Offline calendar reminder program for Windows 10 & Android over the LAN

On 1 Oct 2017 18:19:00 GMT,
Frank Slootweg wrote:

I use Desktop-Reminder http://www.desktop-reminder.com/en/index.html.

Thanks for the suggestion of Desktop-Reminder:
http://www.desktop-reminder.com/en/index.html

The download for the 32/64-bit Windows installer is he
http://www.desktop-reminder.com/en/download/index.html

But it failed to run on my typical Windows 10 x64 system:
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=9038430desktop_reminder.jpg

I don't know why, but I didn't debug as freeware testing is a fluid thing
in the initial tests.

The software bills itself as a freeware Windows-based "task planner".
.. It will let you know of a task months before it comes due
.. It doesn't ask what time of day a task needs to be done
.. It doesn't require a silly being/end set of timepoints for a task
.. It provides an alarm if you do input a time for a task
.. Task import (e.g. holidays) from iCalendar *.ics files

But since it failed to install with some indications of a badly written
installer, I'll reserve the freeware tester's right to put it in the second
pile of software to look at.

So if Rainlendar Lite fails, then I will consider this program, which
others might find useful as a task planner also, which it seems very nice
at.

Here's my handwritten log file saved with the installer.

When installing, it runs something called an "InstallAware" wizard.
The program does not respect the %Program Files (x86)% variable!

It uses a hard-coded default location (which is bad programming):
C:\Program Files (x86)\Desktop-Reminder 2

I put it in:
C:\progs\calendar\desktopreminder

The program created a desktop shortcut with the following target:
C:\progs\calendar\desktopreminder\DesktopReminder2 .exe

But when I ran it, it said that the program didn't run on Windows 10:
This app can't run on your PC.

It doesn't seem to phone home upon installation or first use.

On Sun, 1 Oct 2017 14:58:18 -0400,
Big Al wrote:

My wife used it, the calendar is a bit better than Rainlendar2.
IIRC if you use teamviewer to connect, Desktop-Reminder screws with the
wallpaper to make it appear on the desktop and teamview expects a simple
wallpaper and when I would exit teamviewer some display problems
happened. Don't remember what but... We just changed to Rainlendar.

I'd be willing to test the two out
1. Rainlendar
2. Desktop Reminder

But Rainlendar installed on my typical Win10 system while Desktop Reminder
failed to install properly (for unknown reasons). Worse, I could tell the
installer was badly written because it didn't respect the %ProgramFilesDir
(x86)% veriable, where it hard-coded the initial path, which is just bad
programming from the start.

That's not a deadly sin, but it did fail to run upon invocation:
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=9038430desktop_reminder.jpg

So, as always when testing freeware, you get one strike and you're out, but
if the other programs strike out, then it gets to bat again (but in a later
inning).

On Sun, 1 Oct 2017 18:52:17 -0000 (UTC), Mad Roger
wrote:

On Sun, 01 Oct 2017 10:27:29 +0100,
p-0''0-h the cat (coder) wrote:

Rainlendar2

+1

You're usually on the money with freeware, so I can assume this Rainlendar
Lite stuff is a good offline calendar program. The one hard test it will
have to pass is that I'd like it to work with the Android & iOS devices
over the local Wi-Fi network on the LAN.

I've never used it with Android.

Key thing is backup. My advice, sort that before you forget and regret.

See options calendars iCalendar Format Filename

I moved mine to a folder containing all the databases from various
applications I use and scripts and other stuff.

There appears to be a monitor changes option so hopefully you can share
that over samba and access it from your Android & iOS devices.

Good luck.


For all to benefit from every action, here's my manually edited raindendar2
lite install log which I stored with the installer for future reference,
setup, and update additions.

RainLendar Lite freeware is apparently also known as Rainlendar2.
The freeware can't use the net (which is a good thing).
The freeware can't export/import CSV files but it can export/import.
The freeware apparently stores output in a RFC2445 iCalendar standard.

Software is located at:
http://rainlendar.net/cms/index.php?...m_rny_download

So far, it doesn't seem to phone home upon installation.

When installing, Rainlendar Lite 2.13.1, the default options a
[x]Rainlendar 2
[x]Uninstaller
[x]Start menu shortcuts
[x]Start with Windows
[x]Desktop shortcut

It correctly uses the %ProgramFilesDir% variable to decide where to go:
%ProgramFilesDir%\Rainlendar2 (C:\progs\Rainlendar2)

I put the app in:
Output folder: C:\progs\calendar\rainlendar

It created an output folder:
Output folder: C:\progs\calendar\rainlendar\locale
Output folder: C:\progs\calendar\rainlendar\locale\bs

And plugins in:
Output folder: C:\progs\calendar\rainlendar\plugins

And lots of ICS files in:
Output folder: C:\progs\calendar\rainlendar\resources

And a few "lua" scripts in:
Output folder: C:\progs\calendar\rainlendar\scripts

And a few skins in:
Output folder: C:\progs\calendar\rainlendar\skins

Plus a few utility executables in:
Output folder: C:\progs\calendar\rainlendar\utils

And the uninstaller in:
Created uninstaller: C:\progs\calendar\rainlendar\uninst.exe

And start-menu shorcuts in:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Rainlendar2
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start
Menu\Programs\Rainlendar2\Rainlendar2.lnk
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start
Menu\Programs\Rainlendar2\Rainlendar2 Options.lnk
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Rainlendar2\Remove
Rainlendar2.lnk

And one (public) desktop shortcut for my custom cascaded menu in:
C:\Users\Public\Desktop\Rainlendar2.lnk

Sent from my iFurryUnderbelly.

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On 10/01/2017 03:24 PM, Mad Roger wrote:
I'm a KISS kind of guy

Yes, the fluffy skins are very minor. Get it working as you need and
then play with the fluff. If it fails it's not worth pretty colors. LOL
Good Luck.

On Sun, 01 Oct 2017 21:19:58 +0100,
p-0''0-h the cat (coder) wrote:

I've never used it with Android.

All I need is for the calendar saved on Windows to be "pushed" to Android
over the air, which should be pretty easy to do so I'm not going to worry
about that for now (because the file format will matter, but later).

Key thing is backup. My advice, sort that before you forget and regret.
See options calendars iCalendar Format Filename

I see the default is in a stupid location for backup purposes:
C:\Users\bar\.rainlendar2\Default.ics

But I can't blame any programmer for putting things in a known
Microsoft-polluted directory tree. It's why people dump their crap on the
side of the road at known dump sites (even if you clean up that known dump
site beforehand). Nothing is different here.

Therefore I already changed it to my unpolluted directory tree which isn't
known to programs or to Microsoft so it stays clean.
C:\data\doc\calendar\rainlendar.ics

I moved mine to a folder containing all the databases from various
applications I use and scripts and other stuff.

Yup. I keep my data hierarchy always outside of any well-known dump site
for Microsoft data hierarchies.

There appears to be a monitor changes option so hopefully you can share
that over samba and access it from your Android & iOS devices.

I saw that option but I wasn't sure what "monitor" means in that context.

In the olden days, I'd "monitor" adobe acrobat distiller directories, where
whenever any PS file went into that directory, Adobe Acrobat Pro would
automagically convert the PS to PDF.

Is that what the "monitor" does?
It monitors the data directory?

But once it monitors that, what does it do?
If you don't know offhand, don't worry because I'm sure it's documented.

With freeware, you test first and read later because you have to get the
job done without taking forever because that's the cost of freeware (time
and effort spent learning).

I'm going to assume "monitor" means that if I write to the ICS file on my
own, outside of the program, that the program will pick up the changes
instantly without me having to load the ICS file explicitly.

I set the "monitor" checkmark, just to see if that's the case.
Then I edited with a text editor the ics file.
I noticed that it instantly updated with the information in the calendar!
That's good.

But maybe it would do that anyway, so I unset the "monitor" checkmark.
And I changed the edit back to what it was in the ICS file.
The To Do that I had edited did NOT change this time.

So I set the monitor checkbox back on.
Yup. It instantly picked up the changes.

So if I swap out the ICS file out from under Rainlendar, if I keep the
"monitor" checkbox on, then Rainlendar will pick up the new ICS file.

This is more useful on the *other* PCs and not so much on the Master PC,
but it's our first test of functionality.

Thanks!
I hope many others leverage what we just learned, in less effort.

On Sun, 1 Oct 2017 20:40:52 -0000 (UTC),
Mad Roger wrote:

There appears to be a monitor changes option so hopefully you can share
that over samba and access it from your Android & iOS devices.

I saw that option but I wasn't sure what "monitor" means in that context.

This "monitor" changes option, as you noted, will almost certainly come in
handy when dealing with Android and iOS devices!

What you're saying is that I can keep a single ICS file on a Windows
machine in an accessible location (e.g., in a Samba share) and then use
SMBAnd or other freeware on the Android & iOS devices to read and write to
that ics file.

For example, the Android device can read the ics file over the local
network and make a change and save that change. The moment that happens,
the Windows machine automatically picks up those changes.

Likewise, the iOS device can read the file and make changes.

The only problem will be in data management of collisions, but, I would
just organize the mobile devices so that they can't edit the same file at
the same time.

Seems like a good plan, where turning on this "monitor" changes checkbox
(off by default) will come in handy. Thanks!

This Rainlendar Lite freeware so far has passed the ten-minute test!

Here's my default setup without tweaking:
http://www.bild.me/bild.php?file=6361469rainlendar.jpg

My simple game plan is:
1. Get used to the program on one PC
2. Figure out which files need to be transferred to the mobile devices
3. Set up an automatic transfer mechanism over the WiFi local network

Won't your Android device need to be able to read Rainlendar ICS
files?

step 3
Why not set the Rainlendar ICS folder as a shared folder and use an
Android LAN file browser such as MiXplorer or ES File Explorer to
access that shared LAN folder? No hourly transfer necessary since the
ICS files will always be available on the other LAN device.

If you don't want to directly share the Rainlendar ICS folder, you
could use a simple vbs script for Task Scheduler to periodically
transfer the ICS file(s) from the Rainlendar directory to a folder
dedicated for sharing between Win 10 and Android.

Mad Roger wrote:
On Sun, 1 Oct 2017 09:55:05 -0400,
Jonathan N. Little wrote:

What do you recommend for an offline Win10 calendar reminder program?

Reminderfox extension for Firefox to ICS file on LAN share. In Android
ICSSync app to connect calendar to ICS file.

Thanks for the suggestion of Reminderfox extensions for Firefox to ICS on a
LAN share. I'm not using Windows shares, per se, although I guess I could.

I'm simply running a free FTP server on the mobile devices, which allows
them to be "mounted" seamlessly on Windows in the default Windows File
Explorer file-exploration user interface.

All my browsers have zero extensions and plugins (where plugins are
especially dangerous) and all my browsers reset to default for privacy
reasons once they close, so I'm not going to make use of a browser
extension.

But others might be more amenable to a browser extension than I.

To that end, here's the link to help them find the Reminderfox extension:
http://www.reminderfox.org/

It lists as features:
# Display and manage lists of reminders and todos
# Easy to use alerts and alarms
# Be reminded in your browser for calendar actions
# Subscribe to online calendars (like sports events)


Well it would have worked. Just in Reminderfox to point to wherever the
ISC file is... But whatever.

--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

On Sun, 1 Oct 2017 16:32:05 -0400,
Big Al wrote:

I'm a KISS kind of guy

Yes, the fluffy skins are very minor. Get it working as you need and
then play with the fluff. If it fails it's not worth pretty colors. LOL
Good Luck.

Exactly.
The skins are last, if ever because out of 100 freeware tests, only a
handful ever stay on the machine for more than an hour because of the
freeware one-strike-you're-out maxim.

Once a freeware-under-test program strikes out, it usually isn't looked at
again unless /all/ the other freeware strikes out.

Then we go back through the freeware testing with a different set of
expectations so any program that fails the battery of quick freeware tests
is just out of the first inning.

Some get ejected from the game in that first minute, or in the first hour,
but, most get a second chance if every other program fails.

At the moment, the top batter is the Rainlendar program, where I can put
the ICS file in a Samba share for the mobile devices to access over the
local network.

Once I get all that working, then I'll worry about skinning it, but even
then, I'm a minimalist when it comes to fluffy stuff. If a skin can add a
useful button, such as "Save to Android" or something like that, then it
will be useful to modify the GUI.

But that stuff is for later.
Right now, I just have to get familiar with the program and I have to run
the first tests to see which programs make it to the second inning.

On Sun, 01 Oct 2017 15:52:15 -0500,
M.L. wrote:

Won't your Android device need to be able to read Rainlendar ICS
files?

I agree that whatever file format is used, /all/ the platforms have to be
able to read that file format.

I'm /assuming/ at the moment that there are free Android & iOS apps that
can read whatever format that Rainlendar puts out, which Tom's Guide says
is "RFC2445 iCalendar standard" format.

Certainly the default ics file is a text file (which is a good thing)
although all of us old timers know that even text files have EOL and CR
differences between Windows, Linux, Android, and iOS.

step 3
Why not set the Rainlendar ICS folder as a shared folder and use an
Android LAN file browser such as MiXplorer or ES File Explorer to
access that shared LAN folder? No hourly transfer necessary since the
ICS files will always be available on the other LAN device.

This is a nice idea to maintain the master ics file on Windows in a shared
folder that both Android and iOS can access, rather than to "push" the file
to Android & iOS via ftp client software on the Windows master machine.

There's the minor detail to handle that the Android & iOS device should
default to the /last/ known ICS file (for when they're off the local
network) - but that can be handled later after it's working when all
devices are on the local network.

Android is going to be far easier to link with Windows than iOS is, so I'll
get that working first. Either the ICS file will be on a Windows share, or
on a Samba share (probably that's the same thing, is it?).

The other option is to put it on an FTP share by running FTP software on
the mobile device and then Windows can access that ftp directory with the
normal Windows file browser.

If you don't want to directly share the Rainlendar ICS folder, you
could use a simple vbs script for Task Scheduler to periodically
transfer the ICS file(s) from the Rainlendar directory to a folder
dedicated for sharing between Win 10 and Android.

I was thinking more along the lines of rsync-style software that already
exists (I'm sure) for backing up a file to an FTP share, but whatever works
for transferring the file from Windows to Android & iOS is fine by me.

I like your idea of having iOS and Android natively use the same file that
is on Windows - so that's the approach I'll try first.

Thanks for the idea.

On Sun, 1 Oct 2017 16:52:17 -0400,
Jonathan N. Little wrote:

Well it would have worked. Just in Reminderfox to point to wherever the
ISC file is... But whatever.

One advantage of the browser extension you suggested is that it would
almost certainly work for both iOS and Android, which both run Firefox.

So it's a great idea, but with freeware, as in baseball, only one batter at
a time can be at bat.

On Sun, 1 Oct 2017 21:05:55 -0000 (UTC),
Mad Roger wrote:

One advantage of the browser extension you suggested is that it would
almost certainly work for both iOS and Android, which both run Firefox.

In fact, here's a setup that should work out of the box using the browser
extension idea.

1. We add the browser extension to Android, iOS, Windows, and Linux.
2. We put the master ICS file on a PC that is running an FTP server.
3. In Firefox on Android/iOS/Windows/Linux, we just point to that file:


I forget the exact syntax so that's written off the cuff.

The point is that all platforms respect FTP URIs!

Mad Roger wrote:
One advantage of the browser extension you suggested is that it would
almost certainly work for both iOS and Android, which both run Firefox.

I run Linux and Android not iAnything. So I have ReminderFox on this
Win10 SeaMonkey and on Ubuntu with Firefox. I have an Apache server on
this LAN so I just added webdav mod in Apache for LAN calendar service.
Ran that way for years until I got a smart phone so moved it to a
private Google calendar so I could access remotely.

--
Take care,

Jonathan
-------------------
LITTLE WORKS STUDIO
http://www.LittleWorksStudio.com

Looking at that web page from Ulrich Krebs,
http://www.ukrebs-software.de/

What's nice about you sending us to the home page is that Ulrich Krebs also
has a "backup" freeware program, which might be useful for setting up the
automatic copying of the ICS files to the Android and iOS devices over the
local network (since they're just ftp URLs).
http://www.ukrebs-software.de/english/back4sure/back4sure.html

Perhaps I'm missing something, but why would you need to transfer ICS
files to the Android/ICS devices if they're all on the same network?
Why not just share them?

I'm simply running a free FTP server on the mobile devices, which allows
them to be "mounted" seamlessly on Windows in the default Windows File
Explorer file-exploration user interface.

If you prefer FTP for transferring files from Windows to LAN
smartphone, WinSCP supports scripted FTP transfers on a schedule using
Windows Task Scheduler.

example Task Scheduler command line:

"open sftp://user /storage/emulated/0/Rainlendar/" "exit"

http://bit.ly/2yhJJAa
https://winscp.net/eng/docs/guide_sc... and_windows_7