Re: [RFC] replace iCalendar code by libical

[andré <andr55 laposte net>]

Le 19-12-08 à 20 h 43, Peter Bloomfield a écrit :
> Hi Albrecht:
>
> On 12/08/2019 09:02:37 AM Sun, Albrecht Dreß wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > Balsa has some limited support for dealing with text/calendar parts, 
> > typically containing appointment (VEVENT) requests to which the user 
> > can reply.  IIRC, I wrote the code more than ~10 years ago, according 
> > to a subset of the definitions from RFC 2445 and 2446 which meanwhile 
> > have been replaced by RFC 5545 and 5546.
> >
> > I now noticed that the old code is not able to deal with text/calendar 
> > parts created by M$ Exchange properly any more.
> >
> > As a possible improvement, the libical library [1] claims to be able 
> > to deal with RFC 5545 and 5546 compliant items.  Therefore, instead of 
> > re-inventing the wheel (i.e. fix or re-write the /very/ old Balsa 
> > code), I propose to use this library instead.
> >
> > Before investing time into a migration, I would be interested in your 
> > opinion:
> >
> > Is it acceptable to add an additional dependency on a (though somewhat 
> > standard) library?
> > And should we make it mandatory or not (in the latter case, 
> > text/calendar parts would be displayed and printed like text/plain, 
> > which is usually confusing)?
> >
> > Opinions?
> >
> > Best, Albrecht.
> >
> > [1] <https://github.com/libical/libical>
>
> The added dependency isn't an issue for a GNOME user, as libical is 
> required by much of the desktop, and it looks like an easy install on 
> any other distro that doesn't have it as an integral part. So I'd be in 
> favor of making it mandatory; others should feel free to disagree.
>
> I have no idea about the effort involved in the migration, but if it 
> simplifies the code it would be good. Let me know if I can help!
>
> Best,
>
> Peter

I use the MATE desktop (based on Gnome 2), and although it isn't 
required by any application, it must be suggested, since it is installed.
It is very small, so there shouldn't be any problem making it required 
by Balsa.

--
André