Version 2.2 of ical Calendar Application Available on RCS

Version 2.2 of ical Calendar Application Available on RCS

Version 2.2 of ical, an X Windows-based application for maintaining a calendar, is now available on RCS.

ical works by treating a calendar as a set of 'items,' an item being either an appointment, or a notice, which the user wishes to remember. (An appointment starts and finishes at a particular time of the day, whereas a notice does not have any starting or ending time; users often find notices useful for marking certain days as special. For example, a user's calendar may contain a notice for April 15th to indicate that taxes are due.)

ical stores calendars in a calendar file, with the default calendar file -- named .calendar -- located in the user's home directory. (If you set the CALENDAR environment variable, its value acts as the name of the calendar file.)

You may override both the CALENDAR environment variable and the default name by entering a command similar to the following -- which allows you to specify the filename -- from a UNIX prompt: 

	ical -calendar filename

You can also include other calendars into your private calendar, which you may find handy if you know a group of people who may wish to share a common set of items. For example, members of a particular group might have a calendar that contains the birthdays for all the group's members.

ical's main features include the ability to:

To start ical, type the following command at a UNIX prompt: 

	ical &

Options

ical has several man options; the following options do not require you to be logged onto an X display:

-calendar filename
The calendar is read from the specified file. (See the description of calendar files for more information.)

-date date
Set the starting date for item listings or window display to the specified date. For example: 
    ical -date 1/feb/1998

-list
Print a listing of the starting date's items and exit immediately. (See the description of listing items for details on the actual items printed by this option.) The starting date is usually the current date, but you may change it with the -date option.

-show +days
Print a listing for items in the range [starting date...(starting date + days - 1)] and exit immediately. (See the description of listing items for details on the actual items printed by this option.) The starting date is usually the current date, but you may change it with the -date option.

-print 1|2|4|8|10|month
Generate PostScript output for a specified range of days and exit. (The starting date is usually the current date, but you may change it with the -date option.

More Options (X display only)

The following options are valid only if you are logged in on an X display.

-iconic
Start up with the main window iconified.

-iconposition x,y
Place the main window icon at the specified x,y position.

-popup
Open (pop up) a window containing a listing of the starting date's items and exit as soon as you close the window. (See the description of listing items for details on the actual items printed by this option.) The starting date is usually the current date, but you may change it with the -date option.

-geometry geometry
Use geometry as the geometry for the main window.

-fg color
Use the specified color as the foreground color for all windows.

-bg color
Use the specified color as the background color for all windows.

-display display
Run ical on the specified X display.

If you need more information on using ical 2.2, please refer to the on-line information at the URL: 

   
http://www.research.digital.com/SRC/personal/Sanjay_Ghemawat/ical/home.html

You may also contact the student consultants at the ACS Help Desk locations, or direct electronic mail to consult@rpi.edu.