Multiple Problems in Sync with Google Calendar

[pfowler79]

Running Power Church on a shared Windows 7 PC, accessed by 3-4 different PCs using Vista or XP via our internal network. Running Power Church Plus Version 11.

I am having a host of problems getting my updated Event Calendar in Power Church to correctly and accurately sync with Google Calendar. When executing the sync, everything seems to go fine. The progress bar goes all the way full and all the check marks of the sync are completed. No errors. Yet, when I check my embedded Google Calendar on our church website (link: http://salemfirstfriends.org/?page_id=544), there are multiple issues. Some events are duplicated on the Google Calendar. Some old events that have been deleted in PC Plus are still on the Google Calendar. Some events that are NOT supposed to show on the synced Google Calendar (like private baby showers) are showing up on the Google Calendar. For the life of me, I can't figure out what is going on, and I can't even figure out the rhyme or reason as to how the sync process is choosing to duplicate some things, not delete others, and improperly sync others. I have checked all the settings I can think of on the Google Calendar end of things. I have removed and re-pasted the embed code on my website. Nothing seems to work. The Google Calendar (when viewed on Google) looks the same as the embedded version on my site.

Any ideas what to try next?

[Tracy]

Verify the "Include in sync to Google Calendar" setting is NOT checked for those events you do not wish to be on the calendar.

To clean up the duplicates and stragglers:

• In the File - Preferences - Events, on the Google Calendar tab, a button is available to remove all events that appear to have been created by PowerChurch.
• Resync the data

[pfowler79]

Tracy,

Thanks for the quick reply! I can confirm that there are events that are showing up on Google Calendar that do NOT have the box checked for that feature. I haven't looked at them all, but I do know that "Bailey Baby Shower" does NOT have that option checked, and is still showing up in Google Calendar (twice, in fact).

I tried to find the button to "clean things up" but when I get to that window and click on the Google Calendar tab, I see no button. Only text boxes for inputting or changing the Google Calendar log-in email and password. Could there be something wrong with my install of PC Plus?

FWIW, I am logged on as the ADMIN to our PC Plus set-up on the network, so the button not showing up should not be a user permission issue, correct?

[Zorak]

If you don't have that button, then your program is out of date.

Go to http://powerchurch.com/mr to download and install the latest Maintenance Release for Version 11

[pfowler79]

Ok. Downloaded and installed the latest MR for my version of PC Plus. The button did show up in the Google Calendar tab. I used it, and things seemed to go well with that progress. But, the progress bar got hung up at about 80% or so. I waited about 40 minutes and then ended up killing the process via Windows Task Manager. After that, I checked the Google Calendar embedded on the website and it looks like everything is now correct as far as having no multiple entries, no deleted entries, and no "private" entries showing up.

But, I have tried to re-sync the calendar again several times since then with poor results. The progress bar goes up to about 70% relatively quickly (in under 1 minute), but then it slows to an almost imperceptible pace and eventually gets stuck. I don't get any errors from Windows about the process "not responding" and needing to close. But, I have twice waited unsuccessfully for over 2 hours for the progress bar to fill to 100% and have the task be correctly completed. I have had to kill it every time with Task Manager, except for one occasion where I let it run overnight and found an error the next morning referring to a "time out" issue with the server (Google's server, I assume). I added a "test event" before trying to re-sync the data, and that event has never showed up on the embedded calendar. So, even when I kill the process after it gets stuck at 70% finished, it looks like the events are no longer being synced.

[Tracy]

I have been unable to reproduce the time out issue. I'm working on building enough data to attempt it again currently. I hope to have another MR out this month which I have changed from using the timeout default of 1 hour to a minute, and hopefully correctly capturing the timeout problem.

[pfowler79]

Would it be helpful if I could attempt to run the sync with Google Calendar overnight again and see if I can get the error message and write down all the details in the error message and post them here? Would that be helpful data for you, or not? I will be out of the office most of this week, but could try to run it overnight next week.

[Tracy]

Yes. On Windows 2000, XP, Vista, 7 and the server OS's, it is possible to use the "Ctrl+C" key combination to copy the text of the error message dialog to the clipboard. This will be easy to paste into a message here.

Thank you.

[pfowler79]

Alright. Here is the error message I got after trying to sync Events to Google Calendar (again, this error pops up after MANY hours of waiting; I let it go overnight):

---------------------------
PowerChurch Google Calendar Sync
---------------------------
PROGRAM: dorequest

LINE: 264

ERROR: 1429

MESSAGE: OLE IDispatch exception code 0 from msxml3.dll: The operation timed out

..
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

Hope that helps! Let me know if there is anything else i can do.

[NeilZ]

I got the same error, it only took me 20 minutes to get it though !

---------------------------
PowerChurch Google Calendar Sync
---------------------------
PROGRAM: dorequest

LINE: 264

ERROR: 1429

MESSAGE: OLE IDispatch exception code 0 from msxml3.dll: The operation timed out

..
---------------------------
OK
---------------------------

[NeilZ]

Well I installed the latest MR, now the sync dialog at least tells us how many events its gathering. I first tried a regular sync, it found 60 items, said it synced 60 items, then stalled at 75% completion. When I look at the process in the Task Manager, it just sits there, maybe uses 1% of the CPU, and increases its memory usages by an average of 52k every 3 or 4 seconds.

I ended that process, then went and tried a 'remove events' from the Preferences menu. It found 30 items, said it removed 30 items, then stalled. I waited about 10 minutes, then ended that process.

Tried another full sync, it found 60 items, said it did 60/60, then stalled again at 75%.

pcsync.jpg

[jabrancich]

That entire scenario is exactly what I have been struggling with as well. After installing yesterday's MR & trying another Google sync, my screen looks the same except that mine says

"Updating Events - Updating 646/646 (18.75%)"

Must still be a glitch. Funny I was able to get it to sync until this week.

[Tracy]

This MR should wait 1 minute for a timeout condition. Then move on gracefully and log the issue. At the end, you'll be notified. If these screens stay like this for 5 minutes (or more) let us know.

[jabrancich]

I have run the Google sync today twice now and used the "Delete Events from Google" button once. All three times the same scenario described above happened. I let it sit for 1/2 hour, then 3 hours, then 1 hour, and the "timeout" never happens, although there are packets of something being sent to Google for that whole time. Surely the sync wouldn't take more than 3 hours? It always gets stuck at the same place.

[Tracy]

It should not sit, not updating the screen for more than a minute, since the 6/16 MR.

"Updating Events - Updating 646/646 (18.75%)"

Is there where it stopped both sync's?