Generate a .ics calendar file on server

[mvoogt]

I'm trying to have FM18 server generate a .ics calendar file from a calculated field. I have a calculated field that has the url formatted:

Quote

data:text/calendar,BEGIN%3AVCALENDAR%0AVERSION%3A2.0%0APRODID%3A-//FileMaker Pro//NONSGML Demo//EN%0ABEGIN%3AVEVENT%0ASUMMARY%3ATreadstone 107 | Warner Bros.%0AUID%3A1B507F2B-C90A-4E10-BE34-E0F51C37DE81%0ADTSTAMP%3A20191122T175956Z%0ADTSTART%3A20191122T175956Z%0ADTEND%3A20191122T205956Z%0ADESCRIPTION%3AFriday, November 22, 2019 @ Warner Bros. (10%3A00 AM) - Warner Bros. | Warner Bros.%0ALOCATION%3A 3400 Warner Blvd Burbank  CA  91505%0AEND%3AVEVENT%0AEND%3AVCALENDAR

If I were to type that into a browser it will download a .ics calendar file just fine. However if I use 'insert from url' to insert the .ics file into a container. It doesn't seem to work.

Can you think of another method for FM18 server to generate a .ics file? I'm hosted on a remote server where plugins really aren't an option.

[comment]

It is difficult to understand what your ultimate goal is. An .ics file is a plain text file. If you have the text of the file, you can convert it to a file (.i.e. container data) by using the TextEncode() function. Not sure how a server is relevant here, or Insert From URL.

 

[mvoogt]

Thank you so much for the response. Let me explain my ultimate goal. I want to send an email from the server that has a button to download a calendar .ics file.

This is an html email I'm sending which is working fine. My initial thought was to use the data:text link above however it seems that mail clients do not like that link format. Any mail/browser client I use doesn't want to open the link even though if you paste it in a browser it works fine.

My alternative route was to put a .ics file into a container and add it to the html email I'm sending as an attachment. This would be done on the server.

I'd love to be able to use the 1st method as it doesn't require an attachment. But I'm fine with either method.

[comment]

I am afraid I know nothing about sending HTML mail.  Perhaps you can find something useful here:
https://www.soliantconsulting.com/blog/html-email-filemaker/

[OlgerDiekstra]

This article might help: https://litmus.com/blog/how-to-create-an-add-to-calendar-link-for-your-emails

Remember that if you want recipients to download the calendar ics, it will need to be published somewhere where the browser can access it as the email client is unlikely to invoke that itself. It will usually invoke a browser if it knows the link is something the browser understands. This may not be the case at the recipient side. Webcal, ics are not standard protocols like http. For a recipient to be able to 'just click on the link' their system needs to have webcal or ics setup so that it knows how to handle it.

You can embed an ics file as an attachment in an email, but the problems remain the same. The recipients system still needs to know how to deal with it.