Entourage date bugs in October (Weeks 41-44)

[tkx]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Intel
Email Client: Exchange

I have experienced this in Mac OS X 10.4, however on a separate test machine using Mac OS X 10.5 it does not appear to occur:

In Entourage 2008 (12.1.1 - I've not gotten around to installing the latest update, but will be doing so), there is some weird date/time glitch in October:

When I view the entire week (Sun-Sat), there is a header across the top, and then underneath are the actual columns for the days. Normally the header says something like "Sun Aug 17 - Sat Aug 23 (Week 34)".

In week 41, the header indicates at "Sun Oct 5 - Fri Oct 10". Week 42 indicates "Sat Oct 11 - Fri Oct 17". Week 43 indicates "Sat Oct 18 - Fri Oct 24". At week 44, things return slightly to normal with "Sat Oct 25 - Sat Nov 1", while week 45 is correct, with "Sun Nov 2 - Sat Nov 8". However at all times, the columns for the individual days are correct.

I would normally not worry about this as just a UI glitch, but during that period of weird dates, booking any event is an exercise in frustration.

If I start a 1 hr meeting at 11am on Wed Oct 15 (which is during the weirdness), I select it out, get Info/Properties for the meeting and the date says Wed Oct 15, 11AM. If I change any value in there without touching the date, say I simply turn off the reminder, the date goes wonky. eg: Start: Tue Oct 14, 11am. End: Mon Oct 13, 12pm. Obviously, that date is completely wrong, and Entourage picks that up. But it was Entourage that changed it from what I wanted anyway.

So, I manually fix it. I use the mini pop-up calendar to set the correct date: Wed Oct 15. It chooses Tues Oct 14 again. I click the mini pop-up calendar again; as I do so (ie: as I click my mouse button to bring up the pop-up), Entourage changes the date again to Sun Oct 12.

WTF!?!

There's something seriously, seriously wrong here. But it's only between Weeks 41 and 44.

FWIW, I'm in Australia, in AEST (GMT+10).

 

[tkx]

BTW, just installed 12.1.2 update, and there's no change. Same issue.

Note if you fudge your way through setting the start and end date at a valid time, you can certainly drag the event around to the date/time you really want it. But any time you modify another attribute, eg: invite another user, change the reminder notice, add a note, the date will jump around again. It's like trying to hit a moving target.

 

[Ed Kimball]

BTW, just installed 12.1.2 update, and there's no change. Same issue.

Note if you fudge your way through setting the start and end date at a valid
time, you can certainly drag the event around to the date/time you really want
it. But any time you modify another attribute, eg: invite another user, change
the reminder notice, add a note, the date will jump around again. It's like
trying to hit a moving target.

Sounds like Entourage is confused about daylight saving time and that the
one hour time difference has Entourage confused about when a particular day
starts. What are your time zone settings in Entourage and in System
Preferences?

 

[tkx]

They are all correct; GMT+10 (Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne), auto-detect daylight savings. Entourage's time zone preference (also GMT+10) is for "default time zone for new events", not actually setting what time zone Entourage should be operating in - that obviously is/should be done by the Date/Time SysPref panel.

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

Sounds like Entourage is confused about daylight saving time and that the
one hour time difference has Entourage confused about when a particular day
starts. What are your time zone settings in Entourage and in System
Preferences?

I'm not seeing this in the U.S. so it may be specific to Australia. Do
any other Aussies out there see this problem?

Also, tkx, can you temporarily use Entourage menu --> Switch
Identities..., create a new identity and see if the same problem is
there? This will eliminate Database corruption as the source of the problem.

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
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[hugh Jass]

Not only Entourage, but Outlook as well has some terrible date bugs. Set
re-occuring reminders for birthdays as an all day event. Change time zones.
Change back to your first time zone, and your birthday will span two days.

Enter the reminder, open the reoccuring part, change nothing and close it,
and it reverts to being one day rather than spanning two days.

There are a few bugs like this in Outlook and Entourage.