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Convert .pdf to .ics


rostoics_mainThis tool converts NetLine/Crew CrewLink roster .pdf files into .ics calendar files.

CHECK ALL EVENTS FOR CORRECTNESS !!!

Please read these Instructions carefully prior using this tool !!!

 

 

Usage
=====
1a. Download your roster using your company's web interface (NetLine/Crew CrewLink).
1b. Download your roster using the CrewLink App.
2. Save the roster locally as .pdf file.
3. Go to Convert .pdf to .ics.
4. Press Browse... button and select the just downloaded .pdf file.
5. Press Upload roster (.pdf file). Roster is then processed by rostoics tool.
6. Press Download roster (.ics file) and save that file locally.
7. Import the .ics file into your calendar using your preferred gateway.


Select roster (.pdf file) to be uploaded:

(wait 5-10 seconds for roster processing to finish)



Contact

Feedback and Bug Reports can be sent to rosterx@geohei.lu or use contact form below.


Check-in events

The Settings Tab offers two switches which control Check-in events.

  1. Add check-in events
    If enabled, a check-in event is prepended to all events type FLIGHT. The Location property is set to the airport of departure. An alert is set for Time to Leave. It’s duration considers actual traffic situation at that time, and can vary therefore. This alert triggers two reminders. The first one goes off 16 minutes prior the Time to Leave, and the second one 3 minutes prior.
    Example: If the check-in event starts 11:00 and travel time is 30 minutes, the first reminder fires at 10:14 (11:00 -30 – 16) while the second one fires at 10:27 (11:00 – 30 – 3).

    screenshots

  2. Add alert to check-in events
    If enabled, an additional fix duration alert of 60 minutes is added to the check-in event. This triggers an additional reminder to get ready. Taken above example, this reminder would fire at 10:00.

    screenshots


Notifications

Be advised about the following terminology used on this page.

  • By Notifications, iOS notifications are meant. They appear on the Lock Screen and Notification Centre of your Apple device.
  • A CrewLink notification is a pending (waiting for confirmation) CrewLink roster change issued by the Airline.

Notifications are sent for:

  1. Pending CrewLink notifications
  2. CrewLink validity end date changes

Both actions above are called Server check. The Server check always does both actions together in that order, and in one go. It checks for any pending CrewLink notifications and for a CrewLink validity end date change.

When does a Server check trigger?

  1. Automatic : Rostoics uses the iOS background fetch (BF) framework, which is active when the App is in background (= App is still running but not in foreground). To avoid hammering the servers, Server checks are spaced by at least 15 minutes (as of this writing – hardcoded, might change in the future). This doesn’t mean that BF fires every 15 minutes. The spacing could be hours, depending on battery life, user’s habits regarding his device and/or this App, the time of the day, network quality, … Basically, BF is a blackbox. Apple doesn’t reveal details when exactly it triggers. BF tries to optimize in terms of battery life and users need/wish to have updated information available when requested (some kind of simple artificial intelligence).
  2. Manual – App suspended : Because of the somewhat random behavior of BF, a Server check also fires when the App is starting up from suspended mode (= when the App doesn’t run in background, = the App was suspended (e.g. by App Switcher)).
  3. Manual – App in foreground : On top, notifications can also be forced while the App is running in foreground by using the Pull-to-refresh feature from the Info Tab.

Info Tab shows details about the Server checks:
Last notif. check : when (date & time) the last Server check took place
CrewLink validity end date : last date roster can be downloaded

Badge icons are used to show the user on the Home screen if there are any notifications. 1 can either be a pending CrewLink notification or a change in CrewLink validity end date. Check the Notification Centre which one fired. 2 means both were triggered. They appear the as grouped notifications in the Notification Centre.

When are badge icons reset?

  1. Pending Crewlink notifications:
    • when confirmed
    • anytime automatic or manual Server checks don’t find a pending CrewLink notification (anymore)
    • when Reset settings (Settings Tab) is used
  2. CrewLink validity end date changes:
    • after a successful download of a roster, using the CrewLink validity End date is used as End date

News & Updates

News & Updates
==============

21.06.2020: Rostoics 1.6-36 released (App Store)
            Dark Mode is now available and can be enabled by App, or by System settings.
            Added support for Corendon Dutch Airlines (CD/CND). Stability was further
            improved and code was optimized in order to enhance user interface experience.
      new : added Airline - Corendon Dutch Airlines (CD/CND)
      new : [ Settings ] added Enable Dark Mode switch
   change : [ Roster ] Roster tab active only if roster was previously downloaded
   change : [ Settings ] Changed color of enabled switches
      fix : many fixes and improvements

10.06.2020: Rostoics 1.5.1-34 released (App Store)
            Stability was further improved, making Rostoics even more useful and user
            friendly. Code was optimized in order to enhance user interface response
            experience. Now, Generate calendar events gives the user the option to
            replace any existing Rostoics event for the given period and chosen
            calendar. This avoids cluttering the calendar with obsolete outdated events.
            This feature makes sure you always have the most recent events in your
            calendar.
      new : [ Settings ] Replace existing calendar events added
   change : [ Manage ] Generate calendar events code improved
   change : [ Manage ] [ Info ] change from continuously turning to remaining time progress indicator
      fix : [ Roster ] correct presentation of CrewLink notification
      fix : reduce badge number by one after successful CrewLink notification confirmation

02.08.2019 : Rostoics 1.0.0-5 released (App Store)
      code : Manage tab
             Start date / End date order algorithm changed.
      code : Manage tab
             rostoics (DH) server basename format including version & build.
             (e.g. 1564685846623_iOS-0-0.4-4.pdf)
      code : TLCs tab
             TLC background download (if required) and local storage.
      code : TLCs tab
             TLC view reloaded if changing connectivity from offline to online.
             real-time update if data becomes available.

29.07.2019 : Rostoics 0.0.3-3 released (beta testers only)
       fix : Manage tab
             'Generate calendar events' button bug w/ partial import.
       fix : Settings tab > Misc section > About
             text ident formatting corrected.
    change : Settings tab > Privacy section >
             'Show own details in TLC list' radio button removed.
       add : Manage tab
             'Download today's roster' button added.

24.07.2019 : Rostoics 0.0.2-2 released (beta testers only)
       fix : Manage tab
             'Generate calendar events' code now shows proper SVProgressHUDs.
       add : statusOnline code implemented using delegates.
       add : TLCs tab
             enable/disable implemented as per statusOnline.
       add : Info tab
             'User authenticated' implemented.
      code : skipped TLCs implemented.

02.07.2019 : Rostoics 0.0.1-1 released (beta testers only)
             first release.

rsync backup from Ubuntu server to Synology NAS

This tutorial describes how to do scripted passwordless encrypted automatic rsync backups from an Ubuntu server to a Synology NAS. It is supposed to be a general guide, which can be used with other Linux variants as well. Only minor changes should be required.

I did this first of all in order to help other Synology NAS users perform efficient and secure backups to their NAS, but also to get get my scratch pad like personal installation notes in a more reasonable shape, so I can recall later on myself what I did, how, and why.


Synology NAS shell – Basics

synology_dsmThe following article describes some basics regarding first contact with Synology DSM shell.

I used DSM 6.1.3 out of the box, running in a Virtual machine (using Virtual Machine Manager) on DS1817+ hardware.


Null client Postfix setup


The following setup describes a postix setup to send e-mails using an existing SMTP server. It is not designed to receive e-mails. My provider is DreamHost, but setup should be very similar with other hosters. I used a VM with the Ubuntu Server 16.04.1 out of the box installtion (ubuntu-16.04.1-server-amd64). This VM has no real FQDN, hence an imaginary needs to be configured in order to make the SMPT server accept sent e-mails.


Video tutorials

Below you see a QAD (quick and dirty) screenshot video tuorial which shows how to convert a roster using the www method. Screenshots taken on iPhone 6S (iOS 11.2.6). rostics 1.0.18-PL2 was used.


DNS Stock update script

dnsstock_update_screenshotThis script updates the DNS records of DNS Stock.

It generates an URL http://dyndns.dns-stock.com/?hostname=<domain>&username=<username>&password=<pass>&myip=<ipaddr>, which is eventually passed to the DNS Stock server. The code is basically about parsing, validating, checking and formatting the returned WAN IP <ipaddr>. Two URLs are configured to check WAN IP. If the first one returns an error, the second one is queried. If that one fails as well, the script abandons. The logfile dnsstock_update.log reveals relevant details about what happened.

Configured passwords can either be plain text (depreciated) or MD5 crypted (preferred), as visible on DNS Stock site. The DNS Stock server accepts both formats.

Code and logfile entries should be self-explanatory.

Download: dnsstock_update.sh

Comments are desired.

Thanks,