how-to-force-google-calendar-to-refresh-subscribed-calendar.md

Given a subscribed calendar with a url like

https://example.com/example.ics

To force Google Calendar to refresh and reload the contents right now, unsubscribe from the calendar and subscribe to a new calendar with a URL like

https://example.com/example.ics#1

Adding the anchor tag will force Google Calendar to think of it as a new calendar

Many people who come to this gist are not looking for a one time forced refresh but instead to refresh recurringly. If that's you, you should check out @derekantrican 's Google App Script

https://github.com/derekantrican/GAS-ICS-Sync

Which can refresh a calendar automatically every N minutes

https://script.google.com/home/projects/1BOk8MDLbLaHh6SwG1M1tsgNXjkcC-79LE0QoipRuTDxbO3fMVvqoROQD/edit

Thanks to @rattrayalex for pointing people to this script

Is the issue arising only because google calendar refreshes infrequently, or is it because they NEVER refresh? I am almost certain that some of the calendars I subscribe to are updated from time to time but I never checked how promptly

It's because google calendar refreshes infrequently. I'm not sure how long it takes to refresh but it is a considerable amount of time. It will update eventually but I wanted it to refresh much more quickly. This solved the problem for me.

ok thanks but does infrequently mean hours or days/weeks?

It usually takes some where between 12 and 24 hours to refresh.

Great!

Thank you so much! @derekantrican, you are a lifesaver!

Hi all, This is fantastic really saved me a headache and works great. I have 50 Air Bnb properties that I manage and need all there calenders in one place.

Because of this, is it possible to add unlimited calenders to this script? and if so how do i do this? do I just copy and paste into new inserted lines?

First time using scripts etc

TIA

is it possible to add unlimited calenders to this script?

Of course, you can either combine x calendars into one google calendar or sync them all to a different google calendar.

Just edit/add additional calendars to:

var sourceCalendars = [                
  ["icsUrl1", "targetCalendar1"],
  ["icsUrl2", "targetCalendar2"],
  ["icsUrl3", "targetCalendar1"]
];

Make sure to get the commas at the line ends correct ;)

is it possible to add unlimited calenders to this script?

Of course, you can either combine x calendars into one google calendar or sync them all to a different google calendar.

Just edit/add additional calendars to:

var sourceCalendars = [                
  ["icsUrl1", "targetCalendar1"],
  ["icsUrl2", "targetCalendar2"],
  ["icsUrl3", "targetCalendar1"]
];

Make sure to get the commas at the line ends correct ;)

Thankyou thats fantastic, So how do Iput them all into 1 calender? I just put the same name for target calendar?

I just put the same name for target calendar?

Yes

Hi, this is just what I was looking for and have it setup and running. It has created and populated a new calendar in my google calendar with the ics data. I have added a new entry in the iCal source to see that it is working. When it runs I don't ever see the new entry populate in the google calendar and under executions I get one of these two entries. Timing is set to every 15 minutes. Any thoughts or guidance would be helpful. Thanks.

Info - Completed:
Another iteration is currently running! Exiting...

Error - Failed:
DNS error: http://h
at callWithBackoff(Helpers:1078:9)
at fetchSourceCalendars(Helpers:136:5)
at startSync(Code:168:21)

Hi, this is just what I was looking for and have it setup and running. It has created and populated a new calendar in my google calendar with the ics data. I have added a new entry in the iCal source to see that it is working. When it runs I don't ever see the new entry populate in the google calendar and under executions I get one of these two entries. Timing is set to every 15 minutes. Any thoughts or guidance would be helpful. Thanks.

Info - Completed: Another iteration is currently running! Exiting...

Error - Failed: DNS error: http://h at callWithBackoff(Helpers:1078:9) at fetchSourceCalendars(Helpers:136:5) at startSync(Code:168:21)

Your var sourceCalendars is missing a set of [], recheck with the given example.

---

Many of the questions asked here are already answered in the official repo of the script. As one of the maintainers, I can only encourage anyone to head over there if they are facing problems with the script!

Hi, this is just what I was looking for and have it setup and running. It has created and populated a new calendar in my google calendar with the ics data. I have added a new entry in the iCal source to see that it is working. When it runs I don't ever see the new entry populate in the google calendar and under executions I get one of these two entries. Timing is set to every 15 minutes. Any thoughts or guidance would be helpful. Thanks.
Info - Completed: Another iteration is currently running! Exiting...
Error - Failed: DNS error: http://h at callWithBackoff(Helpers:1078:9) at fetchSourceCalendars(Helpers:136:5) at startSync(Code:168:21)

Your var sourceCalendars is missing a set of [], recheck with the given example.

Many of the questions asked here are already answered in the official repo of the script. As one of the maintainers, I can only encourage anyone to head over there if they are facing problems with the script!

Thank you @jonas0b1011001 for helping me correct my error. Sorry I couldn't find my answer in the repo. My error for "cleaning up" to much of the comments in that line. Many thanks!

@jonas0b1011001 Given that most people who come to this gist are looking for functionality provided by your project ( https://github.com/derekantrican/GAS-ICS-Sync ), not for the trick outlined above about adding an anchor tag to a URL, is there anything you'd like to see me change/update about this gist to try to get those users away from this gist and over to your repo? Maybe I go through and try to delete some old comments in order to simplify this landing page so it's easier for people to find their way to your repo? Any ideas are welcome. I have a contact form linked on my GitHub profile, feel free to use it to email me with any ideas for how to improve this gist.

Thank you so much!
It worked perfectly!`

Great script, works great for my personal Apple iCloud calendar, but my shared family one shows as blank.

Great script, works great for my personal Apple iCloud calendar, but my shared family one shows as blank.

Check https://script.google.com/home/executions for errors in the log.
Apple is adding a bunch of additional data to the ics that is not always conforming to the ical standard.

Great script, works great for my personal Apple iCloud calendar, but my shared family one shows as blank.

Check https://script.google.com/home/executions for errors in the log. Apple is adding a bunch of additional data to the ics that is not always conforming to the ical standard.

Thanks, it's erroring out on something in the calendar (redacted some personal info):

ParserError: Missing parameter value in 'X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=40XXX Sxxxth\nUnited States;X-APPLE-ABUID="Stephanie’s Home"::;X-TITLE=4xxxxxh'
at ICAL.parse.parser._handleContentLine(ical.js:1894:9)
at unknown function
at ICAL.parse.parser._eachLine(ical.js:2243:11)
at parser(ical.js:1769:12)
at parseResponses(Helpers:209:25)
at startSync(Code:209:17)

Great script, works great for my personal Apple iCloud calendar, but my shared family one shows as blank.

Check https://script.google.com/home/executions for errors in the log. Apple is adding a bunch of additional data to the ics that is not always conforming to the ical standard.

Thanks, it's erroring out on something in the calendar (redacted some personal info):

ParserError: Missing parameter value in 'X-APPLE-STRUCTURED-LOCATION;VALUE=URI;X-ADDRESS=40XXX Sxxxth\nUnited States;X-APPLE-ABUID="Stephanie’s Home"::;X-TITLE=4xxxxxh' at ICAL.parse.parser._handleContentLine(ical.js:1894:9) at unknown function at ICAL.parse.parser._eachLine(ical.js:2243:11) at parser(ical.js:1769:12) at parseResponses(Helpers:209:25) at startSync(Code:209:17)

derekantrican/GAS-ICS-Sync#351

Thank you. Yeah I recognized the metadata and recreated the event. Strangely that info wasn't in the invite, but some weird way my wife created it. I also commented out that exception. It sync'd perfectly after fixing that.

Thanks again.

Got one more, despite "var addAlerts = "yes"; ", the alerts are not coming over into the GCal. Am I missing something, I've tested various methods and reminder times.

Does it show the alert when opening the *.ics in a text editor?

I see this in the ICS:
TRIGGER:-PT5M

I just checked, var addAlerts = "yes"; works fine for me. What version are you running?

I just checked, var addAlerts = "yes"; works fine for me. What version are you running?

Not sure where the version is posted, but I copied the script off this link this morning:
https://script.google.com/home/projects/1BOk8MDLbLaHh6SwG1M1tsgNXjkcC-79LE0QoipRuTDxbO3fMVvqoROQD/edit

Here's the syntax around addAlerts:

That looks fine.
Can you share a full test event (BEGIN:VEVENT-END:VEVENT) with alarm that does not sync?

That looks fine. Can you share a full test event (BEGIN:VEVENT-END:VEVENT) with alarm that does not sync?

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
VERSION:2.0
X-WR-CALNAME:Test
METHOD:PUBLISH
PRODID:-//Apple Inc.//macOS 15.1//EN
BEGIN:VTIMEZONE
TZID:America/Chicago
BEGIN:DAYLIGHT
TZOFFSETFROM:-0600
DTSTART:20070311T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=3;BYDAY=2SU
TZNAME:CDT
TZOFFSETTO:-0500
END:DAYLIGHT
BEGIN:STANDARD
TZOFFSETFROM:-0500
DTSTART:20071104T020000
RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYMONTH=11;BYDAY=1SU
TZNAME:CST
TZOFFSETTO:-0600
END:STANDARD
END:VTIMEZONE
BEGIN:VEVENT
CREATED:20241016T184536Z
DTEND;TZID=America/Chicago:20241016T203000
TRANSP:OPAQUE
UID:D07D5FEA-F632-4984-A93C-6417F0251E48
X-APPLE-CREATOR-IDENTITY:com.apple.calendar
X-APPLE-CREATOR-TEAM-IDENTITY:0000000000
SUMMARY:Test
DTSTART;TZID=America/Chicago:20241016T201500
DTSTAMP:20241016T184618Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20241016T184536Z
SEQUENCE:0
BEGIN:VALARM
UID:8B05CF1B-497B-484A-8F1D-F14F67CBC1B7
X-WR-ALARMUID:8B05CF1B-497B-484A-8F1D-F14F67CBC1B7
TRIGGER:-PT15M
DESCRIPTION:Reminder
ACTION:DISPLAY
END:VALARM
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

Works just fine with a fresh copy of the script you linked above. No settings changed. 🤷‍♂️

Works just fine with a fresh copy of the script you linked above. No settings changed. 🤷‍♂️

Weird. I got a fresh script and tried, and same thing. I also tried it on a different Gmail account/calendar and still no invite.