How to get an xml file (online calendar feed) to auto update to iCal or any other calendar?

August 31, 2010 10:07 AM

How can I sync an online calendar feed (xml) with either iCal or Google Calendar? I know I can sync iCal and gCalendar easily through several methods. But what I also need to include is my department's events calendar. I can import it as an iCal or Outlook file, but this is only a one-time option. Once the department's calendar is updated I don't receive the new or changed events. And I suspect if I import the (newer) file again, I will get many duplicates. The calendar has an xml feed I could subscribe to, but can't figure out how to translate this into a calendar that automatically syncs or updates. Willing to consider any options that would lead to the online calendar (.ics, .csv, or .xml file) being auto updated to any calendar application. This would make my life so much easier! Thanks!
posted by madscientist01 to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

If you have a feed URL for the department calendar, you should be able to add it to Google Calendar using these instructions. If it's a true XML feed, it should be pushing updates constantly, which are then picked up by GCal.

How is your department publishing the feed? Is it actually a real-time feed of new events?
posted by Happy Dave at 2:43 AM on September 1, 2010

Response by poster: @Happy Dave: Thanks for the reply. The link you posted just loops back to this askmetafilter page - do you have the instruction link? The department feed is RSS which presumably they update.
posted by madscientist01 at 5:26 PM on September 2, 2010

Sorry, these instructions for GCal. Also there's this for a direct-to-iCal solution

One thing to note is that, in Google Calendar's case at least, it might not update in realtime - I believe it pulls down the feed every 12 hours. So if you don't immediately see the department feed appearing, leave it a few hours.
posted by Happy Dave at 1:19 AM on September 3, 2010