From 2bec4b84857e114f704141b7f83c5c0e4c7fcec4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: ralph <ralph@noreply.forgejo.mayer.rocks>
Date: Fri, 18 Apr 2025 15:49:19 +0200
Subject: [PATCH] Add future-improvements.md

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+# Future Improvements for Apple Contacts to Remind Exporter
+
+This document lists potential improvements and feature additions for future development of the contacts_to_remind.py script.
+
+## Functionality Improvements
+
+- [ ] **Permission Error Handling**  
+  Improve error handling for cases where users deny access to Contacts, with clear guidance on how to grant permissions.
+
+- [ ] **Multiple Languages Support**  
+  Add a language option (`--lang`) to generate remind files in different languages for message texts.
+
+- [ ] **Customizable Reminder Templates**  
+  Allow users to specify their own templates for reminder messages through a command-line parameter or configuration file.
+
+- [ ] **Configurable Advance Notice Periods**  
+  Support flexible advance notice periods beyond just 7 days (e.g., `--advance 14,7,1` for notifications 14, 7, and 1 day(s) before).
+
+- [ ] **Contact Filtering by Group**  
+  Add filtering capability to export birthdays only from specific contact groups.
+
+- [ ] **Special Milestone Birthday Notifications**  
+  Automatically add special indicators for significant birthdays (18th, 30th, 50th, etc.).
+
+- [ ] **Alternative Export Formats**  
+  Add support for exporting to other calendar formats like iCalendar (.ics) for broader compatibility.
+
+## User Experience Improvements
+
+- [ ] **Interactive Mode**  
+  Add an interactive mode where users can review and edit birthday entries before saving the final file.
+
+- [ ] **Progress Indication**  
+  For large contact databases, show a progress bar or counter.
+
+- [ ] **Configuration File Support**  
+  Create a user configuration file to store default settings rather than hardcoding them.
+
+## Technical Improvements
+
+- [ ] **Proper Logging System**  
+  Implement a structured logging system instead of print statements for better debug capabilities.
+
+- [ ] **Special Character Handling**  
+  Ensure proper handling of umlauts and other special characters in names across different platforms.
+
+- [ ] **Command Aliases**  
+  Add short aliases for common command options.
+
+- [ ] **Unit Tests**  
+  Create comprehensive unit tests to ensure reliability.
+
+- [ ] **Type Hints**  
+  Add Python type hints for better code readability and IDE support.
+
+## Documentation Improvements
+
+- [ ] **More Examples**  
+  Provide more examples of common use cases.
+
+- [ ] **Troubleshooting Guide**  
+  Add a section for common issues and their solutions.
+
+- [ ] **Code Comments**  
+  Improve inline documentation for easier maintenance.
+
+## Integration Possibilities
+
+- [ ] **Automatic Scheduling**  
+  Add instructions or helper script for setting up the tool to run automatically on a schedule.
+
+- [ ] **Integration with CalDAV servers**  
+  Add ability to upload directly to CalDAV servers for broader calendar integration.
+
+- [ ] **Calendar App Integrations**  
+  Create direct export options for popular calendar applications.
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