Org2Ics - Bidirectional Org/iCalendar Converter

A C# console application that provides bidirectional conversion between .org diary files and .ics (iCalendar) format.

Description

This tool converts between .org files containing diary entries and iCalendar (.ics) files. It supports:

Org to ICS: Convert diary entries to all-day calendar events named "Chronolog"
ICS to Org: Convert calendar events back to org diary format with proper date headers

Features

Bidirectional conversion between .org and .ics formats
Auto-detection of input file format based on file extension
Org to ICS conversion:
- Parses .org files with level 3 headings (***) containing dates in YYYY-MM-DD format
- Extracts diary content for each date entry
- Creates all-day events with the title "Chronolog"
- Includes diary content as event descriptions
ICS to Org conversion:
- Parses standard .ics calendar files
- Extracts event dates and descriptions
- Organizes entries by year and month
- Creates proper org-mode structure with level 3 date headers
Proper character escaping for both formats
Round-trip compatibility for seamless conversion between formats

Usage

dotnet run <input.org|input.ics> [output.ics|output.org]

Parameters

input.org|input.ics: Path to the input file (required)
- .org files will be converted to .ics format
- .ics files will be converted to .org format
output.ics|output.org: Path to the output file (optional, auto-determined if not specified)

Examples

# Convert diary.org to diary.ics
dotnet run diary.org

# Convert calendar.ics to calendar.org
dotnet run calendar.ics

# Specify custom output filename
dotnet run diary.org my-calendar.ics
dotnet run calendar.ics my-diary.org

# Round-trip conversion
dotnet run diary.org calendar.ics
dotnet run calendar.ics diary-restored.org

File Format Support

Org File Format (.org → .ics)

The converter expects .org files with the following structure:

* My Diary

** Month Section

*** 2025-01-15

This is the diary content for January 15th, 2025.
It can span multiple lines and paragraphs.

*** 2025-01-16

Another diary entry for the next day.

** Another Section

*** 2025-02-01

February entry content here.

Requirements:

Level 3 headings (starting with ***) must contain dates in YYYY-MM-DD format
Everything after a date heading until the next heading becomes the diary content for that date
Non-date headings are ignored

ICS File Format (.ics → .org)

The converter can parse standard iCalendar files and extracts:

Event dates (both all-day and timed events)
Event descriptions or summaries as diary content
Events are organized chronologically and grouped by month

Supported:

DTSTART;VALUE=DATE: (all-day events)
DTSTART: (timed events - date portion used)
DESCRIPTION: field content
SUMMARY: field content (when no description available)
Proper unescaping of iCalendar text formatting

Output Formats

Generated .ics Files (from .org)

Standard iCalendar format (RFC 5545 compliant)
All-day events spanning from the diary date to the next day
Event title: "Chronolog"
Event description: The diary content for that date
Unique identifiers for each event

Generated .org Files (from .ics)

Proper org-mode structure with hierarchical headings
Level 1: "Diary" (root heading)
Level 2: Month and year groupings (e.g., "January 2025")
Level 3: Individual date entries (e.g., "*** 2025-01-15")
Content: Event descriptions properly formatted for org-mode

Building

dotnet build

Requirements

.NET 8.0 or higher
No additional dependencies required

License

This project is provided as-is for educational and personal use.

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