Calendar items created in iCal and synched with Entourage does not reflect DST

Introduction:

In this blog I have explained an issue where we see some discrepancies when we use sync services to REPLACE, REPLACE, MERGE data from iCal to Entourage.

Before we start I would also like you to visit https://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq_topic/sync_services_basics.html for Basics of How Sync Services Works.

Issue Description:

When calendar items are created in iCal in Mountain Time and synched with Entourage EWS set to Mountain time (US&Canada) the items are displayed in Entourage one hour earlier between March 14, 2010 to November 7, 2010 (during DST).

Steps to identify the issue:

-Set your Mac OS TimeZone to MST – Denver USA

-Set the default time zone for new events in Entourage calendar preference to GMT -07:00 Mountain Time (US & Canada)

-Turn on TimeZone support in iCal and set it to America/Denver (You can enable TZ in iCal from the advance tab in iCal preferences)

-Enable sync services for calendar

1. Create a recurring meeting in iCal. In my case I have created it starting today 1th March 2010 till 31th March 2010.

2. Enable Sync Services in Entourage.

Select the appropriate option for synchronization your data in the above dialog box

Outcome in Entourage after data sync

Workaround of this issue

At this point in time the only workaround I can think is to recreate the meeting after DST change.