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ical.1
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1994-09-27
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ICAL(1) USER COMMANDS October 27, 1993
NAME
ical - X based calendar program
DESCRIPTION
_I_c_a_l provides an X interface for maintaining a calendar. A
calendar is basically just a set of items. An item is either
an appointment, or a notice. An appointment starts at a par-
ticular time of the day, and finishes at a particular time
of the day. A notice does not have any starting or ending
time. Notices are useful for marking certain days as spe-
cial. For example, a calendar may contain a notice for April
15th indicating that taxes are due. When the documentation
below refers to an _i_t_e_m, it applies both to notices and
appointments. The main features of _i_c_a_l are:
* Items can be created edited and deleted easily.
* Items can be cut, copied and pasted.
* Items can be made to repeat in various ways.
* _I_c_a_l will post reminders for upcoming appointments.
* _I_c_a_l can print and list item occurrences.
* An _i_c_a_l calendar can include other calendars.
* _I_c_a_l calendars can be shared by different users.
GENERAL OPTIONS
You can specify various command line options to control
_i_c_a_l. The following general options can be used even when
you are not logged in on an X display.
-calendar _f_i_l_e-_n_a_m_e
The calendar is read from the specified file. See the
section ``CALENDAR FILE'' for more information.
-list
Print a listing of today's items and exit immediately.
See the section ``LISTING ITEMS'' for details on the
actual items printed by this option.
-show +_d_a_y_s
Print a listing for items in the range
[ today ... today + _d_a_y_s - 1 ] and exit immediately.
See the section ``LISTING ITEMS'' for details on the
actual items printed by this option.
X OPTIONS
The following options are valid only if you are logged in on
an X display.
-iconic
Start up with the main window iconified.
-popup
Popup a window containing a listing of today's items
and exit as soon as the window is dismissed. See the
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section ``LISTING ITEMS'' for details on the actual
items printed by this option.
-mono
Do not use colors even if the display supports them.
-geometry _g_e_o_m_e_t_r_y
Use _g_e_o_m_e_t_r_y as the geometry for the main window.
-fg _c_o_l_o_r
Use _c_o_l_o_r as the foreground for all windows.
-bg _c_o_l_o_r
Use _c_o_l_o_r as the background for all windows.
-display _d_i_s_p_l_a_y
Run _i_c_a_l on the specified X display.
CALENDAR FILE
A calendar is stored in a calendar file. The default calen-
dar file is named ``.calendar'' and is kept in the user's
home directory. If the ``CALENDAR'' environment variable is
set, its value is used as the name of the calendar file. The
``CALENDAR'' environment variable and the default can both
be overridden by specifying a file name on the command line
- ``ical -calendar _f_i_l_e-_n_a_m_e''. _I_c_a_l periodically saves any
modifications made to a calendar to the corresponding calen-
dar file. Changes can be explicitly saved to the calendar
file by selecting the _S_a_v_e entry from the _F_i_l_e menu. You
can discard any un-saved changes made to the calendar by
selecting the _R_e-_R_e_a_d entry from the _F_i_l_e menu. The _R_e-_R_e_a_d
entry is also useful for incorporating changes made to a
shared calendar by other users. The _E_x_i_t entry in the _F_i_l_e
menu saves any changes and then kills the calendar program.
WINDOWS
The main calendar window displays the appointments and
notices for a particular date. The top left portion of the
window contains a date selector. You can click on the vari-
ous arrows to change the month or the year. The day of the
month can be selected by clicking on the appropriate day in
the month display. The date selector contains various other
buttons for convenient date selection. The bottom left por-
tion of the window contains the notices for the selected
date. You can scroll this region by using the scroll bar.
The right portion of the window contains the appointments
for the selected day. You can scroll this region by using
the scroll bar, or by dragging with the middle mouse button
in the background. A menubar runs along the top of the
calendar window. The _F_i_l_e menu allows you to create and
destroy application windows.
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New Window
Opens a new calendar window. This new window can be
used to view the items for a different date than the
original window.
Close Window
Closes the selected window.
The bottom portion of the window contains a status line.
This status line indicates the calendar from which the
selected item comes and whether or not the selected item
repeats.
NOTICES
You can enter notices by clicking in the background in the
bottom-left portion of the main calendar window. This click
will create a new notice for the selected date. You can
enter text into the notice by typing into it while it is
selected (selected notices are highlighted by being
displayed in different colors). A notice can be selected
for editing by clicking with left button.
APPOINTMENTS
You can enter appointments by left-clicking in the back-
ground in the right portion of the main calendar window.
This click will create a new appointment for the selected
date. The start time for this appointment is determined by
the click location. You can move the appointment by dragging
it with the middle mouse button held down. The appointment
can be resized by dragging with the right mouse button held
down. Appointment text can be edited by typing into the
appointment window while it is selected. If the appointment
text you are typing in does not fit into the appointment
area, then it will overflow out of the appointment area, but
will be editable normally. If you do not like overflowing
text, you should turn off the _A_l_l_o_w _T_e_x_t _O_v_e_r_f_l_o_w option in
the _O_p_t_i_o_n_s menu. With this option turned off, if the
current text completely fills the area allocated to the
appointment, then any attempts to add to the appointment
text will be ignored until the appointment is enlarged with
the right mouse button. Likewise, the right mouse button
will refuse to shrink an appointment window if the appoint-
ment text completely fills the appointment window.
ALARMS
_I_c_a_l generates alarms for appointments. By default, the
first alarm is generated fifteen minutes before the appoint-
ment is supposed to start and successive alarms are gen-
erated every five minutes until the appointment actually
starts. You can change this default behavior by selecting
the _D_e_f_a_u_l_t _A_l_a_r_m_s entry from the _O_p_t_i_o_n menu. You can also
change the timings of these alarms on an appointment-by-
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appointment basis by selecting an appointment and then
selecting the _C_h_a_n_g_e _A_l_a_r_m_s entry in the _E_d_i_t menu.
REPEATING ITEMS
Items can be made to repeat in various ways. Item repetition
can be controlled by using the entries in the _R_e_p_e_a_t menu.
These entries make the item repeat in certain frequently
used ways. For example, the _M_o_n_t_h_l_y entry makes the selected
item repeat once per month. In addition to making an item
repeat in one of the pre-defined ways, you can also restrict
an item's starting and finishing date by selecting the _M_a_k_e
_F_i_r_s_t _D_a_t_e or the _M_a_k_e _L_a_s_t _D_a_t_e entry from the _R_e_p_e_a_t menu.
Normally, a modication to a repeating item applies to all
occurrences of that item. A single occurrence of a repeating
item can be modified by selecting the occurrence and then
choosing the _M_a_k_e _U_n_i_q_u_e entry from the _E_d_i_t menu. The
selected occurrence can now be modified independently of the
repeating item.
X SELECTION
Dragging with the left mouse button in a selected appoint-
ment or notice sets the X selection. You can use the _I_n_s_e_r_t
_S_e_l_e_c_t_i_o_n entry in the _E_d_i_t menu to insert the current X
selection into a selected item. You can use the _I_m_p_o_r_t
_S_e_l_e_c_t_i_o_n entry in the edit menu to insert the current X
selection as a new item. _I_c_a_l guesses the date and time for
the new item from the contents of the selection.
CLIPBOARD
The application has a clipboard that can store a single
item. The _C_o_p_y entry in the _E_d_i_t menu copies the selected
item into the clipboard. The _C_u_t entry does the same, but
it also deletes the item from the calendar. If the selected
item repeats, then the _C_u_t command allows the user to delete
all occurrences of the item, or just the selected
occurrence. However, if the selected item does not belong
to you, then _C_u_t just hides the item from you. Other people
will still see the item. An item in the clipboard can be
inserted into the current day by selecting _P_a_s_t_e from the
_E_d_i_t menu. The newly pasted item loses all repetition infor-
mation, and occurs just on the day in which it was pasted.
HIGHLIGHTING ITEMS
By default, if any item occurs on a date, then the date is
highlighted in the date selector located in the top-left
corner of the calendar window. You can use the _H_i_g_h_h_l_i_g_h_t
sub-menu in the _E_d_i_t menu to control this highlighting
behavior on an item-by-item basis.
Always
The item always causes the corresponding date to be
highlighted. This is the default behavior.
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Until Occurrence
The item causes the corresponding date to be
highlighted if and only if the date is not in the past.
Never
The item never causes the corresponding date to be
highlighted.
As Holiday
The item causes the corresponding date to be
highlighted as a holiday.
LISTING ITEMS
You can generate listings of imminent items by selecting one
of the listing options in the _L_i_s_t menu. You can also use
the command line options -list, -show, or -popup to generate
item listings. The command line options are most useful in
``.login'' files. By default an item is included in a list-
ing for a particular date if it occurs either on that date,
or on the very next day. Sometimes, you want to include an
item in listings for earlier dates. For example, if you have
an item reminding you of a birthday on March 17th, you might
want this item to be included in all listings from March 7th
to March 17th so that you will have enough time to go out
and buy a present. You can achieve this effect by selecting
the _T_e_n _D_a_y_s _E_a_r_l_y option from the _L_i_s_t _I_t_e_m entry in the
_E_d_i_t menu. Note that this will only change the listing
behavior for the selected item. You can make this change
for all items you create from now on by using the _D_e_f_a_u_l_t
_L_i_s_t_i_n_g_s entry in the _O_p_t_i_o_n_s menu. The _A _D_a_y _E_a_r_l_y entry
restores the default behavior. The _O_n _O_c_c_u_r_e_n_c_e entry marks
the item so that it is only included in the listing for a
particular date if it occurs on that date.
PRINTING
Calendar contents can be printed by selecting the _P_r_i_n_t
option from the _F_i_l_e menu. The user has the option of sav-
ing the print-out to a file, previewing the print-out by
specifying a PostScript displaying program, or sending the
print-out directly to a PostScript printer.
INCLUDING CALENDARS
You can include other calendars into your private calendar.
This facility is mainly useful for allowing a group of peo-
ple to share a common set of items. For example, members of
a particular group might have a calendar that contains the
birthdays for each member of the group. This calendar can be
included in each group member's private calendar. You can
include a calendar by selecting the _I_n_c_l_u_d_e _C_a_l_e_n_d_a_r entry
from the _F_i_l_e menu. You can remove an included calendar by
selecting the _R_e_m_o_v_e _C_a_l_e_n_d_a_r entry from the _F_i_l_e menu. An
item can be moved between calendars by selecting the _M_o_v_e
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_I_t_e_m _T_o ... entry from the _E_d_i_t menu. You can list all
items in a particular calendar by selecting the _F_r_o_m _C_a_l_e_n_-
_d_a_r ... entry from the _L_i_s_t menu.
CUSTOMIZATION
Limited portions of _i_c_a_l can be customized via the _O_p_t_i_o_n_s
menu.
Appointment Range
Subset of a day displayed by default in the appointment
listing. The factory settings display 8:00am to
6:00pm.
Notice Window Height
This entry can be used to change the height of the
notice window.
Item Width
This entry can be used to change the width of displayed
appointments and notices.
Allow Text Overflow
If this option is selected, then you can type in any
amount of text into an appointment. The part of the
text that does not fit into the appointment will be
allowed to overflow out of the appointment. If you do
not like text overflowing out of an appointment, then
you should turn off this option.
Display Am/Pm
If this option is selected, time will be printed in
twelve hour mode with ``am'' or ``pm'' indicators.
Otherwise, time will be printed in twenty-four hour
mode.
Start Week on Monday
If this option is selected, month displays will start
each week off on a Monday. Otherwise, each week will
start on a Sunday.
Default Alarms
Use this menu entry to change the time intervals at
which alarms go off. The factory settings cause alarms
to be triggered fifteen minutes before each appoint-
ment, and then once every five minutes until the
appointment actually starts. This menu entry changes
the default alarm behavior for all appointments. You
can override this default behavior on an appointment-
by-appointment basis by selecting an appointment and
then selecting the _C_h_a_n_g_e _A_l_a_r_m_s entry in the _E_d_i_t
menu.
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Default Listings
This menu can be used to select the default listing
behavior for newly created items. If the _O_n _O_c_c_u_r_r_e_n_c_e
entry is selected, then a newly created item will only
be shown in the listing of the day on which the item
occurs. If the _A _D_a_y _E_a_r_l_y entry is selected, then a
new item will be shown in listings starting a day
before the item occurrence. Similarly, the other menu
entries can be selected to make new items show up in
listings a number of days before their actual
occurrence. This menu selects the default behavior for
new items. Individual item behavior can be controlled
by similar entries in the _E_d_i_t menu.
You can specify several X resources to customize the rest of
the appearance and behavior of _i_c_a_l.
BEHAVIOR
Ical.pollSeconds
Calendar files are saved, and changes made by other
people are incorporated once every _p_o_l_l_S_e_c_o_n_d_s seconds.
The default value is 30. If _i_c_a_l appears sluggish, or
if it is using too much CPU time, increase this value.
DIMENSIONS
Ical.itemSelectWidth
The border width of selected items is set to the value
of this option to display the selected status of the
item to to the user. On color displays, the default
value of this option is ``1'' because on color displays
selection is indicated by changing the color of the
selected item. On monochrome displays, the default
value of _i_t_e_m_S_e_l_e_c_t_W_i_d_t_h is ``4''.
Ical.Dayview.geometry
X geometry specification for main calendar window.
Usually, you will just specify the window position
here. The size of the window is easier to control via
the _O_p_t_i_o_n_s menu.
Ical.Reminder.geometry
X geometry specification for alarms. Usually, you will
just specify the window position here. The window size
will be calculated automatically.
Ical.Listing.geometry
X geometry specification for item listings. Usually,
you will just specify the window position here. The
window size will be calculated automatically.
COLORS
If _i_c_a_l windows show up with illegible colors (not enough
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ICAL(1) USER COMMANDS October 27, 1993
distinction between background and foreground), it may be
because your X resources contain definitions for ``*fore-
ground'' or ``*background'' that conflict with _i_c_a_l colors.
In general, it is a bad idea to define ``*foreground'' and
``*background'' in your resources because it will break a
number of programs. You will be better off defining
resources on an application by application basis.
Ical*foreground
Ical*background
Set the colors used for most of the _i_c_a_l windows.
Ical.itemFg
Ical.itemBg
The foreground and background colors for unselected
items. The default foreground is black and the default
background is gray.
Ical.itemSelectFg
Ical.itemSelectBg
The foreground and background colors for selected
items. The default foreground is yellow and the
default background is blue.
Ical.apptLineColor
The color for the background lines and times displayed
in the appointment window.
Ical.weekdayColor
The color used to display days of the week. The
default is black.
Ical.weekendColor
The color used to display weekends. The default is
red.
Ical.interestColor
The color used to highlight interesting dates. The
default is blue.
FONTS
Ical.fontFamily
Preferred font family. Fonts for various purposes are
obtained from this family unless overridden with one of
the specifications below. The default font family is
``times''. Some other font families you can specify
here are ``charter'', ``new century schoolbook'', and
``helvetica''.
Ical.itemFont
Font used to display item contents.
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ICAL(1) USER COMMANDS October 27, 1993
Ical.weekdayFont
Font used for displaying days of the week.
Ical.weekendFont
Font used for displaying weekends.
Ical.interestFont
Font used to highlight interesting dates.
Ical.smallHeadingFont
Font used for small headings.
Ical.largeHeadingFont
Font used for large headings.
Ical*<_c_l_a_s_s>*font:
Font used for windows of a certain class. Possible
values for <_c_l_a_s_s> are ``Dialog'', ``Button'',
``Label'', ``Menubutton'', ``Menu'', ``Listbox'', and
``Reminder''.
AUTHOR
Sanjay Ghemawat (sanjay@lcs.mit.edu)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (c) 1993 by Sanjay Ghemawat. Permission is
granted to make and distribute verbatim copies of this
manual provided the copyright notice and this permission
notice are preserved on all copies.
ReadyPak 9