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Sending Appointments to an Outlook 2007 Calendar from an ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site

Summary: Use Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 to create an ASP.NET 2.0 Web site that can create and send an Internet Calendar appointment to add to a Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 calendar.

Applies to: 2007 Microsoft Office system, Microsoft Office Outlook 2007

Joel Krist, Akona Systems

September 2007

Internet Calendars are calendars that can be shared through the Internet. Internet Calendars are based on a global Internet standard that allows the exchange of calendar information, regardless of the application that is used to create or view the information. Internet Calendars use the iCalendar format and the .ics file name extension. This Visual How-to article uses Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 to create an ASP.NET 2.0 Web site that can create and send an Internet Calendar appointment that can be added to a Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 calendar.

Sending Internet Calendar Appointments to Outlook

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Length: 05:23 | Size: 6.00 MB | Type: WMV file

Code It | Read It | Explore It

Code It

To show how to create an ASP.NET Web site that has the ability to create and send an Internet Calendar appointment, this article walks through three key steps:

Creating an ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site project in Visual Studio 2005.
Creating a Web form for the site that lets a user specify a summary, description, and start or end dates and times for a calendar appointment.
Adding code to the Web form's code file that implements the Internet Calendar appointment creation and sending functionality.

Creating an ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site Project in Visual Studio 2005

Visual Studio 2005 enables you to create a Web site by using the ASP.NET Web Site template.

To create an ASP.NET Web Site project in Visual Studio 2005

Start Visual Studio.
On the File menu, click New Web Site.
In the New Web Site dialog box, click the ASP.NET Web Site template.
For Location, select HTTP or File System.
Specify a path or URL for the Web site.
For Language, click Visual C# or Visual Basic, and then click OK.

Visual Studio generates an ASP.NET Web Site project with a single Web form named Default.aspx, and a code file named either Default.aspx.cs or Default.aspx.vb, depending on the language selected.

Creating a Calendar Event Properties Web Form

By creating a Web form, a user can specify the properties of a calendar appointment, as shown in Figure 1.

To create a Calendar Event Web form

Open the Default.aspx file and replace all of the code between the <body> and </body> tags with the following code.

Html

<form id="form1" runat="server">
  <div style="font-family: Arial" align="center">
    <table>
      <tr>
        <td align="left">
          Appointment Summary:</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td colspan="3">
          <asp:TextBox ID="txtEventSummary" runat="server" Width="98%"
          Rows="5"></asp:TextBox></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td align="left">
          Appointment Description:</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td colspan="3">
          <asp:TextBox ID="txtEventDescription" runat="server" Rows="5"
          Width="98%"></asp:TextBox></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td align="left">
          Starting Date/Time:</td>
        <td style="width: 30px" valign="top"></td>
        <td align="left" valign="top">Ending Date/Time:</td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>
          <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlStartTime" runat="server"
          Width="49%">
            <asp:ListItem Value="000000">12:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="003000">12:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="010000">1:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="013000">1:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="020000">2:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="023000">2:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="030000">3:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="033000">3:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="040000">4:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="043000">4:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="050000">5:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="053000">5:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="060000">6:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="063000">6:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="070000">7:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="073000">7:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="080000">8:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="083000">8:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="090000">9:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="093000">9:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="100000">10:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="103000">10:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="110000">11:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="113000">11:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="120000">12:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="123000">12:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="130000">1:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="133000">1:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="140000">2:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="143000">2:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="150000">3:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="153000">3:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="160000">4:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="163000">4:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="170000">5:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="173000">5:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="180000">6:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="183000">6:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="190000">7:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="193000">7;30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="200000">8:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="203000">8:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="210000">9:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="213000">9:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="220000">10:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="223000">10:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="230000">11:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="233000">11:30 PM</asp:ListItem>

          </asp:DropDownList><asp:DropDownList ID="ddlStartTZ"
          runat="server" Width="50%">
            <asp:ListItem>US/Eastern</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem>US/Central</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem>US/Mountain</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem>US/Pacific</asp:ListItem>
          </asp:DropDownList></td>
        <td style="width: 30px" valign="top"></td>
        <td valign="top">
          <asp:DropDownList ID="ddlEndTime" runat="server" Width="49%">
            <asp:ListItem Value="000000">12:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="003000">12:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="010000">1:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="013000">1:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="020000">2:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="023000">2:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="030000">3:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="033000">3:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="040000">4:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="043000">4:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="050000">5:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="053000">5:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="060000">6:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="063000">6:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="070000">7:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="073000">7:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="080000">8:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="083000">8:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="090000">9:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="093000">9:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="100000">10:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="103000">10:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="110000">11:00 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="113000">11:30 AM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="120000">12:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="123000">12:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="130000">1:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="133000">1:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="140000">2:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="143000">2:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="150000">3:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="153000">3:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="160000">4:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="163000">4:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="170000">5:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="173000">5:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="180000">6:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="183000">6:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="190000">7:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="193000">7;30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="200000">8:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="203000">8:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="210000">9:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="213000">9:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="220000">10:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="223000">10:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="230000">11:00 PM</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem Value="233000">11:30 PM</asp:ListItem>
          
          </asp:DropDownList><asp:DropDownList ID="ddlEndTZ"
          runat="server" Width="50%">
            <asp:ListItem>US/Eastern</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem>US/Central</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem>US/Mountain</asp:ListItem>
            <asp:ListItem>US/Pacific</asp:ListItem>
          </asp:DropDownList></td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td>
          <asp:Calendar ID="calStartDate" runat="server"
          BackColor="White" BorderColor="Black" BorderStyle="Solid"
          CellSpacing="1" Font-Names="Verdana" Font-Size="9pt"
          ForeColor="Black" Height="250px" NextPrevFormat="ShortMonth">
            <SelectedDayStyle BackColor="333399" ForeColor="White" />
            <TodayDayStyle BackColor="999999" ForeColor="White" />
            <DayStyle BackColor="CCCCCC" />
            <OtherMonthDayStyle ForeColor="999999" />
            <NextPrevStyle Font-Bold="True" Font-Size="8pt" 
            ForeColor="White" />
            <DayHeaderStyle Font-Bold="True" Font-Size="8pt" 
            ForeColor="333333" Height="8pt" />
            <TitleStyle BackColor="333399" BorderStyle="Solid"
            Font-Bold="True" Font-Size="12pt"
            ForeColor="White" Height="12pt" />
          </asp:Calendar>
        </td>
        <td style="width: 30px" valign="top"></td>
        <td valign="top">
          <asp:Calendar ID="calEndDate" runat="server"
          BackColor="White" BorderColor="Black" BorderStyle="Solid" 
          CellSpacing="1" Font-Names="Verdana" Font-Size="9pt" 
          ForeColor="Black" Height="250px" NextPrevFormat="ShortMonth">
            <SelectedDayStyle BackColor="333399" ForeColor="White" />
            <TodayDayStyle BackColor="999999" ForeColor="White" />
            <DayStyle BackColor="CCCCCC" />
            <OtherMonthDayStyle ForeColor="999999" />
            <NextPrevStyle Font-Bold="True" Font-Size="8pt"
            ForeColor="White" />
            <DayHeaderStyle Font-Bold="True" Font-Size="8pt"
            ForeColor="333333" Height="8pt" />
            <TitleStyle BackColor="333399" BorderStyle="Solid"
            Font-Bold="True" Font-Size="12pt"
            ForeColor="White" Height="12pt" />
          </asp:Calendar>
        </td>
      </tr>
      <tr>
        <td align="center" colspan="3" valign="top">
          <asp:Button ID="btnAddEvent" runat="server" 
          OnClick="btnAddEvent_Click" Text="Add Event" /></td>
      </tr>
    </table>
  </div>
</form>

Figure 1. Calendar Event Properties Web Form

Add Calendar Event Web Form

Implementing the Internet Calendar Event Creation or Sending Functionality

To set the initially selected date on the Web form's calendar controls to the current date, open the Default.aspx.cs or Default.aspx.vb code file and add code to the Page_Load event handler.

Note:
Default.aspx.cs contains a Page_Load event handler, but Default.aspx.vb does not. To add the Page_Load event handler to Default.aspx.vb, in the class list, under the node for the Web form class name, click the (Page Events) category. Then, click the Load event in the Events list, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. Adding the Page_Load event handler

Visual Studio AddCalendarEvent

To set the selected date on the Web form

Add the following code to the body of the Page_Load event handler.

Visual Basic

If Not IsPostBack Then
    Dim dtNow As DateTime = _
        DateTime.Parse(DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString())

    calStartDate.SelectedDate = dtNow
    calEndDate.SelectedDate = dtNow
End If

if (!IsPostBack)
{
    DateTime dtNow = DateTime.Parse(DateTime.Now.ToShortDateString());

    calStartDate.SelectedDate = dtNow;
    calEndDate.SelectedDate = dtNow;
}

To create an Internet Calendar

Add the following code to the Default.aspx.cs or Default.aspx.vb code file, inside the class definition for the page and after the Page_Load event handler.

The code uses the values specified on the Web form for the calendar appointment properties to create a string representing an Internet Calendar .ics file. It then writes the string to the response stream, specifying a content type of text/calendar. This launches Microsoft Outlook on the client, displays the calendar appointment's details, and gives the user the option of adding the appointment to an Outlook calendar.

Visual Basic

Protected Sub btnAddEvent_Click(ByVal sender As Object, _
    ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnAddEvent.Click

    Dim sbICSFile As StringBuilder = New StringBuilder()
    Dim dtNow As DateTime = DateTime.Now

    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VCALENDAR")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("VERSION:2.0")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("PRODID:-//AkonaDev/CalendarAppointment")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("CALSCALE:GREGORIAN")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VEVENT")

    ' Define time zones.
    ' US/Eastern
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VTIMEZONE")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZID:US/Eastern")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:STANDARD")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20071104T020000")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0400")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0500")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:EST")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:STANDARD")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:DAYLIGHT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20070311T020000")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0500")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0400")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:EDT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:DAYLIGHT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VTIMEZONE")

    ' US/Central
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VTIMEZONE")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZID:US/Central")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:STANDARD")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20071104T020000")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0500")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0600")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:CST")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:STANDARD")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:DAYLIGHT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20070311T020000")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0600")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0500")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:CDT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:DAYLIGHT")

    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VTIMEZONE")

    ' US/Mountain
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VTIMEZONE")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZID:US/Mountain")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:STANDARD")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20071104T020000")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0600")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0700")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:MST")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:STANDARD")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:DAYLIGHT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20070311T020000")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0700")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0600")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:MDT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:DAYLIGHT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VTIMEZONE")

    ' US/Pacific
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VTIMEZONE")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZID:US/Pacific")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:STANDARD")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20071104T020000")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0700")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0800")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:PST")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:STANDARD")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:DAYLIGHT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20070311T020000")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0800")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0700")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:PDT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:DAYLIGHT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VTIMEZONE")

    ' Define the event
    sbICSFile.Append("DTSTART;TZID=" + ddlStartTZ.Text + ":")
    sbICSFile.Append(calStartDate.SelectedDate.Year.ToString())
    sbICSFile.Append( _
        FormatDateTimeValue(calStartDate.SelectedDate.Month))
    sbICSFile.Append( _
        FormatDateTimeValue(calStartDate.SelectedDate.Day) + "T")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine(ddlStartTime.SelectedValue)

    sbICSFile.Append("DTEND;TZID=" + ddlEndTZ.Text + ":")
    sbICSFile.Append(calEndDate.SelectedDate.Year)
    sbICSFile.Append( _
        FormatDateTimeValue(calEndDate.SelectedDate.Month))
    sbICSFile.Append( _
        FormatDateTimeValue(calEndDate.SelectedDate.Day) + "T")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine(ddlEndTime.SelectedValue)

    sbICSFile.AppendLine("SUMMARY:" + txtEventSummary.Text)
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DESCRIPTION:" + txtEventDescription.Text)
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("UID:1")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("SEQUENCE:0")

    sbICSFile.Append("DTSTAMP:" + dtNow.Year.ToString())
    sbICSFile.Append(FormatDateTimeValue(dtNow.Month))
    sbICSFile.Append(FormatDateTimeValue(dtNow.Day) + "T")
    sbICSFile.Append(FormatDateTimeValue(dtNow.Hour))
    sbICSFile.AppendLine(FormatDateTimeValue(dtNow.Minute) + "00")

    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VEVENT")
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VCALENDAR")

    Response.ContentType = "text/calendar"
    Response.AddHeader("content-disposition", _
        "attachment; filename=CalendarEvent1.ics")
    Response.Write(sbICSFile)
    Response.End()
End Sub

protected function FormatDateTimeValue(DateValue as Int16) as string
    If DateValue < 10 Then
        Return "0" + DateValue.ToString()
    Else
        Return DateValue.ToString()
    End If
End Function

protected void btnAddEvent_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
    System.Text.StringBuilder sbICSFile =
        new System.Text.StringBuilder();
    DateTime dtNow = DateTime.Now;

    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VCALENDAR");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("VERSION:2.0");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("PRODID:-//ICSTestCS/");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("CALSCALE:GREGORIAN");

    // Define time zones.
    // US/Eastern
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VTIMEZONE");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZID:US/Eastern");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:STANDARD");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20071104T020000");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0400");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0500");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:EST");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:STANDARD");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:DAYLIGHT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20070311T020000");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0500");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0400");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:EDT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:DAYLIGHT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VTIMEZONE");

    // US/Central
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VTIMEZONE");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZID:US/Central");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:STANDARD");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20071104T020000");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0500");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0600");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:CST");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:STANDARD");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:DAYLIGHT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20070311T020000");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0600");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0500");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:CDT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:DAYLIGHT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VTIMEZONE");

    // US/Mountain
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VTIMEZONE");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZID:US/Mountain");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:STANDARD");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20071104T020000");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0600");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0700");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:MST");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:STANDARD");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:DAYLIGHT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20070311T020000");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0700");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0600");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:MDT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:DAYLIGHT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VTIMEZONE");

    // US/Pacific
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VTIMEZONE");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZID:US/Pacific");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:STANDARD");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20071104T020000");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=1SU;BYMONTH=11");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0700");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0800");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:PST");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:STANDARD");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:DAYLIGHT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DTSTART:20070311T020000");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY;BYDAY=2SU;BYMONTH=3");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETFROM:-0800");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZOFFSETTO:-0700");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("TZNAME:PDT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:DAYLIGHT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VTIMEZONE");

    // Define the event.
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("BEGIN:VEVENT");

    sbICSFile.Append("DTSTART;TZID=" + ddlStartTZ.Text + ":");
    sbICSFile.Append(calStartDate.SelectedDate.Year.ToString());
    sbICSFile.Append(
        FormatDateTimeValue(calStartDate.SelectedDate.Month));
    sbICSFile.Append(
        FormatDateTimeValue(calStartDate.SelectedDate.Day) + "T");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine(ddlStartTime.SelectedValue);          
        
    sbICSFile.Append("DTEND;TZID=" + ddlEndTZ.Text + ":");
    sbICSFile.Append(calEndDate.SelectedDate.Year);
    sbICSFile.Append(
        FormatDateTimeValue(calEndDate.SelectedDate.Month));
    sbICSFile.Append(
        FormatDateTimeValue(calEndDate.SelectedDate.Day) + "T");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine(ddlEndTime.SelectedValue);        
        
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("SUMMARY:" + txtEventSummary.Text);
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("DESCRIPTION:" + txtEventDescription.Text);
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("UID:1");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("SEQUENCE:0");

    sbICSFile.Append("DTSTAMP:" + dtNow.Year.ToString());
    sbICSFile.Append(FormatDateTimeValue(dtNow.Month));
    sbICSFile.Append(FormatDateTimeValue(dtNow.Day) + "T");
    sbICSFile.Append(FormatDateTimeValue(dtNow.Hour));
    sbICSFile.AppendLine(FormatDateTimeValue(dtNow.Minute) + "00");

    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VEVENT");
    sbICSFile.AppendLine("END:VCALENDAR");

    Response.ContentType = "text/calendar";
    Response.AddHeader("content-disposition",
        "attachment; filename=CalendarEvent1.ics");
    Response.Write(sbICSFile);
    Response.End();
}

private string FormatDateTimeValue(int DateValue)
{
    if (DateValue < 10)
        return "0" + DateValue.ToString();
        else
    return DateValue.ToString();
}

Read It

This article explores how to send Internet Calendar appointments from an ASP.NET 2.0 Web site to Microsoft Office Outlook 2007. The key steps include:

Creating an ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site project in Visual Studio 2005.
Creating a Web form for the site that lets a user specify a summary, description, and start or end dates and times for a calendar appointment.
Adding code to the Web form's code file that implements the Internet Calendar appointment creation and sending functionality.

Explore It

Community Content

ASP.NET Newbie

Response.Write() continuouosly throws error

Good Day Everyone!

I am having serious issues when I attempt to execute this code. The Response.Write() throws 'PageRequestManagerParserErrorException: The message received from the server could not be parsed.'. I am sending an .ics file through Outlook 2007. Does anyone know a workaround or what I may be doing wrong?

Jayant Mehta

Sending Appointments to an Outlook 2007 Calendar from an ASP.NET 2.0 Web Site

Hi Vinay,

Will this calendar request be able to carry out attachment with it, as it does in MS Outlook, we want this scheduler to work as outlook calendar to schedule interviews in house.

Thanks

Jayant

Vinay62

Attendees receive Mail

If any of the attendees declined the meeting request,the declined meeting message will be send to all attendees .
How can I do it using asp.net

I Used the Code below but its not working.

sw.AppendLine("ATTENDEE;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;PARTSTAT=DECLINED;RSVP=TRUE;CN=\"CV\":mailto:" + attendee); //// Attendee is declared as MailAddressCollection

sw.AppendLine("ORGANIZER;ROLE=REQ-PARTICIPANT;PARTSTAT=DECLINED;RSVP=TRUE;CN=\"" + organizerName + "\":MAILTO:" + strMsgFrom);

chandra_nov10

Outlook 2003

Great article.It worked for me.
If you want that to run on outlook 2003 just remove the line VErsion:2.0 .

Stanley Roark

Outlook 2003?

does this example work with previous (and future!) versions of outlook?

EDIT: not a bug I know but this does NOT work with outlook 2003 and I would like to know if there is a workaround to have one codebase for all version of outlook!

[tfl - 23 08 09] Hi - and thanks for your post. You should post questions like this to the MSDN Forums at http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn or the MSDN Newsgroups at

http://www.microsoft.com/communities/newsgroups/en-us/ . You are much more likely get a quicker response using the forums than through the Community Content. For specific help about:
Visual Studio : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.vstudio%2C &
SQL Server : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.sqlserver%2C &
.NET Framework : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public.dotnet.framework
PowerShell : http://groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.windows.powershell/topics?pli=1
All Public : http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?sel=usenet%3Dmicrosoft.public%2C &

Stanley Roark

Adding Attendees

This worked very well, but what lines of code would you add to add a attendee field? I would like to automatically populate the attendee field with an email address.
Thank you so much everyone!

[tfl - 23 08 09] Hi - and thanks for your post. You should post questions like this to the MSDN Forums at http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn or the MSDN Newsgroups at

Thomas Lee

Calender Event Creation

The article is very useful for me. But one more thing i am trying to workout is making the Appointment as a "Whole day event" If anybody know or came accross this requirement, please help me out to do. thanks in advance.

[tfl - 23 08 09] Hi - and thanks for your post. You should post questions like this to the MSDN Forums at http://forums.microsoft.com/msdn or the MSDN Newsgroups at