3. After a while – 5 seconds typically – the application grabs the CSV file for data import.
  4. The data are imported into OL into the specified OL folder.
  5. The CSV will be deleted at the end, then the application waits for a next CSV file
  6. In case a new CSV will be provided, the application start with step “3.”
  7. Exit the application if required.

The application will create or update a task.

Working method – delete appointments

The working method is like as documented in chapter ”Working method – create/update appointments”.

Deleting a task is controlled by the attribute “MarkedAsDeleted”. A value of “Yes” or “Ja” will delete the corresponding task in Outlook. Furthermore the attribute value for “MarkedAsDeleted” will not be saved in Outlook.

Automate CSV data export

Use regular BMC Remedy workflow objects to create a CSV data file with the previously documented CSV data format

Language support

Tasks are exported in CSV data format from Outlook application. No other export formats are available and therefore only English and German language are supported for the data import into Outlook.

INI File configuration

The configuration file supports the following functions:

Key name

Value

Description

[General]

Interval

5000

How often the toll checks for ICS files.
5000 ≙ 5 seconds

StartHidden

True

True ≙ Start application in hidden mode
False ≙ Start application in visible mode

StartRightAfter

True

True ≙ Start timer right after application start
False ≙ The user starts the application timer

ServiceCheckInterval

5000

Service is checked every 5 seconds
5000 ≙ 5 seconds

ServiceStatusCheckInterval

5000

Service status is checked every 5 seconds, whether it is still running.
5000 ≙ 5 seconds

RestartService

True

In case the Service goes down it will be restarted automatically by setting the value to “True”

ServicePendingCount

10

It delays the process cycle to start or shutdown the service.
A value of 10 waits 10 cycles before process will be executed.

TempFolder

For future release

[Outlook]

OL_Username

<username>

Username form OL profile. The default is “Outlook”

OL_Password

<password>

Password form OL profile

OL_TimeZone

Europe/Berlin

The default time zone from local desktop PC

OL_Export_ics

Export.ics

Filter for the exported OL filename(s) the application is checking

OL_Export_csv

Export.csv

Filter for the exported OL filename(s) the application is checking

OL_RoundUpMinutes

True

True ≙ The application rounds up time value to next full digit value
False ≙ The application doesn’t round up time value

OL_Store

0

For future release

OL_StoreFilePath

App.Path\\DBS\\

For future release

;Calendar

OL_MainCalendar

1

If value is set to “0” no main folder will be created. A value of “1” creates a main folder mailbox folder.

OL_MainCalendarName

ITSM

Name of the main folder

OL_SubCalendar

1

If value is set to “0” no sub folder will be created. The folder will be created underneath the main “Calendar” if the value is set “OL_MainCalendar=0”. A value of “OL_MainCalendar=1” creates a sub folder underneath the newly created own main folder.

OL_SubCalendarName

ChangeCalendar

Name of the sub folder

OL_CategoryCalendar

ChangeCalendar

Name of one OL Category. It is used in case the ICS file doesn’t provide such name.

OL_PrefixFilenameCalendar

CAL_

Specifies the prefix to be used for an exported data file.

;Task

OL_MainTask

1

If value is set to “0” no main folder will be created. A value of “1” creates a main folder mailbox folder.

OL_MainTaskName

ITSM

Name of the main folder

OL_SubTask

1

If value is set to “0” no sub folder will be created. The folder will be created underneath the main “Calendar” if the value is set “OL_MainCalendar=0”. A value of “OL_MainCalendar=1” creates a sub folder underneath the newly created own main folder.

OL_SubTaskName

ChangeCalendar

Name of the sub folder

OL_CategoryTask

ChangeCalendar

Name of one OL Category. It is used in case the ICS file doesn’t provide such name.

OL_PrefixFilenameTask

TSK_

Specifies the prefix to be used for an exported data file.

[AppsFolder2Check]

AppsFolder2Check1

App.Path\tmp\ics

The folder where the exported file will be stored by the ITSM export function.
Folder must exists!

AppsFolder2Check2

App.Path\tmp\csv

The folder where the exported file will be stored by the ITSM export function.
Folder must exists!

 

Specials

The keyword of “App.Path” represents the installation folder. By using this keyword in the appropriate folder keywords the application will replace the keyword by the installation value by default. Alternative also a physical folder path may be used instead of “App.Path”.

Example:

Folder keyword: App.Path\tmp

Real folder: c:\MyInstallationFolder\tmp

The former example expects the OL file in the following folder path:

The data are stored in the following OL calendar path:

In this example the data were stored in a dedicated calendar path, because the default “Calendar” name did not provide permissions to write into this entry point.

The application resides in the taskbar if minimized started. Double clicking on the calendar icon will open the main window.

The Main window:

  • (1) Hide the application
  • (2) Clear log window
  • (3) Start application timer – start OL export file checking
  • (4) Stop application timer – stop OL export file checking
  • (5) Exit application

FAQ

Q: An Outlook security warning window appears on the screen.

A: This error message should preferably not appear, because this application uses a SNMP connectivity. By experience this error is related to missing user permissions OR not well configured anti-virus application. In example if the “On-demand” scan is disabled in McAfee this error is enforced.

Sample view

Overview of the user interface when importing task data (example).

Subject to changes!