Sumatra Development LLC

February 12, 2007 Additional Flag for Coming DST Transition

For the absolute latest information on features we've added for the DST transition, check out our blog. 

Wondering how Microsoft could screw up the DST transition in Exchange so badly?  So are we.  If you're considering moving to Google Calendar and want to migrate all your Exchange calendar data drop us a line at zyg AT sumatra DOT com.

We've added an additional flag /DST to the Sumatra Utilities as an aid to auditing how many meetings and appointments will be affected by the coming Microsoft Rebasing tool.

su /in:sutest.txt /DST

at the command prompt (where sutest.txt has user aliases zyg, riuliano, kelly, tralfax, and jam one on each line) will result in a text file like the following, outputting a total of all of each user's meetings and appointments in the DST transition zone from March 11, 2007 to April 1, 2007 and from October 28, 2007 to November 4, 2007.
 

So each number represents the total affected

• Appointments (i.e., with no guests)

• Recurring Master Meetings (i.e., which the user owns)

• Recurring Instances

• Recurring Exceptions

• Total Items

• Total cross check

Using these numbers allows you to gauge the scope of the problem you have to deal with as the new DST transition looms forward.

Error.log will also produce information to help debug in case the Utilities do not execute on your system.

The /DST switch is completely non-modifying. It reports on which meetings, exceptions, and appointments are in the date range in question.

We now return to our previous content:

Microsoft Exchange does not provide any automated way for an Exchange Administrators to add company holidays to its users’ calendars. 

Admins have set up holidays forms, used attachments, and tried macros to automate Outlook for their users.  None of these methods have the combined advantages of ease to centrally implement and no required user intervention.

Originally this was a part of our Meeting Maker conversion technology -- we've discovered that enough people want this capability that we're breaking it apart into a separate product.  Our method is set up by the Exchange admin and requires no user intervention at all.

The documentation for the utilities is here.

Click here to download.

As a bonus, we've added additional features that add to your Microsoft Exchange functionality.

The Sumatra Utilities can:

• Insert server-specific or user-specific Holidays with NO user intervention.  It's also customizable for different state or national holidays.
• Clear inboxes for Macintosh-based auto-accepting resources
• Check for double-booked meeting locations or resources
• Find recurring meetings which have become "broken" due to frequent updating

• Proactive in avoiding resource conflicts
• Protective of the integrity of the Exchange Store
• Professional in delivering capabilities to users while keeping their required input out of the direct loop