Fix for tiresome, "iCal can't read this calendar file. No events have..."

Question

I've read a hundred posts about this problem, but the typical answers--erase blank space at the top of the file, rename the file "ics", etc. don't work.
When I attempt to open a calendar file from Delta.com and many other websites, I get this error:
5/11/10 1:53:32 PM iCal[6522] Incorrect version for vCal file. Got '2.0'
5/11/10 1:53:32 PM iCal[6522] Fatal vCalendar parser error !
If I go in and change the version to 1.0, I get this error:
5/11/10 1:55:09 PM iCal[6522] Date validation error: DTSTAMP = '20100511T165324Z '
5/11/10 1:55:09 PM iCal[6522] Date validation error: DTSTART = '2010-06-01T14:10:00.000Z '
5/11/10 1:55:09 PM iCal[6522] Date validation error: DTEND = '2010-06-01T22:13:00.000Z '
5/11/10 1:55:09 PM iCal[6522] * WARNING Invalid component, discarding: Error Domain=com.apple.iCalendar Code=1000 UserInfo=0x1158d19f0 "DTSTART is required for VEVENT."...To add your full itinerary to your Outlook calendar, choose save to download the file to your computer and then import it from within Outlook. For more information, please see the Help section of Microsoft Outlook.=0D=0A
5/11/10 1:55:09 PM iCal[6522] Date validation error: DTSTAMP = '20100511T165324Z '
5/11/10 1:55:09 PM iCal[6522] Date validation error: DTSTART = '2010-06-05T11:00:00.000Z '
5/11/10 1:55:09 PM iCal[6522] Date validation error: DTEND = '2010-06-05T19:50:00.000Z '
5/11/10 1:55:09 PM iCal[6522] Unexpected EOF, returning last token as fallback
5/11/10 1:55:09 PM iCal[6522] Component boundaries mismatch (VEVENT VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR)
Any ideas?
Thanks!

Answer 1

Hi,
There are various reasons why iCal won't read that file.
1. Spaces at the end of lines (eg after the last "END:VEVENT"). I'm not sure if this is incorrect, but iCal does not like it.
2. The format of some of the dates/times is incorrect. (see http://www.apps.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2445.html#sec-4.3.12 and http://www.apps.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2445.html#sec-4.3.4 if you're interested).
3. The UIDs for the two events are not unique. Perhaps this is something you edited? (see http://www.apps.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2445.html#sec-4.8.4.7 )
This works in my iCal:
BEGIN:VCALENDAR
PRODID:-//Microsoft Corporation//Outlook 11.0 MIMEDIR//EN
VERSION:2.0
METHOD:PUBLISH
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20100512T133215Z
DTSTART:20100601T141000Z
DTEND:20100601T221300Z
DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Omitted
LOCATION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Reagan National
SUMMARY;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Your Itinerary: SFO-DCA
PRIORITY:1
UID:TKTNO-DELTA-11111111
SEQUENCE:0
BEGIN:VALARM
TRIGGER:-PT1440M
ACTION:DISPLAY
DESCRIPTION:Reminder
END:VALARM
STATUS:CONFIRMED
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20100512T133215Z
DTSTART:20100605T110000Z
DTEND:20100605T195000Z
DESCRIPTION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:OMITTED
LOCATION;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:San Francisco Intl
SUMMARY;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:Your Itinerary: DCA-SFO
PRIORITY:1
UID:TKTNO-DELTA-11111112
SEQUENCE:1
BEGIN:VALARM
TRIGGER:-PT1440M
ACTION:DISPLAY
DESCRIPTION:Reminder
END:VALARM
STATUS:CONFIRMED
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR
Best wishes
John M