Add dummy event for sync frequency

hknweb/events/models/ical_view.py

@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
+import random
 import uuid
+from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 
 import icalendar
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.db import models
 from django.urls import reverse
 
+from hknweb.events.models import Event
 from hknweb.events.utils import get_events
 
 
@@ -31,4 +34,30 @@ def to_ical_obj(self):
         for event in events:
             cal.add_component(event.to_ical_obj())
 
+        cal.add_component(self.dummy_event())
         return cal
+
+    def dummy_event(self):
+        # Google Calendar doesn't let you configure how often to sync iCal feeds
+        # like Apple's Calendar app does. They say this can take up to 24 hours.
+
+        # According to https://webapps.stackexchange.com/a/66686, they probably
+        # look at how often the iCal feed itself changes and syncs more or less
+        # frequently based on that.
+
+        # So we add a dummy event in the far future that's randomized every time
+        # the feed is requested in hopes of making Google Calendar sync faster.
+
+        dt = datetime(3000, 1, 1) + timedelta(days=random.randrange(365))
+
+        event = icalendar.Event()
+        event.add("uid", "dummy")
+        event.add("summary", "Dummy Event")
+        event.add(
+            "description",
+            "Randomized dummy event to make Google Calendar sync faster",
+        )
+        event.add("dtstart", dt)
+        event.add("dtend", dt)
+        event.add("dtstamp", dt)
+        return event