Provide import/export feature

[PulsarFX]

It would be nice to export tasks and import them into another task list. Furthermore, sharing a task to android would be nice (send as email etc)

[dmfs]

Please create a separate ticket for sharing since that's a different thing.

[PulsarFX]

Ok, it's in #172

[marcelklehr]

+1

[jkufner]

I do not really see reason why to export tasks. They are on your CalDAV server and you can fetch them form there in ICS format with no trouble.

Moving task from one calendar to another is very useful feature as well as sharing, but they are both something different than import/export.

[jkufner]

I created issue #198 about moving tasks from one calendar to another.

[marcelklehr]

If you have your tasks on a different medium (in my case I created them with a script that ouputs ics files), it's useful to be able to import them. Owncloud doesn't allow importing, neither does this project, sadly. Luckily thnderbird allows importing ics files, so that's that.

IMO, this app shouldn't require you to have a calDAV server to provide essential features, even though that's a pretty common setup, you can't presume the server already does that. That's my two cents.

[mkroehnert]

@marcelklehr OwnCloud does allow importing .ics files, although it is kind of hidden. You have to upload the .ics file to OwnCloud and then click on it in the files view. This will open an import dialog for this specific .ics file.

[wweich]

I use the script from here to import my automatically created tasks ics file to owncloud: https://github.com/georgehrke/cl-calendarimport

[dmfs]

Although in general it's preferable to perform imports and exports on a server, we still plan to implement this for users who use the app standalone, without syncing.

[PulsarFX]

I appreciate this @dmfs Some notes why I prefer this feature:

• not all programs produce the same quality of ics...
• not everybody has access to the server directly (furthermore, I don't see why this should be done on the server side, this is a client job for me.)
• not everybody uses owncloud.

[jkufner]

not everybody has access to the server directly (furthermore, I don't see why this should be done on the server side, this is a client job for me.)

Yes. And you can simply download everything as a client without any special access on server. See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/23030628/how-to-download-all-my-caldav-and-carddav-data-with-one-wget-curl

not everybody uses owncloud.

It does not matter at all.

[dmfs]

not everybody has access to the server directly (furthermore, I don't see why this should be done on the server side, this is a client job for me.)

Yes. And you can simply download everything as a client without any special access on server. See http://stackoverflow.com/questions/23030628/how-to-download-all-my-caldav-and-carddav-data-with-one-wget-curl

Well, as "hnh" has pointed out in his response, this is not covered by the CalDAV standard. Some servers support that, but it's not required. Also, this doesn't cover the "import" use case. There are servers that can import ics files when you address a PUT request to a calendar collection, but again, that's not part of the specs.

[bambamal]

I found this two year old issue while looking for an export solution, is there any update on this?

I know a lot of people use this app to sync with a CalDAV server. But OpenTasks also provides local task lists, which I am sure at least a few people use (like me). If you do that, you need to be able to export and import ics files to backup your data.

[balisujohn]

I agree with @bambamal , this is a feature I personally would benefit from. Would this feature conflict with the design philosophy of this project, or is there another reason it has not been implemented?

[dmfs]

@balisujohn there is no conflict. The problem is simply higher priorities for other issues and little time to tackle them all in a timely manner.

[xCaradhras]

Hello, I was unfortunately too lazy to set up my own server so I used the local task list feature. Now I got a new phone. How do I get my tasks to my new phone? (or server if I have to set up one)

Even if there is no "official way", is there a hacky way? For example copy file.xyz from old phone to new phone or something?

[PulsarFX]

Hello, I was unfortunately too lazy to set up my own server so I used the local task list feature. Now I got a new phone. How do I get my tasks to my new phone? (or server if I have to set up one)

Even if there is no "official way", is there a hacky way? For example copy file.xyz from old phone to new phone or something?

If you have a server now, you can add the account to your old phone, start OpenTasks and change the "calendar" for each task by editing it. At least this works for me to switch from one calendar to another. As for the server: as this is a companion app to CalDavSync, maybe try one of the listed providers when using CalDavSync?