Parsing RRULEs within SQL for recurring events

[Joel]

I am using the Scheduler for scheduling upcoming events, some of which could be recurring. I understand that the standard RRULE format is used to denote recurrences, and that 3rd party libraries, like DDay.ical, can be used to expand those events once they're pulled down from the database. However, in the interest of efficiency, I would prefer to be able to return recurring events for a given date range via a SQL query.

The reason for this is that a web API service will be used to return these recurring events, so there should be no reliance on the Scheduler calendar when being consumed by this service. I want to avoid having to retrieve all recurring events, then looping through them, parsing/expanding one-by-one in order to throw out the ones that do not apply.

All said, does anyone have a good method for querying these events, based on their RRULE definitions, within the database? I imagine something like this is going on within the Scheduler components, but I'm not completely sure.

Thanks!

[Joel]

One possibility I've considered is to create records associated with the event in a separate database table on event save. Doesn't seem ideal, but may be the best way to approach this. Thoughts?

[Vladimir Iliev]

Hi Joel,

Currently there is no such build-in way of expanding the recurring events on the SQL server and custom solution would be required. Custom solutions however falls outside the scope of this support service as it hovers the build-in functionality of the controls only. 

Regards,
Vladimir Iliev
Telerik

 

 

[Joel]

Thanks, Vladimir. However, I figure Telerik is doing this parsing behind the scenes. It would be handy if that parsing became available for the general public :)

[Vladimir Iliev]

Hello Joel,

Thank you for your feedback. Also please note that as starting point you can check the following blog post for the RadScheduler, which use the same recurrence rule standard (RFC 5545):

• Working with RadScheduler recurring appointments on SQL server*

Regards,
Vladimir Iliev
Telerik