Thunderbird and Lightning

[AutootuA]

I've messed with these two apps for a little while. Should I be able to read from and write to a Zimbra calendar with Lightning? It seemed to work but I haven't seen a lot of posts about this that were recent.

[mmorse]

Thunderbird & Lightning - ZimbraWiki

& this is in the works: Bug 6052 - CalDAV (Beta)

[AutootuA]

I had just read that article. I guess I'm looking for a replacement to Outlook and not having to use the Web Client. In lightning I can add events and even edit them but when I delete one and the calendar refreshes, it comes back.

[dwmtractor]

Originally Posted by AutootuA

I had just read that article. I guess I'm looking for a replacement to Outlook and not having to use the Web Client. In lightning I can add events and even edit them but when I delete one and the calendar refreshes, it comes back.

I have observed the same behavior. Try a few other tests: You can add, move, change, add details, etc. to the items, you just can't delete them. That seems to be a bug in either Lightning or (and this is my guess) the Google Calendar Provider which provides the conduit between Lightning and Zimbra. I don't know enough about either one to be able to file an intelligent bug report, though I will probably file an "I'm-an-idiot-but-this-is-what-I-see" bug anyhow in the next few days.

In any case, it all works for me EXCEPT for deleting items using the Lightning extension, and I bet it'll be the same for you.

[jeffreyheinen]

What I have to do, is mark the status of the item as "canceled". Then it is removed during the next refresh.

In some ways, that makes sense. If you delete an appointment, Lightning simply removes the entry. However, a canceled appointment is an update. And updates are sent to the server. (Which then removes it.)

I would wish Lightning would notify the server of a cancellation in the event of an item removal. But that is a bug on their side, right?

[AutootuA]

Is the Google Calendar Provider add-on really needed? I tried Thunderbird at my home without loading the add-on and it seemed to work just fine. As well as it did at work anyhow. Should it not work with out the add-on?

Canceling the event works fine for removing events on both sides. Thanks...

[ddevine]

I wrote the original how-to for the Zimbra Lightning integration. I'd be happy to answer any questions on this subject.

It may be a Zimbra setting because I didn't have to change anything on Zimbra or Lightning to get it to work. All actions for appointments work fine for me. If you can ask specific questions I'll try to answer them.

[mmorse]

Thanks in advance ddevine! (he's busy at rpath but I pointed him to this thread)

I always assumed you we're using lightning 0.5 at the time, as it came out the exact same day you posted the original guide; though I don't think you ever mentioned what version.

That provider-add on also works for sunbird as well. (But it's my understanding their possibly putting some stuff gleamed from that code in sunbird itself? so you eventually might not need it for some functions I guess...)

BTW-CalDAV is in the works: Bug 6052 - CalDAV (Beta)

[ddevine]

You're correct, I did use .5 for Lightning on my version. As I said, I can accept, create, and change scheduled meetings through t-bird/lightning with no problems...I'm willing to help those here find out what the issue might be...so...please take a look at my how-to and make sure you've done things right according to that:

Zimbra and Thunderbird with Lightning - Documenting Linux

Then let's start looking at what problems you still have after that.

[dwmtractor]

Originally Posted by ddevine

Then let's start looking at what problems you still have after that.

"Problem" is a strong word, but I think the issue is that some of us are used to right-clicking on an item and selecting "Delete" or even just left-clicking on it and deleting it, rather than canceling. Doing this in Tbird/Lightning, apparently does not send the proper notice of cancellation back to Zimbra, resulting in the item reappearing when the calendar is refreshed.

Knowing this, it's a simple matter to change our own behavior to work around it; of course, as all admins know, changing the behavior of certain users is a much taller order!

Again, I rather suspect this is a bug with Lightning or the provider, not with Zimbra itself, but since I don't know the ins and outs of the way they interact I'm only guessing.

Dan