FB13497472: EKCalendarItem#url returns invalid URLs in some cases
sindresorhus opened this issue · comments
- Date: 2023-12-28
- Resolution: Open
- Area: EventKit
- OS: macOS 14.2
- Type: Incorrect/Unexpected Behavior
Description
The Calendar app allows the user to type in “x.com” (without the scheme) in the URL field of an event. However, “EKCalendarItem#url “ then returns an invalid URL instance, since it’s missing the scheme. I suggest adding a “http://“ scheme if it’s missing. Or at minimum document the fact that “EKCalendarItem#url” can be an invalid URL and that consumers must handle that case.
Apple reply:
If NSURL can represent it, then it’s a valid URL. It's up to the UI client what to do with the URL. Using http:// is not always correct since some calendar clients put a raw telephone number in that field, in which case you would need to use tel: instead.
The calendar app uses Data Detectors to try to guess the right scheme to use when the event doesn’t include one.
My reply:
It’s an invalid URL because it’s parsed into something the user did not intend. When you construct a URL/NSURL instance from ““x.com”, the “x.com” becomes the “path” of the URL, not the “host”. While it’s a valid URL/NSURL instance, it’s not what the user intended and it’s also not a usable URL instance.
To solve your concern with phone numbers, you could have a heuristic that you would only prepend a “http” scheme if the string had a dot “.”, since phone numbers don’t have that.
Behavior like this should be clearly documented, as it’s not obvious.
Apply reply:
Thanks for your input.