SeedCode Support Forum

First Post. I have already learned much in the past months from the forum. Thanks.

Setup: I am using the 'Resource' field as the zuluFilterKey. The resources are therapist in an office. Each therapists then has a matching calendar which gets shared via Google calendar settings so each can view their specific appointments/events. This is working well as we beta test the solution.

Issue: While beta testing, I found that when the office hires a new therapist/resource I am having to clear, delete all calendars, reset google, and then re-share the google calendars for ~14 therapist.

Is there a way to not lose all the shared calendars settings previously set in Google? Am I missing something or not looking at this in the correct context?

This is a growing business so I am contemplating creating 10 fake resources that can be adjusted as they hire new staff. Not sure if changing the displayName will auto update in google or not.

TIA for your time

Hi,

Thanks for posting this. Right, we've had reports of the Account Pairings not being very flexible and causing issues with the sync. A few seems to be ok, but more than that seems to cause problems.

What we recommend is to set up a single "master"pairing that has access to all the Calendars and then use that Google account as an admin account to share the various calendars using Google's sharing tools. This method has a few other advantages, and is my preferred method for the Google sync even with just two accounts:

>It allows you to make the calendars Read-Only.
>You don't need to know the Google password, just the email address. if the password changes then the sharing doesn't break like a direct pairing with Zulu would.
>Only one pairing to maintain in Google and shouldn't need to be changed once it's set up.

Let me know if that helps!
-Jason

Hi Jason

I was following your advice below

JasonYoung wrote:What we recommend is to set up a single "master"pairing that has access to all the Calendars and then use that Google account as an admin account to share the various calendars using Google's sharing tools. This method has a few other advantages, and is my preferred method for the Google sync even with just two accounts:
-Jason

But I came across a problem that I believe relates to Google placing a limit on the number of calendars you can create on any given day. I'm trying to set up individual calendar feeds for over 2000 user in an client's organisation.

Error as per screen shot.



Is it possible to just use zulu as an ical server without syncing to google? How would we make that happen?

Thanks

Chris Cullen

Hi Chris,

Right, I don't think Google's going to allow that kind of capacity whether it comes from a single or multiple pairings.

As soon as you Zulu is installed and you Publish your first CalendarList record, Zulu starts behaving like a CalDAV/iCal Server so you can hit it directly without using Google at all. This is actually a more stable set up that Google as their's no syncing involved, FileMaker Server becomes the single data source.

For Read Only CalDAV Subscriptions the URL is:

http://<yourserveraddress/zulu/calendars/<yourfilename>/<ZuluCalendarListUUID>/

You'll need port 80 forwarding to FileMaker Server through the firewall and should be good to go.

Zulu is going through FileMaker Server's XML Web Publishing, so for 2000 feeds, it may be necessary to use Server Advanced as regular Server does have the 100 concurrent connection limit for CWP.

Let me know if that helps.

Hi Jason

Thanks for the prompt reply. Your service is outstanding. I'm new to Zulu and trying to get my head around it all. So, can you confirm if I am understanding correctly?
1. If we are syncing to ical only do we need to run the sync in the Sync Admin page on localhost/zulu/admin?
2. If we want to sync a limited number of calendars with google and then have the 2000 users syncing with ical only, then how do we do that? Do we need to sync google with a filemaker account that is restricted from the other calendars?

Thanks again - Chris Cullen

Hi Chris,

Right, if you're only using the CalDAV/iCal part then you don't need to do anything on the sync admin page, that's only for setting up the Google sync.

JasonYoung wrote:2. If we want to sync a limited number of calendars with google and then have the 2000 users syncing with ical only, then how do we do that? Do we need to sync google with a filemaker account that is restricted from the other calendars?

When you use the subscription URL that hits the server directly you use a FileMaker account for access. You'll basically want to use a custom privilege set for these accounts so they only see the Calendars/ZuluCalendarList records that the account has access to. This is the same method for limiting the calendars that a paired Google Account can see.

We have some documentation on this here:

http://www.seedcode.com/pmwiki/pmwiki.p ... Privileges

I'm unclear on what you're trying to do with Google, but Zulu's primary function is to turn your FileMaker Server into an CalDAV server that can be accessed via any CalDAV account. This works for iCal, iOS Calendars, AnDAL, Sunbird and any calendar client that can access a CalDAV server.

Additionally Zulu lets you pair FileMaker accounts with Google accounts, so that Zulu Calendars are created and synced to the corresponding sync routine.

Let me know if that helps,
-Jason

JasonYoung wrote:Hi,

What we recommend is to set up a single "master"pairing that has access to all the Calendars and then use that Google account as an admin account to share the various calendars using Google's sharing tools. This method has a few other advantages, and is my preferred method for the Google sync even with just two accounts:

-Jason

I only have one pairing in ZuluAdmin. My repetitive task is re-sharing within google calendar settings. I have ~15 records filtered by resource field in the zulu calendar list table with each record creating it's own calendar. When doing a full reset I end up re-notifying therapist of calendar sharing when adding 1.

My current solution is to make additional 'unknown' zulu filtered calendars and then rename them once new hires occur. I will see if I can find any other work around efficiencies as we continue with the beta testing.

My analogy is comparing the Zuluadmin to a FMP import dialog. Currently, I clear entire google calendar table and import all again via zuluadmin.

I would prefer one of the following:
- import/add new calendars.
- Update current calendars, and add new calendar

Then I would only need to share the new google calendar to the corresponding new therapist.

Hope that analogy works and is clear.

Thanks for response.

Hi Clark,

I may not be following you, but adding new calendarlist records/calendars in FileMaker shouldn't require any reset. They should show up in Google with the next sync. You do need to delete them manually from Google if you delete them from FileMaker, but creation in Google should be automatic. You do need to specify the Google sharing once the new calendar is there, Zulu can't handle that, but that should be it.

Cheers!

JasonYoung wrote:Hi Clark,

I may not be following you, but adding new calendarlist records/calendars in FileMaker shouldn't require any reset. They should show up in Google with the next sync. You do need to delete them manually from Google if you delete them from FileMaker, but creation in Google should be automatic. You do need to specify the Google sharing once the new calendar is there, Zulu can't handle that, but that should be it.

Cheers!

Sounds like when I do a full Google Reset and delete all from zuluadmin is not needed each time.

I'll modify my current process and see if I am 'overworking'.

Thanks

That's right. Let me know if it gives you any trouble.

-Jason

JasonYoung wrote:Hi Clark,

I may not be following you, but adding new calendarlist records/calendars in FileMaker shouldn't require any reset. They should show up in Google with the next sync. You do need to delete them manually from Google if you delete them from FileMaker, but creation in Google should be automatic. You do need to specify the Google sharing once the new calendar is there, Zulu can't handle that, but that should be it.

Cheers!

Hi Jason,

1) Single Pairing in zuluadmin; successful sync with 14 records in Calendar list
2) Add 15th calendar, unique ID, check and double checked. I added 13 before and they are working.

3) Tue Jan 29 14:34:40 CST 2013: Sync failed: java.lang.RuntimeException: Failure while getting list of changes from FileMaker calendar Firstname_Lastname; layout=ZuluSampleEvents; filterKey=Resource; filterValue=Firstname Lastname: java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: Every node grouping must contain at least two nodes

- I edited the therapist's name in error message.

My first reaction is I have to do a complete Google Reset by deleting all synced data.

When I remove 15th calendar record - successful sync.


I'm missing something somewhere...... Any pointers are appreciated.

Hi Clark,

Hmmm. You shouldn't need to do that. Is it possible for me to try it on my server with your file? If so, please contact me at [email protected] and we'll set that up.

We do plan on releasing a new version of Zulu shortly, so I'll test with new and old.

Thanks!