BUG: Outlook Throws Error when iCalendar is Missing DTEND

Question

So, I'm setting up my profile on my brand new Surface Pro and new installation of Office 365 desktop apps. I grab the private ICS link to my Google Calendar so I can see all my events conveniently in Outlook. Upon completion of a Send/Receive run, I get a little message in the status bar at the bottom that says SEND/RECEIVE ERROR. :-( Clicking the message opens the Outlook Send/Receive Process window to the Errors tab which shows two errors that are complaining about the same thing:

Task 'Internet Calendar Subscriptions' reported error (0x0004003D) : 'The VEVENT, "[personal data removed]", defined near line [###], lacks a DTEND. Outlook is assuming that this appointment is an hour long. Double-click to open this item.'

I opened up my Google Calendar to search for the event. Sure enough, the event did not have an end date/time. However, it legitimately did not have an end date/time. The appointment was to meet a friend at a location at a certain time. It was not for any duration. For example, "Meet John at 7pm." I began searching the Internet for more information and eventually came across RFC 5545 which defines the iCalendar format. I figured this would be the best and, arguably, authoritative source for all things related to iCalendar.

According to RFC 5545 (page 54):

For cases where a "VEVENT" calendar component specifies a "DTSTART" property with a DATE-TIME value type but no "DTEND" property, the event ends on the same calendar date and time of day specified by the "DTSTART" property.

So, I'm posting this to report two problems Outlook has with the iCalendar format:

Outlook is reporting to the user (me) that there is an error with the ICS file it retrieved from Google.  This isn't true.  Google has complied with the iCalendar format as described in RFC 5545.  
Outlook is defaulting the duration of the event to 1 hour long.  Per RFC 5545, the event should have no duration (i.e. the end date/time should be the same as the start).

Answer 1

Dear StoneLaughter.

Good day! Thank you for posting to Microsoft Community. We are happy to help you!

We apologize for the trouble and inconvenience caused to your work! Based on your description, I have a general understanding of your problem. And about the problem you meationed, I also believe that this is the voice of many users, everyone is anxiously looking forward to early improvement, in order not to waste more time and better help you, I strongly recommend that you submit your issue to outlook feedback so that relevant technical developers and designers can see this issue. Please believe that the relevant departments of Microsoft will strive to improve themselves after seeing your issue, and your valuable opinions will also help more users and make the work more efficient. Thank you in advance for your contribution!

About how to give feedback to outlook, please kindly refer to click File>choose Feedback>select suggest a feature>input your suggestions

If you are using new outlook for windows, please kindly refer to Contact support and provide feedback within the new Outlook for Windows - Microsoft Support

In the meantime, you can also use this link to see if the feature you want to implement is already being developed by Microsoft, please also kindly click on it to get the development progress: Microsoft 365 roadmap

Thanks in advance for your understanding! Your patience and cooperation will be highly appreciated. Hope you all the best!

Sincerely,

Kerry Chen | Microsoft Community Moderator

Answer 2

So, I'm setting up my profile on my brand new Surface Pro and new installation of Office 365 desktop apps. I grab the private ICS link to my Google Calendar so I can see all my events conveniently in Outlook. Upon completion of a Send/Receive run, I get a little message in the status bar at the bottom that says SEND/RECEIVE ERROR. :-( Clicking the message opens the Outlook Send/Receive Process window to the Errors tab which shows two errors that are complaining about the same thing:

Task 'Internet Calendar Subscriptions' reported error (0x0004003D) : 'The VEVENT, "[personal data removed]", defined near line [###], lacks a DTEND. Outlook is assuming that this appointment is an hour long. Double-click to open this item.'

I opened up my Google Calendar to search for the event. Sure enough, the event did not have an end date/time. However, it legitimately did not have an end date/time. The appointment was to meet a friend at a location at a certain time. It was not for any duration. For example, "Meet John at 7pm." I began searching the Internet for more information and eventually came across RFC 5545 which defines the iCalendar format. I figured this would be the best and, arguably, authoritative source for all things related to iCalendar.

According to RFC 5545 (page 54):

For cases where a "VEVENT" calendar component specifies a "DTSTART" property with a DATE-TIME value type but no "DTEND" property, the event ends on the same calendar date and time of day specified by the "DTSTART" property.

So, I'm posting this to report two problems Outlook has with the iCalendar format:

Outlook is reporting to the user (me) that there is an error with the ICS file it retrieved from Google. This isn't true. Google has complied with the iCalendar format as described in RFC 5545.
Outlook is defaulting the duration of the event to 1 hour long. Per RFC 5545, the event should have no duration (i.e. the end date/time should be the same as the start).

Hi,

I'd suggest that you submit this feedback through the Feedback Portal at https://feedbackportal.microsoft.com/feedback 

Don