Using iCalendar Files to Enhance Content Items in WCI Publisher

Registering for events using Go2Meeting and WebEx is easy as can be.  But when those tools aren't available, and you need to rely on out of the box functionality from Oracle's WebCenter Interaction, the registration process leaves something to be desired.

Where I work we do more conference calls than webinars.  Creating announcements on our intranet about these events is great for spreading the word but the problem is that if there isn't a reminder the day of the event most folks will have forgotten about it. Sure, folks should just create calendar appointments and manage their own time, but getting them to setup meetings in Outlook can be difficult enough.

How then, can one remind an employee of a pending conference call or event?
Enter the .ics file!

Attaching an .ics file via a link is straight forward.  Attaching one to a content item in WebCenter Interaction Publisher is slightly more involved.

The easiest way is to add a property of type "file" to the Data Entry Template (DET) which will allow users to upload their saved .ics files.  On the positive side this allows for template control over where the .ics files are linked in a content item, and for consistent verbiage such as "Add this event to your Outlook Calendar".
For more advanced content managers, they could go into Publisher Explorer and upload their .ics files and then control where their links are placed - a far too complicated approach for many.

So now, you've gone ahead and setup your DET and called it in your Presentation Template (PT).  Created an .ics file for testing (either in Notepad or saved out of Outlook or another tool), created a new content item and attached the file, and then you open the published content item, click the .ics link and ~fizzle~! 

Why is it opening in a text editor? and not popping open the familiar "Open/Save" dialog?


When file don't behave in an expected way over the web, the problem usually lies with mime type declarations.  But there are about a half dozen mime settings in a WCI install - web servers, portal utilities, publisher, etc.  I'll spare you all the mindless trouble-shooting I went through to figure this out and instead just pull the rabbit out of the hat for you...

~ drum roll please  ~

If you guessed \bea\alui\ptcs\6.5\container\deploy\jbossweb-tomcat50.sar\conf\web.xml then you win your choice of the hat or the rabbit!

1. Backup the web.xml file to a different folder
2. Add the following to the MIME mapping section:

< mime-mapping >
  < extension > ics < /extension >
  < mime-type > application/octet-stream < /mime-type >
< /mime-mapping >

3. Save file and restart publisher

At this point if you retry your content item you should find that the behavior for the .ics file is now different and will open the expected dialog window with the "Open/Save" options.