Pass new line to description field in ics export from sharepoint - sharepoint

Question

I am exporting an ics file from a sharepoint list item using the following format:
http://sharepoint/site/_vti_bin/owssvr.dll?CS=109&Cmd=Display&List=[List GUID]&CacheControl=1&ID=[Item ID]&Using=event.ics
I have a column in my list called description, this gets passed to the generated ics file in the correct place but any \n's seem to get escaped to this \\n which displays as text in the calendar appointment.
I have tried many different options but cannot seem to get this working.
\n gets replaced with \\n
\134n gets replaced with \\n
\\n generates correctly but does not work
\012 seems to break the ics file unless it is followed by a whitespace character, but then it gets unfolded and ignored.
I refuse to believe that this is impossible. Any help will be appreciated and any solution will save me days of frustration.

Answer 1

I do not know how the original data is stored but icalendar spec (RFC5545) specs:
The "TEXT" property values may also contain special characters
that are used to signify delimiters, such as a COMMA character for
lists of values or a SEMICOLON character for structured values.
In order to support the inclusion of these special characters in
"TEXT" property values, they MUST be escaped with a BACKSLASH
character. A BACKSLASH character in a "TEXT" property value MUST
be escaped with another BACKSLASH character. A COMMA character in
a "TEXT" property value MUST be escaped with a BACKSLASH
character. A SEMICOLON character in a "TEXT" property value MUST
be escaped with a BACKSLASH character. However, a COLON character
in a "TEXT" property value SHALL NOT be escaped with a BACKSLASH
character.
Example: A multiple line value of:
Project XYZ Final Review
Conference Room - 3B
Come Prepared.
would be represented as:
Project XYZ Final Review\nConference Room - 3B\nCome Prepared.
So for your export to work you should leave \n as is, replace CRLF by \n and also hope your user has a standard compliant calendar tool.