Can't create reservation when event already exists

I really don't want to get into a conversation about the usage of reservations vs. events so lets try not to take this topic in that direction. That said...

Our stake center gets a fair amount of use and has multiple assigned units. We've had trouble recently with people creating events on nights their not suposed to (the other wards night). We used to have a reservation setup so that different units could use the same building on different nights. That recurring reservation apparently expired at the end of the year and we're just not noticing it (oops).

Now I'm trying to go in and add in the reservation setup we used to have, but it's not taking accepting the recurring reservations. It seems that if there is an existing event already scheduled for the same night that "conflicts" with the reservation for the other ward it will not save the recurring reservation. This seems odd to me because I know the opposite is possible. (having the building scheduler or administrator save an event over top of a reservation that wouldn't normally be allowed).

Is this expected behavior? Is this a bug? I don't really want to have to find every single "conflicting" event and alter in so that I can save my recurring reservation.

chris.m.cook wrote:It seems that if there is an existing event already scheduled for the same night that "conflicts" with the reservation for the other ward it will not save the recurring reservation.

Normally a reservation should be able to be created even when there is an event for another unit scheduled during the reservation time. But there have been issues in the past creating recurring reservations even when there is no conflicting event.

Have you tried to create a single reservation, save it, then edit it to make it a recurring reservation? If that fails then there is a system bug.

jdlessley wrote:Have you tried to create a single reservation, save it, then edit it to make it a recurring reservation? If that fails then there is a system bug.

I have been able to create a single reservation and save it, but trying to add the recurring portion doesn't work. I also noticed that I can only create the single reservation on a day that has no conflicting events. If I try to create a single reservation on a day with a conflicting event it won't save either. The dial spins after clicking "Reserve" but after awhile it disappears and nothing happens.

Sounds like a bug. I wonder when that started? We haven't had a update for awhile.

I'm glad, but not happy, that it sounds like a bug. I've confirmed the same behavior on multiple OS and browser combinations. (MacOS, WinXP, Win7, Chrome, IE, Firefox, Safari) They all produce the same results.

As to when it started, no clue. We just happened to notice this because we hadn't paid enough attention to realize our previous recurring reservation (which can only be 2 years long... grumble) had ended. Anyone else reading this post having similar issues and/or have any idea when it started?

Not sure if this helps, but I went over to the beta calendar and it seems to exhibit the same behavior.

chris.m.cook wrote:Anyone else reading this post having similar issues and/or have any idea when it started?

I just ran through this scenario and had no problems. Just to be clear, here's what I did:

1. We have a recurring event that uses the cultural hall in the stake center every Tuesday and Friday 9-noon.
2. I added a reservation 10-11am using the cultural hall on March 5 (a Tuesday) and saved it. No problem.
3. I edited that reservation to make it a repeating reservation, Weekly every Tuesday and Friday, 6 occurrences. Saved. No problem.
4. I deleted that reservation.
5. I created a repeating reservation from scratch for 10-11am using the cultural hall starting March 5 and repeating Weekly every Tuesday and Friday, 6 occurrences. Saved. No problem.

So whatever you're experiencing does not sound like a universal problem. It may have something to do with your data (either some slight corruption in your unit's database, or a particular combination of factors that don't exist in my scenario), or perhaps the time when you are doing your work (but given the number of times you've tried this, that seems unlikely).

aebrown wrote:

1. We have a recurring event that uses the cultural hall in the stake center every Tuesday and Friday 9-noon.
2. I added a reservation 10-11am using the cultural hall on March 5 (a Tuesday) and saved it. No problem.
3. I edited that reservation to make it a repeating reservation, Weekly every Tuesday and Friday, 6 occurrences. Saved. No problem.

Was the reservation for a unit that is different than the unit that scheduled the recurring event? i.e If the event that uses the cultural hall is on a calendar managed/in "Alpha" Ward did you create the reservation so that only "Beta" Ward would be able to schedule the same location?

That's the problem I'm having. I can create reservations on top of existing events, but only if the existing event "matches" the new reservation.

chris.m.cook wrote:Was the reservation for a unit that is different than the unit that scheduled the recurring event? i.e If the event that uses the cultural hall is on a calendar managed/in "Alpha" Ward did you create the reservation so that only "Beta" Ward would be able to schedule the same location?

Good point. I should have mentioned that. The existing event in the scenario I tested was for the stake, and I added a reservation for one of the wards. So they are different units.

There was similar issue back in Aug of last year posted here and later here. I think some of the comments indicated that the bug was logged and may be fix in some future release, but nothing firm. It would appear due to the lack of interactions here on the forum that the church developers are not making any enhancements to the current version for whatever reason. Maybe I am interpreting that wrong. I have pretty much resigned to living with the limitations and doing my best to make due.

dshepher wrote:It would appear due to the lack of interactions here on the forum that the church developers are not making any enhancements to the current version for whatever reason.

They're probably working on other assignments right now.

dshepher wrote:There was similar issue back in Aug of last year posted here and later here.

Similar, but not relevant to this topic. Both links you provide deal exclusively with Blocked reservations. This topic deals specifically with reservations assigned to a unit.

As far as I can tell, I am the only one who has tried to reproduce the problem reported in this topic, and was unable to. So I have to think it is data related, not a general bug.

dshepher wrote:There was similar issue back in Aug of last year posted here and later here.

I took a look at the thread, but couldn't tell if you were able to successfully "work around" the problem. Were you able to get it to work? If so, How? I haven't been able to get anything to work.

aebrown wrote:So whatever you're experiencing does not sound like a universal problem. It may have something to do with your data (either some slight corruption in your unit's database, or a particular combination of factors that don't exist in my scenario),...

How would I go about slightly uncorrupting my unit's database? It seems like at least one other user was experiencing the exact same problem. This is making our stake building coordinator's calling much more time consuming than it needs to be. Could it be user specific and not unit specific?

chris.m.cook wrote: I took a look at the thread, but couldn't tell if you were able to successfully "work around" the problem. Were you able to get it to work? If so, How? I haven't been able to get anything to work.

Sorry...for the lack of explanation. Workaround was to manually find the conflicts for the ward reservation and add them individually. Luckily we only have a few reservations for each location, but it was a pain.

aebrown wrote: Similar, but not relevant to this topic. Both links you provide deal exclusively with Blocked reservations. This topic deals specifically with reservations assigned to a unit.

I have experienced the same behavior on unit reservations. But your are correct, those posts did deal with blocks. My apologies potentially leading off topic. I was honestly trying to help.

aebrown wrote: As far as I can tell, I am the only one who has tried to reproduce the problem reported in this topic, and was unable to. So I have to think it is data related, not a general bug.

I also tested this and newly created reservations don't cause an issue as aebrown confirmed. I did find that when I tried to extend some long standing unit reservations that have been around for a couple revisions of the calendar, I did run into the eternal spinner. That said, it wasn't consistent. So I think aebrown is correct in his conclusion that it is an isolated data problem that isn't pervasive. I would be curious if your issue was on newer reservations or if you were extending/modifying older existing reservations that may have underwent some "migrations". If it occurred on new ones...you got me.

dshepher wrote:

aebrown wrote: Similar, but not relevant to this topic. Both links you provide deal exclusively with Blocked reservations. This topic deals specifically with reservations assigned to a unit.

I have experienced the same behavior on unit reservations. But your are correct, those posts did deal with blocks. My apologies potentially leading off topic. I was honestly trying to help.

No apology necessary; your posts are very helpful. Even the links that might not be entirely relevant might have some tidbits of information that could be helpful. I've been in situations like chris.m.cook is, and in mild desperation you're happy to have any information that might provide a key to a solution.

dshepher wrote:Workaround was to manually find the conflicts for the ward reservation and add them individually. Luckily we only have a few reservations for each location, but it was a pain.

That is indeed one option. For the case where an existing reservation is causing a problem when you try to edit its repeating rules, another possible workaround is to delete that reservation and start over, or to create a new reservation that covers the new dates and leave the existing reservation in place.

aebrown wrote:As far as I can tell, I am the only one who has tried to reproduce the problem reported in this topic, and was unable to.

I tried, but couldn't duplicate it either. I tried to do it with an event that was schedule by another ward so I wouldn't have rights to the calendar. I tried both a standard room and a custom room. I think I even tried "all day" reservation, but didn't try it against a all day event.

So it's either data or some other combination we're not detecting.