My first pass at Outlook/Palm to iCal/iPhone calendar migration was to stop using the old calendar, and start a new one.
Then I realized how long it would take to tediously enter birthdays and the like, so I decided to migrate calendars from my Palm using Missing Sync for Palm.
(Warning: if you do this, I suggest renaming your iCal calendar so it can't possibly clash with any Palm category you might have.)
(Note: I'm still on 10.4, though now I'm scheduling the 10.5 migration. So 10.5 behavior may vary.)
It worked, but when I was done all the Categories in the Palm had become calendars in iCal.
Sigh.
This is why synchronization is so horribly hard. Application models vary. The Palm allowed for one calendar, but each appointment could belong to a single one of about 9 categories. Google has an unlimited number of Calendars, but no categories. Outlook 2003 has one real calendar, but each appointment can be associated with an unlimited number of categories. Outlook 2007 is similar, but it supports calendar overlays. Google is like iCal, but appointments can have locations. Alerting models all vary.
I won't even mention how astoundingly limited iCal is compared to even Outlook 2003 -- with one huge exception. iCal can subscribe to calendar feeds. Still the absence of a list view in 10.4 is surprising -- even the iPhone calendar has a list view.
Anyway, since I sync a single iCal calendar with a single Google Calendar, I wanted to merge some of my iCal Calendars. Turns out the way to do this is to export the calendar you want to eliminate, then import it back into the target Calendar.
The good news is that somehow I've gotten closer to Calendar Nerdvana than I'd expected. Between synching iCal to gCal with Missing Sync, my wife's Blackberry synching to gCal with a built-in app, and my subscribing in iCal to my wife's Google Apps family calendar, I'm starting to be able to get useful calendar overlays. Now if I figure out a work calendar solution ...
Sunday, August 17, 2008
iPhone calendar design flaw: all day events
The iPhone calendar has a design flaw. I ran into it because I subscribe to a calendar feed from Toodledo, and tasks due today are represented as all day events.
When you have lots of all day events, the display area for the calendar fills with all day events, and the hourly events aren't accessible.
The design flaw is the logic for partitioning scheduled and all day events, and the failure to support scrolling of all day events.
When you have lots of all day events, the display area for the calendar fills with all day events, and the hourly events aren't accessible.
The design flaw is the logic for partitioning scheduled and all day events, and the failure to support scrolling of all day events.
Palm to iPhone - only the notes remain
As summarized in my last note, I've got everything but my Memo Pad items (Notes) moved from Palm to iPhone. I've also realized that if were to do this all over again, I'd have paid my $25 sidegrade fee for Missing Sync for iPhone (includes migration utility).
Hey, I didn't have the benefit of reading my own blog postings.
The Memo Pad/Notes items are tough. I could get Missing Sync for iPhone [1], but then the data sits on my home machine. That wouldn't be so bad if the iPhone included any search functionality, but it doesn't.
I could wait for iPhone OS 2.1, but there's no guarantee Apple will actually include notes synchronization then. They've get a huge number of bugs to fix.
I don't like the usual hack of storing notes as fake contacts (messes up address book, weak search).
I could store them as tasks without dates or priorities on Toodledo/Todo. That's not a bad option.
I looked at Evernote again. It seems a natural fit. I installed the Windows version and used the "Add to Evernote" option to move all Notes to the net. The first time I did this the Windows app crashed, so I first created a local-only database, imported into that, then created a "sync" (net) repository and dragged them from the local to the net version.
This worked. The notes are on the net, and I can search them from the Evernote client on my iPhone (as long as I'm connected). I can even do some limited work with them using the Evernote client on OS X.
There's only one fly in the ointment, but it's a big, ugly sucker.
I tested the "export" features of the Windows client. Pathetic. The data is locked in. Worse, some web searches find Evernote users commenting about the need for export ... in 2005.
I really don't trust a company that locks in user data like that. They're well beyond the point where words are any use -- they need to show results.
So I have the data there for now, but I'm assuming I won't be able to get any of it out. So Evernote is a transitional strategy.
As I think harder about this I came across a review of evernote contrasting it to some other options:
These note taking apps go far beyond what I've done with the memos, which are really memory fragments, but I'll take a walk through this space and see what the Cloud or iPhone integration options are. (Yojimbo's web site still talks about .Mac sync, which is not a good sign.)
It has also occurred to me that there might be a way to structure my Notes as blog postings, and then store them as a private blog, choosing the blog based on available iPhone apps.
So it's Evernote for the moment, but I'm actively considering alternatives.
The current collection of solutions makes an interesting contrast to the simplicity of my original Palm III - even if I ignore the migration challenges!
[1] The mystery of why this is the only product able to access the iPhone data store over the USB conduit grows. What's Mark/Space got that no-one else has?
Update 9/29/08: Migrating Palm Notes (Memos) to Toodledo and Appigo Notebook.app
Update 3/14/09: See comments for an advanced approach using, in part, a Perl script.
Hey, I didn't have the benefit of reading my own blog postings.
The Memo Pad/Notes items are tough. I could get Missing Sync for iPhone [1], but then the data sits on my home machine. That wouldn't be so bad if the iPhone included any search functionality, but it doesn't.
I could wait for iPhone OS 2.1, but there's no guarantee Apple will actually include notes synchronization then. They've get a huge number of bugs to fix.
I don't like the usual hack of storing notes as fake contacts (messes up address book, weak search).
I could store them as tasks without dates or priorities on Toodledo/Todo. That's not a bad option.
I looked at Evernote again. It seems a natural fit. I installed the Windows version and used the "Add to Evernote" option to move all Notes to the net. The first time I did this the Windows app crashed, so I first created a local-only database, imported into that, then created a "sync" (net) repository and dragged them from the local to the net version.
This worked. The notes are on the net, and I can search them from the Evernote client on my iPhone (as long as I'm connected). I can even do some limited work with them using the Evernote client on OS X.
There's only one fly in the ointment, but it's a big, ugly sucker.
I tested the "export" features of the Windows client. Pathetic. The data is locked in. Worse, some web searches find Evernote users commenting about the need for export ... in 2005.
I really don't trust a company that locks in user data like that. They're well beyond the point where words are any use -- they need to show results.
So I have the data there for now, but I'm assuming I won't be able to get any of it out. So Evernote is a transitional strategy.
As I think harder about this I came across a review of evernote contrasting it to some other options:
Evernote for Mac Reviewed (beta version) Daniel mostly on Software:There are a large suite of unstructured textbase apps for OS X, including Tinderbox. This Particular Outliner and Tidbits often review these apps.
- 3.1: Evernote (2.7 plus 0.4 for what my benchmark doesn’t count)
- 2.8: Journler, Together
- 2.5: Scrivener, Soho Notes
- 2.4: EagleFiler
- 2.3: DevonThink Personal
- 2.0: Yojimbo
- 1.8: Circus Ponies NoteBook
These note taking apps go far beyond what I've done with the memos, which are really memory fragments, but I'll take a walk through this space and see what the Cloud or iPhone integration options are. (Yojimbo's web site still talks about .Mac sync, which is not a good sign.)
It has also occurred to me that there might be a way to structure my Notes as blog postings, and then store them as a private blog, choosing the blog based on available iPhone apps.
So it's Evernote for the moment, but I'm actively considering alternatives.
The current collection of solutions makes an interesting contrast to the simplicity of my original Palm III - even if I ignore the migration challenges!
- Calendar: iPhone <-> iCal <-> Google Calendar via Spanning Sync ($25)
- Contacts: iPhone <-> Address Book
- Tasks: iPhone ToDo <-> Toodledo ( -> iCal + Google Calendar as read-only) ($35)
- Notes: iPhone Evernote <-> Evernote service (temporary)
[1] The mystery of why this is the only product able to access the iPhone data store over the USB conduit grows. What's Mark/Space got that no-one else has?
Update 9/29/08: Migrating Palm Notes (Memos) to Toodledo and Appigo Notebook.app
Update 3/14/09: See comments for an advanced approach using, in part, a Perl script.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Palm to iPhone migration - address book and notes
My painful Palm to iPhone/cloud migration continues. I've updated my summary table.
I migrated my Calendar by basically stopping use of my Palm/Outlook Calendar and entering data in the iPhone/iCal calendar [1]. I use Spanning Sync to publish to gCal and, less often, update from changes I make to gCal. I'll archive my Palm data in PDFs and data tables.
I migrated tasks by moving them from the Palm to Palm Desktop to archival To Do file to Toodledo. I corrected minor conversion bug on Toodledo and sync with ToDo.app on the iPhone.
I migrated my encrypted password database to 1Password.
Note the above costs money. I've spent about $80 on additional software and services and I'm not done yet. Some of the costs are recurring, but on the other hand so far I've seen no reason to buy MobileMess.
I don't yet know what I'll do with my Memos/Notes. Too bad Google Notebook isn't a more useful product, and too bad Evernote doesn't yet do data freedom. I will probably wait to see if Apple delivers sync of iPhone Notes in September. Other options:
So the Address Book/Contacts are up next, then I take a break.
I'm expecting to migrate from either Outlook (via Access?) or Palm Desktop to OS X Address Book (10.4 if possible). Options so far:
[1] As I wrote this note I realized that I could have used my old copy of Missing Sync for Palm and moved the calendar data from my Palm to iCal. Note this exposes one of the many peculiar limitations of iCal. Categories in the Palm become calendars in iCal. Of course Spanning Sync only syncs one calendar to Google. So much for categories ...
Update 8/17/08: Address book moved easily. This is what I did.
Based on what I've learned so far, this is what I'd recommend for any Palm user migrating to iPhone/Mac:
Update 1/5/09: A commenter left a very negative review of Missing Sync for iPhone, so please read and review before ordering. My experience personal experience was with using other Missing Sync products.
Update 5/7/09: A reader points us to to a detailed migration path from Palm/OS X to iPhone/OS X.
I migrated my Calendar by basically stopping use of my Palm/Outlook Calendar and entering data in the iPhone/iCal calendar [1]. I use Spanning Sync to publish to gCal and, less often, update from changes I make to gCal. I'll archive my Palm data in PDFs and data tables.
I migrated tasks by moving them from the Palm to Palm Desktop to archival To Do file to Toodledo. I corrected minor conversion bug on Toodledo and sync with ToDo.app on the iPhone.
I migrated my encrypted password database to 1Password.
Note the above costs money. I've spent about $80 on additional software and services and I'm not done yet. Some of the costs are recurring, but on the other hand so far I've seen no reason to buy MobileMess.
I don't yet know what I'll do with my Memos/Notes. Too bad Google Notebook isn't a more useful product, and too bad Evernote doesn't yet do data freedom. I will probably wait to see if Apple delivers sync of iPhone Notes in September. Other options:
- Put my notes into the Toodledo task framework.
- Use the fake address trick.
- Buy Missing Sync for iPhone.
So the Address Book/Contacts are up next, then I take a break.
I'm expecting to migrate from either Outlook (via Access?) or Palm Desktop to OS X Address Book (10.4 if possible). Options so far:
- Mac OS X 10.1, 10.2: How to import addresses into Address Book
- OS X 10.2 had some import scripts (I suspect these are gone)
- Thunderbird to ldif
- abtransfer
- Sync Address Book with my Palm
- Use Missing Sync for Palm OS - we have an ancient license!
- Buy Missing Sync for iPhone and use the migration assistant to move from the Palm ($25 with a crossgrade from our Missing Sync for Palm and Missing Sync for Blackberry licenses)
- Use MobileMe (added later, I forgot about my prior post!)
[1] As I wrote this note I realized that I could have used my old copy of Missing Sync for Palm and moved the calendar data from my Palm to iCal. Note this exposes one of the many peculiar limitations of iCal. Categories in the Palm become calendars in iCal. Of course Spanning Sync only syncs one calendar to Google. So much for categories ...
Update 8/17/08: Address book moved easily. This is what I did.
- Install my old version of Missing Sync for Palm OS.
- Backup OS X address book and iCal
- Delete all existing Address Book entries and sync iPhone (so all gone from both)
- Disconnect iPhone
- Set Missing Sync to overwrite Notes (might as well get those on the Mac somehow!)
- Disable sync on Everything else including calendar.
- Missing Sync default is to "sync contacts". This is a misnomer on first sync; it should say that handheld will overwrite desktop (same for calendar).
- Consider zipping up your iPhone backup file at this point.
- Sync Palm then disconnect
- Connect iPhone and Sync
Based on what I've learned so far, this is what I'd recommend for any Palm user migrating to iPhone/Mac:
- Consider Missing Sync for iPhone, it includes the "migration assistant" that will move your data. It's $50 new, but you get a $25 sidegrade on other MS products and future upgrades. (See update below however)
- Use Migration Facility to move data from Palm.
- Use iCal data to move tasks to Toodledo or RTM. Pay for these. After migration to Toodledo/RTM, you'll want to delete tasks from iCal and disable task synchronization.
- Buy ToDo.app for iPhone.
- Buy Spanning Sync to sync iCal with gCal (optional).
Update 1/5/09: A commenter left a very negative review of Missing Sync for iPhone, so please read and review before ordering. My experience personal experience was with using other Missing Sync products.
Update 5/7/09: A reader points us to to a detailed migration path from Palm/OS X to iPhone/OS X.
GooSync - not yet for the iPhone (soon?)
GooSync specializes in SyncML based phone to gCal sync. Nothing yet for the iPhone though:
Here's a tech support post from July 2008, there's considerable frustration with Apple's struggles (or lack of honesty):
GooSync - Supported DevicesA tech support forum posting mentions (incredibly) Nuevasync. I'm beginning to think that exchange server approach might work, which is kind of an amazing thought.
A synchronisation application is not yet available for the Apple iPhone.
Here's a tech support post from July 2008, there's considerable frustration with Apple's struggles (or lack of honesty):
I can confirm that our SyncML client partner has a full working prototype for the iPhone, and as soon as Apple officially offer Calendar and Contacts support so will we.Update 8/19/08: See comments. GooSync is waiting on app store approval now ...
Apple have announced release dates for official iPhone Calendar and Contacts support since the beginning of the year. Unfortunately these releases have never materialized. The Contacts API will be available soon (or so we're told) but still no calendar API set for release. We have offered release dates this year based on information received from Apple, and this information has thus far proven to be unreliable. Obviously with Apple not offering any solid commitments its impossible for us to either.
I can confirm that there have been working clients on offer for "jail-broken" iPhones. These are something that we do not endorse and will not work on v2.0 iPhones.
We can only apologise for this and can assure you we are as frustrated with the situation as you may be. As soon as there are any solid releases we will be sure to let you know.
Google Calendar's CalDAV drives the iMac to Leopard
I knew this was coming soon.
This was the final straw: Google Calendar CalDAV support - Calendar Help Center: "Only iCal 3.x supports CalDAV sync. (iCal 3.x is standard in all versions of Leopard.)".
This was the final straw: Google Calendar CalDAV support - Calendar Help Center: "Only iCal 3.x supports CalDAV sync. (iCal 3.x is standard in all versions of Leopard.)".
I'll need some more sleep before I steel myself or the upgrade. The last machine I upgraded to 10.5 blew up.
NuevaSync; iPhone to Google Calendar
This is extreme beta -- only for the brave. Interesting, however. Also some notes on Apple's sync framework, which is obnoxious (emphasis mine):
NuevaSync - Over the Air Synchronization
NuevaSync now has support for several Apple products. You can use the new iPhone® 3G as well as the original iPhone® and iPod® touch with 2.0 firmware.
Visit our device setup instructions for information on configuring your Apple device.
Info
You can sync your contacts with Google (GMail) or Plaxo. You can sync your calendar items with Google Calendar.
Apple has chosen always to sync from a clean slate. That means that when you enable sync, your existing contacts and calendar items will be removed and replaced with the external copies. This is an Apple feature, not a NuevaSync one...
I'm tracking their blog. Some (insane?) people are using NuevaSync already.
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