Converting Remember-the-milk tasks (ICS) to a Todoist template (CSV)

rtm2todoist.py

#!/usr/bin/env python
#
# Converting an ICS file produced by Remember the milk to a CSV file
# that can be read by Todoist.
#
# Bye-bye, remember the milk. Raising the annual price from $25.00 to $39.99,
# while stagnating with the old interface, is the way to lose your loyal pro users.
#
# This script requires icalendar, which can be installed like this:
#
#   pip install icalendar
#
# A great manual on exporting RTM tasks and importing them to Todoist
# can be found here; this script automates the last step ICS-to-CSV:
#
#  http://martin1963projects.blogspot.co.at/2016/03/migrating-tasks-from-rtm-remember-milk.html
#
#
# I debugged the script on 260 of my own RTM tasks, but it is certainly incomplete.
# The recurring tasks may require some attention and manual hacking,
# as Todoist does not support all of the complex repetition rules of RTM.
# RTM notes cannot be imported/exported, they need manual efforts.
#
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
# "THE BEER-WARE LICENSE" (Revision 42.5):
# <konnov@forsyte.at> wrote this file. As long as you retain this notice you
# can do whatever you want with this stuff, including modification.
# If we meet some day, and you think # this stuff is worth it, you can buy me
# a beer in return. Igor Konnov, 2018.
# ----------------------------------------------------------------------------

import csv
from icalendar import Calendar
import re
import sys

# default settings, modify if needed
ENCODING = 'utf-8'
AUTHOR = 'your.username (your.id)'
                 # the author, find out your id by exporting a todoist task to CSV
DATE_LANG = 'en' # the language in which the dates are written
TODOIST_HEADER = ['TYPE', 'CONTENT', 'PRIORITY', 'INDENT', 'AUTHOR',
                  'RESPONSIBLE', 'DATE', 'DATE_LANG', 'TIMEZONE']

WEEKDAY_RULE = re.compile('(?P<signal>[+-]?)(?P<relative>[\d]?)'
                          '(?P<weekday>[\w]{2})$') # the pattern from iCalendar
DATE_RE = re.compile('^(?P<year>[\d]{4})(?P<month>[\d]{2})(?P<day>[\d]{2})$')
DATETIME_RE = re.compile('^(?P<year>[\d]{4})(?P<month>[\d]{2})(?P<day>[\d]{2})'
                         'T(?P<hour>[\d]{2})(?P<min>[\d]{2})(?P<sec>[\d]{2})(Z?)$')

DAY_DICT = { "SU": "sunday", "MO": "monday", "TU": "tuesday",
             "WE": "wednesday", "TH": "thursday", "FR": "friday",
             "SA": "saturday" }

FREQ_DICT = { "SECONDLY": "second", "MINUTELY": "minute", "HOURLY": "hour",
              "DAILY": "day", "WEEKLY": "week", "MONTHLY": "month",
              "YEARLY": "year" }

MONTHS = ["Nullary", "January", "February", "March", "April", "May", "June",
          "July", "August", "September", "October", "November", "December"]


def parse_args():
    argv = sys.argv[1:]
    if len(argv) != 2:
        print "Use: %s in.ics out.csv" % sys.argv[0]
        sys.exit(1)

    return argv


def translate_todo(writer, entry):
    """
    Translate a single VTODO entry to a CSV line.

    Arguments:
    writer -- a CSV writer,
    entry -- an iCalendar entry (an entry different from VTODO is ignored)
    """
    if entry.name == 'VTODO':
        row = {}
        row['TYPE'] = 'task'
        row['CONTENT'] = entry['summary']
        row['AUTHOR'] = AUTHOR
        row['RESPONSIBLE'] = ''
        row['PRIORITY'] = entry['priority'] if 'priority' in entry else "4"
        row['INDENT'] = "1"
        row['DATE'] = ''
        row['DATE_LANG'] = DATE_LANG
        row['TIMEZONE'] = convert_tz(entry['due']) if 'due' in entry else ''
        if 'due' in entry:
            due_date = convert_due(entry['due'])
            if 'rrule' in entry:
                recur = convert_recurrence(entry['summary'], entry['rrule'])
                due_date = "%s starting %s" % (recur, due_date)

            row['DATE'] = due_date

        writer.writerow(row)
        return 1
    else:
        return 0


def convert_tz(due):
    p = due.params
    return p['TZID'] if 'TZID' in due.params else ''


def convert_due(due):
    """
    Convert a due date.
    """
    dts = due.to_ical()
    dtm = DATETIME_RE.match(dts)
    dm = DATE_RE.match(dts)
    if dtm:
        # If there is a date and time.
        # The trick is that Todoist only parses human-readable dates.
        d = dtm.groupdict()
        year, month, day = d['year'], d['month'], d['day']
        hour, minute = d['hour'], d['min']
        return "%d %s %d at %s:%s" \
                % (int(day), MONTHS[int(month)], int(year), hour, minute)
    elif dm:
        # If there is a date only. A machine-readable date would also work,
        # but we make a human-readable one here as well.
        d = dm.groupdict()
        year, month, day = d['year'], d['month'], d['day']
        return "%d %s %d" % (int(day), MONTHS[int(month)], int(year))
    else:
        # Fall back to the original date
        return dts


def convert_recurrence(content, rr):
    """
    Convert a recurrence rule in the todoist format.
    As todoist's language is limited, this translation is incomplete.
    """
    if 'freq' not in rr or len(rr['freq']) != 1:
        # too many frequencies
        print 'Cannot parse recurrence rule: %s' % rr.to_ical()
        print 'In todo: %s' % content
        return ""

    freq = FREQ_DICT[rr['freq'][0]]
    if 'interval' in rr:
        # how often the repetition occurs
        interval = rr['interval'][0] # more than one interval?
        if 'byday' in rr: # on which days
            return "every " + convert_by_day(rr, content, freq, interval)
        else:
            return "every %d %s%s" % (interval, freq, ("s" if interval > 1 else ""))
    else:
        return "every " + freq


def convert_by_day(rr, content, freq, interval):
    """
    Convert a BYDAY rule that can appear in monthly and yearly
    recurrence rules. The translation cannot be done precisely as Todoist
    does not seem to support rules like 'every 2 months on the last Sunday'.
    """
    # FREQ=WEEKLY;WKST=MO;INTERVAL=1;BYDAY=SU
    # FREQ=MONTHLY;WKST=SU;INTERVAL=3;BYDAY=2SA
    if freq == 'week':
        return ",".join([DAY_DICT[d] for d in rr['byday']])
    elif freq == 'month':
        days = []
        for dd in rr['byday']:
            # iCalendar has already parsed the day spec, so it should work
            match = WEEKDAY_RULE.match(dd).groupdict()
            signal = match['signal'] if match['signal'] else '+'
            weekday = match['weekday']
            relative_str = match['relative']
            assert(relative_str) # it should be like that with MONTHLY
            relative = int(relative_str) if signal == '+' else -int(relative_str)

            if relative > 0 and interval == 1:
                days.append(DAY_DICT[weekday])
            elif relative == -1 and interval == 1:
                days.append("last " + DAY_DICT[weekday])
            else:
                print "Not supported by todoist: %s" % rr.to_ical()
                print 'In todo: %s' % content
                if relative < 0:
                    count = interval * 4 + relative
                else:
                    count = (interval - 1) * 4 + relative

                text = "%d %s" % (count, DAY_DICT[weekday])
                print 'Approximated as: %s' % text
                days.append(text)

        return ",".join(days)
    else:
        print "Not supported by todoist: %s" % rr.to_ical()
        print 'In todo: %s' % content
        print 'IGNORED'
        return ""


# main
if __name__ == "__main__":
    iname, oname = parse_args()
    with open(iname, 'r') as inf:
        cal = Calendar().from_ical(inf.read().decode(ENCODING), multiple=False)
        prodid = cal['PRODID']
        print 'Imported calendar by %s' % prodid
        if prodid.find('Remember The Milk') < 0:
            print 'WARNING: this calendar appears not to be exported by RTM'

        with open(oname, 'wb') as csvf:
            csvwriter = csv.DictWriter(csvf, delimiter=',', fieldnames=TODOIST_HEADER)
            csvwriter.writeheader()
            ntodos = 0
            for ev in cal.subcomponents:
                ntodos += translate_todo(csvwriter, ev)
            
            print ''
            print 'Converted %d todo entries.' % ntodos
            print ''
            print 'Import %s as a template in Todoist inbox and'\
                ' assign the projects.' % oname
            print 'The notes cannot be converted automatically. Copy them manually.'
            print ''

Hello, Mr. Konnov --
Thank you for creating rtm2todoist.py! I’m trying to use it using Python 3.9.1, but I am getting this error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "~/rtm2todoist.py", line 208, in <module>
    cal = Calendar().from_ical(inf.read().decode(ENCODING), multiple=False)
AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'decode'

If you could provide any help, I’d be most grateful.

Again, thank you for creating and sharing this script.

Cheers!
Andrew

Also, I'm new to python. Initially, I received errors on all the print statements:

  File "~/rtm2todoist.py", line 227
    print "Use: %s in.ics out.csv" % sys.argv[0]
          ^
SyntaxError: Missing parentheses in call to 'print'. Did you mean print("Use: %s in.ics out.csv" % sys.argv[0])?

So, to get the script running, I surrounded the arguments of the print statements with a set of parenthesis (). I'm assuming this represents a change in the python syntax?

Again -- thank you for your time!

Hi Andrew,

I believe this script was written in python2, as it does not require parentheses for print. I guess you should try it with python2 first and see, whether it works for you.

Cheers,
Igor

Thank you! I’ll give it a try! Andrew O'Dell AndrewOfTheForest@gmail.com

…

On Feb 13, 2021, at 3:01 PM, Igor Konnov ***@***.***> wrote: ***@***.*** commented on this gist. Hi Andrew, I believe this script was written in python2, as it does not require parentheses for print. I guess you should try it with python2 first and see, whether it works for you. Cheers, Igor — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.