Issues with Calendar events

[ezulueta]

We have a mixed environment of users. We have users using scalix_connect, scalix IMAP, and SWA. The reason we use a mixed environment is many of our users are remote and have very slow connections so Scalix_Connect is not an option for them. Thus the issue. The issue that we are seeing deals with calendar requests from Outlook. If a Scalix IMAP user sends a Calendar event through Outlook 2003 to a user who accesses his mail through scalix_connect the request comes over as an unreadable attachment. If that same scalix_connect user accesses the same email using scalix IMAP the request displays without issue. Scalix_connect for some reason misinterprets the requests and does not display it. It leaves it as an attachment. I have used Evolution through IMAP in Linux and it displays properly. Only through Scalix_Connect do we see the issue. Is there anything that I can do to fix this problem? A setting somewhere? Has anybody else out there experienced this issue?

[florian]

Ezuleta,

some bad and some good news for you! Bad news is that, currently, this is by design. Outlook in IMAP mode (or in fact any other IMAP-based email client doing invitations, etc.), uses the iCal format. Scalix internally (and Scalix connect for Outlook) uses a different format for these events, more based on MAPI properties and the original Microsoft Exchange format. As of Scalix 9.4, there is no conversion between the two. The reason why it works between all IMAP-using clients is that they will just pass the iCal object through as an attachment, the system does not interpret and the clients will do the job.

In the next release of Scalix, however, a number of things will change that should help you with your issues:
1) Scalix will feature full iCal interoperability, i.e. the conversion you're looking at will then work, as will the exchange with external systems sending/receiving iCal messages from the Internet.
2) There will be a new version of Scalix Connect for Outlook that will feature a cache-based approach that should allow you to use Outlook with Scalix Connect over very slow connections without the user experiencing bad performance
3) We will offer a Connector for Evolution that relies on IMAP communication, but is also able to convert to/from the Scalix internal calendar format.

Hope this helps, stay tuned,
Florian.

[andre.fourie]

In addition to the inter-operational issues with meeting invites within a Scalix environment, what are the issues involved with sending meeting invites to outside parties.
We have an issue where sending meeting invites via SWA to remote users who use Exchange. The Exchange user only gets the text body of the invite and it is not recognised by Outlook as a meeting invite. In other words, pretty much a similar situation as described by Ezuleta.
Is this problem related to the IMAP / MAPI translation issue mentioned by Florian? If so, do I understand correctly that it is currently impossible to send invites to anyone but other SWA/Outlook_Connect users? Is there no work-around for this?

[florian]

depends.

if you're currently using Scalix Enterprise Edition, you can tell the system that the other party is using Exchange by specifying their domain as a TNEF domain; the system will then use the TNEF gateway which will preserve the MAPI objects as binary attachments. The command to use is omconfux. Note that the Scalix Enterprise Edition product does not have a TNEF gateway.

In the upcoming next release of Scalix, we feature full iCal interoperability for both Enterprise and Community edtions.

cheers,
Florian.

[andre.fourie]

Yikes! Florian, you're more than quick with replies, you're blazing! Thank you.

Using the TNEF gateway makes perfect sense and I am right now testing it. It will a be a bit of a pain to define every Exchange domain that is being communicated with, but at least there is a solution. Can't wait for Scalix 10!!!

Cheers
Andre

[ScalixSupport]

Clarifying Florian's response a little...

The Enterprise edition does have a TNEF gateway, it's the Community Edition that doesn't.

Cheers

Dave

[florian]

ok, one shouldn't type these responses at crazy times of day (or night!) - certainly i meant to say community edition in my statement above

if you're currently using Scalix Enterprise Edition, you can tell the system that the other party is using Exchange by specifying their domain as a TNEF domain; the system will then use the TNEF gateway which will preserve the MAPI objects as binary attachments. The command to use is omconfux. Note that the Scalix Enterprise Edition product does not have a TNEF gateway.

Sorry if this created any confusion.

Thx,
Florian.[/b]