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PCAL(1) USER COMMANDS PCAL(1)
NAME
pcal - generate PostScript (or HTML) calendars
SYNOPSIS
pcal [-e|-f cal] [-o file] [-l | -p] [-P [letter | legal | a4 |
tabloid]] [-j | -J] [-m | -M] [-g weekday[-weekday]|all|holiday]
[-O weekday[-weekday]|all|holiday]
[-G weekday[-weekday]|all|holiday]
[-b weekday[-weekday]|all|holiday]
[-s [day_numerics_color][/empty_day_box_fill_color]] [-F day]
[-A|-E] [-X xtrans] [-Y ytrans] [-x xscale] [-y yscale]
[-t [title_font][/size]] [-d [day_font][/size]]
[-n [text_font][/size]] [-L footer_str] [-C footer_str]
[-R footer_str] [-N notes_str] [-D symbol] [-U symbol] [-B] [-# n]
[-S | -k | -K] [-w] [-I] [-c | -H] [-q] [-z time_zone]
[-h | -u | -v] [-a output_language] [-r [mapping] [-T [B|I|R]]
[-W [left|center|right]] [month] [year] [nmonths]
DESCRIPTION
Pcal generates PostScript to produce landscape or portrait calendars
for any month and year. The arguments month, year, and nmonths, if
provided, should be numeric. The month value should be in the range 1
- 12, and the year value should be specified as 1 or 2 digits (in which
case it will be interpreted as that year in the current century) or as
the full 4-digit year. If no numeric arguments are provided, the
calendar for the current month and year will be generated.
If one numeric argument is provided, it is interpreted as the year
value, and calendars for the entire year will be generated. Otherwise,
nmonths months, starting with month and year, will be generated.
For whole-year calendars (i.e. when the -w option is given), the
command line arguments are interpreted somewhat differently. By
default, all months in the current year are printed, starting with
January. If the month argument alone is given, it is expected to be
the desired year to print, and prints all of the months in the given
year. If both month and year are given, then 12 consecutive months are
printed starting at the given month and year. If the month, year, and
nmonths arguments are all present, printing begins with the given month
and year and nmonths months are printed, rounded up to the nearest
multiple of 12.
The Date File (Configuration File)
By default, pcal simply prints an empty calendar. Its real power is in
its ability to place ``events'' (and, for monthly-format PostScript
calendars, Encapsulated PostScript images [e.g. photos and icons]) in
appropriate days on the (PostScript or HTML) calendar, thus allowing
the user to create personalized calendars. This is achieved through
the use of the ``date file'', also known as the ``configuration file''.
The default date/configuration file is expected to be named .calendar
(pcal.dat under MS-DOS), or calendar for compatibility with older
versions. Pcal will look in several places for such a file. First, if
the environment variable PCAL_DIR is defined, pcal searches the
directory indicated by that variable. Next, pcal searches the user's
home directory (as specified by the HOME environment variable). If
neither PCAL_DIR nor HOME is defined, pcal searches the current
directory instead. Finally, if enabled (via the `SEARCH_PCAL_DIR'
flag) when pcal was built, the directory where the pcal executable
resides will be checked. If no date file is found, an empty calendar
is printed; no error is generated.
Alternatively, the name of the date file (and, optionally, the path
where it can be found) can be specified using the -f command-line
option. See the OPTIONS section for more details.
Every pcal distribution comes with an 'examples' directory. The `pcal-
cfg.txt' file that is located there contains a myriad of examples of
settings that can be used in your own configuration file. Please check
it out for lots of useful ideas. Furthermore, that directory contains
several language/country-specific examples (including holiday and other
event definitions) in various `calendar_xx.txt' files, where `xx'
represents the 2-letter language code (e.g. 'calendar_de.txt' is the
German example file).
If a date file is found, it will be searched for lines with leading
dates matching the requested month and year.
Any text following the dates found will be printed on the calendar
under the appropriate day of the month. Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)
images are handled similarly as described in a later subsection.
troff-style escape sequences \fB, \fI, \fP, and \fR may be used to set
the font style to Bold, Italic, the previous font style, or Roman
respectively. For those more familiar with HTML, <B>, <I>, </B>, and
</I> may be used instead to enable/disable Bold or Italic font styles.
The font style is reset to Roman after each line break.
Using the `include' pre-processor directive (described in the section
entitled `Pre-Processor Functionality', below), other configuration
files can be processed from within an existing configuration file.
That is, you can `nest' configuration files as needed.
Dates (essentially `events') in the configuration files may be
expressed in any of several formats:
o <ordinal> <day_spec> in <month_spec>{*} {<text>}
o {<ordinal>} <day_spec> <prep> <date_spec>{*} {<text>}
o <date_spec>{*} {<text>}
o <pre_defined_event>{*} {<text>}
Where:
<month_name> := first 3+ characters of name of month, or
``all''
Note: pcal looks for names of the days of the
week prior to names of months when parsing event
date specifications. Furthermore, some languages
(e.g. French and Finnish) have a month name whose
first 3 letters are the same as the first 3
letters of one of the names of the days of the
week. Because of this, the specification in such
a language of any month name which collides
thusly must use 4 or more letters to distinguish
it from the name of the day of the week with
which it `collides'.
<month_spec> := <month_name>, or ``year''
<day_spec> := first 3+ characters of name of weekday,
``day'', ``weekday'', ``workday'', ``holiday'',
``nonweekday'', ``nonworkday'', ``nonholiday'',
``new_moon'', ``first_quarter'', ``full_moon'',
or ``last_quarter''
<ordinal> := any ordinal number (``1st'', ``2nd'', etc.),
``first'' ... ``fifth'', ``last'', ``odd'',
``even'', or ``all''
<prep> := ``on'', ``before'', ``preceding'', ``after'',
``following'', ``on_or_before'' (``oob''),
``on_or_after'' (``ooa''), ``nearest'',
``nearest_before``, or ``nearest_after``
<pre_defined_event>
:= ``Christmas'', ``Thanksgiving'', ``Easter'',
``Good_Friday'', ``GEaster'' (Orthodox Easter),
``Gstgeorge'' (Orthodox holiday), and ``Gmarcus''
(Orthodox holiday).
<sep> := one or more non-numeric, non-space, non-`*'
characters
<month> := a numeric month (1-12)
<day> := day of month (1-31)
<year> := a numeric year
<text> := the text to be displayed for this event; if
the text begins with the constant string
``image:'', then it is interpreted as a
specification of an Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)
image rather than as simple text; more
information on specifying EPS images is available
in a later section of this document
If the -A option (American date formats, the default) is given:
<date_spec> := <month_name> <day> |
<month><sep><day>{<sep><year>}
If the -E option (European date formats) is given:
<date_spec> := <day> <month_name> | <day> <month> |
<day><sep><month>{<sep><year>}
The ``Notes'' box (see below) uses the first of the current month as
the default date. All footer strings use the first of the current
month in single-month mode and the first of the starting month in
whole-year mode.
Examples:
last Monday in May* Memorial Day Holiday
all Fridays in Oct Status Meeting, 11 AM
first workday in all %-B progress report due
all Fri in all \fBTime card due,\fP 3 PM
all Monday in all Fiscal week %0W
-2nd workday in all Schedule for %+B due %+2D
2nd full_moon in all Blue Moon
Fri on_or_before all 15 Pay Day
even Fridays in year Pay Day
183rd day of year Mid-year (%l days left)
Tue after first Mon in Nov Election Day (USA)
4th Thu in Nov* Thanksgiving
Fri after 4th Thu in Nov* Day after Thanksgiving
workday nearest 12/25* Holiday
12/25/04* Christmas # American
25.12.04* Christmas # European
25. 12.* Christmas # European
Dec 25* Christmas # American
25 Dec* Christmas # European
25. Dec* Christmas # European
Fri on all 13 Avoid black cats! # 'Friday the 13th'
Any non-numeric character may separate numeric dates. Holidays may be
flagged by following the date immediately with `*' as in the examples
above; this will cause the date numerics to be printed in the color
specified by the -s option (default = gray) and will cause the
associated text (on monthly-format calendars) to be placed adjacent to
the numeric date in the day box rather than below the numeric date (as
is done for all non-holiday events). ``Each'' and ``every'' are
accepted as synonyms for ``all'', and any word may be used in place of
``in''. The abbreviations ``oob'' and ``ooa'' may be used in place of
the keywords ``on_or_before'' and ``on_or_after'', respectively.
``Nearest'' attempts to match the specified date; if that fails, it
tries the day after, then the day before, then two days after, two days
before, and so forth until a match occurs.
Wildcard day names are also provided. The keyword ``weekday'' applies
to any days which are normally printed in "logical black" - the
predominant day color - on the calendar. The keyword ``workday'' is
the same, but does not include any holidays. The keyword ``holiday''
includes only those days flagged as holidays. The keywords
``nonweekday'', ``nonworkday'', and ``nonholiday'' are also recognized
as negations of the above. See the CAVEATS below for important notes
on using these keywords. Moon phases may also appear as wildcards;
``nm'' is accepted as a synonym for ``new_moon'', ``1q'' and ``fq'' for
``first_quarter'', ``fm'' for ``full_moon'', ``3q'' for
``third_quarter'', and ``lq'' for ``last_quarter''.
Ordinal day numbers may be used to specify dates, either relative to
the month or to the year. Either words or numeric abbreviations may be
used for ``first'' through ``fifth''; higher numbers must be given
using the numeric equivalent (e.g. 100th). Negative ordinal numbers
may even be used. For example, ``-2nd'' means ``next to last''.
``Odd'' and ``even'' do not refer to the actual date; instead, ``odd''
means ``alternate, starting with the first'', and ``even'' means
``alternate, starting with the second''. Thus, ``odd Fridays in
March'' refers to the first, third, and (if present) fifth Fridays in
March -- not to those Fridays falling on odd dates.
``All'' refers to each individual month; ``year'' refers to the year as
an entity. Thus ``odd Fridays in all'' refers to the first, third, and
fifth Friday of each month, while ``odd Fridays in year'' refers to the
first Friday of January and every other Friday thereafter.
``Nearest'', ``nearest_before'', and ``nearest_after'' refer to the
nearest weekday or wildcard day with respect to the specified date.
``Nearest_before'' and ``nearest_after'' allow the user to specify how
pcal is to disambiguate between two dates that are equally near: e.g.,
``nonweekday nearest_before [Wed.] 9/25/96'' refers to Sunday, 9/22
while ``nonweekday nearest_after 9/25/96'' refers to Saturday, 9/28.
(Note that ``nearest_before'' and ``nearest_after'' are equivalent to
``nearest'' when no such ambiguity exists: e.g., ``nonweekday
nearest_before [Thu.] 9/26/96'' refers to Saturday, 9/28.)
Text in the date file may use C-like escape sequences (i.e. a `\'
followed by a character, 1 - 3 octal digits, or `x' followed by 1 - 2
hexadecimal digits). Escaped whitespace (including newline ) and the
standard ANSI character escapes (`\a', `\b', `\f', `\n', `\r', `\t',
`\v') are all replaced by a single blank.
The HTML special characters `<' `>' `"' `&' ` ' and
`&#NNN;' (NNN = any three decimal digits) are also supported. These
will be propagated intact (be sure to escape the `#' in `&#NNN;') if
the output is specified as HTML (see the -H flag); otherwise they will
be converted to their ASCII equivalents. This allows a common date
file to be used regardless of whether the desired output format is
HTML, PostScript, or Un*x calendar(1) (see the -c flag) input.
Lines in the configuration file consisting of year #### (where #### is
a numeric year) can be used to set the year for following entries.
This assumes that the following entries do not contain a year; any date
entries containing year information will set the remembered year to
that year.
Lines in the configuration file consisting of year all (or,
alternatively, year *) direct pcal to wildcard following entries
against every applicable year. This assumes that the following entries
do not contain a year; any date entries containing year information (or
an explicit year #### entry) will set the remembered year to that year.
Lines in the configuration file consisting of opt <options> can be used
to override the defaults for any command-line options except -c, -e,
-f, -h, -H, -u, -v, -D, and -U. Any options specified in this manner
are, in turn, overridden by those specified explicitly on the command
line.
Lines in the configuration file consisting of note{/<number>} <month>
can be used to place notes regarding the entire month in one of the
unused blocks of the calendar. The <month> indicator may be either a
number 1 through 12 or an alphabetic month name as described above;
``note all'' will place the associated text in the notes block for each
month in the current year. <number> is an optional positive or
negative number specifying the empty box where the associated text is
to be placed. If positive, pcal counts forward from the first empty
box; if negative, pcal counts backward from the last empty box. Thus,
``note/1'' places the associated text in the first empty box; note/-3
in the third-to-last. The default is -1 if no <number> is given (last
empty box, immediately preceding the small calendars on the bottom row;
cf. -S, -k, and -K, below). You can place several notes in the same
box. You can also use more than 1 box for the various monthly notes.
Lines in the configuration file consisting of input-language XX (where
XX is the 2-letter specification for any of the supported languages)
can be used to set the language used for interpretation of the month
names and day-of-week names for the remaining event entries. This
option may be specified more than once, as needed, if the language used
to describe events changes within the file. For backwards
compatibility, the default value for `input language' if this directive
is never used is 'en' (English). Note that this directive is distinct
from the specification of 'output language' as accomplished with the -a
option.
Comments are supported in the configuration file. Any characters
following a `#' character are ignored, through the end of that line,
unless the `#' character is escaped by `\'.
Deleting Events
By prepending the `delete' keyword to an event specification, one or
more events may be deleted from a set of previously-specified events.
For example, the following lines might appear in the date file:
all Friday in all Poker game
delete first Friday in all Poker game
This results in an event labeled `Poker game' on every Friday except
the first Friday of the month. If you delete an entry which is marked
as a holiday, the `holiday' flag for that day will be recalculated.
Any `delete' entries which don't match any pre-existing entries are
silently ignored.
Format Specifiers
Pcal allows format specifiers in both the event text and footer strings
(see the -L, -C, -R, and -N options below). Each format specifier will
be replaced by a corresponding string as outlined in the following
table:
%a abbreviated weekday
%A full weekday
%b abbreviated month name
%B full month name
%d day of month (1-31)
%j day of year (1-366)
%l days left in year (0-365)
%m month (1-12)
%U week number (0-53)
%W week number (0-53)
%u week number (1-54)
%w week number (1-54)
%y year w/o century (00-99)
%Y year w/century
%% `%' character
%o print number as ordinal
%0 print number with leading zeroes
%+ use following month or year
%- use previous month or year
%{+N}[DWMY] adjust date by +N days/weeks/months/years
%{-N}[DWMY] adjust date by -N days/weeks/months/years
Most of these are derived from the ANSI C strftime() function, but the
%[louwMD] and %[o0+-] format specifiers are specific to pcal.
The %u specifier considers the week containing 1/1 (Jan 1st) as week 1
and the following logical Sunday (the first day of the week as printed;
cf. the -F option below) as the start of week 2; %U considers the first
logical Sunday as the first day of week 1. %w and %W behave like %u
and %U respectively, but use the first logical Monday instead. Note
that %w has a different meaning from strftime().
The %o format specifier prints a number as an ordinal, with the
appropriate suffix (``st'', ``nd'', ``rd'', or ``th'' in English)
appended. For example, %od prints the day of the month as ``1st'',
``2nd'', ``3rd'', etc.
Unlike strftime(), pcal defaults to printing numbers (except %y)
without leading zeroes. If leading zeroes are desired, the `0' prefix
may be used. For example, %0j prints the first day of year as ``001''.
The %+ and %- format specifiers direct pcal to substitute the
following/previous month/year in the following [bBmyY] specifier. For
example, %+B prints the name of the next month.
The %{[+-]N}[DWMY] format specifiers do not print anything, but instead
adjust the working date by +- Ndays (D), weeks (W), months (M), or
years (Y). Subsequent format specifiers use the adjusted date instead
of the current date. For example, %+1M %B %Y adjusts the date forward
by one month and then prints the resulting month and year (``January
1992'' in December, 1991); %-2W %b %d adjusts the date backward by two
weeks and prints the resulting month and day (``Jul 26'' on August 9).
Such date adjustments are normally cumulative; for example, %+1Y%-1D
adjusts the date forward by one year and then backward by one day. If
%D or %M is specified alone (or if N is zero), pcal restores the
original date. Note that %M has a different meaning to the strftime()
function.
Here's a common, useful example of an event entry for the pcal date
file which combines the ability to adjust working dates and the ability
to display ordinals. This particular example is used to display text
on the birthday of a person born in 1991:
May 10 Eric's %-1991Y%oY Birthday
That entry would result in the following text being displayed on May
10, 2005:
Eric's 14th Birthday
Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) Images
For monthly PostScript calendars only, pcal supports the embedding of
one or more EPS images (photos, icons, etc) into any given day of the
month. (EPS image specifications in the pcal date file are ignored for
yearly PostScript calendars and for all HTML calendars.)
In order to associate an image with a given event, you must add one or
more entries to the date file. The event date is specified exactly as
described previously for simple event text specification lines.
However, instead of specifying the text associated with the event, you
instead specify the EPS image filename and some additional parameters
in the following format:
image:<EPS-image-filename> <x-scale> <y-scale> <x-delta> <y-delta>
Where:
<EPS-image-filename> is the filename (which can include a path)
of the Encapsulated PostScript image.
Note: The EPS image filename must be
preceded by the constant text `image:' in
order to distinguish an EPS image
specification from an ordinary event text
specification.
<x-scale> is a scaling factor in the horizontal
dimension for the EPS image. A value of
1.0 is nominal (i.e. no change to image
scale). Values between 0.0 and 1.0 shrink
the image in the horizontal dimension while
values over 1.0 expand the image in the
horizontal dimension. Generally speaking,
only positive values should be used.
However, in the rare case that you find
that your EPS image needs to be flipped
about the vertical axis (i.e. left to
right), you can use a negative value to
achieve this without having to tweak the
actual PostScript content within the EPS
image file. Use of a negative value will
undoubtedly necessitate a corresponding
change to the <x-delta> parameter to
account for the image's relocated position
that occurs when it gets flipped "left-to-
right".
<y-scale> is a scaling factor in the vertical
dimension for the EPS image. Values
between 0.0 and 1.0 shrink the image in the
vertical dimension while values over 1.0
expand the image in the vertical dimension.
Note that a negative value for this
parameter can be useful in the less-than-
rare case that you find that your EPS image
needs to be flipped about the horizontal
axis (i.e. top to bottom). In such cases,
you can use a negative <y-scale> value to
achieve this without having to tweak the
actual PostScript content within the EPS
image file. Use of a negative value will
undoubtedly necessitate a corresponding
change to the <y-delta> parameter to
account for the image's relocated position
that occurs when it gets flipped "upside
down".
<x-delta> := a horizontal adjustment in typographic
`points' (i.e. 72nds of an inch) for the
positioning of the EPS image. With offsets
of 0 for X and Y, the image will be printed
at the extreme left edge of the box for
that day, just under the numerics for that
day. Positive values move the image to the
right and negative values move the image to
the left.
<y-delta> := a vertical adjustment in typographic
`points' (i.e. 72nds of an inch) for the
positioning of the EPS image. With offsets
of 0 for X and Y, the image will be printed
at the extreme left edge of the box for
that day, just under the numerics for that
day. Positive values move the image up and
negative values move the image down.
Here's an example of a line from the date file that associates an EPS
image with an event:
4th Thu in Nov* Thanksgiving
4th Thu in Nov* image:/eps-path/turkey.eps 1.0 1.0 0 0
You can place as many images as you want on a single day of the month
by specifying repeated lines in the date file. For example, these
lines put icons of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln on the day of
the U.S. ``Presidents' Day'' holiday, along with the event text:
3rd Monday in Feb* Presidents' Day
3rd Monday in Feb* image:/eps-path/washington.eps 0.08 0.08 8 0
3rd Monday in Feb* image:/eps-path/lincoln.eps 0.22 0.22 48 0
Note that the icon for Lincoln is shifted to the right by 48
typographic points so as not to overlay the first icon.
The pcal releases come with a single EPS sample file
('eps/recycle.eps') of the ubiquitous 'recycle' icon (3 green arrows in
a triangular shape). Such an image might be used with configuration
file settings like this:
second Sat in all RECYCLE!
second Sat in all image:/eps-path/recycle.eps 0.039 0.039 34 -9
In cases where you're displaying non-holiday event text (e.g. someone's
birthday) and an EPS image, you'll often need to use a negative `Y-
delta' value on the EPS image specification line, in order to shift the
image down so that it doesn't cover the event text, which appears just
below the day's numerics for non-holiday events. (Text for holiday
events appears higher up, to the right of the day's numerics, so
there's usually no collision with the EPS image.)
Note: Unfortunately, most EPS images cannot be used directly by pcal.
Depending on the EPS image used and how it was created, you may
have to remove or comment out some or all of the PostScript
`translate' commands, in order to avoid the use of illogical X-
delta and Y-delta values when specifying the EPS image in your
pcal date file. Most programs that generate EPS output (either
directly or via conversion from some other graphic format) seem
to have these `translate' commands relatively early in the EPS
file.
It may take some experimentation to get it just right. Preview
the pcal output using a PostScript viewer as you tweak the
PostScript commands in the EPS image file and/or the event entry
in the pcal date file.
Note: Depending upon what application you use to preview
PostScript content, the monthly calendars may not show
any embedded EPS images. Here's a rundown of some
popular PostScript-viewing applications and whether they
correctly display the embedded EPS images:
o gv (version 3.5.8) -- EPS images appear fine
o ggv (versions 2.4.0.1 and 2.6.1) -- EPS images
appear fine
o older kghostview (versions 0.13.2 [KDE 3.1.4]
and 0.2.0 [KDE 3.2.3 and 3.3.2]) -- EPS images
DO NOT APPEAR!
o newer kghostview (version 0.2.0 [KDE 3.4.2 and
3.5.4]) -- EPS images appear fine
For converting non-EPS images (e.g. photos) to EPS format, one can use
the graphical GNU Image Manipulation Program, a.k.a. `The GIMP':
http://www.gimp.org
For icons/images in WMF format (which are popular in various 3rd-party,
legacy-OS, commercial calendar programs), the `libwmf'/`wmf2eps'
library/utility is useful for generating pcal-capable EPS images. It
can be found at this site:
http://wvware.sourceforge.net/libwmf.html
For icons/images in SVG format, the ImageMagick `convert' utility is
sometimes useful for generating pcal-capable EPS images. This suite of
utilities (which includes other useful ImageMagick utilities like
`display' and `identify') may already be available on your Linux
distribution. If not, it can be found at this site:
http://www.imagemagick.org
For cases where ImageMagick's `convert' utility fails to properly
convert SVG-format images to EPS format, you can try the method of
converting the SVG image into an intermediate format (e.g. PNG) using
the `rsvg' utility. This utility may already be available on your
Linux distribution. If not, it can be found at this site:
http://librsvg.sourceforge.net/
From the PNG format, the image can often then be successfully converted
to EPS format, using the above-mentioned ImageMagick `convert' utility.
The Open Clip Art Library is a good source of freely-usable images
(many of which are in SVG format) for decorating your events:
http://www.openclipart.org
Note: The EPS image content is not generated in the PostScript output
-- only a reference to the EPS image filename is generated. From a
practical standpoint, this means that normally you'll need to
print/preview the PostScript output of pcal from the same
computer/setup as that which was used to run pcal in the first place.
If you want to generate a calendar with embedded EPS images that will
later be printed/viewed on another machine which does not have access
to those EPS images, you'll need to run the output through a pre-
processor which will put the EPS image content into the PostScript
output file. For example, assuming your initial calendar output was
generated to a file named `pcal.ps', on most GNU/Linux systems you
could run this command, which uses the popular `Ghostscript'
interpreter:
gs -r300x300 -dBATCH -dNOPAUSE -sDEVICE=pswrite
-sOutputFile=out.ps pcal.ps
This would generate a PostScript file named `out.ps', at 300x300 dpi
resolution, which has the actual EPS image content embedded within,
allowing you to transport the `out.ps' file to another computer for
viewing/printing. Of course, the new file is substantially larger, but
it's portable. Furthermore, the EPS images will be viewable even in
PostScript-viewing applications (see above) which don't properly
support the display of embedded (by filename only) EPS images.
Pre-Processor Functionality
Pcal supports rudimentary cpp-like functionality in the date file,
allowing the following constructs:
o define | undef
o if{{n}def} ... {elif ...}* {else ...} endif
o include
Note that these are not preceded by `#' as they are in C.
Symbol names defined using these keywords (or via the -D option) are
case-insensitive. It is not an error to undef an undefined symbol, nor
to define a previously-defined one.
A symbol can be defined with just a name (e.g. ``define MY_SYM'') or it
can take on a value (e.g. ``define MY_SYM SOME_VALUE''). Use of symbol
values is convenient for defining a starting date then using that
symbol to reference that starting date in one or more events. For
example, these definitions in the date file might be useful:
define semester_start 8/23 # Beginning of semester
semester_start Class Start
7th day after semester_start 1st Quiz
14th day after semester_start 2nd Quiz
undef semester_start
Be aware that the substitution of symbol values for symbol names is not
robust, so it's wise to use a symbol name that's unlikely to occur in
any of your other event text. In other words, if you defined the
`semester_start' symbol in the example above as merely `start', then
you'd get the undesired effect of having the text `Class 8/23' in your
calendar on that day instead of `Class Start'! The use of `undef
semester_start' in the above example is optional and is really only
useful to prevent any unwanted symbol substitutions later on, which
probably won't happen unless you poorly choose your symbol name to
begin with.
An ifdef alone is always false; an ifndef alone is always true. if is
accepted as a synonym for ifdef.
The name of the file in the include directive may optionally be
surrounded by either "" or <>, both of which are ignored. If the name
is not an absolute path, it is taken to be relative to the directory
where the file containing the directive is located. If the string "%y"
appears in the file name, it is replaced by the last two digits of the
current year or, if "year all" is in effect, is expanded to all
applicable years. Pcal is smart enough to translate ~/ to the user's
home directory.
Pcal normally terminates immediately if the file specified in an
include directive does not exist. An alternate form of the directive,
include?, directs pcal to continue silently if the file does not exist
or cannot be opened.
In addition to pre-processing keywords, pcal also accepts boolean
expressions in if{{n}def} and elif directives. These expressions
consist of symbol names joined by the boolean operators !, &, ^, and
|, in order of precedence, high to low. Parentheses may be used to
alter the precedence. The synonyms && and || are accepted for & and |.
A symbol name evaluates to true if currently defined, false if not;
thus:
ifdef A | B | C
...is true if any of the symbols A, B, and C is defined, and:
ifdef A & B & C
...is true if they all are. Note that ifndef <expr> is equivalent to
ifdef !( <expr> ).
The Moon File
If a file of the name .moon## (moon##.dat under MS-DOS), where ## is
the last two digits of the calendar year, exists in the same directory
as the date file (or in the directory where pcal resides), pcal uses
the information contained within to calculate the phase of the moon.
If a) no such file exists, b) the -e flag (do not use a date file) is
specified, or c) the -z flag (specify time zone) is specified, then
pcal uses an algorithm to calculate the phase of the moon.
Entries in the moon file must conform to the following syntax:
If the -A option (American date formats, the default) is given:
<quarter> <month><sep><day> {<hour><sep><min>}
If the -E option (European date formats) is given:
<quarter> <day><sep><month> {<hour><sep><min>}
Where:
<quarter> := ``nm'', ``fq'' or ``1q'', ``fm'', ``3q'' or ``lq'' (new moon,
first quarter, full moon, last quarter)
<hour> := number 0-23 (24-hour clock)
<min> := number 0-59
This file must contain entries for all quarter moons in the year, in
chronological order; if any errors are encountered, pcal will revert to
using its default algorithm.
As in the date file, comments start with `#' and run through the end of
the given line.
The moon file may optionally contain an opt -A or opt -E line to
specify the format of its own date entries independently of the format
used in the date file. No other flags are legal in the moon file.
Generating PostScript Calendars Via A Web Browser Interface
PostScript-format pcal calendars can be generated and viewed from a web
browser interface.
Note: This is not to be confused with the ability to generate
non-PostScript, HTML-format (using the -H command-line option)
calendars, which is a different capability entirely.
Pcal comes with 4 files that provide this ability: `pcal.cgi' (a Bourne
shell script), `pcal.pl' (a Perl equivalent of `pcal.cgi'),
`pcal.html', and `pcalw.html'.
The CGI file (either `pcal.cgi' or `pcal.pl') must be edited before
using it. Change the definition for `pcal=' (Bourne shell script) or
`my $PCAL =' (Perl script) to point to the location of the pcal
executable file. Change the definition for `file=' (Bourne shell
script) or `my $FILE =' (Perl script) to point to the location of the
pcal `date file' (e.g. `.calendar'), which contains the options for
running pcal. Finally, copy the `pcal.cgi' (or `pcal.pl') file to the
location where your web server expects to find such files (e.g.
`/var/www/cgi-bin/').
The `pcal.html' and `pcalw.html' files must also be edited. Each one
has a line like this:
<FORM ACTION="http://yourpath/cgi-bin/pcal.cgi" METHOD=GET>
That line must be edited to point to the host and location of your CGI
script file (`pcal.cgi' or `pcal.pl').
Once that's done, point your web browser to the `pcal.html' or
`pcalw.html' file to generate monthly/yearly PostScript calendars for
viewing within your web browser.
Note: Depending upon what application your web browser spawns to
preview PostScript content, the monthly calendars generated via
this web browser interface may not show any embedded EPS images.
For a rundown of some popular PostScript-viewing applications
and whether they correctly display the embedded EPS images, see
the section (above) entitled `Encapsulated PostScript (EPS)
Images'.
OPTIONS
-e Prints an empty calendar. Do not print entries from a .calendar
file even if one exists.
-f cal Directs pcal to use the file name cal as the input file in place
of the default .calendar file. Note that the search rules are
different when -f is used. If cal is an absolute file name
(i.e. starting with a `/'), then pcal attempts to open only that
file. Otherwise, pcal looks for cal in the current directory,
then in the directory indicated by the environment variable
PCAL_DIR (if defined), and finally, if enabled (via the
`SEARCH_PCAL_DIR' flag) when pcal was built, in the directory
where the pcal executable resides. If the given cal file is not
found, an error results.
-o file
Directs pcal to write the output to file instead of to stdout.
-l Causes the output to be in landscape mode (default).
Pcal predefines the symbol `ORIENTATION_LANDSCAPE' whenever
`landscape' page orientation is enabled. This can be useful for
providing alternate values in the configuration file for EPS
image placement and scaling, based on the page orientation.
-p Causes the output to be in portrait mode.
Pcal predefines the symbol `ORIENTATION_PORTRAIT' whenever
`portrait' page orientation is enabled. This can be useful for
providing alternate values in the configuration file for EPS
image placement and scaling, based on the page orientation.
-P Selects the paper size. The following sizes are supported:
o letter -- 8.5 x 11.0 inches
o legal -- 8.5 x 14.0 inches
o a4 -- 210 x 297 mm
o tabloid -- 11.0 x 17.0 inches
Pcal predefines one of the following symbols based on the
current paper size:
o PAPERSIZE_LETTER
o PAPERSIZE_LEGAL
o PAPERSIZE_A4
o PAPERSIZE_TABLOID
These symbol definitions can be useful for providing alternate
values in the configuration file for EPS image placement and
scaling, based on paper size.
-j Causes the Julian date (day of year) to be printed in each
calendar box.
-J Causes the Julian date and the number of days remaining in the
year to be printed in each calendar box.
-m Causes moon icons to be printed on dates corresponding to new,
half, and full moons (the default is that no moons are printed).
-M Causes moon icons to be printed on all dates (the default is
that no moons are printed).
-g day1[-day2] | all | holiday
Causes all dates falling on weekday day1 (through day2 if
specified) to be printed in the `day numerics color' (i.e. the
color specified by the -s option [default = gray]); -g all
causes all weekdays (other than holidays) to be printed in the
`day numerics color'; -g holiday causes all holidays to be
printed in `day numerics color'. day1 and day2 may wrap around
weekends; for example, -g fri-sun causes Fridays, Saturdays, and
Sundays to be printed in the `day numerics color'.
-O day1[-day2] | all | holiday
Similar to -g, but the selected days will be printed as outlined
characters, using the `day numerics color'.
-G day1[-day2] | all | holiday
Similar to -g, but the selected days will be printed in the `day
numerics color', outlined in black.
-b day1[-day2] | all | holiday
Similar to -- you guessed it -- -g, but the selected days will
be printed in black. Since black is the default for weekdays,
-b is primarily used to overriding other flags (e.g., -g all -b
sat-sun ).
Note:
The default for the above options is to print Saturdays,
Sundays, and holidays in the `day numerics color' and all other
days in black. For backward compatibility with earlier versions
of pcal, -O and -G alone change all non-black days to the
specified color.
-s [day_numerics_color][/empty_day_box_fill_color]
Overrides the default value(s) for the color of the numerics for
each day and/or the color of the fill used on boxes for 'empty'
days. Note: This option only applies to PostScript-format
calendars, not to HTML-format calendars. These values may be
set independently of each other. For use with non-color
printers, these values should be in the range 0.0 (black)
through 1.0 (white). The default values are 0.8 for day
numerics and 0.9 for empty day boxes. For use with color
printers, these values may optionally be specified as a set of
red:green:blue (RGB) values, each of which must in the range 0.0
through 1.0. At least one `:' must be present for these values
to be recognized as RGB colors; omitted values are set to 0.0.
This option may also be set semi-permanently by altering the
makefile (`Makefile' for most environments, 'Makefile.DOS' for
MS-DOS).
-F day Selects weekday day as the first day of the week. The given day
will appear in the left-most column of the calendar. day may be
specified either as a weekday name or, optionally, as a number
in the range 0 (Sunday) through 6 (Saturday).
This option may also be set semi-permanently by altering the
makefile (`Makefile' for most environments, 'Makefile.DOS' for
MS-DOS).
-A Directs pcal to use American date conventions ( mm/dd{/yy} and
month dd ) when parsing the date file. This is the default.
This option may also be set semi-permanently by altering the
makefile (`Makefile' for most environments, 'Makefile.DOS' for
MS-DOS).
-E Directs pcal to use European date conventions ( dd/mm{/yy} and
dd month ) when parsing the date file.
This option may also be set semi-permanently by altering the
makefile (`Makefile' for most environments, 'Makefile.DOS' for
MS-DOS).
-X xtrans
Specifies the x-axis translation value for positioning the
output on the page. Positive values shift the output to the
right. Negative values shift the output to the left.
-Y ytrans
Specifies the y-axis translation value for positioning the
output on the page. Positive values shift the output up.
Negative values shift the output down.
-x xscale
Specifies the x-axis scaling factor for the calendar size.
-y yscale
Specifies the y-axis scaling factor for the calendar size.
-t [title_font][/size]
Specifies the name of a font to use for all the calendar heading
text:
o the month name and year at the top of the calendar (for
monthly-format calendars) or at the top of each month
(for yearly-format calendars and for the small
previous/next-month calendars [if enabled] on monthly-
format calendars)
o the day-of-week names
o the footer strings (if any)
o the ``Notes'' box heading (if any; for monthly
calendars only)
For monthly calendars only, the user may optionally specify the
font size, which applies only to the main month/year heading.
For example, pcal -t Times-Roman/54 sets the font to Times-Roman
and the month/year point size to 54. The font size may also be
changed independently: pcal -t /54 changes the point size to 54
without affecting the font name.
Note: For yearly calendars, any specification of font size is
ignored.
This option may also be set semi-permanently by altering the
makefile (`Makefile' for most environments, 'Makefile.DOS' for
MS-DOS).
-d [date_font][/size]
Similar to the -t option, but selects the font and/or size used
for the day numerics (the numbers inside the box for each day).
Note: For yearly calendars, any specification of font size is
ignored.
This option may also be set semi-permanently by altering the
makefile (`Makefile' for most environments, 'Makefile.DOS' for
MS-DOS).
-n [text_font][/size]
Similar to the -t and -d options, but selects the font and/or
size used for any `event' text associated with each day and for
any text in the monthly ``Notes'' box.
Note: This option applies to monthly calendars only. For yearly
calendars, this option does not apply.
This option may also be set semi-permanently by altering the
makefile (`Makefile' for most environments, 'Makefile.DOS' for
MS-DOS).
-L string
Causes the accompanying string to be printed as a left-justified
footer. Format specifiers denoting the month and/or year may
appear in the string; the appropriate values will be substituted
upon printing.
-C string
Similar to -L, but causes the accompanying string to be printed
as a centered footer. If the -H flag (generate calendar as HTML
table) was specified, this string will be used as the title and
heading.
-R string
Similar to -L, but causes the accompanying string to be printed
as a right-justified footer.
-N string
Causes the accompanying string to be printed as the heading for
the "Notes" box. Note, however, that pcal makes no attempt to
ensure that it fits.
-D symbol [value]
Defines the named symbol and an optional value to be associated
with that symbol, prior to reading the date file.
-U symbol
Un-defines the named symbol prior to reading the date file.
-B Causes pcal to leave unused calendar day boxes blank as opposed
to the default behavior of filling them using the `empty day-box
fill color' (i.e. the color specified by the -s option [default
= gray]).
-# n Causes pcal to print n copies (maximum: 100) of each output
page.
-S Causes pcal to suppress printing the small calendars. See the
CAVEATS section for further details.
-k Causes pcal to print the small calendars in the upper left
corner (the default is to print them at the lower right).
-K Causes pcal to print the small calendar for the previous month
in the upper left corner and the next month in the lower right
(the default is to print both at the lower right).
-w Causes pcal to print a calendar for 12 consecutive months: 3
rows / 4 columns in landscape mode, 4 rows / 3 columns in
portrait mode. See the CAVEATS section for details on the use
of this option with other options.
Pcal predefines the symbol whole_year when the -w flag is in
effect, allowing directives like `ifdef whole_year' in the
configuration file.
-I Resets all parameters to the program defaults.
-c Causes pcal to generate a date file suitable for use as input to
the Un*x calendar(1) utility. The normal PostScript output is
suppressed.
-H Causes pcal to generate a calendar in HTML table format. The
normal PostScript output is suppressed.
The HTML table format does not support moon graphics, Julian
date information, `day numerics' color, `empty day' `box fill'
color, left or right footer strings (but see the -C flag),
alternate fonts/sizes, transformation and scaling factors, or
embedded EPS images.
-q This option is only valid when used in conjunction with the -H
(generate HTML-format calendar) option. It generates a yearly-
planner style of HTML calendar whereby a single column for each
month is used, resulting in table that gives a quicker overview
of several months. Since there is less space for text, only the
first character of the weekday and the first 5 characters of
text from each event for that day are printed. The day numerics
for holidays are colored red but the text of the holiday event
is not printed. The day numerics are grey for Saturdays and
bold black for Sundays.
-z time_zone
Forces pcal to ignore the moon file and to use its internal
algorithm for moon phase calculations, adjusting the phase by
time_zone hours (where time_zone is expressed in hours west of
UTC).
For example, New York residents (USA Eastern time zone) would
use '-z 5' while on Eastern Standard Time (winter) and '-z 4'
while on Eastern Daylight Time (summer). People in India would
use '-z-5.5'. Notice that fractional values are allowed.
This option may also be set semi-permanently by altering the
makefile (`Makefile' for most environments, 'Makefile.DOS' for
MS-DOS).
-h Causes pcal to write version information, parameter usage
message, and full explanation of options and file formats (to
stdout) and terminate.
-u Causes pcal to write version information and parameter usage
message (to stdout) and terminate.
-v Causes pcal to write version information only (to stdout) and
terminate.
Pcal predefines the symbol vX_Y_Z, where X_Y_Z denotes the
current version of Pcal (e.g. version 4.9.0 predefines the
symbol v4_9_0).
-a output_language
Select the output language (for the names of months and days on
the calendar).
Currently, the following languages are supported: ca (Catalan),
cs (Czech), da (Danish), de (German), el (Greek), en (English),
eo (Esperanto), es (Spanish), et (Estonian), fi (Finnish), fr
(French), ha (Hawaiian), hu (Hungarian), it (Italian), lt
(Lithuanian), lv (Latvian), nl (Dutch), pl (Polish), pt
(Portuguese), ro (Romanian), ru (Russian), sk (Slovak), sv
(Swedish), and uk (Ukrainian). The default is en.
Note that this option does not specify the `input language',
which is the language used to process events in the
configuration file ('English', by default, unless changed with
the input-language XX directive). See the section The Date File
for more details on specifying the `input language'.
Note: In order to display diacritical marks, languages other
than English require that the characters be remapped. Normally,
no action is required since pcal automatically selects a
remapping which is appropriate to the selected language.
However, if you want to override the default remapping for a
given language, you would use the -r option (e.g. "-r Latin1").
Furthermore, an appropriate font should be selected as needed
using the -t option (e.g. "-t some-latin1-font-name"). Any
language using the "Latin1" remapping (e.g. French, German,
Italian, Spanish, etc) requires an ISO 8859-1 ('Latin1') font.
The Greek language requires an ISO 8859-7 (similar to ELOT-928)
font (available from Angelo Haritsis <ah@doc.ic.ac.uk>; also see
http://www.hellenic.net/fonts/). Similarly, Russian requires a
KOI8-R font while Ukrainian requires a KOI8-U font.
Pcal predefines the symbol lang_XX, where XX is the two-
character abbreviation for the selected output language.
-r [mapping]
Specifies an 8-bit character set remapping (encoding) for
printing the diacritical marks common to European languages.
Note: This option is not usually needed since pcal will
automatically select an appropriate default character encoding
(mapping) for the language for which the calendar is being
generated.
The value specified for mapping is case-insensitive and may be
abbreviated to the point where it is still unique. The value
used may be any of the following:
o "none" (use built-in character set)
o "Latin1" (ISO 8859-1)
o "Latin2" (ISO 8859-2)
o "Latin3" (ISO 8859-3)
o "Latin4" (ISO 8859-4)
o "Cyrillic" (ISO 8859-5)
o "Greek" (ISO 8859-7)
o "Latin5" (ISO 8859-9)
o "Latin6" (ISO 8859-10)
o "Thai" (ISO 8859-11)
o "Latin7" (ISO 8859-13)
o "Latin8" (ISO 8859-14)
o "Latin9" (ISO 8859-15)
o "KOI8-R" (Russian)
o "KOI8-U" (Ukrainian)
o "Roman8"
This option may also be set semi-permanently by altering the
makefile (`Makefile' for most environments, 'Makefile.DOS' for
MS-DOS).
-T [B|I|R]
Select the default typeface (Bold, Italic, or Roman) for
printing date/note text. This flag may be specified multiple
times within the date file (via "opt") to reset the font style
on the fly -- for example, to print all holidays in Bold.
-W [left|center|right]
Specify the horizontal alignment of the month/year heading
(left, center, right) (for monthly-format calendars only).
Any option taking a negative value (e.g. -Y -###) should be specified
with no space between the option and the (negative) value to avoid pcal
interpreting the value as an illegal flag and aborting. For example,
use ` -Y-50' instead of ` -Y -50' on your option specification.
Any option (except -G and -O, for backward-compatibility) which
normally takes an argument may be specified without the argument in
order to reset the value to the program default. Note that while the
-D option alone clears all the defined symbols, the -U option alone has
no effect. The - (or -- as per System V) argument may be used to
disambiguate command lines such as:
pcal -t 9 90
This could be written instead as one of the following:
pcal -t - 9 90
pcal -t -- 9 90
If the environment variable PCAL_OPTS is defined, its contents are
parsed as a command line. Flags set via PCAL_OPTS override the program
defaults, but are overridden by options set via opt lines in the
configuration file or explicitly on the command line.
Additional Options For Debugging Only
The -Z flag is used to print debugging information which is of interest
primarily to pcal hackers. This flag is a "hidden" flag; it does not
appear as part of the usage message. At present, the following options
are supported:
o -ZD print dates and text as read from date file
o -ZF print date file search paths
o -ZM print moon phases and identify quarters
o -ZO print option flags and where set
o -ZP print "preprocessor" debug info
o -ZT print dates and text as written to output file
o -Z turn off all debugging info
The subflags may be combined: e.g. "-ZDF" is equivalent to "-ZD -ZF".
All of the aforementioned debugging information is written to stderr.
CAVEATS
o The ``workday'' and ``holiday'' keywords are aware of only those
holidays which have already been flagged at the point where they
appear. For example, consider January 1990:
January 1990
S M Tu W Th F S
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12 13
14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27
28 29 30 31
If the configuration file looked like this:
workday on_or_before all 15 payday
3rd Mon in Jan* MLK day
... then pcal would mark the 15th as ``payday'' since at that point
in the configuration file it has no way of knowing that January 15th
will later be flagged as a holiday. If the two lines were reversed,
such that the holiday preceded the ``workday'' wildcard, then pcal
would work as intended, marking instead the 12th as ``payday''.
Also, beware of year boundaries which affect the handling of all of
the day wildcard keywords. In general, it is best to place monthly
wildcards such as the example above at the end of each year to
achieve the desired effect.
o Only the positive ordinals may be used in conjunction with
prepositions (e.g. "fourth Sunday before 12/25"). (It could be
argued that "last Sunday before 12/25" should be accepted as a
synonym for "first Sunday before 12/25", but then what does "last
Sunday after 12/25" mean?)
o When the -w and -p options are used together, pcal revises the y-
scale factor in order to use the entire portrait page; therefore, the
user should avoid using use the -y option when using both the -w and
-p options. Use of the -w option in any case effectively disables
the -m, -M, -j, and -J options.
o The output of the -c option may be used as input to subsequent runs
of pcal. Note, however, that opt lines (except for an automatic opt
-[A|E]), comments, ``note'' text, and ifdef'd-out source will be
lost.
o The -S option interacts with note{/<number>}; if used, it should be
specified either on the command line or prior to the first note line
in the date file.
SEE ALSO
Website for pcal and lcal (a lunar calendar generation application):
http://pcal.sourceforge.net
cal(1), calendar(1).
The old, simple Unix/BSD 'calendar' program, which can be used with
pcal and the '-c' option is part of the BSD Main Utilities
('bsdmainutils') package and is available at the Debian site:
http://packages.debian.org/stable/source/bsdmainutils
This old program does not seem to be included with most GNU/Linux
distributions these days.
For more information on PostScript, consult the free, online Adobe book
entitled PostScript Language Reference Manual, which can be found here
(as of Dec 2007):
http://partners.adobe.com/public/developer/ps/index_specs.html
AUTHORS
The original PostScript code to generate the calendars was written by
Patrick Wood (Copyright (C) 1987 by Patrick Wood of Pipeline
Associates, Inc.), and authorized for modification and redistribution.
The calendar file inclusion code was originally written in "bs(1)" by
Bill Vogel of AT&T. Patrick's original PostScript was modified and
enhanced several times by King Ables, Tim Tessin, Joe Wood, Jeff Mogul,
Mark Hanson, and others whose names have regrettably been lost. This C
version was originally created by Ken Keirnan of Pacific Bell;
additional enhancements by Joseph P. Larson, Ed Hand, Andrew Rogers,
Mark Kantrowitz, Joe Brownlee, Andy Fyfe, Steve Grandi, Geoff Kuenning,
Stefan Fronzek (1-column HTML output), Bill Bogstad (event deletion
capability), and Bill Marr (embedded EPS images, command-line paper
size specification, new paper sizes [legal & tabloid], additional
character mappings for new languages, and various cleanups). The moon
routines were originally written by Jef Poskanzer and Craig Leres, and
were incorporated into pcal by Richard Dyson. International language
support was initially added by Angelo Haritsis. Additional languages
were added by Andrew Rogers (Esperanto), Lars Wirzenius (Finnish),
Pedro Zorzenon Neto (Portuguese), Joel Fredrikson (Swedish), Volodymyr
M. Lisivka (Ukrainian), Neeme Praks (Estonian, Russian, Latvian,
Lithuanian), Peter Cernoch (Czech), Ferenc Kruzslicz (Hungarian),
Carles Sadurni Anguita (Catalan), Dominik 'Chiron' Derlatka (Polish),
Ewald Beekman (Dutch), Claudiu Costin (Romanian), Kenneth Geisshirt
(Danish), Zdenko Podobny (Slovak), and Eric Nichols (Hawaiian).
Version 4.11.0 18 Dec 2007 PCAL(1)