path: root/tde-i18n-en_GB/docs/tdepim/kalarm/index.docbook

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<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.2-Based Variant V1.1//EN" "dtd/kdex.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY kappname "&kalarm;">
  <!ENTITY package "tdepim">
  <!ENTITY % addindex "IGNORE">
  <!ENTITY % British-English "INCLUDE"><!-- change language only here -->
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<!-- The language must NOT be changed here. -->

<book lang="&language;">

<bookinfo>
<title>The &kalarm; Handbook</title>

<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>David</firstname>
<surname>Jarvie</surname>
<affiliation>
<address><email>&David.Jarvie.mail;</email></address>
</affiliation>
</author>

<othercredit role="developer">
<firstname>David</firstname>
<surname>Jarvie</surname>
<affiliation><address><email>&David.Jarvie.mail;</email></address></affiliation>
<contrib>Developer</contrib>
</othercredit>

<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
<othercredit role="translator">
<firstname>David</firstname>
<surname>Jarvie</surname>
<affiliation>
<address><email>software@astrojar.org.uk</email></address>
</affiliation>
<contrib>Translator</contrib>
</othercredit>
</authorgroup>

<copyright>
<year>2001</year><year>2002</year><year>2003</year><year>2004</year><year>2005</year><year>2006</year><year>2007</year><year>2008</year>
<holder>David Jarvie</holder>
</copyright>

<legalnotice>&FDLNotice;</legalnotice>

<!-- Don't change format of date and version of the documentation -->

<date>2008-01-23</date>
<releaseinfo>1.05.00</releaseinfo>

<abstract>
<para>&kalarm; is a personal alarm message, command and email scheduler for &kde;.</para>
</abstract>


<keywordset>
<keyword>KDE</keyword>
<keyword>tdepim</keyword>
<keyword>kalarm</keyword>
<keyword>alarm</keyword>
<keyword>reminder</keyword>
</keywordset>

</bookinfo>


<chapter id="introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>

<para>&kalarm; lets you schedule the display of personal alarm
messages, the playing of sound files, the execution of commands and
the sending of emails.</para>

<para>In its default graphical mode, &kalarm; displays the list of
pending alarms, showing their times and details.  You can create new
alarms, or you can select existing alarms for modification or
deletion. You can also optionally view expired alarms.</para>

<para>When configuring an alarm, you may either type in the alarm
message text, specify a text or image file to display, specify a
command to execute, or enter an email to send. You can also choose
the colour of the alarm message, whether to play a sound or speak the
message, whether it should repeat, and whether the alarm should be
cancelled if it cannot be triggered at its scheduled time.</para>

<para>Alarms may also be scheduled from the command line, or via &DCOP;
calls from programs.</para>

<para>When an alarm message is due, it is displayed on each &kde;
desktop to ensure that you don't miss it. The message window shows the
time for which the alarm was scheduled. It usually has a defer option
to ask for the alarm to be displayed again later. An example of an
alarm message:</para>

<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Screenshot of the &kalarm; message window</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="alarmmessage.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Alarm message</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>

<para>When the alarm specifies a command to execute or an email to
send, &kalarm; displays nothing.</para>

<para>&kalarm; can run in either of two modes:
<quote>continuous</quote> (the default) where it runs from the
system tray, or <quote>on-demand</quote> where it runs as and when
required (with the option of displaying an independent system tray
icon).</para>

<para>This document makes various references to the <application>alarm
daemon</application>.  This is an application which runs in the
background, checking pending alarms and telling &kalarm; to display
them when they become due.</para>

</chapter>

<chapter id="using-kalarm">
<title>Using &kalarm;</title>

<para>When it is run with no command line parameters, &kalarm; starts
in graphical mode, and displays the current list of outstanding
alarms.</para>

<para>When &kalarm; starts in graphical mode, it checks whether the
<application>alarm daemon</application> is running. If it is not
already running, &kalarm; starts it.</para>

<tip><para>All spin boxes in &kalarm; have an acceleration facility.
To make the value change by larger steps, hold down the
<keycap>Shift</keycap> key while you click on the spin arrow
buttons.</para>

<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="spinbox.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
</mediaobject>
</tip>

<sect1 id="alarm-list">
<title>Alarm list</title>

<para>The main &kalarm; window displays the current list of pending
alarms, showing their times, repetition intervals, colours, and
message texts, names of files to display, commands to execute or email
subjects. (For a recurring alarm, the time shown is its next scheduled
trigger time. For an alarm with a reminder, the time shown is the time
of the alarm proper, not the reminder time.) An icon at the left of
each alarm text/file/command/email subject indicates the type of
alarm.</para>

<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Screenshot of the &kalarm; main window</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="mainwindow.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Main window</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>

<para>For a repeated alarm, the list shows its next scheduled trigger
time and its basic repetition interval (&eg; <quote>1 Day</quote> for
a daily recurrence, <quote>3 Weeks</quote> for a recurrence which
triggers on Monday and Wednesday every third week,
<quote>Login</quote> for a repeat-at-login alarm).</para>

<para>The alarms may be ordered by date/time, repeat interval, colour,
type or text by clicking on the titlebar for the appropriate column.
To reverse the sort order, click the column titlebar again.</para>

<para>You can optionally show the remaining time until each alarm is
due, together with, or instead of, the alarm's scheduled time.
To show or hide the alarm time column, select
<menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show Alarm
Times</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
To show or hide the time-to-alarm column, select
<menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show Time To
Alarms</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. At least one of these columns is
always shown. You can use the
<link linkend="preferences-view">Preferences dialogue</link> to change
the default columns to display.</para>

<sect2 id="expired">
<title>Expired alarms</title>

<para>By default, &kalarm; stores alarms for a limited period once
they have expired or been deleted. (But note that alarms which you
delete are stored only if they have already triggered at least once.)
You can control whether &kalarm; stores expired alarms, and for how
long, in the
<link linkend="preferences-general">Preferences dialogue</link>.</para>

<para>Expired alarms may be shown in the alarm list by selecting
<menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show Expired
Alarms</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. To hide them again, repeat the
action. You can use the
<link linkend="preferences-view">Preferences dialogue</link> to show
expired alarms by default.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="search">
<title>Searching the alarm list</title>

<para>You can search through the alarm list to find alarms containing
a search text. To invoke this, select <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Find</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
In the search dialogue, select the alarm types which you wish to search.
To continue searching for more alarms which match, use <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Find Next</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
or <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Find Previous</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.</para>

<para>Searching is performed as follows:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Text alarms: the message text is searched.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>File alarms: the file path/URL is searched.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Command alarms: the command line or command script is
searched.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Email alarms: in addition to the subject and body of the email,
the recipients and the URLs of attachments are searched.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<note><para>Only alarms currently shown in the alarm list can be
selected for searching. So if you want to search expired alarms, you
must first display them as described in the section above.</para></note>
</sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="create-edit">
<title>Creating and manipulating alarms</title>

<sect2>
<title>Creating a new alarm</title>

<para>To create a new alarm, do one of the following. This displays
the <link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link> through
which you configure the alarm.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select <menuchoice><guimenu>Actions</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on the system tray icon
and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
from the context menu.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Click the <mousebutton>Middle</mousebutton> mouse button on the
system tray icon.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click in the alarm list and
choose <menuchoice><guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from
the context menu.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Double click on empty space below the last entry in the alarm
list.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>Alternatively, you can create new alarms preconfigured from
various sources:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>To base your new alarm on an alarm template, follow the
instructions in the <link linkend="templates">Alarm templates</link>
section.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>To base your new alarm on an existing one, highlight the existing
alarm in the list and select <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Copy</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
This opens the <link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link>
already filled in with a copy of the selected alarm's details.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>To create a new alarm which displays an existing email message,
drag the email from &kmail; onto &kalarm;'s main window or system tray
icon. This opens the <link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit
dialogue</link> with the entire email message (including sender,
recipient etc.) as the alarm text.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>To create a new email alarm to send a copy of an existing email
message, drag the email from &kmail; onto &kalarm;'s main window or
system tray icon. Then select the <guilabel>Email</guilabel> option.
The <link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link> is preset
with the entire email message except sender.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Dragging any piece of text onto &kalarm;'s main window or system
tray icon opens the <link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit
dialogue</link> and sets the alarm text.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>To create a file display alarm, drag a file URL onto &kalarm;'s
main window or system tray icon. This opens the
<link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link> and sets the
file name.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>You can automatically create birthday alarms for people in
&kaddressbook; as described in <link linkend="birthdays">Importing
birthdays from &kaddressbook;</link>.</para>
</listitem>

</itemizedlist>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="edit-alarm">
<title>Modifying an existing alarm</title>

<para>To modify an existing pending alarm (expired alarms cannot be
amended), do one of the following:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Double click on its entry in the alarm list.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Select it by clicking on its entry in the alarm list. Then
choose <menuchoice><guimenu>Actions</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Edit</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on its entry in the alarm
list and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>Edit</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the
context menu.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>This displays the <link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit
dialogue</link>.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Deleting/reactivating an alarm</title>

<para>To delete existing alarms, do one of the following:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select one or more alarms by clicking on their entries in the
alarm list. Then choose <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Delete</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on the desired entries in
the alarm list and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>Delete</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
from the context menu.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>When you delete an active alarm, it is stored as an expired
alarm, provided that it has triggered at least once before being
deleted, and provided that expired alarms are stored at all. (Use the
<link linkend="preferences-general">Preferences dialogue</link> to
control whether and for how long expired alarms are stored.) When you
delete an expired alarm, or an active alarm which has not yet
triggered, it is removed permanently.</para>

<para>You can reactivate a deleted alarm from the expired alarms list,
provided that it has not yet expired. To do this, first display
expired alarms, as described in
<link linkend="expired">Expired alarms</link>. Then:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select one or more appropriate expired alarms by clicking on
their entries in the alarm list. Then choose <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Reactivate</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on the desired entries in
the expired alarm list and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>Reactivate</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
from the context menu.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Enabling/disabling an alarm</title>

<para>See <link linkend="enable-disable">Enabling and disabling alarms</link>
for how to enable and disable alarms, either individually or as a whole.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Viewing an alarm</title>

<para>To view an existing alarm without the ability to modify it, do
one of the following:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select it by clicking on its entry in the alarm list. Then choose
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>View</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on its entry in the alarm
list and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>View</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
from the context menu.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>This displays the <link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit
dialogue</link> in read-only mode.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Acknowledging an alarm</title>

<para>See <link linkend="message-window">Alarm message window</link>
for how to acknowledge alarms.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="templates">
<title>Alarm templates</title>

<para>If you frequently want to set up similar alarms, you can create
an alarm template to avoid having to enter all the details from
scratch each time. A template can contain all the details which an
alarm can contain, apart from the start date.</para>

<para>As an example, you may regularly want to set an
alarm to remind you about a television programme whose time varies
from week to week. The template would contain all the alarm details
(message text, whether to play a sound etc.) except for the time and
date. Now, to create the alarm, all you need to do is open the alarm
edit dialogue with that template and then enter the time and
date.</para>

<para>To create an alarm based on a template, open the
<link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link> preset with
the template details:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select the <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>New From Template</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice> menu item, and then select the desired template.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on the system tray icon
and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>New Alarm From Template</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
from the context menu. Then select the desired template.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Open the <link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link>
in the usual way, and click the
<guibutton>Load Template...</guibutton> button to select a template to
preset the dialogue with.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<sect3>
<title>Configuring templates</title>

<para>You can create, modify or delete templates using the Alarm
Templates dialogue, or you can create a new alarm template based on an
existing alarm.</para>

<para>To create a new alarm template, do one of the following:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Display the Alarm Templates dialogue by selecting the <menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Templates...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice> menu item, and click <guibutton>New</guibutton>. This
displays a blank template edit dialogue.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Display the Alarm Templates dialogue by selecting the <menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Templates...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice> menu item, select an existing template from the list and
click <guibutton>Copy</guibutton>. This opens the template edit dialogue
already filled in with a copy of the existing template's
details.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Highlight an alarm in the alarm list and select <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Create template</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>. This opens the template edit dialogue already filled in
with a copy of the selected alarm's details.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>To modify an existing template, display the Alarm Templates
dialogue by selecting the <menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Templates...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice> menu item and click <guibutton>Edit</guibutton>. This
displays the template edit dialogue which is described below.</para>

<para>To delete existing templates, display the Alarm Templates
dialogue by selecting the <menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Templates...</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice> menu item, select one or more templates and click
<guibutton>Delete</guibutton>. A confirmation prompt is issued to
prevent accidental deletions.</para>

</sect3>

<sect3>
<title>Template edit dialogue</title>

<para>The template edit dialogue is similar to the
<link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link>. The
following controls are different:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Enter the template's name in <guilabel>Template name</guilabel>.
It is the template's name which is displayed in template selection
lists, so it is best to choose a name which will remind you of its
function. Each template's name must be unique.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>In the <guilabel>Time</guilabel> group box, select one of:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Default time</guilabel> if you do not wish to specify
any trigger time. Alarms based on this template will initially
use the normal default trigger time for new alarms.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Time</guilabel> to enter a time when the alarm is to
be triggered.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Any time</guilabel> to specify that the alarm should
only have a date, not a time.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Time from now</guilabel> to enter how long (in hours
and minutes) after the alarm is created, that it should be
triggered.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>In the <guilabel>Recurrence Rule</guilabel> group box in the
<guilabel>Recurrence</guilabel> tab, no day or month need be selected
for weekly or yearly recurrences, respectively.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect3>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="import">
<title>Importing alarms from external calendars</title>

<para>You can import alarms from other calendar files into &kalarm;,
by <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Import Alarms...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. The
import function scans the selected calendar file for events containing
alarms, and copies them (with new unique IDs) into &kalarm;'s calendar.
Events without alarms, and calendar entries other than events, are
ignored.</para>

<warning><para>If you import alarms from calendar files which were
created by applications other than &kalarm;, the alarms may be changed
by the import process &ndash; even alarm times may change. This depends on
the data storage conventions used by the other application, and is
unavoidable if those conventions differ from what &kalarm; expects.
Always check imported alarms for unexpected changes, and adjust them
as necessary.</para></warning>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="birthdays">
<title>Importing birthdays from &kaddressbook;</title>

<para>You can set up display alarms for birthdays stored in
&kaddressbook;, by <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Import Birthdays...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. This
displays a dialogue which allows you to select which birthdays to create
alarms for.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>In the <guilabel>Alarm Text</guilabel> group box, you can set up
the text to be displayed in the birthday alarm messages. The message
text is created by combining the <guilabel>Prefix</guilabel> text
followed by the person's name followed by the
<guilabel>Suffix</guilabel> text. No spaces are added, so remember to
include any necessary trailing space in <guilabel>Prefix</guilabel>
and leading space in <guilabel>Suffix</guilabel>.</para>

<note><para>If you change the alarm text, the birthday selection list
will be re-evaluated.</para></note>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>In the <guilabel>Select Birthdays</guilabel> list, select the
birthdays which you want to create alarms for. Note that the list
shows only those entries in &kaddressbook; which contain a birthday
and which do not already have a birthday alarm in the format currently
defined in the <guilabel>Alarm Text</guilabel> group box.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>The remaining controls are the same as for
<guilabel>Text</guilabel> alarms in the
<link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">Alarm Edit dialogue</link>.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="undo">
<title>Undo / redo</title>

<para>You can undo and redo the most recent changes which you have
made during the current session of &kalarm;. Most actions can be
undone, including creation, edit and deletion of alarms and alarm
templates, and reactivation of alarms. To prevent excessive resources
being used by the undo history, the number of changes stored is
limited to the last 12.</para>

<para>To undo the last change, select <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Undo</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
To redo the last change which was undone, select <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Edit</guimenu><guimenuitem>Redo</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.</para>

<para>To undo a change other than the last one, click on the
<guibutton>Undo</guibutton> button in the toolbar and hold the mouse
button down. A list of actions will be displayed from which you can
choose the one to undo. If you don't see the action which you are
looking for, remember that you may need to undo more recent changes
first, which the desired change depends on. For example, if you edited
an alarm and then deleted it, you cannot undo the edit until you have
first undone the deletion.</para>

<para>Redoing a change other than the last one can be done in a
similar manner, using the <guibutton>Redo</guibutton> toolbar
button.</para>

</sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="alarm-edit-dlg">
<title>The alarm edit dialogue</title>

<para>The alarm edit dialogue enables you to view and edit an
alarm.</para>

<screenshot>
<screeninfo>Screenshot of the alarm edit dialogue</screeninfo>
<mediaobject>
<imageobject>
<imagedata fileref="editwindow.png" format="PNG"/>
</imageobject>
<textobject>
<phrase>Alarm edit dialogue</phrase>
</textobject>
</mediaobject>
</screenshot>

<sect2>
<title>Alarm action</title>

<para>In the <guilabel>Action</guilabel> group box, select the type
of alarm:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Text</guilabel> in order to enter an alarm message text
(which may include newlines) in the edit box. Set the following
options:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>The <guilabel>Sound</guilabel> option allows you to select
whether an audible alarm should sound when the alarm message is
displayed. Choose:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>None</guilabel> to display the alarm silently.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Beep</guilabel> to sound a beep.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Speak</guilabel> to have the alarm message spoken as
well as being displayed. This option is only available if you have
<application>KTTSD</application> (from the tdeaccessibility package)
installed and configured, together with a compatible speech
synthesiser, &eg; <application>Festival</application>.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Sound file</guilabel> to play an audio file. Use the
button on the right to display the Sound File dialogue which lets you
select a file to play and set volume and repetition options. If you
hover the mouse over the selector, a tooltip will display the audio file
currently selected.</para>

<note><para>&kalarm; uses the &arts; sound server for repetition and
volume control. If &kalarm; has been built without &arts; support,
repetition and volume options will not be available and a simple sound
file selector will appear in place of the full Sound File
dialogue.</para></note>

<para>In the Sound File dialogue:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Enter the sound file path, or use the button beside the
edit box to display a file selection dialogue. You can listen to the
selected file by clicking the play button to the left of the edit
field. That button then changes function to allow you to stop playing
when you have heard enough.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Tick <guilabel>Repeat</guilabel> to continually repeat the
audio file for as long as the alarm is displayed. (The alarm message
window contains a button to stop playing the sound should you need
silence but still want to display the alarm.)</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Tick <guilabel>Volume</guilabel> and adjust the slider
control if you want to adjust the volume at which the audio file is
played.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>If you wish, you can fade the volume. Fading means to start
playing the audio file at one volume and gradually change to the final
volume, over a specified time interval. The final volume is that
entered in <guilabel>Volume</guilabel> above. To enable fade, tick
<guilabel>Fade</guilabel>, and then enter the fade period in seconds
in the <guilabel>Fade time</guilabel> field, and adjust the
<guilabel>Initial volume</guilabel> slider.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<note><para>When possible, &kmix; is used to set volumes. This
ensures that the volume at which the alarm is played is unaffected by
any changes in the computer's sound level. If &kmix; is not installed
(or is older than &kde; 3.1), the volume is set relative to the sound
level current at the time the alarm triggers. So in this case, the
volume at which the alarm is played will vary depending on any changes
in the computer's sound level.</para></note>

<tip><para>You can use the <guibutton>Try</guibutton> button to test out
the selected sound levels.</para></tip>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Use the <guibutton>Font &amp; Colour...</guibutton> button to
select a font, and foreground and background colours, for the alarm
message. In the <guilabel>Choose Alarm Font &amp; Colour</guilabel>
dialogue, tick <guilabel>Use default font</guilabel> to display the
message in whatever font is configured as the default at the time
the message is displayed. To choose a specific font for the message,
untick <guilabel>Use default font</guilabel>. (The default font, and
the colours shown in the colour selection lists, can be set in the
<link linkend="preferences-fontcolour">Preferences dialogue</link>.)</para>

<para>The selected font and colours are shown in a sample text
alongside the button. You can edit this text to show special
characters.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Use the <guibutton>Special Actions...</guibutton> button to
specify shell commands to execute before or after displaying the
alarm. In the <guilabel>Special Alarm Actions</guilabel>
dialogue:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>In the <guilabel>Pre-alarm action</guilabel> field, enter a
shell command to execute before the alarm is displayed.  Note that
&kalarm; will wait for the command to complete before displaying the
alarm.</para>

<para>A pre-alarm action is only executed once when the alarm message
is initially displayed, including when a reminder message is replaced
by the actual alarm message. It is <emphasis>not</emphasis> executed
in any of the following circumstances:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>When a reminder message is displayed.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>When the message is redisplayed after deferring the
alarm.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>When the message was displaying at the time you logged
off and is then restored when you log back in.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>When a recurring alarm triggers but the alarm message
(or a deferred alarm message) from a previous occurrence of the alarm
is still visible; in other words, when the previous occurrence of the
alarm has not yet been acknowledged.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>In the <guilabel>Post-alarm action</guilabel> field, enter a
shell command to execute when the alarm is acknowledged (whether by
clicking <guibutton>Close</guibutton> or by using the close button
in the window's titlebar). It is <emphasis>not</emphasis>
executed in any of the following circumstances:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>When a reminder message is closed.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>When you defer the alarm, except when the deferred
alarm is finally acknowledged.</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>When the alarm message is closed due to logging
out.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>See the description of Command alarms below for details of how
shell commands are executed.</para>

</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>File</guilabel> to enter the path or &URL; of a text
or image file whose contents are to be displayed in the alarm message.
Use the button beside the edit box to display a file selection dialogue.
Set options as for text alarms above, but note that the
<guilabel>Speak</guilabel> option is not available.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Command</guilabel> to enter a command to
execute.</para>

<note><para>This option is not available if &kde; is running in kiosk
mode.</para></note>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>The <guilabel>Enter a script</guilabel> tickbox lets you choose
whether to enter a shell command line or a script.</para>

<para>If this option is unticked, you can enter a shell command line
to execute. The command is passed straight to the default shell (defined
by the <envar>SHELL</envar> environment variable), and may include
whatever options, parameters, piped commands etc. are permitted by
the shell in a single line command.</para>

<para>If this option is ticked, you can enter the text of a script to
execute. Remember to include a first line such as
<literal>#!/bin/bash</literal> to ensure that the correct command
interpreter is invoked.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Use the <guilabel>Command Output</guilabel> group box to specify
what you want to be done with any terminal output which the command
produces when it executes.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Tick <guilabel>Execute in terminal window</guilabel> to cause
the command to be executed in a terminal window. You can choose
which type of terminal window should be used in the
<link linkend="preferences-general">Preferences dialogue</link>.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Tick <guilabel>Log to file</guilabel> to save the command's
output in a file. The output, prefixed by a heading showing the time
at which the command was scheduled to run, will be appended to any
existing contents of the file. Enter the file name in the edit box, or
use the button beside the edit box to display a file selection
dialogue.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Tick <guilabel>Discard</guilabel> to throw away the command's
output.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Email</guilabel> to enter an email message to send.
Fill in the recipients' addresses, the email subject line and the
message body in the three edit fields. Use the button beside the
addressee edit box to display your &kde; address book from which you
can select email recipients. Attachments may be added using the
<guibutton>Add...</guibutton> button. Note that attached files must
still exist when the alarm is triggered; no copy is stored at the time
the alarm is configured. To remove an attachment, highlight it in the
drop-down list and click the <guibutton>Remove</guibutton>
button.</para>

<para>Set the following options:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>The <guilabel>From</guilabel> combo box allows you to select
which &kmail; identity to use as your email address for sending the
email. This option only appears if your <guilabel>From</guilabel>
email address in the
<link linkend="preferences-email">Preferences dialogue</link> is set to
<guilabel>Use &kmail; identities</guilabel>. Otherwise your email
address is preset in the
<link linkend="preferences-email">Preferences dialogue</link>, rendering
this option inapplicable.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Tick <guilabel>Copy email to self</guilabel> to send a blind
copy of the email to yourself when the alarm is triggered. The email
address to which the copy will be sent may be set in the
<link linkend="preferences-email">Preferences dialogue</link>, the
default being your email address set in the &kde; Control
Centre.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Deferral</title>

<para>If the alarm is a recurring alarm and it was deferred after it
was last displayed, the <guilabel>Deferred Alarm</guilabel> group box
shows the time the alarm was deferred to.
<guibutton>Change...</guibutton> displays a dialogue which allows you to
change the deferred time or to cancel the deferral.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Time</title>

<para>In the <guilabel>Time</guilabel> group box, select either</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>At date/time</guilabel> to enter the date and time
when the alarm is to be triggered. Tick <guilabel>Any time</guilabel>
if you want to specify only a date for the alarm: in this case the
alarm will be displayed at the first opportunity on or after the
configured start-of-day time, on the specified date.
(<link linkend="preferences-general">Configuring &kalarm;</link>
describes how to set the start-of-day time.)</para>

<para>For a non-recurring alarm, the date/time which you enter must be
in the future, or if you enter only a date it must be today or later.
For a recurring alarm, there are no such restrictions since the start
date/time will be automatically adjusted to the first recurrence due
after the current time.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Time from now</guilabel> to enter how long after now
(in hours and minutes) the alarm should be triggered.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Reminder</title>

<para>For a display alarm, tick <guilabel>Reminder</guilabel> if you
want to display a reminder in advance of the main alarm and of each of
its recurrences (if any). Enter how long in advance using the edit
controls beside the tickbox.</para>

<note><para>Reminders are not displayed for sub-repetitions within a
recurrence. Reminders are only shown before each main
recurrence of the alarm.</para></note>

<para>If the alarm recurs, tick <guilabel>Reminder for first
recurrence only</guilabel> if you only want a reminder before the
alarm's first recurrence. If this is not ticked, the reminder period
is limited to being less than the recurrence interval.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Cancellation</title>

<para>The late-cancellation options determine how an alarm is treated
after its scheduled time:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>The <guilabel>Cancel if late</guilabel> tickbox determines what
happens if the alarm cannot be triggered at its scheduled time.</para>

<para>Tick this box to cancel the alarm if it cannot be triggered
within a specified time period after the right time. The time period
is selected using controls which appear when you tick the box. For
example, if you enter a time period of 1 hour, the alarm will be
triggered at the first opportunity up to an hour after it is due, but
if it cannot be triggered within an hour its activation will be
cancelled.</para>

<note><para>The lateness of date-only alarms, &ie; ones for which the
<guilabel>Any time</guilabel> option is selected, is calculated from
the start-of-day time on the alarm's scheduled date.</para></note>

<para>Leave the box unticked to trigger the alarm at the first
opportunity starting at the scheduled time, regardless of how late it
is.</para>

<note><para>An alarm can only be triggered while you are logged in,
and while both X and the <application>alarm daemon</application> are
running.</para></note>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Tick <guilabel>Auto-close window after this time</guilabel> if
you want the alarm window to be automatically closed if it is still
showing at the expiry of the late-cancellation time.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Recurrence</title>

<para>Specify whether or how the alarm should be repeated using the
<guilabel>Recurrence</guilabel> tab.</para>

<note><para>The alarm's basic repetition characteristics are displayed
for convenience in the title of the <guilabel>Recurrence</guilabel>
tab. The recurrence interval is shown first, followed by any
sub-repetition interval set up using the
<guibutton>Sub-Repetition</guibutton> button.</para></note>

<para>In the <guilabel>Recurrence Rule</guilabel> group box, set the
recurrence type or time period as follows:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>To trigger the alarm once only, select <guilabel>No
recurrence</guilabel>.</para></listitem>

<listitem><para>Select <guilabel>At login</guilabel> to trigger the
alarm whenever you log in, until its scheduled end time. Then, at its
scheduled end time it will finally be triggered one last time. (Note
that an alarm repeated at login will also be triggered any time you
enable alarms, or restart or reset the <application>alarm
daemon</application>.)</para></listitem>

<listitem>
<para>To make the alarm recur at regular intervals, select one of the
time period types and then enter in the
<guilabel>Recur every</guilabel> box how many time periods should
elapse between recurrences. For example, to repeat
every fortnight, you could select <guilabel>Daily</guilabel> and enter
a value of 14, or select <guilabel>Weekly</guilabel> and enter a value
of 2. Depending on the time period type selected, you may have further
options:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>For a weekly recurrence, tick each day in the week on which you
wish to trigger the alarm.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>For a monthly recurrence, you may select either a fixed date, or
a position (&eg; the second Tuesday).</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>For a yearly recurrence, you may select either a fixed day in
the month, or a position in a month (&eg; the last Saturday in
May). Tick each month of the year in which you wish to trigger the
alarm.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<tip><para>To set a daily alarm to occur only on weekdays, use a
weekly recurrence and tick each weekday.</para></tip>

</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>In the <guilabel>Recurrence End</guilabel> group box, set the
overall recurrence time span as follows:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guilabel>No end</guilabel> to continue the
repetitions indefinitely.</para></listitem>

<listitem><para>Select <guilabel>End after</guilabel> to specify the
total number of occurrences of the alarm.</para></listitem>

<listitem><para>Select <guilabel>End by</guilabel> to specify the
date/time until which the alarm will be repeated.</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>If you wish to exclude certain date/times from the recurrence
which you have set up, specify them in the
<guilabel>Exceptions</guilabel> group box. The list of exceptions
(&ie; excluded date/times) is shown on the left. To add a new
exception, enter a date on the right and press
<guibutton>Add</guibutton>. To change an exception, highlight it in
the list, enter the new date on the right and press
<guibutton>Change</guibutton>. To delete an exception, highlight it
in the list and press <guibutton>Delete</guibutton>.</para>

<sect3>
<title>Sub-Repetition</title>

<para>You can use the <guibutton>Sub-Repetition</guibutton> button to
set up a repetition within a repetition. In this case, each time the
alarm is due as specified in the main recurrence, instead of being
triggered just once it is triggered repeatedly in accordance with your
sub-repetition specification. For example, to set up an alarm which
repeats every hour from noon to 6 pm each Thursday, you would set up a
weekly recurrence on Thursday at 12:00, and use the Sub-Repetition
dialogue to specify an interval of 1 hour and either a count of 6 or a
duration of 6 hours.</para>

<para>In the Sub-Repetition dialogue which is displayed when you click
the <guibutton>Sub-Repetition</guibutton> button, tick
<guilabel>Repeat every</guilabel> to set up a repetition, or untick
it to remove the repetition. If <guilabel>Repeat every</guilabel> is
ticked, set up the repetition as follows:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Enter the time interval between repetitions in the
controls beside <guilabel>Repeat every</guilabel>. Select the desired
time units (&eg; <guilabel>days</guilabel>) and then enter the number
of units.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Specify either the repetition count or its
duration:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guilabel>Number of times</guilabel> to enter
how many times the alarm should be triggered after the main
recurrence. So, for example, to make the alarm occur 4 times at each
main recurrence, &ie; 3 additional times, you should enter 3
here.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Select <guilabel>Duration</guilabel> to enter the
total time period during which the alarm should be repeated. This need
not be an exact multiple of the repetition interval; it will
automatically be rounded down when you click
<guibutton>OK</guibutton>.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<note><para>To prevent overlapping sub-repetitions for the same alarm,
a sub-repetition's duration is restricted to be less than the longest
interval between main recurrences. Each time the alarm recurs as
specified in the main recurrence, any still active sub-repetition
which started at the previous recurrence is automatically
cancelled.</para></note>

</sect3>
</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Other controls</title>

<para>For display alarms, the
<guilabel>Confirm acknowledgement</guilabel> tickbox lets you specify
whether you will be prompted for confirmation when you close the alarm
message window. This may be used as a safeguard against accidental
acknowledgement of alarms.</para>

<para>Select <guilabel>Show in &korganizer;</guilabel> to add the
alarm to &korganizer;'s active calendar, where it will appear as an
event without an alarm. This option allows you to track alarms in
&korganizer; while still making use of &kalarm;'s functions.</para>

<note><para>If you later modify or delete the alarm in &kalarm;, the
&korganizer; event will be modified or deleted correspondingly. But
if you change the event in &korganizer;, the alarm in &kalarm; will
not be affected.</para></note>

<para>Press the <guibutton>Load Template</guibutton> button to select
a template to preset the dialogue with, as described in <link
linkend="create-edit">Creating and manipulating alarms</link>. </para>

<para>Press the <guibutton>Try</guibutton> button to test the alarm
and check whether it works correctly. The alarm is executed just as
if it had been scheduled in the normal way.</para>

<para>Press the <guibutton>OK</guibutton> button
when all details are correct, to add the alarm to the scheduled
list.</para>

</sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="message-window">
<title>Alarm message window</title>

<para>When an alarm message is due, it is displayed on each &kde;
desktop and cannot be covered by ordinary windows, to ensure that
you see it. The message window shows the time for which the alarm was
scheduled, so that you can see when it popped up if you were away from
the computer at the time. (For reminder messages, however, the
date/time shown is that for the main alarm or its recurrence, not the
reminder message time, and the window title is
<quote>Reminder</quote>).</para>

<para>Alarm message windows remain visible until you acknowledge them,
unless <guilabel>Auto-close window after late-cancellation
time</guilabel> was ticked in the <link
linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">Alarm Edit dialogue</link>. In the case of a
recurring alarm, if an unacknowledged message window remains from a
previous occurrence of the alarm, the existing window is simply popped
up when the alarm recurs. This avoids having to acknowledge multiple
copies of the same message should you not wish, or be unable, to
acknowledge a message at the time it appears.</para>

<para>The alarm message window provides whichever of the following
options are applicable to the displayed alarm:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Acknowledge the alarm by clicking the
<guibutton>Close</guibutton> button. This closes the window (after a
prompt for confirmation, if you selected
<guilabel>Confirm acknowledgement</guilabel>).</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Edit the alarm by clicking the <guibutton>Edit...</guibutton>
button. This displays the
<link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link>.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Display options to defer the alarm until later by clicking the
<guibutton>Defer...</guibutton> button. Then select
<guilabel>Defer to date/time</guilabel> to enter the date and time
when the message is to be redisplayed, or select <guilabel>Defer for
time interval</guilabel> to enter how long after now (in hours and
minutes) the message should be redisplayed. Then click
<guibutton>Defer</guibutton> to defer the alarm message and close its
window.</para>

<note><para>The time the alarm is deferred to must be earlier than its
next scheduled occurrence or next reminder. For this reason, the
<guibutton>Defer...</guibutton> button in the alarm message window and
the <guibutton>OK</guibutton> button in the deferral dialogue are
disabled one minute before the next occurrence or
reminder.</para></note>

<note><para>The <guibutton>Defer...</guibutton> button is not
available for alarms which are displayed at login due to the
<guilabel>Repeat at login</guilabel> option having been
selected.</para></note>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Stop playing the alarm's sound file by clicking the button
showing the <quote>stop playing</quote> symbol.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>If the alarm message was created by dragging an email from
&kmail;, you can directly access the email in &kmail; by clicking the
button showing the &kmail; icon. This will select and highlight the
email in &kmail;'s folder list.</para>

<warning><para>If &kmail;'s indexes are regenerated, the link to the
email in &kmail; will be lost.</para></warning>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>The button showing the <guiicon>&kalarm;</guiicon> icon provides
a convenient way to activate &kalarm;.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>The alarm message window may be displayed in two different
modes, depending on your preferences. You can choose the mode in the
<link linkend="preferences-view">Preferences dialogue</link>.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>As a normal window. In this mode, the keyboard focus is taken
by the alarm message window when it appears, so if you are typing at
the time your keystrokes will be diverted to it rather than your
original application.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>As a non-modal window. In this mode, the keyboard focus is
unaffected when the alarm message window appears, so it will not
interfere with your typing. However in this mode the window has no
titlebar or frame, so you cannot move it or resize it.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="system-tray">
<title>System tray operation</title>

<para>&kalarm; may be run as an icon in the system tray. This
icon allows one-click activation of &kalarm;, and provides both
control and status indication of alarm monitoring. A normal &kalarm;
icon indicates that alarms are being monitored, while a grey icon
indicates that alarms are not being monitored.</para>

<para>If you hover the mouse cursor over the system tray icon, a
summary of the first few message alarms due in the next 24 hours are
displayed as a tooltip. You can switch this feature off, or configure
the number of alarms to display and their format, in the
<link linkend="preferences-view">Preferences dialogue</link>.</para>

<para><mousebutton>Left</mousebutton> click on the system tray icon to
toggle between displaying and hiding the &kalarm; main window.</para>

<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on the system tray icon to
display its context menu:</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><guimenuitem>Enable Alarms</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Enables monitoring of alarms. This option
only appears if alarms are currently disabled.</action></para>
<para>See
<link linkend="enable-disable">Enabling and disabling alarms</link>
for details.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><guimenuitem>Disable Alarms</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Disables monitoring of alarms. This option
only appears if alarms are currently enabled.</action></para>
<para>See
<link linkend="enable-disable">Enabling and disabling alarms</link>
for details.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><guimenuitem>New Alarm...</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Opens the alarm edit dialogue to create a new
alarm.</action></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><guimenuitem>New Alarm From Template</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Displays the list of alarm templates in a
menu. When you select one, the alarm edit dialogue is opened, preset
with that template's details.</action></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><guimenuitem>Configure &kalarm;...</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Displays the &kalarm; preferences dialogue.</action></para>
<para>The preferences dialogue is described in
<link linkend="preferences">Configuring &kalarm;</link>. It
includes options relating to the &kalarm; system tray icon.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><guimenuitem>Restore / Minimise</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Restores or minimises the main &kalarm; window.</action></para>
<para>This option is only available if the run mode is
<quote>continuous</quote>. (See
<link linkend="preferences-general">Configuring &kalarm;</link> for a
description of run modes.)</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Closes the &kalarm; system tray
icon.</action></para>
<para>In <quote>continuous</quote> run mode
only, it also closes all &kalarm; main windows. It has no effect on
the monitoring of alarms by the <application>alarm
daemon</application>, if you have deselected <guilabel>Disable alarms
while not running</guilabel> in the Preferences dialogue.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<sect2>
<title>Displaying &kalarm; in the system tray</title>

<para>You must be running the &kde; desktop or another suitable window
manager in order to display &kalarm; in the system tray. If &kalarm;
is running in <quote>continuous</quote> mode, the system tray icon is
always displayed. These instructions apply only to
<quote>on-demand</quote> mode. (See
<link linkend="preferences-general">Configuring &kalarm;</link> for a
description of run modes.)</para>

<para>To display &kalarm; in the system tray, select <menuchoice>
<guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show in System Tray</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.</para>

<para>To remove &kalarm; from the system tray, do one of the
following:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select <menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Hide from System Tray</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on the system tray icon
and choose <menuchoice><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
from the context menu.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="refreshing">
<title>Refreshing alarms</title>

<para>If in the unlikely event that any alarm was not triggered when
it should have been, you can refresh the alarm list and trigger any
missed alarms by selecting
<menuchoice>
<guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Refresh Alarms</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.</para>

<para>&kalarm; retriggers missed alarms by resetting the
<application>alarm daemon</application>, which is discussed in the
<link linkend="daemon-reset">Alarm daemon</link> section.</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="enable-disable">
<title>Enabling and disabling alarms</title>

<para>Alarms may be enabled and disabled either as a whole or
individually:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><quote>Alarm monitoring</quote> applies to alarms as a whole.
When alarm monitoring is disabled, the <application>alarm
daemon</application> ceases to check alarms and therefore no alarms
will trigger at all. When alarm monitoring is enabled (the normal
situation), all alarms which are not individually disabled will
trigger at the appropriate times.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Alarms may be individually enabled and disabled, independently
of the alarm monitoring status. So the enabled/disabled status of
individual alarms will be unchanged by disabling and then re-enabling
alarm monitoring. Unlike alarm monitoring which could potentially be
disabled due to &kalarm; not running or the
<application>alarm daemon</application> not functioning, individual
alarms can only be disabled if you use menu commands to do so.</para>

<para>An alarm's individual enabled/disabled status is indicated by
its colour in the alarm list (the colour being configurable in the
<link linkend="preferences-fontcolour">Font &amp; Colour</link> tab of
the Preferences dialogue).</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>For an alarm to trigger, it must be individually enabled as well
as alarm monitoring being enabled.</para>

<sect2>
<title>Enabling alarm monitoring</title>

<para>If &kalarm;'s run mode is <quote>continuous</quote> and you
have selected <guilabel>Disable alarms while not running</guilabel>
in the Preferences dialogue, you must first ensure that &kalarm; is
running in order for alarm monitoring to take place.</para>

<para>Then if alarm monitoring is currently disabled, do one of the
following to enable alarms:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select <menuchoice><guimenu>Actions</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Enable Alarms</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on the system tray icon
and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>Enable Alarms</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
from the context menu.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>The <application>alarm daemon</application> is started if
necessary and alarms will be monitored for when they become
due.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Disabling alarm monitoring</title>

<para>There are several ways to disable alarm monitoring, which
prevents &kalarm; from displaying any further alarms either until you
re-enable alarms, or &ndash; assuming that the <application>alarm
daemon</application> is configured to start at login &ndash; until the
next time you log in.</para>

<para>To disable alarms without stopping the <application>alarm
daemon</application>, do one of the following:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select <menuchoice><guimenu>Actions</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Disable Alarms</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on the system tray icon
and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>Disable Alarms</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
from the context menu.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>If &kalarm;'s run mode is <quote>continuous</quote> and you have
selected <guilabel>Disable alarms while not running</guilabel> in the
Preferences dialogue, quit &kalarm;.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>To disable alarms by stopping the <application>alarm
daemon</application>:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Control Alarm Daemon...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. This
displays the Service Manager dialogue which enables you to stop the
<application>alarm daemon</application>.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Enabling and disabling individual alarms</title>

<para>To enable individual alarms which are currently disabled, do
one of the following:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select one or more alarms by clicking on their entries in the
alarm list. Then choose <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Enable</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on the desired entries in
the alarm list and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>Enable</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
from the context menu.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>To disable individual alarms which are currently enabled, do one
of the following:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Select one or more alarms by clicking on their entries in the
alarm list. Then choose <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Disable</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on the desired entries in
the alarm list and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>Disable</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
from the context menu.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="quitting">
<title>Quitting the program</title>

<para>Quit &kalarm; by closing all its windows and the system tray
icon, or if it is running in <quote>continuous</quote> mode, by
closing any message windows and selecting <menuchoice>
<guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem></menuchoice>,
or <menuchoice><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem></menuchoice> in the
system tray icon context menu.</para>

<para>The effect of <menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem></menuchoice> or of the system tray
icon context menu item
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem></menuchoice> depends on
the run mode: in <quote>on-demand</quote> mode it hides the system
tray icon, while in <quote>continuous</quote> mode it
quits the program.</para>

<tip><para>If you have deselected <guilabel>Disable alarms while not
running</guilabel> in the Preferences dialogue, quitting &kalarm; has no
effect on the <application>alarm daemon</application> which if
already active will continue to monitor scheduled alarms and request
their display when they become due.</para></tip>

</sect1>
</chapter>

<chapter id="preferences">
<title>Configuring &kalarm;</title>

<para>To configure &kalarm;'s operation to suit your system and your
personal preferences, select <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu>
<guimenuitem>Configure &kalarm;...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
This displays the configuration dialogue.</para>

<sect1 id="preferences-general">
<title>General</title>

<para>The <guilabel>General</guilabel> section lets you control
&kalarm;'s overall behaviour:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><guilabel>Run Mode</guilabel> group box: These options
control &kalarm;'s system tray icon, and also allow some control over
&kalarm;'s use of system resources by specifying whether or not to run
it continuously. If system performance is of concern, running it on
demand without displaying the system tray icon may be desirable;
running it continuously in the system tray uses more system resources
but gives the benefits of displaying an alarm-enabled indication and
making the application more accessible. Running &kalarm; on demand
does not affect the execution of alarms, since it is the
<application>alarm daemon</application> and not &kalarm; which
monitors the alarm list and triggers alarms.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><guilabel>Run only on demand</guilabel>: &kalarm;
is run only when an alarm is triggered, if you run it manually, or
while its system tray icon is displayed. In this mode the system tray
icon can still be displayed, but closing the system tray icon has no
effect on any &kalarm; windows.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Run continuously in system tray</guilabel>:
&kalarm; runs continuously and the system tray icon is always
displayed while it is running. In this mode, closing the system tray
icon closes all &kalarm; main windows, and if no message windows are
visible, quits the application. The options available in this mode
are:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><guilabel>Disable alarms while not running</guilabel>:
Selecting this option has the effect that alarms will be disabled
whenever &kalarm;'s system tray icon is not visible.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><guilabel>Warn before quitting</guilabel>: When alarms
are disabled while &kalarm; is not running, selecting this option
prompts you for confirmation if you attempt to terminate &kalarm; using
the system tray icon's <menuchoice><guimenu>Quit</guimenu></menuchoice>
option. This prevents accidental disabling of alarms. For safety, this
option is automatically re-enabled by default whenever you change run
mode.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<!--
<para>In this mode, if no system tray exists, &kalarm; runs
continuously in the background and alarms are always enabled.</para>
-->
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Autostart at login</guilabel>: In continuous
mode, this starts &kalarm; at &kde; session login, ensuring that
&kalarm; runs at all times unless you manually quit.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Autostart system tray icon at
login</guilabel>: In on-demand mode, this displays &kalarm;'s system
tray icon at login. &kalarm; will run until the system tray icon is
closed.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Start alarm monitoring at login</guilabel>:
This starts alarm monitoring at KDE session login, by starting the
<application>alarm daemon</application>. Note that in order for alarms
to be activated, you also need to select appropriate options in the
<guilabel>Run Mode</guilabel> group box.</para>

<warning><para>This option should always be ticked unless you intend
to discontinue use of &kalarm;.</para></warning>

<note><para>This option is automatically reselected whenever &kalarm;
is run. So if you have unticked this option and want to continue to
prevent the <application>alarm daemon</application> from running at
login, you need to untick this option again each time you run
&kalarm;.</para></note>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Start of day for date-only
alarms</guilabel>: Set the start-of-day time for the purposes of
triggering date-only alarms, &ie; ones for which the <guilabel>Any
time</guilabel> option was selected. On the date when they are due,
such alarms will be output at the earliest opportunity during the
24 hours starting from the start-of-day time.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>If you set up yearly recurrences for February 29th,
specify how these are to be handled in non-leap years by selecting one
of the following options:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><guilabel>February 28th</guilabel>: the alarm will
occur on February 29th in leap years, and on February 28th in
non-leap years.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>March 1st</guilabel>: the alarm will
occur on February 29th in leap years, and on March 1st in
non-leap years.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Do not repeat</guilabel>: the alarm will
occur on February 29th in leap years, but will be suppressed in
non-leap years.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<note><para>Changing this option will not cause the next scheduled
recurrence of any existing alarms to be re-evaluated. It will only
affect new alarms, or existing alarms after they are next
triggered.</para></note>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Confirm alarm deletions</guilabel>: Specify
whether you should be prompted for confirmation each time you delete
an alarm.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Expired Alarms</guilabel> group box: These
options control the storage of expired alarms.</para>
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><guilabel>Keep alarms after expiry</guilabel>:
Select this option to store expired and deleted alarms. Deselect it
to keep no record of alarms once they cease to be active. Note that
deleted alarms are only stored if they have previously been
triggered. If you delete an alarm before it ever triggers, it is
discarded.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Discard expired alarms after</guilabel>:
Set the number of days to store expired and deleted alarms, after which
they are permanently deleted.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guibutton>Clear expired alarms</guibutton>: This
button discards all currently stored expired alarms. This has no
effect on alarms which subsequently expire; they will continue to be
stored according to the selected options.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Terminal for Command Alarms</guilabel>:
Here, you can select which type of terminal window should be used for
command alarms which are executed in a terminal window. Some of the
most common terminal window applications are preconfigured, &eg;
<application>xterm</application>, &konsole;, although only those
which are installed on your system will be shown here. You can view
the actual command options used for each application by displaying the
context help for its radio button.</para>

<para>If you want to use another application, or want to use one of
those listed but with different command options, select
<guilabel>Other</guilabel> and enter the command to invoke the
terminal window. By default, the alarm's command string will be
appended to what you specify. Alternatively, you may specify where the
alarm's command string should be inserted, by use of the following
codes:</para>

<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term>%c</term>
<listitem>
<para>The alarm's command string will be substituted.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>%w</term>
<listitem>
<para>The alarm's command string will be substituted, with a <literal>sleep</literal> appended.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>%C</term>
<listitem>
<para>A temporary command file containing the alarm's command string will be created, and the command to execute the file will be substituted.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
<varlistentry>
<term>%W</term>
<listitem>
<para>A temporary command file containing the alarm's command string will be created with a <literal>sleep</literal> appended, and the command to execute the file will be substituted.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

<para>When the command alarm is triggered, its command string will be
quoted before being inserted into the terminal window command.</para>
</listitem>

</itemizedlist>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="preferences-email">
<title>Email</title>

<para>The <guilabel>Email</guilabel> section lets you choose options
for sending and addressing email alarms:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Email client</guilabel>: Specify the email
client to be used to send email alarms:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><guilabel>KMail</guilabel>: When an email alarm is
triggered, the email is sent using &kmail; (which is started first if
necessary) as follows:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>If &kmail; is version 1.7 or later, the email is sent
automatically.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>If &kmail; is an older version, the email is added to
&kmail;'s <filename>outbox</filename> folder for later
transmission.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Sendmail</guilabel>: When an email alarm is
triggered, the email is sent automatically using
<application>sendmail</application>. This option will only work if
your system is configured to use <application>sendmail</application>,
or a <application>sendmail</application> compatible mail transport
agent such as <application>postfix</application> or
<application>qmail</application>.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Copy sent emails into &kmail;'s sent-items folder</guilabel>:
Select this option if, every time an email alarm is triggered, you
want a copy of the transmitted email to be stored in &kmail;'s
<filename>sent-items</filename> folder.</para>

<note><para>This option is not available when &kmail; is selected as
the email client, since &kmail; automatically does this.</para></note>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Select your email address to be used as the sender's address in
email alarms:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guilabel>From</guilabel> to enter an email
address.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Select <guilabel>Use address from Control
Centre</guilabel> to use the email address which is configured in the
&kde; Control Centre.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Select <guilabel>Use &kmail; identities</guilabel> to
be able to choose at the time you configure an email alarm which of
&kmail;'s email identities to use. &kmail;'s default identity will be
used for alarms which were already configured before you selected this
option.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Select your email address to be used for sending blind copies of
email alarms to yourself when the
<guilabel>Copy email to self</guilabel> option is selected:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Select <guilabel>Bcc</guilabel> to enter an email
address. If blind copies are to be sent to your account on the
computer which &kalarm; runs on, you could simply enter your user
login name here.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Select <guilabel>Use address from Control
Centre</guilabel> to use the email address which is configured in the
&kde; Control Centre.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Notify when remote emails are queued</guilabel>:
Select this option to display a notification whenever an email alarm
queues an email for sending to a remote system. This may be useful
if, for example, you have a dial-up connection, or email is queued in
&kmail;'s <filename>outbox</filename> folder, so that you can
ensure that you do whatever is needed to actually transmit
the email.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="preferences-view">
<title>View</title>

<para>The <guilabel>View</guilabel> section lets you control some
aspects of &kalarm;'s appearance:</para>
<itemizedlist>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>System Tray Tooltip</guilabel> group box: These options
control what information is shown in the tooltip which appears when the
mouse cursor hovers over &kalarm;'s system tray icon.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Show next 24 hours' alarms</guilabel>: When selected,
a summary of the first few alarms due in the next 24 hours is
displayed.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Maximum number of alarms to show</guilabel>: Deselect
this option to display all of the next 24 hours' alarms. Select it to
set the maximum number of alarms which will be displayed.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Show alarm time</guilabel>: Select this option to show
the time at which each alarm is scheduled.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Show time until alarm</guilabel>: Select this option to
show the length of time remaining before each alarm's next scheduled
occurrence. The length of time is shown in hours and minutes.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Prefix</guilabel>: Specify a symbol or text to show in
front of the length of time until the alarm, to distinguish it from the
time at which the alarm is scheduled.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Message windows have a title bar and take keyboard focus</guilabel>: This
option controls whether alarm message windows are modal or not, &ie;
whether they grab the keyboard focus when they appear. See the
<link linkend="message-window">Alarm message window</link> section for
details.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>System tray icon update interval</guilabel>: Set
the frequency at which the &kalarm; system tray icon is updated to
reflect whether alarms are currently being monitored. This involves
checking whether the <application>alarm daemon</application> is
running.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="preferences-fontcolour">
<title>Font &amp; Colour</title>

<para>The <guilabel>Font &amp; Colour</guilabel> section lets you set
the default appearance of alarm messages, and the colours to be used
in the alarm list:</para>
<itemizedlist>

<listitem><para>Select the default font and background colour to use
for alarm message display.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Edit the colour selection list which is displayed when
you click on the background colour combo box:</para>
<itemizedlist>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Add colour...</guilabel>: Displays a colour
selection dialogue which lets you choose a colour to add to the
list.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Remove colour</guilabel>: Removes the colour
currently displayed in the <guilabel>Background colour</guilabel>
combo box from the list. The Custom colour item cannot be removed from
the list, and when it is displayed, this button is disabled.</para>
</listitem>

</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Select the colour to be used in the alarm list to show
disabled alarms.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Select the colour to be used in the alarm list to show
expired alarms.</para>
</listitem>

</itemizedlist>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="preferences-edit">
<title>Edit</title>

<para>The <guilabel>Edit</guilabel> section lets you choose
default values for the options in the
<link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link>:</para>

<para>For display alarms:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Set the default states for the <guilabel>Cancel if
late</guilabel>, <guilabel>Auto-close window after this
time</guilabel> and <guilabel>Confirm acknowledgement</guilabel>
tickboxes.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Set the default reminder period units.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Set the default special display alarm actions.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Set the default sound options. Note that a default
sound file may be specified even if the sound type is not set to
<guilabel>Sound file</guilabel>.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>For command alarms:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Set the default states for the <guilabel>Enter a
script</guilabel> and <guilabel>Execute in terminal window</guilabel>
tickboxes.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>For email alarms:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Set the default state for the <guilabel>Copy email to
self</guilabel> tickbox.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>For all alarm types:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Set the default recurrence type.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</sect1>

</chapter>

<chapter id="cmdline-operation">
<title>Command line operation</title>

<para>When command line parameters are supplied, &kalarm; does not
display the list of scheduled alarms as described in <link
linkend="using-kalarm">Using &kalarm;</link> above. Command line
options specific to &kalarm; may be used to perform the following
operations:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>schedule a new alarm</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>control the <application>alarm daemon</application></para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>control &kalarm;'s display mode</para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>obtain help</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>Additional command line options are provided primarily to enable
other programs to interface to &kalarm;. They are described in the
chapter <link linkend="cmdline-interface">Developer's Guide to
&kalarm;</link>.</para>

<para>The command line must only contain options applicable to one
&kalarm; operation. If you want to perform multiple operations, you
must invoke &kalarm; multiple times with a single set of options each
time.</para>

<sect1 id="cmdline-schedule">
<title>Schedule a new alarm</title>

<para>The following options are used to schedule a new alarm:</para>

<informaltable>
<tgroup cols="2">
<thead>
<row>
  <entry>Option</entry>
  <entry>Description</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
  <entry><option>-a</option>, <option>--ack-confirm</option></entry>
  <entry>Prompt for confirmation when the alarm message is
  acknowledged.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-A</option>, <option>--attach <replaceable>URL</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Specify the path or &URL; of a file which is to be attached
  to the email. This option may be repeated as necessary.
  <option>--mail</option> must be specified with this option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--auto-close</option></entry>
  <entry>Automatically close the alarm window after the expiry of the
  <option>--late-cancel</option> period.
  <option>--late-cancel</option> must be specified with this
  option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-b</option>, <option>--beep</option></entry>
  <entry>Make an audible beep when the message is displayed.
  <option>--speak</option>, <option>--play</option> and
  <option>--play-repeat</option> cannot be specified with this
  option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--bcc</option></entry>
  <entry>Blind copy the email to yourself.
  <option>--mail</option> must be specified with this option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-c</option>, <option>--color</option>, <option>--colour
  <replaceable>colour</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Set the message background colour to the specified &Qt;
  colour name or hex code 0xRRGGBB.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-C</option>, <option>--colorfg</option>, <option>--colourfg
  <replaceable>colour</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Set the message foreground colour to the specified &Qt;
  colour name or hex code 0xRRGGBB.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-d</option>, <option>--disable</option></entry>
  <entry>Disable the alarm. It will not trigger until it has been
  manually enabled.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-e</option>, <option>--exec <replaceable>commandline</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Specify a shell command to execute. If specified, this option
  must be the last &kalarm; option in &kalarm;'s command line. All
  subsequent command parameters and options  are interpreted as
  forming the command line to execute. <option>--file</option> and
  <option>--mail</option> cannot be specified with this option.
  <option>--ack-confirm</option>, <option>--beep</option>,
  <option>--color</option> and <option>--colorfg</option> are ignored
  with this option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-f</option>, <option>--file <replaceable>URL</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Specify the path or &URL; of a text or image file whose
  contents are to form the alarm message. <option>--exec</option> and
  <option>--mail</option> cannot be specified, and
  <replaceable>message</replaceable> must not be present with this
  option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-F</option>, <option>--from-id
  <replaceable>ID</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Use the specified &kmail; identity as the sender of the
  email. <option>--mail</option> must be specified with this
  option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-i</option>, <option>--interval
  <replaceable>period</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Set the interval between repetitions of the alarm.
  Hours/minutes are specified in the format
  <replaceable>nHnM</replaceable>, where <replaceable>n</replaceable>
  is a number, &eg; 3H30M. Other time periods are specified in the
  format <replaceable>nX</replaceable>, where
  <replaceable>n</replaceable> is a number and
  <replaceable>X</replaceable> is one of the following letters: Y
  (years), M (months), W (weeks), D (days). If
  <option>--recurrence</option> is also specified, Y (years) and M
  (months) are not allowed.
  Mandatory if <option>--repeat</option> or <option>--until</option>
  is specified.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-k</option>, <option>--korganizer</option></entry>
  <entry>Show the alarm as an event in &korganizer;'s active
  calendar.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-l</option>, <option>--late-cancel
  <replaceable>period</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Cancel the alarm if it cannot be triggered within the
  specified <replaceable>period</replaceable> after the correct
  time. The <replaceable>period</replaceable> period is specified in
  the same format as described for <option>--reminder</option>.
  The default value of <replaceable>period</replaceable> is 1
  minute.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-L</option>, <option>--login</option></entry>
  <entry>Trigger the alarm every time you log in.
  <option>--interval</option>, <option>--repeat</option> and
  <option>--until</option> cannot be specified with this
  option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-m</option>, <option>--mail
  <replaceable>address</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Send an email to the specified address. This option may be
  repeated as necessary.  <option>--exec</option> and
  <option>--file</option> cannot be specified with this option.
  <option>--ack-confirm</option>, <option>--beep</option>,
  <option>--color</option> and <option>--colorfg</option> are ignored
  with this option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-p</option>, <option>--play <replaceable>URL</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Specify the path or &URL; of an audio file to be played once
  when the alarm message is displayed. 
  <option>--play-repeat</option>, <option>--beep</option> and
  <option>--speak</option> cannot be specified with this
  option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-P</option>, <option>--play-repeat <replaceable>URL</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Specify the path or &URL; of an audio file to be played
  repeatedly for as long as the alarm message is displayed.
  <option>--play</option>, <option>--beep</option> and
  <option>--speak</option> cannot be specified with this
  option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--recurrence
  <replaceable>spec</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Set the alarm to recur. Specify the recurrence using iCalendar
  syntax (defined in
  <ulink url="http://www.w3.org/2002/12/cal/rfc2445.html">RFC2445</ulink>),
  &eg; <quote>FREQ=MONTHLY;COUNT=4;INTERVAL=3;BYDAY=-1MO</quote>.
  <option>--until</option> cannot be specified with this
  option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-r</option>, <option>--repeat
  <replaceable>count</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Set the number of times the alarm should be triggered, or if
  a recurrence is specified with <option>--recurrence</option>, the
  number of times the alarm should be triggered each time
  <option>--recurrence</option> activates it (&ie; a repetition within
  a recurrence). If <option>--recurrence</option> is not present,
  specify -1 to repeat the alarm indefinitely.
  <option>--interval</option> must be, and <option>--until</option>
  cannot be, specified with this option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-R</option>, <option>--reminder
  <replaceable>period</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Output a reminder alarm the specified length of time before
  the main alarm and each of its recurrences (if any). Hours/minutes are
  specified in the format <replaceable>nHnM</replaceable>, where
  <replaceable>n</replaceable> is a number, &eg; 3H30M. Other time
  periods are specified in the format <replaceable>nX</replaceable>,
  where <replaceable>n</replaceable> is a number and
  <replaceable>X</replaceable> is one of the following letters: W
  (weeks), D (days). This option cannot be specified with
  <option>--exec</option>, <option>--mail</option> or
  <option>--reminder-once</option>.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--reminder-once
  <replaceable>period</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Output a reminder alarm once, the specified length of time
  before the first recurrence of the alarm. No reminder will be 
  displayed before subsequent recurrences (if any). This option cannot
  be specified with <option>--exec</option>, <option>--mail</option>
  or <option>--reminder</option>.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-s</option>, <option>--speak</option></entry>
  <entry>Speak the message when it is displayed. This option requires
  <application>KTTSD</application> to be installed and configured,
  together with a compatible speech synthesiser.
  <option>--beep</option>, <option>--play</option> and
  <option>--play-repeat</option> cannot be specified with this
  option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-S</option>, <option>--subject
  <replaceable>subject</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>The subject line of the email. <option>--mail</option> must
  be specified with this option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-t</option>, <option>--time
  <replaceable>date/time</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Trigger alarm on the date or at the date/time specified.
  Specify a date without a time in the format
  <replaceable>yyyy-mm-dd</replaceable>; specify a date and time by
  <replaceable>[[[yyyy-]mm-]dd-]hh:mm</replaceable> (where omitted,
  date fields default to the values for today).</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-v</option>, <option>--volume
  <replaceable>percentage</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Set the audio volume for playing the audio file. This option
  can only be used when <option>--play</option> or
  <option>--play-repeat</option> is specified.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-u</option>, <option>--until
  <replaceable>date/time</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Repeat the alarm until the date or date/time specified.
  Specify a date without a time in the same format as for
  <option>--time</option>. <option>--interval</option> must be, and
  <option>--repeat</option> and <option>--recurrence</option> cannot
  be, specified with this option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><replaceable>message</replaceable></entry>
  <entry>Message text to display or, if <option>--mail</option> is
  specified, the body of the email message.</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>

<para>Either a message text, <option>--file</option> or
<option>--exec</option> must be specified; except as noted above, all
the options are optional.</para>

<para>Two alternative examples which display a multi-line message with
a red background at 10 p.m. on the 27th of this month are:</para>

<informalexample><screen>
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>kalarm</command> <option>-c <replaceable>red</replaceable></option> <option>-t <replaceable>27-22:00</replaceable></option> <option><replaceable>"Remember to\nSTOP"</replaceable></option></userinput>
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>kalarm</command> <option>-c <replaceable>0xFF0000</replaceable></option> <option>-t <replaceable>27-22:00</replaceable></option> <option><replaceable>"Remember to\nSTOP"</replaceable></option></userinput>
</screen>
</informalexample>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="cmdline-other">
<title>Other options</title>

<para>The following options are used to reset or halt the
<application>alarm daemon</application>, to display the
<link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link>, or to control
&kalarm;'s display mode.</para>

<para>See the <link linkend="daemon-reset">Alarm daemon</link> section
for a discussion about resetting and stopping the <application>alarm
daemon</application>.</para>

<informaltable>
<tgroup cols="2">
<thead>
<row>
  <entry>Option</entry>
  <entry>Description</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
  <entry><option>--edit <replaceable>eventID</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Display the alarm edit dialogue to edit the alarm with the
  specified event ID.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-n</option>, <option>--edit-new</option></entry>
  <entry>Display the alarm edit dialogue, in order to edit a new
  alarm.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--edit-new-preset <replaceable>templateName</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Display the alarm edit dialogue, preset with the alarm template
  of the specified name, in order to edit a new alarm.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--reset</option></entry>
  <entry>Reset the <application>alarm daemon</application>.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--stop</option></entry>
  <entry>Stop the <application>alarm daemon</application>.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--tray</option></entry>
  <entry>Display &kalarm; as an icon in the system tray.</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>

<para>For example, to reset the <application>alarm
daemon</application>:</para>

<informalexample><screen>
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>kalarm</command> <option>--reset</option></userinput>
</screen>
</informalexample>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="cmdline-help">
<title>Help options</title>

<para>The following help options are common to all
&kde; programs:</para>

<informaltable>
<tgroup cols="2">
<thead>
<row>
  <entry>Option</entry>
  <entry>Description</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
  <entry><option>--help</option></entry>
  <entry>Shows a brief options help text.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--help-qt</option></entry>
  <entry>Shows numerous generic &Qt;-specific options.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--help-kde</option></entry>
  <entry>Shows numerous generic &kde;-specific options.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--help-all</option></entry>
  <entry>Shows all options.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--author</option></entry>
  <entry>Shows the names and email addresses of &kalarm; authors.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-v</option>, <option>--version</option></entry>
  <entry>Shows the running versions of the &Qt; library , &kde; and
  &kalarm;.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--license</option></entry>
  <entry>Show licence information.</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>

</sect1>
</chapter>

<chapter id="daemon">
<title>Alarm daemon</title>

<para>The <application>alarm daemon</application>, &kalarmd;, monitors
&kalarm;'s calendar file for alarms becoming due. When it determines
that an alarm is due, it tells &kalarm; to display or execute it, or
to cancel it if it is late and late trigger was not selected for that
alarm.</para>

<para>The <application>alarm daemon</application> runs in the
background, with no user interface. It may be controlled as described
below.</para>

<sect1 id="daemon-start">
<title>Starting, resetting and stopping the <application>alarm daemon</application></title>

<para>The <application>alarm daemon</application> is normally started
at &kde; session login (unless you disable auto start in the
<link linkend="preferences-general">Preferences dialogue</link> and then
cease to use &kalarm;), and runs continuously until logout. If for any
reason it is not running, alarm monitoring will not occur and &kalarm;
will not display or execute any alarms.</para>

<sect2>
<title>Starting the <application>alarm daemon</application></title>

<para>To start the <application>alarm daemon</application>, you can
either run &kalarm; in its default graphical mode (&ie; without any
command line parameters other than <option>--tray</option>), enable
alarms using &kalarm;'s system tray icon menu, reset the daemon as
described <link linkend="daemon-reset">below</link>, or you can run
the <application>alarm daemon</application> directly from the command
line:</para>

<screen width="40">
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>kalarmd</command></userinput>
</screen>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="daemon-reset">
<title>Resetting the <application>alarm daemon</application></title>

<para>It is also possible to reset the <application>alarm
daemon</application> without stopping it. Resetting causes the
<application>alarm daemon</application> to re-read the list of
scheduled messages from the calendar file and re-initialise its
&kalarm;-related data.</para>

<para>Why might you want to reset the <application>alarm
daemon</application>? It isn't a very likely occurrence, but if for
any reason &kalarm; was not able to run when the <application>alarm
daemon</application> told it to trigger an alarm, that alarm will
never be displayed or executed until the <application>alarm
daemon</application> is either reset or restarted.</para>

<tip><para>Resetting starts the <application>alarm
daemon</application> if it is not currently running.</para></tip>

<para>To reset the <application>alarm daemon</application>, either use
the menu command <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Refresh Alarms</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice> or type the following command:</para>

<screen width="40">
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>kalarm</command> <option>--reset</option></userinput>
</screen>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Stopping the <application>alarm daemon</application></title>

<para>Stopping the <application>alarm daemon</application> will
prevent any further monitoring of scheduled alarm messages until the
daemon is restarted.</para>

<para>To stop the <application>alarm daemon</application>, type the
following command:</para>

<screen width="40">
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>kalarm</command> <option>--stop</option></userinput>
</screen>
</sect2>

</sect1>
</chapter>

<chapter id="developers">
<title>Developer's Guide to &kalarm;</title>

<para>&kalarm; provides an interface to allow other applications to
request the following functions:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>schedule a new alarm</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>trigger or cancel an already scheduled
alarm</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>cancel an already scheduled alarm</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>trigger an already scheduled alarm</para></listitem>
<listitem><para>display the alarm edit dialogue</para></listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>Each of the above functions is implemented both by a &DCOP; call
and by the command line. &DCOP; calls should be used in preference if
&kalarm; is already running.</para>

<sect1 id="dcop-interface">
<title>&DCOP; interface</title>

<para>The DCOP calls described in this document are all implemented in
&kalarm;'s <constant>request</constant> DCOP object. The interface is
defined in the file <filename>kalarmiface.h</filename>.</para>

<note><para>In &kalarm; version 1.2, the DCOP interface was completely
revised to allow easier calling of functions, and to conform better to
the standard &kde; DCOP configuration. The old DCOP interface is
currently still usable for compatibility purposes, but will be removed
at some future date.</para></note>

<refentry id="cancelEvent">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>cancelEvent</refentrytitle>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>cancelEvent</refname>
<refpurpose>cancel an already scheduled alarm.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void cancelEvent(const QString&amp; <replaceable>calendarFile</replaceable>,
                 const QString&amp; <replaceable>eventID</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>calendarFile</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the &URL; (not path) of the calendar file containing
the event to be cancelled.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>eventID</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the unique ID of the event to be cancelled, as stored
in <replaceable>calendarFile</replaceable>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>

<para><function>cancelEvent()</function> is a &DCOP; call to cancel
the specified alarm. &kalarm; deletes the alarm from the calendar file
without displaying or executing it.</para>

<note><para>The <replaceable>calendarFile</replaceable> parameter is
only used for integrity checking: if the &URL; does not specify
&kalarm;'s current default calendar file, the request will be
ignored.</para></note>

</refsect1>
</refentry>

<refentry id="triggerEvent">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>triggerEvent</refentrytitle>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>triggerEvent</refname>
<refpurpose>trigger an already scheduled alarm.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void triggerEvent(const QString&amp; <replaceable>calendarFile</replaceable>,
                  const QString&amp; <replaceable>eventID</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>calendarFile</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the &URL; (not path) of the calendar file containing
the event to be triggered.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>eventID</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the unique ID of the event to be triggered, as stored
in <replaceable>calendarFile</replaceable>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>

<para><function>triggerEvent()</function> is a &DCOP; call to trigger
the immediate display or execution of the specified alarm (regardless
of what time it is scheduled for). &kalarm; retrieves the alarm from
the calendar file and then displays or executes it.</para>

<para>If the alarm is already due, &kalarm; then deletes all scheduled
occurrences of the alarm up to the current time, and if no repetitions
of the alarm still remain, the alarm is deleted from the calendar
file. If the alarm is not due yet, its scheduled occurrences are left
unchanged.</para>

<note><para>The <replaceable>calendarFile</replaceable> parameter is
only used for integrity checking: if the &URL; does not specify
&kalarm;'s current default calendar file, the request will be
ignored.</para></note>

</refsect1>
</refentry>

<refentry id="handleEvent">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>handleEvent</refentrytitle>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>handleEvent</refname>
<refpurpose>trigger or cancel an already scheduled alarm.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
void handleEvent(const QString&amp; <replaceable>calendarFile</replaceable>,
                 const QString&amp; <replaceable>eventID</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>calendarFile</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the &URL; (not path) of the calendar file containing
the event to be displayed/executed or cancelled.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>eventID</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the unique ID of the event to be displayed/executed or
cancelled, as stored in
<replaceable>calendarFile</replaceable>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>

<para><function>handleEvent()</function> is a &DCOP; call to
display/execute or cancel the specified alarm. &kalarm; retrieves the
alarm from the calendar file and then determines what action to take
depending on when the alarm is due.</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>If the alarm is not yet due, nothing happens.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>If the alarm is due, it acts as follows. If a
late-cancel value is set and the alarm is too late, &ie; the scheduled
trigger time was longer than late-cancel minutes ago, &kalarm; does
not display or execute the alarm; otherwise, &kalarm; displays or
executes the alarm. If no repetitions of the alarm are still
scheduled, &kalarm; then deletes the alarm from the calendar
file.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<note><para>The <replaceable>calendarFile</replaceable> parameter is
only used for integrity checking: if the &URL; does not specify
&kalarm;'s current default calendar file, the request will be
ignored.</para></note>

</refsect1>
</refentry>

<refentry id="scheduleMessage">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>scheduleMessage</refentrytitle>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>scheduleMessage</refname>
<refpurpose>schedule a new alarm message.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleMessage(const QString&amp; <replaceable>message</replaceable>,
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>bgColour</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>fgColour</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>font</replaceable>, 
                     const KURL&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>recurrence</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>subRepeatInterval</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>subRepeatCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleMessage(const QString&amp; <replaceable>message</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>bgColour</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>fgColour</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>font</replaceable>, 
                     const KURL&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>recurType</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>recurInterval</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>recurCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleMessage(const QString&amp; <replaceable>message</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>bgColour</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>fgColour</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>font</replaceable>, 
                     const KURL&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>recurType</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>recurInterval</replaceable>, 
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>endDateTime</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>message</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the text of the message to be scheduled.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>dateTime</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the scheduled date, or date and time, at which the
message should be displayed. For a date-only alarm, the string should
be in the format <quote>YYYY-MM-DD</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QDate::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>). For an alarm
with a date and time, the string should be in the format
<quote>YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM[:SS]</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QDateTime::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>) or
<quote>HH:MM[:SS]</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QTime::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>). If no date is
specified, today's date is used. Note that any seconds value is
ignored.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>lateCancel</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Causes the alarm to be cancelled if it cannot be triggered within
the specified number of minutes after the alarm's scheduled time. If
the value is 0, the alarm will not be cancelled no matter how late it
is triggered.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>flags</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the logical OR of the desired alarm flags. The flag
bits are those defined in class <classname>KAlarmIface</classname> in
<filename>kalarmiface.h</filename>. Note that not all flag bits are
applicable to message alarms.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>bgColour</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the background colour for displaying the message. The
string may be in the format <quote>#RRGGBB</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QColor::name()</methodname>) where RR, GG and BB are
two-digit hexadecimal values for red, green and blue. Alternatively
the string may be in any of the other formats accepted by
<methodname>QColor::setNamedColour()</methodname>, such as a name from
the X colour database (&eg; <quote>red</quote> or
<quote>steelblue</quote>). Set the string to null to specify the
current default background colour.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>fgColour</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the foreground colour for displaying the message. The
format of the string is the same as for
<parameter>bgColour</parameter>, or alternatively set the string to
null to specify the current default foreground colour.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>font</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the font for displaying the message. The format of the
string is that output by <methodname>QFont::toString()</methodname>.
Set the string to null to use the default message font current at the
time the message is displayed.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>audioURL</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the audio file which is to be played when the message
is displayed. Set the value to null if no audio file is to be
played.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>reminder</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of minutes in advance of the main alarm
and of each of its recurrences (if any) at which a reminder alarm
should be displayed. Specify 0 if no reminder is required.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurrence</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies a regular recurrence for the alarm, using iCalendar
syntax as defined in
<ulink url="http://www.w3.org/2002/12/cal/rfc2445.html">RFC2445</ulink>.
For example, <quote>FREQ=MONTHLY;COUNT=4;INTERVAL=3;BYDAY=-1MO</quote>
would specify 4 repetitions at 3-monthly intervals on the last Monday
of the month. For a non-recurring alarm, specify an empty
string.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurType</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the recurrence type for the alarm. The permissible
values are MINUTELY, DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY, YEARLY. These
are defined in class <classname>KAlarmIface</classname> in
<filename>kalarmiface.h</filename>. Monthly recurrences are of the
day of the month type, and yearly recurrences are of the date in
the year type, with the date in both cases taken from the
<parameter>dateTime</parameter> parameter.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurInterval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of periods
(minutes/days/weeks/months/years as specified by
<parameter>recurType</parameter>) between recurrences of the
alarm.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurCount</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of times that the alarm should be
repeated. Specify -1 to repeat the alarm indefinitely.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>endDateTime</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the end date, or date and time, for recurrences of the
alarm. If <parameter>dateTime</parameter> includes a time, this
parameter must also include a time; if <parameter>dateTime</parameter>
contains only a date, this parameter must also contain only a
date.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>subRepeatInterval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of minutes between sub-repetitions of
the alarm. Specify 0 for no sub-repetition. Ignored if no recurrence
is specified.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>subRepeatCount</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of sub-repetitions of the alarm,
including the initial occurrence.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1 id="scheduleMessage-descrip">
<title>Description</title>
<para><function>scheduleMessage()</function> is a &DCOP; call to
schedule the specified alarm message for display at the specified date
and time. It has three forms. The most general form allows an
arbitrary recurrence to be specified &ndash; use this also for
non-repeating alarms. The other forms provide convenient access to a
restricted set of alarm recurrence types, one specifying a repetition
count and the other an end time.</para>

<para>If the scheduled time (including any repetitions) has already
passed, &kalarm; immediately displays the message (unless the
<parameter>lateCancel</parameter> value indicates that it is now too
late to display the alarm, in which case &kalarm; ignores the
request). If the scheduled time (or a repetition) is in the future,
&kalarm; adds the alarm message to the calendar file for later
display.</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>

<refentry id="scheduleFile">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>scheduleFile</refentrytitle>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>scheduleFile</refname>
<refpurpose>schedule a new alarm which displays the contents of a
text or image file.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleFile(const KURL&amp; <replaceable>URL</replaceable>,
                  const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>,
                  const QString&amp; <replaceable>bgColour</replaceable>,
                  const KURL&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>,
                  const QString&amp; <replaceable>recurrence</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>subRepeatInterval</replaceable>, 
                  int <replaceable>subRepeatCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleFile(const KURL&amp; <replaceable>URL</replaceable>,
                  const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>,
                  const QString&amp; <replaceable>bgColour</replaceable>,
                  const KURL&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>recurType</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>recurInterval</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>recurCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleFile(const KURL&amp; <replaceable>URL</replaceable>,
                  const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>,
                  const QString&amp; <replaceable>bgColour</replaceable>,
                  const KURL&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>recurType</replaceable>,
                  int <replaceable>recurInterval</replaceable>,
                  const QString&amp; <replaceable>endDateTime</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>URL</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the text or image file whose contents are to be
displayed in the message to be scheduled.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>dateTime</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the scheduled date, or date and time, at which the
file should be displayed. For a date-only alarm, the string should
be in the format <quote>YYYY-MM-DD</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QDate::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>). For an alarm
with a date and time, the string should be in the format
<quote>YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM[:SS]</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QDateTime::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>) or
<quote>HH:MM[:SS]</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QTime::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>). If no date is
specified, today's date is used. Note that any seconds value is
ignored.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>lateCancel</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Causes the alarm to be cancelled if it cannot be triggered within
the specified number of minutes after the alarm's scheduled time. If
the value is 0, the alarm will not be cancelled no matter how late it
is triggered.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>flags</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the logical OR of the desired alarm flags. The flag
bits are those defined in class <classname>KAlarmIface</classname> in
<filename>kalarmiface.h</filename>. Note that not all flag bits are
applicable to file alarms.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>bgColour</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the background colour for displaying the file. The
string may be in the format <quote>#RRGGBB</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QColor::name()</methodname>) where RR, GG and BB are
two-digit hexadecimal values for red, green and blue. Alternatively
the string may be in any of the other formats accepted by
<methodname>QColor::setNamedColour()</methodname>, such as a name from
the X colour database (&eg; <quote>red</quote> or
<quote>steelblue</quote>). Set the string to null to specify the
current default background colour.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>audioURL</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the audio file which is to be played when the message
is displayed. Set the value to null if no audio file is to be
played.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>reminder</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of minutes in advance of the main alarm
and of each of its recurrences (if any) at which a reminder alarm
should be displayed. Specify 0 if no reminder is required.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurrence</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies a regular recurrence for the alarm, using iCalendar
syntax as defined in
<ulink url="http://www.w3.org/2002/12/cal/rfc2445.html">RFC2445</ulink>.
For example, <quote>FREQ=MONTHLY;COUNT=4;INTERVAL=3;BYDAY=-1MO</quote>
would specify 4 repetitions at 3-monthly intervals on the last Monday
of the month. For a non-recurring alarm, specify an empty
string.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurType</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the recurrence type for the alarm. The permissible
values are MINUTELY, DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY, YEARLY. These
are defined in class <classname>KAlarmIface</classname> in
<filename>kalarmiface.h</filename>. Monthly recurrences are of the
day of the month type, and yearly recurrences are of the date in
the year type, with the date in both cases taken from the
<parameter>dateTime</parameter> parameter.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurInterval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of periods
(minutes/days/weeks/months/years as specified by
<parameter>recurType</parameter>) between recurrences of the
alarm.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurCount</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of times that the alarm should be
repeated. Specify -1 to repeat the alarm indefinitely.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>endDateTime</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the end date, or date and time, for recurrences of the
alarm. If <parameter>dateTime</parameter> includes a time, this
parameter must also include a time; if <parameter>dateTime</parameter>
contains only a date, this parameter must also contain only a
date.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>subRepeatInterval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of minutes between sub-repetitions of
the alarm. Specify 0 for no sub-repetition. Ignored if no recurrence
is specified.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>subRepeatCount</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of sub-repetitions of the alarm,
including the initial occurrence.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para><function>scheduleFile()</function> is a &DCOP; call to schedule
the specified text or image file for display at the specified date and
time. Apart from specifying a file path or &URL; and omitting the
foreground colour and font, its usage is identical to
<link linkend="scheduleMessage-descrip"><function>scheduleMessage</function></link>
- see the description of that function for further details.</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>


<refentry id="scheduleCommand">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>scheduleCommand</refentrytitle>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>scheduleCommand</refname>
<refpurpose>schedule a new alarm which executes a shell
command.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleCommand(const QString&amp; <replaceable>commandLine</replaceable>,
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>,
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>recurrence</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>subRepeatInterval</replaceable>, 
                     int <replaceable>subRepeatCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleCommand(const QString&amp; <replaceable>commandLine</replaceable>,
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>recurType</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>recurInterval</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>recurCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleCommand(const QString&amp; <replaceable>commandLine</replaceable>,
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>recurType</replaceable>,
                     int <replaceable>recurInterval</replaceable>,
                     const QString&amp; <replaceable>endDateTime</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>commandLine</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the command whose execution is to be scheduled. The
<parameter>flags</parameter> parameter indicates whether this
parameter contains a shell command line or a command script.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>dateTime</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the scheduled date, or date and time, at which the
command should be executed. For a date-only alarm, the string should
be in the format <quote>YYYY-MM-DD</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QDate::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>). For an alarm
with a date and time, the string should be in the format
<quote>YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM[:SS]</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QDateTime::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>) or
<quote>HH:MM[:SS]</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QTime::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>). If no date is
specified, today's date is used. Note that any seconds value is
ignored.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>lateCancel</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Causes the alarm to be cancelled if it cannot be triggered within
the specified number of minutes after the alarm's scheduled time. If
the value is 0, the alarm will not be cancelled no matter how late it
is triggered.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>flags</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the logical OR of the desired alarm flags. The flag
bits are those defined in class <classname>KAlarmIface</classname> in
<filename>kalarmiface.h</filename>. Note that not all flag bits are
applicable to command alarms.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurrence</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies a regular recurrence for the alarm, using iCalendar
syntax as defined in
<ulink url="http://www.w3.org/2002/12/cal/rfc2445.html">RFC2445</ulink>.
For example, <quote>FREQ=MONTHLY;COUNT=4;INTERVAL=3;BYDAY=-1MO</quote>
would specify 4 repetitions at 3-monthly intervals on the last Monday
of the month. For a non-recurring alarm, specify an empty
string.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurType</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the recurrence type for the alarm. The permissible
values are MINUTELY, DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY, YEARLY. These
are defined in class <classname>KAlarmIface</classname> in
<filename>kalarmiface.h</filename>. Monthly recurrences are of the
day of the month type, and yearly recurrences are of the date in
the year type, with the date in both cases taken from the
<parameter>dateTime</parameter> parameter.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurInterval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of periods
(minutes/days/weeks/months/years as specified by
<parameter>recurType</parameter>) between recurrences of the
alarm.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurCount</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of times that the alarm should be
repeated. Specify -1 to repeat the alarm indefinitely.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>endDateTime</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the end date, or date and time, for recurrences of the
alarm. If <parameter>dateTime</parameter> includes a time, this
parameter must also include a time; if <parameter>dateTime</parameter>
contains only a date, this parameter must also contain only a
date.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>subRepeatInterval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of minutes between sub-repetitions of
the alarm. Specify 0 for no sub-repetition. Ignored if no recurrence
is specified.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>subRepeatCount</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of sub-repetitions of the alarm,
including the initial occurrence.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para><function>scheduleCommand()</function> is a &DCOP; call to
schedule the specified shell command line, or command script, for
execution at the specified date and time. Apart from specifying a
command and omitting the message colour, font and audio file
parameters, its usage is identical to
<link linkend="scheduleMessage-descrip"><function>scheduleMessage</function></link>
- see the description of that function for further details.</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>


<refentry id="scheduleEmail">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>scheduleEmail</refentrytitle>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>scheduleEmail</refname>
<refpurpose>schedule a new alarm which sends an email.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleEmail(const QString&amp; <replaceable>fromID</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>addresses</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>subject</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>message</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>attachments</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>,
                   int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>,
                   int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>recurrence</replaceable>,
                   int <replaceable>subRepeatInterval</replaceable>, 
                   int <replaceable>subRepeatCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleEmail(const QString&amp; <replaceable>fromID</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>addresses</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>subject</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>message</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>attachments</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>,
                   int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>,
                   int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>,
                   int <replaceable>recurType</replaceable>,
                   int <replaceable>recurInterval</replaceable>,
                   int <replaceable>recurCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleEmail(const QString&amp; <replaceable>fromID</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>addresses</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>subject</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>message</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>attachments</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>,
                   int <replaceable>lateCancel</replaceable>, 
                   nt <replaceable>flags</replaceable>,
                   int <replaceable>recurType</replaceable>,
                   int <replaceable>recurInterval</replaceable>,
                   const QString&amp; <replaceable>endTime</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>fromID</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>The &kmail; identity to use as the sender of the email. If
empty, the sender's email address will be that configured in
&kalarm;'s
<link linkend="preferences-email">Email preferences</link>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>addresses</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>A comma separated list of recipients' email addresses.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>subject</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the subject line of the email.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>message</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the email message body.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>attachments</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>A comma-separated list of paths or &URL;s of files to send as
email attachments.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>dateTime</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the scheduled date, or date and time, at which the
email should be sent. For a date-only alarm, the string should
be in the format <quote>YYYY-MM-DD</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QDate::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>). For an alarm
with a date and time, the string should be in the format
<quote>YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM[:SS]</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QDateTime::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>) or
<quote>HH:MM[:SS]</quote> (as returned by
<methodname>QTime::toString(Qt::ISODate)</methodname>). If no date is
specified, today's date is used. Note that any seconds value is
ignored.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>lateCancel</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Causes the alarm to be cancelled if it cannot be triggered within
the specified number of minutes after the alarm's scheduled time. If
the value is 0, the alarm will not be cancelled no matter how late it
is triggered.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>flags</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the logical OR of the desired alarm flags. The flag
bits are those defined in class <classname>KAlarmIface</classname> in
<filename>kalarmiface.h</filename>. Note that not all flag bits are
applicable to email alarms.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurrence</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies a regular recurrence for the alarm, using iCalendar
syntax as defined in
<ulink url="http://www.w3.org/2002/12/cal/rfc2445.html">RFC2445</ulink>.
For example, <quote>FREQ=MONTHLY;COUNT=4;INTERVAL=3;BYDAY=-1MO</quote>
would specify 4 repetitions at 3-monthly intervals on the last Monday
of the month. For a non-recurring alarm, specify an empty
string.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurType</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the recurrence type for the alarm. The permissible
values are MINUTELY, DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY, YEARLY. These
are defined in class <classname>KAlarmIface</classname> in
<filename>kalarmiface.h</filename>. Monthly recurrences are of the
day of the month type, and yearly recurrences are of the date in
the year type, with the date in both cases taken from the
<parameter>dateTime</parameter> parameter.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurInterval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of periods
(minutes/days/weeks/months/years as specified by
<parameter>recurType</parameter>) between recurrences of the
alarm.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurCount</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of times that the alarm should be
repeated. Specify -1 to repeat the alarm indefinitely.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>endDateTime</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the end date, or date and time, for recurrences of the
alarm. If <parameter>dateTime</parameter> includes a time, this
parameter must also include a time; if <parameter>dateTime</parameter>
contains only a date, this parameter must also contain only a
date.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>subRepeatInterval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of minutes between sub-repetitions of
the alarm. Specify 0 for no sub-repetition. Ignored if no recurrence
is specified.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>subRepeatCount</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of sub-repetitions of the alarm,
including the initial occurrence.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para><function>scheduleEmail()</function> is a &DCOP; call to
schedule the specified email for sending at the specified date and
time. Apart from specifying the email header and contents and omitting
the message colour, font and audio file parameters, its usage is
identical to
<link linkend="scheduleMessage-descrip"><function>scheduleMessage</function></link>
- see the description of that function for further details.</para>
</refsect1>
</refentry>

<refentry id="dcop_edit">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>edit</refentrytitle>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>edit</refname>
<refpurpose>Display the <link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit
dialogue</link> to edit an alarm.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
bool edit(const QString&amp; <replaceable>eventID</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>eventID</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the unique ID of the event to be edited.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>

<refsect2>
<title>Return value</title>
<para><returnvalue>false</returnvalue> if the specified
alarm could not be found or is read-only,
<returnvalue>true</returnvalue> otherwise.</para>
</refsect2>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>

<para><function>edit()</function> is a &DCOP; call to display the
<link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link> to edit the
specified alarm.</para>

</refsect1>
</refentry>

<refentry id="dcop_editnew">
<refmeta>
<refentrytitle>editNew</refentrytitle>
</refmeta>
<refnamediv>
<refname>editNew</refname>
<refpurpose>Display the <link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit
dialogue</link> to edit a new alarm.</refpurpose>
</refnamediv>
<refsynopsisdiv>
<synopsis>
bool editNew(const QString&amp; <replaceable>templateName</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>templateName</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the name of an alarm template to base the new alarm
on, or empty if no template should be used.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>

<refsect2>
<title>Return value</title>
<para><returnvalue>false</returnvalue> if
<parameter>templateName</parameter> is non-empty but a template of
that name cannot be found, <returnvalue>true</returnvalue>
otherwise.</para>
</refsect2>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>

<para><function>editNew()</function> is a &DCOP; call to display the
<link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link> to edit a new
alarm. If an alarm template name is specified as a parameter, the
dialogue is preset with details from the template. If the specified
template cannot be found, the
<link linkend="alarm-edit-dlg">alarm edit dialogue</link> is still
displayed but is (obviously) not preset with the template.</para>

</refsect1>
</refentry>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="cmdline-interface">
<title>Command line interface</title>

<para>Command line options are provided to enable other programs (such
as the <application>alarm daemon</application>) to start up &kalarm;
if it is not already running, in order to trigger or cancel scheduled
alarms, or schedule new alarms. The reason for using command line
options for this purpose is that if &kalarm; were started without any
command line parameters and then sent &DCOP; requests, it would start
in its default graphical mode, which is clearly undesirable for an
inter-program request.</para>

<note><para>Programs should first check whether &kalarm; is already
running; if it is, they should instead use &DCOP; calls to request these
operations.</para></note>

<para>The command line options for scheduling a new alarm are as
described in the chapter <link linkend="cmdline-operation">Command line
operation</link>. The options for triggering and cancelling scheduled
alarms are as follows:</para>

<note><para>Normal users may also if they wish use these command line
options (assuming that they can supply the necessary parameter
information).</para></note>

<informaltable>
<tgroup cols="2">
<thead>
<row>
  <entry>Option</entry>
  <entry>Description</entry>
</row>
</thead>
<tbody>
<row>
  <entry><option>--calendarURL <replaceable>url</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Use the calendar file with the specified &URL;. This option
  is only used for integrity checking: if the &URL; doesn't specify
  &kalarm;'s current default calendar file, the request will be
  ignored.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--cancelEvent <replaceable>eventID</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Cancel the alarm with the specified event ID.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--triggerEvent <replaceable>eventID</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Trigger the alarm with the specified event ID. The action
  taken is the same as for the
  <link linkend="triggerEvent">triggerEvent()</link> &DCOP;
  call.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--handleEvent <replaceable>eventID</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Trigger or cancel the alarm with the specified event
  ID. &kalarm; determines which action to take in the same way as for
  the <link linkend="handleEvent">handleEvent()</link> &DCOP; call.</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>

<para><option>--cancelEvent</option>, <option>--triggerEvent</option>
and <option>--handleEvent</option> are mutually
exclusive. <option>--calendarURL</option> is optional, but can only be
used with one of the other three options.</para>

<para>Examples are:</para>

<informalexample><screen>
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>kalarm</command> <option>--triggerEvent <replaceable>&kalarm;-387486299.702</replaceable></option> <option>--calendarURL <replaceable>file:/home/zaphod/hydra.ics</replaceable></option></userinput>
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>kalarm</command> <option>--cancelEvent <replaceable>&kalarm;-388886299.793</replaceable></option></userinput>
</screen>
</informalexample>

</sect1>
</chapter>


<chapter id="faq">
<title>Questions and Answers</title>

&reporting.bugs;
&updating.documentation;

<qandaset id="faqlist">
<qandaentry>
<question>
<para>What is the alarm daemon?</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>The <application>alarm daemon</application> is an application
which runs in the background, monitoring alarms and telling &kalarm;
to trigger them when they become due.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question>
<para>What configuration files does &kalarm; use?</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>The file <filename>$KDEHOME/share/config/kalarmrc</filename>
holds your &kalarm; preferences.</para>

<para>The calendar file which stores your pending alarms is
<filename>$KDEHOME/share/apps/kalarm/calendar.ics</filename>, unless
a different calendar file is specified in the preferences file by a
<parameter>Calendar</parameter> entry in the
<parameter>General</parameter> section.</para>

<para>The calendar file which stores your expired alarms is
<filename>$KDEHOME/share/apps/kalarm/expired.ics</filename>, unless
a different calendar file is specified in the preferences file by an
<parameter>ExpiredCalendar</parameter> entry in the
<parameter>General</parameter> section.</para>

<para>The calendar file which stores your alarm templates is
<filename>$KDEHOME/share/apps/kalarm/template.ics</filename>, unless
a different calendar file is specified in the preferences file by a
<parameter>TemplateCalendar</parameter> entry in the
<parameter>General</parameter> section.</para>

<para>Details of alarms currently being displayed are stored in the
calendar file
<filename>$KDEHOME/share/apps/kalarm/displaying.ics</filename>.</para>

</answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question>
<para>What configuration files does the <application>alarm
daemon</application> use?</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>The file <filename>$KDEHOME/share/config/kalarmdrc</filename>
holds your <application>alarm daemon</application> preferences,
together with details of the &kalarm; client application.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question>
<para>What format are alarms stored in?</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>The calendar files in which &kalarm; stores its alarms are text
files whose format is defined by the document
<ulink url="http://www.w3.org/2002/12/cal/rfc2445.html">RFC2445 -
Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification
(iCalendar)</ulink>. This is the standard format used by all tdepim
applications. &kalarm; uses certain non-standard properties in the
Alarm component, in conformance with RFC2445:
<literal>X-KDE-KALARM-NEXTRECUR</literal>,
<literal>X-KDE-KALARM-REPEAT</literal>,
<literal>X-KDE-KALARM-TYPE</literal>,
<literal>X-KDE-KALARM-NEXTREPEAT</literal>,
<literal>X-KDE-KALARM-FONTCOLOUR</literal>,
<literal>X-KDE-KALARM-VOLUME</literal>,
<literal>X-KDE-KALARM-SPEAK</literal>,
<literal>X-KDE-KALARM-EMAILID</literal>.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>

<qandaentry>
<question>
<para>What are the application names of &kalarm; and the
<application>alarm daemon</application>?</para>
</question>
<answer>
<para>&kalarm;'s application name is <application>kalarm</application>,
and the <application>alarm daemon</application>'s application name is
<application>kalarmd</application>.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>

</qandaset>
</chapter>


<chapter id="credits">

<title>Credits and Licence</title>

<para>
&kalarm;
</para>
<para>
Program copyright 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 David Jarvie <email>&David.Jarvie.mail;</email>
</para>
<para>
Alarm daemon authors:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Preston Brown <email>pbrown@kde.org</email></para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>David Jarvie <email>&David.Jarvie.mail;</email></para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Cornelius Schumacher <email>schumacher@kde.org</email></para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>

<para>
Documentation copyright 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 David Jarvie <email>&David.Jarvie.mail;</email>
</para>

<!-- TRANS:CREDIT_FOR_TRANSLATORS -->

&underFDL;               <!-- FDL: do not remove -->

&underGPL;        	 <!-- GPL Licence -->

<para>Thanks go to the author of the &kde; 1 KAlarm application,
Stefan Nikolaus <email>stefan.nikolaus@stuco.uni-oldenburg.de</email>,
who kindly agreed to allow the name &kalarm; to be used by this
&kde; 2 / &kde; 3 application.
</para>

</chapter>

<appendix id="installation">
<title>Installation</title>

<sect1 id="getting-kalarm">
<title>How to obtain &kalarm;</title>

&install.intro.documentation;

<para>&kalarm; is available for &kde; 2 and as a standalone package for
&kde;3 from <ulink url="http://www.astrojar.org.uk/kalarm">http://www.astrojar.org.uk/kalarm</ulink>
</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="requirements">
<title>Requirements</title>

<para>&kalarm; requires the standard &kde; libraries to be installed
(the <filename>tdelibs</filename> package). To compile from source,
you also need the &Qt; and <filename>tdelibs</filename> development
packages. The X11 development package, if present, is used to improve
&kalarm;'s ability to function under &kde; without a system
tray.</para>

<para>The following optional packages enhance &kalarm; at runtime if
they are installed:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>&kmix; (from tdemultimedia package): if installed, it
allows &kalarm; to set the absolute sound volume when playing audio
files.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><application>KTTSD</application> (from
tdeaccessibility package): if installed and configured, together with
a compatible speech synthesiser package, it allows &kalarm; to speak
alarm messages when they are displayed.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>&kalarm; uses about 12 Mb and the <application>alarm
daemon</application> uses about 2.5 Mb of memory to run, but this may
vary depending on your platform and configuration.</para>

<para>You can find a list of changes in the
<filename>ChangeLog</filename> file, or at <ulink
url="http://www.astrojar.org.uk/kalarm">http://www.astrojar.org.uk/kalarm</ulink>.</para>
</sect1>

<sect1 id="compilation">
<title>Compilation and installation</title>

<para>If you cannot obtain a suitable precompiled binary package, you
need to compile &kalarm; yourself from source files. Get the source
package file <filename>tdepim-x.x.tar.bz2</filename> or
<filename>kalarm-x.x.tar.bz2</filename> (or similar), depending on
whether you want to install &package; or just &kalarm;. Unpack it in a
new folder using a command similar to
<userinput><command>tar</command> <option>xvfj
<replaceable>package.tar.bz2</replaceable></option></userinput>, and
change to the folder which has been created.</para>

&install.compile.documentation;

<note><para>If you have more than one version of &kde; installed
(e.g. &kde; 2 and &kde; 3), this may possibly install &kalarm; into
the wrong &kde; folder. If necessary, you can give the &kde; folder
as a parameter to
<userinput><command>./configure</command></userinput> . For example,
if your &kde; is installed in <filename>/opt/kde2</filename>:</para>

<para><userinput><command>./configure</command> --prefix=<replaceable>/opt/kde2</replaceable></userinput></para>
</note>

<warning><para>If you install &kalarm; into a folder different from
where &kde; is installed, it will not run correctly unless you make
its location known to &kde;. To do this, you must prefix the
<envar>KDEDIRS</envar> environment variable with &kalarm;'s location,
each time before you start &kde;.</para>

<para>For example, if &kde; is installed in
<literal>/opt/kde</literal>, <envar>KDEDIRS</envar> might normally
be set to <literal>/etc/opt/kde:/opt/kde</literal>. If you install
&kalarm; into <literal>/usr/local</literal>, you would need to set
<envar>KDEDIRS</envar> to
<literal>/usr/local:/etc/opt/kde:/opt/kde</literal> before starting
&kde;.</para></warning>

<para>The standalone version of &kalarm; has a special configuration
option which allows you to select which languages documentation is to
be installed for by specifying a language code, or a list of language
codes, as a parameter to <command>./configure</command>. By default,
documentation in all available languages is installed. A list of
documentation languages included in the package, together with their
codes, is in the <filename>DOC-LANGUAGES</filename> file. For example,
to install only French and British English documentation:</para>

<para><userinput><command>./configure</command> --enable-doc-language=<replaceable>"fr en_GB"</replaceable></userinput></para>

<para>Note that this option has no effect on which user interface
translations are installed.</para>

</sect1>

<sect1 id="configuration">
<title>Configuration</title>

<para>No special configuration is required to set up &kalarm; to run
on the &kde; desktop. Once you have run &kalarm; for the first time,
the <application>alarm daemon</application> will start every time you
log in, in order to monitor scheduled alarms.</para>

<para>To run &kalarm; on a non-&kde; desktop, the main requirement is
to ensure that the <application>alarm daemon</application> is run
automatically whenever you log in. More detailed instructions are
contained in the <filename>INSTALL</filename> file which is
distributed with &kalarm;.</para>

</sect1>

</appendix>

&documentation.index;
</book>
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