Forum for iCal4OL, Print4OL and ICS4OL

As you know: Palm Desktop can only export your calendar data (datebook) as .dba (archive), but not as .ics iCalendar file.

I wrote now a convert function/utility dba2ics (dba2ical), which can correctly convert those files into the iCalendar format (rfc2445.txt).

Please note:
- No Outlook installed? This function can be used separately, if you buy iCal4OL...  see dba2ics.exe at the end of this post!
- If you have Outlook installed, you can use the convert function in the Demo of iCal4OL, too.
  For splitting by category - or if you want to upload your contacts to Gmail, read http://ical.gutentag.ch/forum/viewtopic.php?id=161


Following formats are supported:
- Palm Desktop 6.2.2    => DateBook.mdb or exported .dba in the "Standard Jet DB Access" .mdb format.
- Palm Desktop 4.1.4    => datebook.dat or exported .dba in the "PalmSG Database" format (27 fields per record).
- Palm Desktop (older)  => datebook.dat or exported .dba in the "old Palm" format (15 fields per record).

There may be other formats of datebook out there, which I don't know of...
If it's not working with your test file, please mail it to me for investigation - and tell me the version of Palm Desktop + OS you are using, too!


Two possibilities (both ways are actually subscribing your Palm Calendar as Remote Calendar):

=> It's part of iCal4OL - you have to install and run the demo... 

1. Subscribe the exported archive file (.dba), or directly subscribe your datebook.dat / DateBook.mdb:
- Choose [X] Subscribe ICAL file/feed as Remote Calendar
- Enter the filename of your datebook as source file or enter the name of a previous exported .dba file, e.g.
  Exported file .DBA..:  C:\Download\TestCalendar.dba
  Palm Desktop 6.2.2:  <my documents>\Palm OS Desktop\<username>\datebook\DateBook.mdb
  Palm Desktop 4.1.1:  C:\Program Files\palmOne\<username>\datebook\datebook.dat

Important Notes:
- Do not work in Palm Desktop at the same time, if you use the Datebook directly!! Do not start Palm Desktop at the same time!!
  (It may be open, but don't do anything while importing with iCal4OL, otherwise you could loose your latest datebook)
- All already imported events of this source will get deleted first, then added again (see online documentation for other possibilities).
- There is no permanent UID (Unique ID) in Palm Desktop.  iCal4ol will generate it from the Record No, which is not permanent for archive.dba files!
- Deleted events are never in archive.dba files (but may be still in the datebook).

2. Import your datebook
- Choose [X] Import ICAL file/feed - sync against existing events
- Enter the filename of your datebook as source file, e.g. for
  Palm Desktop 6.2.2:  <my documents>\Palm OS Desktop\<username>\datebook\DateBook.mdb
  Palm Desktop 4.1.4:  C:\Program Files\palmOne\<username>\datebook\datebook.dat

Important Notes:
- Do not work in Palm Desktop at the same time!! Do not start Palm Desktop at the same time!!
- All already imported events will get overwritten in Outlook even if newer, because there is no field/info "LastModificationTime" in Palm Desktop
- The UID (Unique ID) is generated with help of the Record Number, because there is no field/info "UID" in Palm Desktop
  (Take care: If you pack or import new data in the datebook, the record numbers of the events may change...)
- Deleted events are still in the datebook.. so they get deleted in Outlook (if they still exist here)


dba2ics.exe - Converting your datebook.mdb/.dba to iCalendar file (*.ics) directly
It's a little utility written in VB6, but there is no separate license available - you have to buy iCal4OL to use it!
==> It's now Freeware, see http://ical.gutentag.ch/dba2ics.php



So for now, only registered users of iCal4OL can use this tool directly, as long as it remains on the same PC (=> copy protection).
- No Outlook installation necessary
- it can filter by category  (or "empty" for unfiled category) => from iCal4OL Version >=2.8.9 on
- it can be used in batch files ..
- you can copy dba2ics.exe together with the liberation file (of iCal4OL) into another directory
- it has some enhanced options, like "/R" for generating an UID from the dba record number (necessary for import into Google Calendar).

Have a nice day
Roland