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Encoded or encrypted calendar result set from webservice

Last post 04-06-2007 1:23 PM by ST-JLance. 3 replies.
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  • 04-05-2007 1:35 PM

    Encoded or encrypted calendar result set from webservice

    I just started to play with the Web services for the Calendar today, and have been looping through a CalendarListRequest object, and then through the ExCalendarItem Keys and Values. The keys come out in perfect clear text, but the values seem to be encoded or encrypted. Can anyone help me with this problem? Example of the data results I'm getting are below.

     Key: subject Value: VGVzdCBWYWNhdGlvbg==
    Key: location Value: T3JsYW5kbw==
    Key: description Value: VGhpcyBpcyBhIHRlc3Q=
    Key: startDate Value: MDQvMDIvMjAwNyAxNTo1ODowMA==
    Key: endDate Value: MDQvMDYvMjAwNyAxNjoyODowMA==
    Key: reminder Value: MzA=
    Key: guid Value: YjNlNWQyYWY3MjQ4NDUzNjkzMWI1YjFhYzk0OTAzZmU=
    Key: recurring Value: RmFsc2U=
    Key: daily Value: RmFsc2U=
    Key: weekly Value: RmFsc2U=
    Key: monthly Value: RmFsc2U=
    Key: yearly Value: RmFsc2U=
    Key: monthyear Value: MA==
    Key: interval Value: MQ==
    Key: occurrences Value: MA==
    Key: dayofmonth Value: MA==
    Key: daysofweek Value: MA==
    Key: nthday Value: MA==
    Key: setpos Value: MA==
    Key: until Value: MDEvMDEvMDAwMSAwMDowMDowMA==
    Key: categories Value:

    By the way I'm using SmarterMail 4 Free edition to see how it will work with out systems, but will be moving to Enterprise if this works in a short period of time. Thank you for any help you maybe able to provide.

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  • 04-06-2007 11:03 AM In reply to

    Re: Encoded or encrypted calendar result set from webservice

    The value's are simply Base 64 encoded. For example the subject "VGVzdCBWYWNhdGlvbg==" is B64 for "Test Vacation".

    You can use http://www.opinionatedgeek.com/dotnet/tools/Base64Decode/Default.aspx to test that out.

    Some additional info: 

    Some of the key/values aren't very self explanitory.

    For instance, daysofweek is an int, which has bits that correspond to a day of the week. 1 is Sunday, 2 is Monday, 4 is Tuesday, 8 is Wednesday, 16 is  Thursday, 32 is Friday, 64 is Saturday. So 3 would be Sunday and Monday.

    Nthday is an int that works in conjunction with daysofweek. So if daysofweek is 3, and nthday is 2, that will end up with the 2nd Sunday and Monday of the month.  

    Daily/Weekly/Monthly/Yearly are booleans (only one should be set) for the recurring frequency. Until is the end of the recurrence pattern.

    Feel free to inquire about anything else.  

    James Lance
    SmarterTools
  • 04-06-2007 1:10 PM In reply to

    Re: Encoded or encrypted calendar result set from webservice

    I'd like to start by thanking you James for the helpful information. and you're right alot of the key/values aren't very self explanitory. I was wondering if there is any way through the web services api to setup shared folders for a user, or to map to a shared resource. I know this is a capability that you offer in your web interface but we'd like to built it into out secondary interface as well. Also is there any other key/value pairs I should be concerned about with any of the web services? I must say this is one of the most appealing features of your products. I just wish they were documented a little better.

  • 04-06-2007 1:23 PM In reply to

    Re: Encoded or encrypted calendar result set from webservice

    About the lack of documentation, the syncing web services were originally not meant to be open, which is why they are a bit obfuscated and undocumented. Between that and the fact that it was meant mainly to work with Outlook's calendar API, which is kind of obtuse, it ended up being not very intuitive.  Calendar syncing is by far the most complex. Contacts and tasks are pretty self explanatory, though. If you hit any snags, just ask and I'll be happy to answer.
    James Lance
    SmarterTools
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