Odd problem with Orage

Sideburns · 2014-09-03 02:59:02

Ever since I switched to Xfce several years ago, I've been using Orage as a desktop calendar, minimizing it to an icon in my systray when not in use to save screen real estate. Until very recently, all has gone well. However, near the end of August, I wanted to check something that happened in April, to get the exact date, and all of my appointments earlier than May were gone. Now that it's September, everything from May is gone as well. If needed, I can export my current data, restore an older version from backup and re-import everything newer, but it'd be nicer if I didn't need to. Any thoughts or ideas?

ToZ · 2014-09-03 10:16:04

Do you have archiving enabled (Preferences >> Main Settings >> Archive Threshold)? Perhaps set at 6 months?
I don't use Orage but from the reading the docs, it looks like entries are archived to a local file on your hard drive. Hopefully that file is readable and you can get the entries from there.

Sideburns · 2014-09-03 18:56:39

Currently Archiving is set to 1. I haven't changed it myself, and don't know off-hand what the default is.

ToZ · 2014-09-03 19:57:22

Again, I don't use orage so I'm sort of feeling my way in the dark here. If the value is set to 1 then that would mean that all events greater than 1 month old would be archived (not sure if this happens automatically).

According to File -> Exchange Data -> Orage files tab, the archive file is located at ~/.local/share/orage/orage_archive.ics (yours may be different). The file appears to be readable, so you could open it in a text editor and read/search it.

There are also options on the import/export tab to archive and revert archives. You could revert the archive to see if returns the data back to the calendar and re-archive when done.

***Please backup your data before you try anything. Hate to have you lose something.

Sideburns · 2014-09-03 20:37:38

I've been using Orage for several years now. I don't think that I've ever changed that setting or had any trouble with it before. The data itself is stored in ~/.local/share/orage/orage.ics, a simple text file, and seems to be all there. It's just not showing any more.

0strodamus · 2014-09-03 22:00:47

Have you tried changing Archiving to zero? Maybe things older than 1 month are just being hidden. I use Orage and never changed the setting which is currently set to 0.

Sideburns · 2014-09-03 22:20:45

To quote from the Help system:

orage does not delete appointments automatically, so usually your calendar file grows bigger and because of that orage gets slower and takes up more memory from the system. Enabling automatic archiving causes old appointments to be moved from the active calendar file to passive history file after the selected time. This helps to keep the active file smaller and the application in good shape. Archiving is enabled by setting the threshold to other than 0 value. Of course it is also possible to manually delete appointments, but that removes them permanently and you will not be able to find them later.

I have, on occasion, copied the local appointments file from my desktop to my laptop when I'm going to be away from home. After doing this, I need to exit Orage and restart it to see the changes. Maybe I'll do that later today and see what happens.

0strodamus · 2014-09-04 00:50:46

That's good to know and I hope it works for you.

Sideburns · 2014-09-04 20:57:48

Curiouser and curiouser. Now, I only get things showing up for August and September, plus the future but everything in those months shows up twice . And, I remember that the default is for archiving is zero, which is off. I've tried changing the archiving to 6 and restarting Orage, but no change. I have, however, emailed the author to see if there's anything I can do to fix this. Will report as things change.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Aha! Going to File->Exchange Data->Revert Archive got back all of my appointments, going back to last year, at least. And, some of the older ones only show up once. And, adding a test reminder only made it come up once. (Come to think of it, reminder's probably a better term, because birthdays, changing to a new insulin vial and so on make up a large part of what's in there.) Now, to find out what's causing the duplication...

Last edited by Sideburns (2014-09-04 21:05:53)

Sideburns · 2014-09-05 07:32:14

I've heard back from the dev and sent him my data file. He's confirmed both that there are no duplicates in it and that they show up twice for him too. He has an idea what's causing it, but it needs testing. He finds this to be an interesting bug, which suggests that he'll probably give it as much attention as he has time for. I won't mark this solved as yet but consider the issue to be in good hands.

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#1 2014-09-03 02:59:02

Odd problem with Orage

#2 2014-09-03 10:16:04

Re: Odd problem with Orage

#3 2014-09-03 18:56:39

Re: Odd problem with Orage

#4 2014-09-03 19:57:22

Re: Odd problem with Orage

#5 2014-09-03 20:37:38

Re: Odd problem with Orage

#6 2014-09-03 22:00:47

Re: Odd problem with Orage

#7 2014-09-03 22:20:45

Re: Odd problem with Orage

#8 2014-09-04 00:50:46

Re: Odd problem with Orage

#9 2014-09-04 20:57:48

Re: Odd problem with Orage

#10 2014-09-05 07:32:14

Re: Odd problem with Orage

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