Java Desktop System Email and Calendar User Guide

Chapter 9 Using Sun Java System Calendar Server Accounts and Folders

The information in this chapter describes how to use Sun Java System Calendar Server for Email and Calendar accounts and folders.

Introduction to Sun Java System Calendar Server

The Java System Calendar Server connector enables you to use Email and Calendar as a client for the Java System Calendar Server. You can access one or more accounts on Calendar Server, send and receive invitations to meetings, and share calendar access with other people in your organization. The server is designed to work with LDAP directory servers and POP or IMAP email servers, which you can configure separately.

Calendar Server accounts are distinct from email or directory server accounts, and have their own section in the Evolution Settings dialog. Calendar Server accounts and folders differ from other Email and Calendar folders in the following ways:

Working with Calendar Server Accounts

This section describes how to create, edit, or delete a Calendar Server account.

To Create a Calendar Server Account

For information about how to create a new Calendar Server account, see To Add a Java System Calendar Server Account.

To Edit a Calendar Server Account

Perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Tools -> Settings to display the Evolution Settings dialog.

  2. Click on Sun Java System Accounts in the left pane. Email and Calendar displays a table of accounts that you have created, in the right pane.

  3. Select the account that you want to edit.

  4. Click Edit to display an Options for account name dialog. For information about the contents of the Options for account name dialog, see To Add a Java System Calendar Server Account.

  5. Use the Options for account name dialog to modify the details of the Calendar Server account.

  6. Click OK to save your changes and close the Options for account name dialog.

  7. Click OK to close the Information alert that tells you that you must restart Email and Calendar for the change to take effect.

  8. Restart Email and Calendar.

To Delete a Calendar Server Account

Perform the following steps:

  1. Choose Tools -> Settings to display the Evolution Settings dialog.

  2. Click on the Sun Java System Accounts button in the left pane. Email and Calendar displays a table of accounts that you have created, in the right pane.

  3. Select the account that you want to delete.

  4. Click Remove to display a confirmation alert.

  5. Click Delete to delete the selected account.

  6. Click OK to close the Information alert that tells you that you must restart Email and Calendar for the change to take effect.

  7. Restart Email and Calendar.

Using the Personal Calendar Folder

A calendar that is stored on a Java System Calendar Server functions in a similar way to a calendar stored locally, as described in Chapter 6, Using Calendar. There are some differences, as described in this section:

Free or Busy Information and the Directory Server

You can publish the free or busy information for an account, so that other users on the network can consult the schedule for that account when they want to organize a meeting.

To take advantage of free or busy information, and other Calendar Server features, use the Sun Java System Directory Server where possible. Alternatively, copy cards from the directory server to your local address book. Contact cards that come from the server have a special attribute that identifies that they have calendars on a Calendar Server. Cards that you create may appear identical to cards from the server. However, cards that you create function by email address only, and are not identified and integrated into the Calendar Server system.

Using the Personal Tasks Folder

Task folders stored on a Calendar Server server appear identical to those stored locally, as described in Chapter 7, Using Tasks.

Using the Personal Invitations Folder

When someone else creates a meeting in their Calendar Server calendar and lists you as a participant, a new invitation appears in your Personal Invitations folder. Invitation folders are structured as follows: the top half of the folder displays a list of invitations, and the bottom half of the folder displays details about the selected item.

The invitations are listed in table format. The following table describes the columns in the invitations table:

Column 

Description 

Starts

Indicates when the meeting is scheduled to start. 

Summary

Provides a short description of the meeting. 

Organizer

Specifies the organizer of the meeting. 

Status

Indicates the current status of the meeting invitation. If the invitation is new, the status is Needs Action. To respond to the invitation, click on the field under the Status column header, to activate a drop-down list. Select one of the following status values from the drop-down list:

  • Accepted

  • Declined

  • Tentative

This status is displayed until the server synchronizes, which can take up to one minute. At that point, the invitation disappears from your Personal Invitations folder. If you accept the invitation, the event appears in your calendar.

For information about how to change the current view, save the current view, or create custom views, see Using Views.

Managing Subscriptions

If you have the required access permissions, you can subscribe to calendars owned by other users. If you do not have permission to read a calendar, you can see that the calendar exists and subscribe to the calendar, but you cannot read any of the calendar contents.

To Display All Calendars

To display all calendar folders on the Calendar Server, including folders that belong to other people, right-click on any Calendar Server folder. Choose Manage Subscriptions from the popup menu to open the Remote Calendar Subscriptions dialog.

The available calendars are listed in table format. The following table describes the columns in the calendars table:

Column 

Description 

Subscribed

Indicates whether you are subscribed to the calendar. 

Calendar ID

Provides a unique identifier for the calendar. 

Owner

Specifies the owner of the calendar. 

Description

Provides a short description of the calendar. 

For information about how to change the current view, save the current view, or create custom views, see Using Views.

Click Cancel to close the Remote Calendar Subscriptions dialog.

To Display a Subset of Calendars

By default, all calendars are listed. To display a subset of calendars, perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click on any Calendar Server folder, then choose Manage Subscriptions from the popup menu to open the Remote Calendar Subscriptions dialog.

  2. Select one of the following search criteria from the drop-down list:

    • Any field contains

    • Calendar ID contains

    • Owner contains

    • Description contains

  3. Type the search text in the text box.

  4. Click on the Find Now button. Email and Calendar lists only the calendars that match the search criteria.

    To clear the search, click on the Clear button.

  5. Click Cancel to close the Remote Calendar Subscriptions dialog.

To Subscribe to a Calendar

Perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click on any Calendar Server folder, then choose Manage Subscriptions from the popup menu to open the Remote Calendar Subscriptions dialog.

  2. Select the calendar to which you want to subscribe.

  3. Click on the Subscribe button.

  4. Click OK to save your changes and close the Remote Calendar Subscriptions dialog.

    Email and Calendar displays the selected calendar as a subfolder of the specified Calendar Server folder.

To Unsubscribe From a Calendar

Perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click on any Calendar Server folder, then choose Manage Subscriptions from the popup menu to open the Remote Calendar Subscriptions window.

  2. Select the calendar from which you want to unsubscribe.

  3. Click on the Unsubscribe button.

  4. Click OK to save your changes and close the Remote Calendar Subscriptions dialog.

    Email and Calendar deletes the selected calendar from the specified Calendar Server folder.

Setting Access Permissions for Folders

Access permissions control who can view or change each calendar folder.

Primary calendar owners have full access to their own calendars. The Calendar Server does not perform any access control checks when primary owners access their own calendars. Primary calendar owners can designate other owners for their calendars. The other owner can then act on behalf of the primary owner to schedule, delete, modify, accept, or decline events or tasks for a calendar.

Access Control Rule Ordering

The order in which the access control rules are listed is significant, because the server follows the first rule that grants or denies access, and ignores all subsequent conflicts.

Always put the most specific rules first, and the more general rules later. For example, suppose the first rule for the calendar jane.ashe:sports grants read access to all users. Then, the Calendar Server encounters a second rule that denies angela.liu read access to this calendar. In this case, the Calendar Server grants angela.liu read access to this calendar and ignores the second rule because of the conflict.

To ensure that an access right for a specific user such as angela.liu is honored, place the rule for angela.liu before more global entries such as a rule that applies to all users of a calendar.

To Display Access Permissions for a Folder

Perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click on the folder, then choose Permissions from the popup menu to display the Folder permissions dialog.

  2. The access control rules are listed in the Permissions tabbed section. The following table describes the elements in the Permissions tabbed section:

    Element 

    Description 

    Name

    Name of the person or group with access permissions. 

    Availability

    Select this option to allow the named person to see that the folder exists. 

    Invite

    Select this option to allow the named person to invite you to meetings. 

    Read

    Select this option to allow the named person to read the contents of the folder. 

    Delete

    Select this option to allow the named person to delete the contents of the folder. 

    Modify

    Select this option to allow the named person to modify the contents of the folder. 

    Add

    Click Add to add a new entry to the permissions list.

    Edit

    Click Edit to edit an entry in the permissions list.

    Remove

    Click Remove to remove an entry from the permissions list.

    OK

    Click OK to save your changes and close the Folder permissions dialog.

    Cancel

    Click Cancel to close the Folder permissions dialog without saving your changes.

  3. To display the list of owners for the folder, click on the Owners tab. The following table describes the elements in the Owners tabbed section:

    Element 

    Description 

    User

    Displays the list of owners of the folder. 

    Add

    Click Add to add a user to the User list.

    Remove

    Click Remove to remove the selected user from the User list.

    OK

    Click OK to save your changes and close the Folder permissions dialog.

    Cancel

    Click Cancel to close the Folder permissions dialog without saving your changes.

To Grant Access Permissions to a User

Perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click on the folder and choose Permissions from the popup menu to display the Folder permissions dialog.

  2. Click Add to display the Add permission dialog.

  3. Type the name of the user in the User text box.

  4. Select some or all of the required permissions:

    • Availability

    • Invite

    • Read

    • Delete

    • Modify

  5. Click OK to save your changes and close the Add permission dialog.

  6. Click OK to save your changes and close the Folder permissions dialog.

To Add a User to the List of Owners

Perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click on the folder and choose Permissions from the popup menu to display the Folder permissions dialog.

  2. Click on the Owners tab to display the Owners tabbed section.

  3. Click Add to display the Add owner dialog.

  4. Type the name of the user in the Enter user name text box.

  5. Click OK to save your changes and close the Add owner dialog.

  6. Click OK to save your changes and close the Folder permissions dialog.

You can grant different levels of access to the owners. Unless you choose otherwise, the owners can view and edit Public, Private, and Confidential tasks and events for that folder.

To Remove Access Permissions from a User

Perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click on the folder and choose Permissions from the popup menu to display the Folder permissions dialog.

  2. Select the user in the Permissions tabbed section.

  3. Deselect some or all of the required permissions:

    • Availability

    • Invite

    • Read

    • Delete

    • Modify

    Alternatively, click Remove to remove the user from the list.

  4. Click OK to save your changes and close the Folder permissions dialog.

To Remove a User from the List of Owners

Perform the following steps:

  1. Right-click on the folder and choose Permissions from the popup menu to display the Folder permissions dialog.

  2. Click on the Owners tab to display the Owners tabbed section.

  3. Select the user in the list.

  4. Click Remove to remove the user from the list of owners.

  5. Click OK to save your changes and close the Folder permissions dialog.