3741560 - .ICS files of both Registration/Enrollment and VLE notifications have the same UID

When a user is enrolled into a VLS class, they receive 2 notifications, one related to the enrollment, another one related to the VLS event. Each notification has an ICS attachment. Users are no longer able to save both ICSs to their Outlook. They save the first one, but when the second one is opened, the version added to the Outlook Calendar is replaced to the most recent opened (second) ICS.

SAP SuccessFactors Learning

Before performing the steps, make sure that the Global Application Settings > Mail tab is set as mentioned below:

*Settings listed here are the only ones enabled under Mail tab. No other setting is enabled.

• Enable email
• Use Application Admin's email address for VLE email notifications
• Enable Vcalendar attachments
• Enable Email Archiving

After making these configurations, proceed with the replication steps.

1. Schedule a class from an ILT course.
2. Set a Teams VLS server.
3. Add the existing instructor to the class.
4. Finish the class creation.
5. Once created, enroll your test user (need to have your email address).
6. Make sure the "User" checkbox is selected at the Enrollment Popover.
7. Finish the enrollment and wait for the emails.
8. When they are delivered, open one of the ICSs found in the emails received.
9. "Accept" it.
10. Now, select the other notification received.
11. Open the ICS attachment.
12. It won't allow you to add this one as a new event in Outlook. Instead, it replaces/updates the current event.

This is because both the VLS enrollment notification and the registration notification are generated for the same schedule segment, and the UID in the ICS attachment is derived from the segment's unique identifier (PA_SCH_SEG.UID - Class segment table). Since both notifications reference the same underlying segment, they produce identical UIDs. 

Why This Behaves as Observed:

Per the iCalendar standard (RFC 5545), the UID property is how calendar clients identify and track a specific event. When Outlook encounters a second ICS file with the same UID, it does not create a new event — it treats it as an update to the existing one. This is by design in the iCalendar specification and is consistent with the Outlook behavior documented in the Microsoft reference you cited.
In other words, the two notifications serve different informational purposes (enrollment confirmation vs. VLS event details), but from a calendar perspective, they represent the same scheduled event — the same class, same segment, same time slot. Generating two separate calendar entries for the same segment would result in duplicate events on the user's calendar, which would be misleading.

Expected Behavior:

This is working as designed. The intended workflow is:
The user receives two email notifications, each with its own content relevant to the context (enrollment confirmation and VLS event details).
Both ICS attachments represent the same calendar event. The user only needs to accept one of them to add the event to their calendar.
Opening the second ICS updates the existing calendar entry rather than creating a duplicate, which is the correct behavior per the iCalendar standard.

Recommendation:

Users should accept the first ICS attachment they open. The second ICS, if opened, will simply refresh the same calendar event. No calendar data is lost, and the event details (time, meeting link, description) remain intact. Both emails should still be reviewed for their respective informational content, but only one calendar acceptance is needed.
Please let us know if you have any further questions or concerns.

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