[clug-talk] Kontact synchronization?

[Gustin Johnson]

If you use kmail or kontact on both machines, it has its own way of keeping in 
sync.  When in the calander or addressbook part of kontact, you can add a 
resource.  The resource type imap simply creates an adddress and calander 
folder on your imap account.  In these folders it stores vcards and ical 
files.  The only problem is that you:
a) need an imap account
b) need to be online

Kmail/Kontact supports a wide range resource types that are worth 
investigating (beyond a mere LDAP server).  Keep an eye on the open exchange 
project for an example.

Cheers

On February 5, 2005 12:02 am, Shawn wrote:
> I think I solved this, with a little help from Jesse at the meeting where
> we checked out the kde directories for Kontact. (Thanks Jesse.)
>
> It turns out the calendar information (schedule/todo, etc.) is stored in a
> file at ~/.kde/share/apps/korganizer/std.ics (default calendar).  You can
> point to this file to "merge" it's entries into your own calendar
> (File/Import/Merge Calendar).  Or I guess you can just replace the current
> calendar file, if you know which one is the most recent and changes have
> only been made to one of them.
>
> So in the short term, there are a couple of options:
> 1. Manually merge the calendars when needed.
> or
> 2. Script an rsync routine to replace the calendar file (potential data
> loss if both files have been updated).
>
> I'd still like to trigger Kontact's merge routine from a script, but at
> least I have something to get started.
>
> WRT the contacts, the address book supports exporting all contacts to a
> vcard file, and importing vcard files.  So the options here are similar to
> the calendar sync options.  The contact data seem to be stored in
> ~/.kde/share/apps/kabc/std.vcf.
>
> These methods are much much simpler than centralizing your contacts /
> calendar on an LDAP server - at least for a simple one laptop, one desktop
> setup.
>
> Hope this helps someone.
>
> Shawn
>
> On Monday 31 January 2005 21:36, Shawn wrote:
> > The problem is that the laptop may be disconnected from the network, but
> > still need this information.  That's fine, if I want to manually
> > export/import the contacts.  But this can get tedious, especially if I
> > add contacts while away from the network - there's a potential to
> > inadvertently loose this info.  So I'm wondering if there is an easier
> > way to keep the two instances  synchronized, yet allow the laptop to be
> > off network for
>
> arbitrary periods
>
> > of time.  I'm sure I can set up an LDAP server for my contacts to
> > alleviate this, but there will be times where Interent connectivity just
> > isn't available.
> >
> > I'll be building an rsync routine to sync some other files (documents,
> > work files, etc.).  Is there some way to programatically trigger an
> > export of the data, then trigger an import?  The transfer of the files
> > should be relatively straight forward...  I know there are similar tools
> > for PDAs, do any work with laptops?
> >
> > Or is there a better method to keep select files/resources synched
> > between a laptop and a desktop?  Thanks for any tips.
> >
> > Shawn
> >
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