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I have been trying to get an ICS file with a floating timezone setup. Research suggests that floating timezones are not recommended, but my client has specifically asked that a user downloading the ICS file in the UK and one in the US will both see the same time.

The code I have is as follows (minus the message body);

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//Microsoft Corporation//Outlook 14.0 MIMEDIR//EN
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:PUBLISH
X-MS-OLK-FORCEINSPECTOROPEN:TRUE
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:GMT Standard Time
BEGIN:STANDARD
DTSTART:16011028T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=10
TZOFFSETFROM:+0000
TZOFFSETTO:-0000
END:STANDARD
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
DTSTART:16010325T010000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=-1SU;BYMONTH=3
TZOFFSETFROM:-0000
TZOFFSETTO:+0000
END:DAYLIGHT
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
CLASS:PUBLIC
CREATED:20150609T083427Z
DESCRIPTION:Testing Tuesday 09/06/2015 – 11.00-11.30\n
DTEND;TZID="GMT Standard Time":20150609T113000
DTSTAMP:20150609T083427Z
DTSTART;TZID="GMT Standard Time":20150609T110000
LAST-MODIFIED:20150609T083427Z
LOCATION:LA
PRIORITY:5
SEQUENCE:0
SUMMARY;LANGUAGE=en-gb:Test Short Event
TRANSP:OPAQUE
X-MICROSOFT-CDO-BUSYSTATUS:BUSY
X-MICROSOFT-CDO-IMPORTANCE:1
X-MICROSOFT-DISALLOW-COUNTER:FALSE
X-MS-OLK-AUTOFILLLOCATION:FALSE
X-MS-OLK-CONFTYPE:0
BEGIN:VALARM
TRIGGER:-PT15M
ACTION:DISPLAY
DESCRIPTION:Reminder
END:VALARM
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

I have set my computer's timezone to Phoenix (UTC -07:00), and opening this ICS file in Outlook works in that the time it displays is 11:00-11:30 as I would hope. However, Outlook also opens up the timezone drop downs displaying 'Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London'. If this course was being run in the US then I think this would be confusing for users.

I have tried removing all of the VTIMEZONE section, and the TZID references within DTSTART and DTEND, or just removing one or the other, or changing them the TZID to TZID:America/Phoenix, or adding a Z to the times, but all of these seems to give me erratic timings. However, it does remove the timezone drop down in Outlook!

So my questions are; 1. Is there a way I can tell Outlook to not open the Timezone drop down from within this ICS file? 2. Is there a better way for me to do this, setting the exact time of the course and ability to download it anywhere in the world with the same set time for the course?

Thanks, and I hope that all I have written makes sense. I have done hours of research into this, but I just seem to be going round in circles!

roxvox
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2 Answers2

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The standard way to represent floating events corresponds to your second description (i.e. remove all references to TZID). In your case something like:

DTSTART:20150609T110000
DTEND:20150609T113000

What was the outcome of such an event on the Outlook side ?

Arnaud Quillaud
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  • Thanks for the reply @arnaudq Removing the TZID references and with my computer's timezone set to GMT, I get the correct time of 11-11.30 for the event. But if I set my computer to California timezone, then I get the time of 3-3.30am. I need it to show 11-11.30am regardless of the user's location. I don't suppose you have any ideas? – roxvox Jul 09 '15 at 08:59
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Some more research (yawn) has suggested that this is an Outlook issue, and that they do not follow the ICS guidelines for floating timezones;
MS Outlook incorrectly interprets ICS files in local time: daylight savings time overcorrection

So, now I am thinking that the only way around this is to gather the timezone of the person who is accessing the ics file, and take away the time difference from the ICS file time. So, if the course is being run at 11am, and someone in California (UTC -08:00) picks it up, then I will have to tell the file to input the course as starting at 7pm, so that it will be pulled into that user’s Outlook displaying the correct time of 11am. Or I think that’s how it would work anyway. More tinkering required.

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roxvox
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