Frequently asked questions

Agenda/In-tray

Groups

Preferences/Configuration

Using dCal with Outlook

Policies/Standards

How do I let other users view or manage my calendar?

By default, other users can view your Agenda's busy time but no details. To change viewing rights or add designate rights, select Access Rights from the Tools menu. For complete information on setting viewing rights or granting designate rights to other users, see Oracle Calendar Help.

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How do I manage another user's calendar?

To manage another user's calendar, you must first be granted designate rights by that user. For complete information on working as a designate in another user's Agenda, see Oracle Calendar Help.

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How do I modify or delete a meeting?

You can only modify meetings that you propose. For complete information on modifying a meeting entry, see Oracle Calendar Help.

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How do I remove "refused" (red) meetings from my calendar?

You can configure dCal so that meetings you were invited to but will not attend do not appear. To not display refused meetings, follow the instructions for the appropriate client below.

Windows

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
  2. In the Options window, expand Agenda and click Display.
  3. Under Display/Print, click to clear the Refused Meetings check box.
  4. Click OK.

Mac

  1. From the Oracle Calendar menu, select Preferences.
  2. In the Oracle Calendar Preferences window, select Agenda.
  3. Under Display/Print, click to clear the Refused Meetings check box.
  4. Click OK.

Web

  1. Click Preferences.
  2. In the Edit Preferences screen, select the Display tab.
  3. Under To be displayed, click to clear the Declined Meetings check box.
  4. Click OK.

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How do I control whether my In-tray displays when I start the dCal desktop client?

You can set how your In-tray behaves on startup. To change the In-tray behavior, follow the instructions for the appropriate desktop client below.

Windows

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
  2. In the Options window, expand General and click Startup.
  3. Under In-tray Startup, select the desired setting.

Mac

  1. From the Oracle Calendar menu, select Preferences.
  2. In the Oracle Calendar Preferences window, select General and click Startup.
  3. Under In-tray Startup, select the desired setting.

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Why am I not receiving meeting notifications via e-mail?

You may not be receiving e-mail notification of meeting invitations for the following reasons:

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What are access rights in dCal?

Access rights determine how much information other users can view and edit in your Agenda. The default access rights allow any dCal user to invite you to meetings and to view your Agenda's busy times. The details of the busy times are not available to users unless you grant them greater access rights. To change viewing rights or add designate rights, select Access Rights from the Tools menu. For complete information on access rights, see Oracle Calendar Help.

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What are access levels in dCal?

Access levels are labels placed on events to group them for access. Oracle Calendar provides four labels: Normal, Personal, Confidential, and Public. While any event under the Public access level is public, you can coordinate the use of access rights and access levels to use the Normal, Personal, and Confidential labels to balance privacy and sharing. For additional information on access levels, see Oracle Calendar Help entries on creating events and selecting event default settings.

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What is the offline Agenda?

For complete information on using the offline Agenda, see Oracle Calendar Help.

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Can dCal notify me of new meetings without my having to use the In-tray?

For complete information on setting your notification preferences, see Oracle Calendar Help.

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If I have already accepted a meeting and the owner reschedules, do I have to re-accept the meeting?

Yes. Since the new day/time of the meeting may conflict with your Agenda, you need to respond to the new invitation.

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How do I view the Agenda of another user?

Oracle Calendar allows you to open Agendas other than your own and view the information which is available to you under the access rights specified by the Agenda's owner. To view the Agenda for another user, follow the instructions for the appropriate client below or see the Oracle Calendar Help for alternate methods.

Windows

  1. Select File > Open > Agenda.
  2. In the Open Agenda window, type the name of the Agenda's owner and click OK. If the Agenda belongs to a resource, type res: before the name.

Mac

  1. Select File > Agenda > Open.
  2. In the Open Agenda window, type the name of the Agenda's owner and click OK. If the Agenda belongs to a resource, type res: before the name.

Web

  1. In the Toolbar, click the View Agendas icon.
  2. In the View Agendas screen, in the Search for list, select Resources.
  3. In the Country list, select the desired option, then select a Facility and Resource type.
         - OR -
    In the Resource name box, type the name of the desired resource.
  4. Click Find. The search results are displayed.
  5. Select the desired resource and click View.

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How can I view the Agenda for a resource?

Oracle Calendar allows you to open Agendas other than your own and view the information which is available to you under the access rights specified by the Agenda's owner. You can view the Agenda for a resource just as you would for a user. To view the Agenda for a resource, follow the instructions for the appropriate client below or see the Oracle Calendar Help for alternate methods.

Windows

  1. Select File > Open > Agenda.
  2. In the Open Agenda window, type res: and click OK.
  3. In the Select Name box, select the desired resource and click OK. The resource's Agenda opens.

Mac

  1. Select File > Agenda > Open.
  2. In the Open Agenda window, type res: and click OK.
  3. In the Select Name box, select the desired resource and click OK. The resource's Agenda opens.

Web

  1. In the Toolbar, click the View Agendas icon.
  2. In the View Agendas screen, in the Search for list, select Resources.
  3. In the Country list, select the desired option, then select a Facility and Resource type.
         - OR -
    In the Resource name box, type the name of the desired resource.
  4. Click Find. The search results are displayed.
  5. Select the desired resource and click View.

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How do I reserve a resource?

To reserve a resource, simply invite it to the meeting for which you want to reserve it. If the resource is first-come, first-serve, then it will automatically accept your reservation if there are no conflicts. If the resource is set to require approval, then the reservation will remain unconfirmed until it is either rejected or approved by someone with authority over the resource.

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How are meeting Details different from meeting Notes?

Details are created by the meeting's proposer and are viewable by all invitees and those with access rights to any invitee's Agenda. Notes are for your personal use, and are viewable by you and those with access rights to your Agenda.

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How can I suggest another time for a meeting to which I was invited?

In the Meeting window, under Reply/Notes, click to select the Would prefer another time check box. To suggest a desired meeting time, send the owner an e-mail message.

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How do I attach a file to an Agenda entry?

In order to conserve server space and maintain security, dCal is configured to prevent users from attaching files to Agenda entries. If you need to provide meeting attendees with a file, use e-mail or place the file on the Duke network where users may access it.

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Can dCal suggest a meeting time based on the users I invite to a meeting?

Yes. The Oracle Calendar desktop clients support this feature, as does the Web client. The Oracle Connector For Outlook does not support this feature. For complete information on the Suggest Date/Time feature in Oracle, see Oracle Calendar Help.

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Is there a way to let people without dCal accounts view my agenda?

dCal provides a feature called Global Agenda Viewing (GAV). When this feature is enabled, the free/busy time blocks and Public meetings on your agenda are displayed on a webpage that can be viewed by anyone with Internet access and a link to the page. To enable GAV and send the link to your Global Agenda, use the dCal web client and follow the steps below.

  1. Click on the Preferences link in the upper right.
  2. Select the Security tab.
  3. Check the box for Allow Global Agenda Viewing.
  4. Click the OK button to save the change.

Now that Global Agenda Viewing is enabled for your account, you can e-mail the link for your agenda (or any agenda with GAV enabled) using the steps below.

  1. Display the agenda.
  2. Click on the E-mail Agenda link just to the upper right of the agenda
  3. Enter the e-mail addresses to which you would like to send the link. Optionally, you may also include a message to the recipients.
  4. Click on Send to send an e-mail with the link (and message) to the addresses you entered.

GAV links are unique and persistent, so you can send it to yourself and use it in other e-mails and/or web pages.

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How do I enable (or disable) Global Agenda Viewing?

Global Agenda Viewing (GAV) serves the free/busy time blocks and Public meetings on your calendar as a webpage that can be viewed by anyone with Internet access and a link to the page. To toggle this feature on or off for your own agenda, use the dCal web client and follow the steps below.

  1. Click on the Preferences link in the upper right.
  2. Select the Security tab.
  3. Check the box for Allow Global Agenda Viewing to enable the feature, or clear the box to disable it.
  4. Click the OK button to save the change.

GAV is available for resources, but GAV for a resource agenda can only be enabled or disabled by a dCal Administrator at the request of the resource's manager.

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How can I create a list of users so I don't have to add them to a meeting entry individually?

Create a group.

  1. Select Tools > Manage Groups.
  2. In the Manage Groups window, click New.
  3. In the New Group window, in the Name box, type a name.
  4. In the Type list, select a type.
    • Private groups can only be used or edited by the group owner.
    • Members-only groups can only be used by group members and edited by the group owner.
  5. In the Add box, type the desired users' names or use the magnifying glass button to search for them. Group members must be dCal account holders. External attendees cannot be added to a group.
  6. When you are finished adding users, click OK.

Note: Make sure that you are a member of any Members-only groups you create. Otherwise, when other members use the group, you will not be included.

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Can I use an existing group to create a new group?

Yes. You can create a new private or members-only group using an existing group. The new group will be populated the members of the existing group. You can them make changes to the new group, adding and/or removeing other members. Keep in mind that if the existing group membership changes, it will not automatically update the membership of the new group. For complete information about groups, see Oracle Calendar Help.

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How can I find a group's owner?

Group ownership information is not readily available in dCal. To find the owner of a group, view the group and contact the members. For complete information about groups, see Oracle Calendar Help.

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How do I change the e-mail address dCal uses for me?

By default, dCal uses the e-mail address you specify in the Duke directory. If you wish to change this address, visit Online@Duke.

You can specify an alternate address for certain types of notifications in dCal. To specify an alternate address, follow the instructions for the appropriate desktop client below. This setting is not currently available in the Web client.

Windows

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
  2. In the Options window, expand Scheduling and click Receive Notification.
  3. Under Alternate e-mail address, type the desired e-mail address and click to select the Send all e-mail notifications to this address and/or the Send all e-mail reminders to this address check boxes.

Mac

  1. From the Oracle Calendar menu, select Preferences.
  2. In the Oracle Calendar Preferences window, select Scheduling and click Notification.
  3. In the Alternate e-mail address box, type the desired e-mail address and click to select the Send all e-mail notifications to this address and/or the Send all e-mail reminders to this address check boxes.

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How do I change the way user and resource names appear in dCal?

To change the way dCal displays names, follow the instructions for the appropriate client below.

Windows

  1. From the Tools menu, select Options.
  2. In the Options window, expand General and click Formatting.
  3. Under User name format, select the desired format from the list. At the bottom of the User name format section, the selected format is displayed.
  4. Under Resource name format, select the desired format.

Mac

  1. From the Oracle Calendar menu, select Preferences.
  2. In the Oracle Calendar Preferences window, select General and click Names.
  3. Under User name format, select the desired format from the list. At the bottom of the User name format section, the selected format is displayed.
  4. Under Resource name format, select the desired format.

Web

  1. Click Preferences.
  2. In the Edit Preferences screen, on the General tab, select the desired Name and Resource Name formats from the lists provided.
  3. Click OK.

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I'm getting the following error when I attempt to sync Oracle Calendar with my Palm: The sync client service could not find a mandatory preference. What could be causing this?

The mandatory preference it can't find is the Time Zone. If you manually set the time zone within the conduit, the field is blank. To correct the problem, copy timezone.ini from C:\Program Files\Oracle\Calendar Sync for Palm to C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Oracle\Calendar Sync for Palm, then sync the device.

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Does Oracle Calendar For Outlook (OCFO) always put a new meeting entry in my e-mail Inbox?

Yes. OCFO always displays new meeting invitations in your Inbox. If the meeting owner opted to send you e-mail notification, you will receive that as well.

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How do I view the Agenda for another user or a resource using the Oracle Connector for Outlook (OCFO)?

These instructions are written for Outlook 2003. Instructions may vary slightly for other supported versions of Outlook.

  1. In the File menu, select Open.
  2. From the options presented, select Other User's Folder.
  3. In the Folder Type, select Calendar.
  4. Click on the Name button to see a list of accounts.
  5. Select the owner of the Agenda from the list. To shorten the list, begin typing the name of the owner of the Agenda: as you type, OCFO will narrow down the list based on your input.

Please note that the list presented by OCFO will contain entries from the Duke directory as well as dCal users. If a small globe appears beside a particular name in the list, then that person does not have a dCal agenda and no associated agenda is available.

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How do I schedule a room/resource using the Oracle Connector for Outlook?

These instructions are written for Outlook 2003. Instructions may vary slightly for other supported versions of Outlook.

  1. In the Calendar view, select New > Meeting Request.
  2. In the Oracle Calendar Appointment window, select the Scheduling tab.
  3. Select Add Others > Invite Resources.
  4. In the Resources Scheduling window, click Find Resources.
  5. In the Search criteria window, in the Country list, select the desired option.
  6. In the Facility list, select the desired facility.
  7. In the Resource type list, select the desired resource type.
  8. In the Capacity box, type the maximum number of meeting attendees and click OK. The Search criteria window closes.
  9. In the Resource Scheduling window, under Search Results, right-click the desired resource and select Select Resource.
  10. Click Make Meeting. The Resource Scheduling window closes.

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What is a resource?

A dCal resource is a dCal account that is used to schedule an object, a group of objects, or the activities for a group of calendar users. You can schedule a resource the same way you schedule an individual, by adding (inviting) it to a meeting. For more information on resources, see Using dCal resources.

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Can dCal be used for group calendaring?

While most resource Agendas are used for scheduling rooms or equipment, a resource agenda can be created for group calendaring. For more information on resources, see Using dCal resources, and in particular, the Practical application section for some notes on group calendaring.

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Does dCal show campus holidays?

Duke holidays are currently not reflected in dCal.

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How do I create an event calendar in dCal?

dCal does not include support for individual event calendars. For the Duke event calendar, visit calendar.duke.edu.

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