<?xml version="1.0" ?>
<!DOCTYPE book PUBLIC "-//KDE//DTD DocBook XML V4.1.2-Based Variant V1.1//EN" "dtd/kdex.dtd" [
  <!ENTITY kappname "&kalarm;">
  <!ENTITY package "kdepim">
  <!ENTITY % addindex "IGNORE">
  <!ENTITY % English "INCLUDE"><!-- change language only here -->
]>

<!-- The language must NOT be changed here. -->

<book lang="&language;">

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

<authorgroup>
<author>
<firstname>David</firstname>
<othername></othername>
<surname>Jarvie</surname>
<affiliation>
<address><email>software@astrojar.org.uk</email></address>
</affiliation>
</author>

<othercredit role="developer">
<firstname>David</firstname>
<surname>Jarvie</surname>
<affiliation><address><email>software@astrojar.org.uk</email></address></affiliation>
<contrib>Developer</contrib>
</othercredit>

<!-- TRANS:ROLES_OF_TRANSLATORS -->
</authorgroup>

<copyright>
<year>2001</year><year>2002</year><year>2003</year>
<holder>David Jarvie</holder>
</copyright>

<legalnotice>&FDLNotice;</legalnotice>

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

<date>2003-12-01</date>
<releaseinfo>1.00.00</releaseinfo>

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


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

</bookinfo>


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

<para>&kalarm; is a personal alarm message, command and email
scheduler. It lets you set up personal alarm messages which pop up on
the screen at the chosen time, or you can schedule commands to be
executed or emails to be sent.</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 setting up or modifying 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 color of the alarm message, whether it should repeat,
whether to play a sound, and whether the alarm should be canceled 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 &kde;
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>

<sect1 id="graphmode">
<title>Graphical mode</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></tip>

<sect2>
<title>Alarm list</title>

<para>The main &kalarm; window displays the current list of pending
alarms, showing their times, repetition intervals, colors, and
message texts, names of files to display, commands to execute or email
subjects. (For a recurring alarm or an alarm with a reminder, the time
shown is its next scheduled trigger 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, color
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.</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.</para>

</sect2>

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

<para>To add a new alarm, do one of the following. This displays the
alarm edit dialog as described below.</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>Double click on empty space below the last entry in the alarm
list.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on empty space below the
last entry in the alarm list and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>New</guimenuitem></menuchoice> from the
context menu.</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 existing one, highlight the existing
alarm in the list and select <menuchoice>
<guimenu>Actions</guimenu><guimenuitem>Copy</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.
This opens the alarm edit dialog 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 alarm edit dialog with the entire email message
(including sender, recipient, etc.) as the alarm text.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Dragging any piece of text onto &kalarm;'s main window or system
tray icon opens the alarm edit dialog 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 alarm edit dialog 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>Modify</guimenuitem></menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>

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

<para>This displays the alarm edit dialog:</para>

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

<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>Confirm acknowledgment</guilabel> checkbox 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 acknowledgment of alarms.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Check the <guilabel>Sound</guilabel> checkbox if you want an
audible alarm to sound when the alarm message is displayed. By default
a beep is sounded; use the button on the right to select an audio file
to play. To revert to a beep, click the button again. To see what your
current sound selection is, hover the mouse above the button until a
tooltip appears.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Check the <guilabel>Reminder</guilabel> checkbox 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 checkbox.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Select the background color for the alarm message window.
(The color selection list can be configured in the
<link linkend="preferences">Preferences dialog</link>.) </para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Use the <guibutton>Font &amp; Color...</guibutton> button to
select a font, or foreground or background color, for the alarm
message. In the <guilabel>Choose Alarm Font &amp; Color</guilabel>
dialog, check <guilabel>Use default font</guilabel> to display the
message in whatever font is configured as the default at the time
the message is displayed. (The default font can be set in the
<link linkend="preferences">Preferences dialog</link>.) To choose a
specific font for the message, uncheck
<guilabel>Use default font</guilabel>.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>File</guilabel> to enter the name 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 dialog.
Set options as for text alarms above.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Command</guilabel> to 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>

<note><para>This option is not available if &kde; is running in kiosk
mode.</para></note>
</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>You can set your email address from which the email is sent, in
the <link linkend="preferences">Preferences dialog</link>, the
default being your email address set in the &kde; Control
Center.</para>

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

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Check the <guilabel>Copy email to self</guilabel> checkbox 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">Preferences dialog</link>, the
default being your email address set in the &kde; Control
Center.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>


<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 dialog which allows you to
change the deferred time or to cancel the deferral.</para>

<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. Check the <guilabel>Any
time</guilabel> checkbox 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">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>

<para>The alarm's basic repetition characteristic is displayed for
convenience in the <guilabel>Alarm</guilabel> tab. Specify whether or
how the alarm should be repeated in the <guilabel>Recurrence</guilabel>
tab:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<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, check 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). Check 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 check each weekday.</para></tip>

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

<listitem>
<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>

</listitem>

<listitem>
<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>
</listitem>

</itemizedlist>

<para>The <guilabel>Cancel if late</guilabel> checkbox determines what
happens if the alarm cannot be triggered at its scheduled time. Check
this box to cancel the alarm if it cannot be triggered within
one minute after the right time.
Leave the box unchecked to trigger the alarm at
the first opportunity starting at the scheduled time. Date-only alarms,
&ie; ones for which the <guilabel>Any time</guilabel> option is
selected, will be canceled if they cannot be displayed within 24
hours of the start-of-day time on the date scheduled.</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>

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

</sect2>

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

<para>To delete an existing alarm, 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>Delete</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice>.</para>
</listitem>
<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on its entry in the alarm
list and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>Delete</guimenuitem></menuchoice>
from the context menu.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</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 alarm edit dialog 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="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 dialog 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 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="edit-alarm">Alarm Edit dialog</link>.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect2>

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

<para>You must be running the &kde; desktop 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">Configuring &kalarm;</link>
for a description of run modes.)</para>

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

<para>To remove &kalarm; from the &kde; 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>

<para>Use of the system tray icon is described
<link linkend="system-tray">below</link>.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="enable-disable">
<title>Enabling/disabling alarm monitoring</title>

<sect3>
<title>Enabling alarm monitoring</title>

<para>First, if &kalarm;'s run mode is <quote>continuous</quote> and
you have selected <guilabel>Disable alarms while not
running</guilabel> in the Preferences dialog, you must 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:</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>

<warning><para>Starting the <application>alarm daemon</application>
will affect any other applications which use the <application>alarm
daemon</application>.</para></warning>

</sect3>

<sect3>
<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 - assuming that the <application>alarm
daemon</application> is configured to start at login - until the next
time you log in.</para>

<para>To disable alarms without stopping the <application>alarm
daemon</application> (and therefore without affecting any other
applications which use the <application>alarm daemon</application>),
do one of the following:</para>

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

<listitem>
<para><mousebutton>Right</mousebutton> click on the system tray icon
and choose
<menuchoice><guimenuitem>Alarms Enabled</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 dialog, 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 dialog which enables you to stop the
<application>alarm daemon</application>.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<warning><para>This will affect any other applications which use the
<application>alarm daemon</application>.</para></warning>

</sect3>
</sect2>

<sect2>
<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>

</sect2>

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

<para>To control the <application>alarm daemon</application>, select
<menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Control Alarm
Daemon...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>. This displays the Service
Manager dialog which allows you to stop or start the
<application>alarm daemon</application> and configure whether it runs
automatically at login. See
<link linkend="daemon-control">Controlling the alarm daemon with the
Service Manager</link> for details.</para>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<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><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem></menuchoice> in the
system tray icon context menu.</para>

<para><menuchoice><guimenu>File</guimenu><guimenuitem>Quit</guimenuitem>
</menuchoice> closes only the window concerned. The effect 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 dialog, 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>

</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>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>When an alarm message window is displayed, do one of the
following:</para>

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

<listitem>
<para>Display options to defer the alarm 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.</para>

<note><para>The time the alarm is deferred to must be earlier than its
next scheduled occurrence or next 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>
</itemizedlist>

<para>The button showing the <guiicon>&kalarm;</guiicon> icon provides a
convenient way to activate &kalarm;. Clicking it has no effect on the
alarm message window.</para>

<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">Preferences dialog</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, so you cannot move it.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

</sect1>

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

<para>&kalarm; may be run as an icon in the &kde; 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 gray 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">Preferences dialog</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.</action></para>
<para>See
<link linkend="enable-disable">Enabling/disabling alarm monitoring</link>
for details.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><guimenuitem>Alarms Enabled</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Disables monitoring of alarms.</action></para>
<para>See
<link linkend="enable-disable">Enabling/disabling alarm monitoring</link>
for details.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><guimenuitem>New Alarm...</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Opens the alarm edit dialog to create a new alarm.</action></para>
<para>The alarm edit dialog is described in
<link linkend="edit-alarm">Modifying an existing alarm</link>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><guimenuitem>Configure &kalarm;...</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Displays the &kalarm; preferences dialog.</action></para>
<para>The preferences dialog 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>Control Alarm Daemon...</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Displays the Service Manager dialog which
allows you to control the alarm
daemon.</action></para>
<para>See
<link linkend="daemon-control">Controlling the alarm daemon with the
Service Manager</link> for details.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><menuchoice><guimenuitem>Restore / Minimize</guimenuitem></menuchoice></term>
<listitem><para><action>Restores or minimizes the main &kalarm; window.</action></para>
<para>This option is only available if the run mode is
<quote>continuous</quote>. (See
<link linkend="preferences">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 dialog.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>
</variablelist>

</sect1>

<sect1 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="graphmode">Graphical mode</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>

<sect2 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 name 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>-b</option>, <option>--beep</option></entry>
  <entry>Make an audible beep when the message is displayed.
  <option>--sound</option> must not be present if this option is
  specified.</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>color</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Set the message background color to the specified &Qt;
  color name or hex code 0xRRGGBB.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-C</option>, <option>--colorfg</option>, <option>--colourfg
  <replaceable>color</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Set the message foreground color to the specified &Qt;
  color name or hex code 0xRRGGBB.</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 name 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>-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).
  Mandatory if <option>--repeat</option> or <option>--until</option>
  is specified. <option>--recurrence</option> cannot be specified with
  this option.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-l</option>, <option>--late-cancel</option></entry>
  <entry>Cancel the alarm if it cannot be triggered at the correct
  time.</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>--recurrence
  <replaceable>spec</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Set the alarm to recur. Specify the recurrence using iCalendar
  syntax (defined in RFC2445),
  &eg; <quote>FREQ=MONTHLY;COUNT=4;INTERVAL=3;BYDAY=-1MO</quote>.
  <option>--repeat</option>, <option>--interval</option>, and
  <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. Specify
  -1 to repeat the alarm indefinitely. <option>--interval</option>
  must be, and <option>--until</option> and
  <option>--recurrence</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> or <option>--mail</option>.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>-s</option>, <option>--sound <replaceable>URL</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Specify the name or &URL; of an audio file to be played when
  the alarm message is displayed. <option>--beep</option> must
  not be present if this option is specified.</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>-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>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<title>Other options</title>

<para>The following options are used to reset or halt the
<application>alarm daemon</application>, 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>--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 &kde; 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>

</sect2>

<sect2>
<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 license information.</entry>
</row>
</tbody>
</tgroup>
</informaltable>

</sect2>
</sect1>

<sect1 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>Under &kde;3, the <application>alarm daemon</application> may
also be used by other applications, including KOrganizer.</para>

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

<sect2>
<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 use the Service Manager dialog to
disable auto start), 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>

<sect3>
<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), enable alarms using &kalarm;'s system tray
icon menu, reset the daemon as described
<link linkend="daemon-reset">below</link>, start it using the
Service Manager dialog (see <link linkend="daemon-control">Controlling
the alarm daemon with the Service Manager</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>

</sect3>

<sect3 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-initialize 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. Resetting is
preferable to stopping the <application>alarm daemon</application> and
restarting it, since resetting the daemon will not affect any other
applications which use the <application>alarm daemon</application>.</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>

</sect3>

<sect3>
<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>

<warning><para>Stopping it will affect the functioning of any other
applications which also use the <application>alarm
daemon</application>. Consider resetting the daemon
instead.</para></warning>

<para>To stop the <application>alarm daemon</application>,
either use the Service Manager dialog (see
<link linkend="daemon-control">Controlling the alarm daemon with the
Service Manager</link>), or type the following command:</para>

<screen width="40">
<prompt>%</prompt> <userinput><command>kalarm</command> <option>--stop</option></userinput>
</screen>
</sect3>

</sect2>

<sect2 id="daemon-control">
<title>Controlling the <application>alarm daemon</application> with the Service Manager</title>

<para>The Service Manager dialog allows you to configure and control
the <application>alarm daemon</application>. You can:</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para>Configure whether it runs automatically at login.</para>
<warning><para>If neither the <application>alarm daemon</application>
nor &kalarm; is configured to run at login, alarm monitoring will not
occur and &kalarm; will not display or execute any
alarms.</para></warning>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>Stop and start the <application>alarm
daemon</application>.</para>
<warning><para>Starting or stopping the <application>alarm
daemon</application> will affect any other applications which use the
<application>alarm daemon</application>.</para></warning>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>

<para>The Service Manager dialog can be accessed either via the menu
option <menuchoice><guimenu>Settings</guimenu> <guimenuitem>Control
Alarm Daemon...</guimenuitem></menuchoice>, or via the &kde; Control
Center.</para>

</sect2>
</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 dialog.</para>

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

<para>The <guilabel>General</guilabel> section lets you control
&kalarm;'s overall behavior:</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 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>Autostart at login</guilabel>: This starts
&kalarm; at &kde; session login, ensuring that &kalarm; runs at all
times unless you manually quit.</para>
</listitem>
<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 &kde; system tray exists, &kalarm; runs
continuously in the background and alarms are always enabled.</para>
</listitem>

<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>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para><guilabel>Autostart system tray icon at
login</guilabel>: This displays &kalarm;'s system tray icon at login.
&kalarm; will run until the system tray icon is closed.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</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 alarms. Deselect it to keep no
record of alarms once they have expired.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>Discard expired alarms after</guilabel>:
Set the number of days to store expired alarms after their last
activation.</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>
</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 added to &kmail;'s
<filename>outbox</filename> folder, provided that &kmail; is running
at the time. If it is not running, a &kmail; composer window is
displayed filled in with the email details, to enable you to send the
email manually.</para>
</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>The <guilabel>From</guilabel> email address specifies your email
address to be used as the sender's address in email alarms.
Select <guilabel>Use address from Control Center</guilabel> to use
the email address which is configured in the &kde; Control
Center.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem>
<para>The <guilabel>Bcc</guilabel> email address specifies 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. 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.
Select <guilabel>Use address from Control Center</guilabel> to use
the email address which is configured in the &kde; Control
Center.</para>
</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, 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>Alarm List</guilabel> group box: These options control
what information is initially shown in the alarm list, when &kalarm;
starts up. (Once &kalarm; has started, use the <guimenu>View</guimenu>
menu to change what is displayed.)</para>

<itemizedlist>
<listitem>
<para><guilabel>Show alarm time</guilabel>: Select this option to show
the date and time at which each alarm is next 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 days (if applicable), hours
and minutes.</para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</listitem>

<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>Modal message windows</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>Show expired alarms</guilabel>: Select this
option to initially show expired alarms in the alarm list, when
&kalarm; starts up. (Once &kalarm; has started, use the
<menuchoice><guimenu>View</guimenu><guimenuitem>Show Expired
Alarms</guimenuitem></menuchoice> menu option to change what is
displayed.)</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para><guilabel>System tray 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-appearance">
<title>Appearance</title>

<para>The <guilabel>Appearance</guilabel> section lets you set the
default appearance of alarm messages:</para>
<itemizedlist>

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

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

<listitem><para><guilabel>New color</guilabel>: Displays a color
selection dialog which lets you choose a color to add to the
list.</para>
</listitem>

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

</itemizedlist>
</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 alarm edit dialog:</para>
<itemizedlist>

<listitem><para>Set the text color used to show expired alarms in the
alarm list.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Set the default states for the <guilabel>Cancel if
late</guilabel>, <guilabel>Confirm acknowledgment</guilabel> and
<guilabel>Copy email to self</guilabel> checkboxes.</para>
</listitem>

<listitem><para>Set beep as the default for the
<guilabel>Sound</guilabel> option.</para>
</listitem>

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

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

</itemizedlist>
</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>
</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>

<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; of the calendar file containing the event to
be canceled.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>eventID</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the unique ID of the event to be canceled, 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>

<note><para>The old name for this function, 
<function>cancelMessage</function>, has been retained for
compatibility, but all new applications should use
<function>cancelEvent</function>.</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; 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>

<note><para>The old name for this function, 
<function>displayMessage</function>, has been retained for
compatibility, but all new applications should use
<function>triggerEvent</function>.</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; of the calendar file containing the event to
be displayed/executed or canceled.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>eventID</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the unique ID of the event to be displayed/executed or
canceled, 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 the
late-cancel flag is set and the alarm is late, &ie; the scheduled
trigger time was longer than one minute 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 QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, const QColor&amp; <replaceable>bg</replaceable>, const QColor&amp; <replaceable>fg</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>, int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>recurrence</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleMessage(const QString&amp; <replaceable>message</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, const QColor&amp; <replaceable>bg</replaceable>, const QColor&amp; <replaceable>fg</replaceable>, const QFont&amp; <replaceable>font</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>, int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>recurrence</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleMessage(const QString&amp; <replaceable>message</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, const QColor&amp; <replaceable>bg</replaceable>, const QColor&amp; <replaceable>fg</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>, int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>, int <replaceable>simpleRepeatType</replaceable>, int <replaceable>interval</replaceable>, int <replaceable>repeatCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleMessage(const QString&amp; <replaceable>message</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, const QColor&amp; <replaceable>bg</replaceable>, const QColor&amp; <replaceable>fg</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>, int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>, int <replaceable>simpleRepeatType</replaceable>, int <replaceable>interval</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>endTime</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 and time at which the message
should be displayed.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>bg</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the background color for displaying the message.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>fg</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the foreground color for displaying the message.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>font</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the font for displaying the message.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>flags</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the logical OR of the desired alarm message flags. The
flag bits are those defined in class KAlarmEvent in
<filename>alarmevent.h</filename></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>audioURL</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the name or &URL; of an audio file which is to be
played when the message is displayed.</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 RFC2445. 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>simpleRepeatType</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the recurrence type for the alarm. The permissible
values are MINUTELY, DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY_DAY, ANNUAL_DATE. These
are defined in class KAlarmEvent in
<filename>alarmevent.h</filename>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>interval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of periods
(minutes/days/weeks/months/years) between repetitions of the alarm
message.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>repeatCount</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of times that the alarm message should be
displayed. Specify -1 to repeat the alarm indefinitely.</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 several forms. The two most general forms allow an
arbitrary recurrence to be specified - use these also for non-repeating
alarms. Either specify a font parameter, or none to use
&kalarm;'s default font. 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; both of these use the default
font.</para>

<para>If the scheduled time (including any repetitions) has already
passed, &kalarm; immediately displays the message or, if the
LATE_CANCEL flag bit is set, 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>

<para>Use a code sequence similar to the following to set up the
parameter data for the &DCOP; call to
<function>scheduleMessage()</function> for a non-recurring alarm, or
for a regularly recurring alarm using iCalendar syntax to specify its
recurrence:</para>

<screen>
QString message, audioFile, recurrence;
QDateTime dateTime;
QColor bgColor, fgColor;
Q_UINT32 flags;
Q_INT32 reminder;
. . .
QByteArray data;
QDataStream arg(data, IO_WriteOnly);
arg &lt;&lt; message;
arg.writeRawBytes((char*)&amp;dateTime, sizeof(QDateTime));
arg.writeRawBytes((char*)&amp;bgColor, sizeof(QColor));
arg.writeRawBytes((char*)&amp;fgColor, sizeof(QColor));
arg &lt;&lt; flags &lt;&lt; audioFile &lt;&lt; reminder &lt;&lt; recurrence;
</screen>

<para>Use a code sequence similar to the following to set up the
parameter data for the &DCOP; call to
<function>scheduleMessage()</function> for a regularly recurring alarm
without using iCalendar syntax:</para>

<screen>
QString message, audioFile;
QDateTime dateTime;
QColor bgColor, fgColor;
Q_UINT32 flags;
Q_INT32 reminder, repeatType, repeatCount, repeatInterval;
. . .
QByteArray data;
QDataStream arg(data, IO_WriteOnly);
arg &lt;&lt; message;
arg.writeRawBytes((char*)&amp;dateTime, sizeof(QDateTime));
arg.writeRawBytes((char*)&amp;bgColor, sizeof(QColor));
arg.writeRawBytes((char*)&amp;fgColor, sizeof(QColor));
arg &lt;&lt; flags &lt;&lt; audioFile &lt;&lt; reminder &lt;&lt; repeatType &lt;&lt; repeatCount &lt;&lt; repeatInterval;
</screen>
</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 QString&amp; <replaceable>URL</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, const QColor&amp; <replaceable>bg</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>, int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>recurrence</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleFile(const QString&amp; <replaceable>URL</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, const QColor&amp; <replaceable>bg</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>, int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>, int <replaceable>simpleRepeatType</replaceable>, int <replaceable>interval</replaceable>, int <replaceable>repeatCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleFile(const QString&amp; <replaceable>URL</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, const QColor&amp; <replaceable>bg</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>audioURL</replaceable>, int <replaceable>reminder</replaceable>, int <replaceable>simpleRepeatType</replaceable>, int <replaceable>interval</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>endTime</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>URL</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the name or &URL; of a 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 and time at which the file
should be displayed.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>bg</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the background color for displaying the file.</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 KAlarmEvent in
<filename>alarmevent.h</filename></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>audioURL</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the name or &URL; of an audio file which is to be
played when the message is displayed.</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 RFC2445. 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>simpleRepeatType</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the recurrence type for the alarm. The permissible
values are MINUTELY, DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY_DAY, ANNUAL_DATE. These
are defined in class KAlarmEvent in
<filename>alarmevent.h</filename>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>interval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of periods
(minutes/days/weeks/months/years) between repetitions of the
alarm.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>repeatCount</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of times that the file should be displayed.
Specify -1 to repeat the alarm indefinitely.</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 name or &URL; and omitting the
foreground color, 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 QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>recurrence</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleCommand(const QString&amp; <replaceable>commandLine</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, int <replaceable>simpleRepeatType</replaceable>, int <replaceable>interval</replaceable>, int <replaceable>repeatCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleCommand(const QString&amp; <replaceable>commandLine</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, int <replaceable>simpleRepeatType</replaceable>, int <replaceable>interval</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>endTime</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>commandLine</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the shell command line whose execution is to be
scheduled.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>dateTime</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the scheduled date and time at which the command
should be executed.</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 KAlarmEvent in
<filename>alarmevent.h</filename> except that the BEEP flag bit is
ignored.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurrence</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies a regular recurrence for the alarm, using iCalendar
syntax as defined in RFC2445. 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>simpleRepeatType</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the recurrence type for the alarm. The permissible
values are MINUTELY, DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY_DAY, ANNUAL_DATE. These
are defined in class KAlarmEvent in
<filename>alarmevent.h</filename>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>interval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of periods
(minutes/days/weeks/months/years) between repetitions of the
alarm.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>repeatCount</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>
</variablelist>
</refsect2>
</refsynopsisdiv>

<refsect1>
<title>Description</title>
<para><function>scheduleCommand()</function> is a &DCOP; call to
schedule the specified shell command line for execution at the
specified date and time. Apart from specifying a command line and
omitting the message color 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>addresses</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>subject</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>message</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>attachments</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, const QString&amp; <replaceable>recurrence</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleEmail(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 QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, int <replaceable>simpleRepeatType</replaceable>, int <replaceable>interval</replaceable>, int <replaceable>repeatCount</replaceable>)
</synopsis>
<synopsis>
bool scheduleEmail(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 QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>dateTime</replaceable>, int <replaceable>flags</replaceable>, int <replaceable>simpleRepeatType</replaceable>, int <replaceable>interval</replaceable>, const QDateTime&amp; <replaceable>endTime</replaceable>)
</synopsis>

<refsect2>
<title>Parameters</title>
<variablelist>
<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>addresses</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the recipient's email address. Specify multiple
addresses by separating them with commas.</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>Specifies the &URL;s of files to attach to the email. Separate
multiple &URL;s by commas.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>dateTime</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the scheduled date and time at which the email
should be sent.</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 KAlarmEvent in
<filename>alarmevent.h</filename></para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>recurrence</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies a regular recurrence for the alarm, using iCalendar
syntax as defined in RFC2445. 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>simpleRepeatType</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the recurrence type for the alarm. The permissible
values are MINUTELY, DAILY, WEEKLY, MONTHLY_DAY, ANNUAL_DATE. These
are defined in class KAlarmEvent in
<filename>alarmevent.h</filename>.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

<varlistentry>
<term><parameter>interval</parameter></term>
<listitem>
<para>Specifies the number of periods
(minutes/days/weeks/months/years) between repetitions of the
alarm.</para>
</listitem>
</varlistentry>

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

</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">Using
&kalarm;</link>. The options for triggering and canceling 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 event with the specified event ID.</entry>
</row>
<row>
  <entry><option>--triggerEvent <replaceable>eventID</replaceable></option></entry>
  <entry>Trigger the event 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 event 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 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>

<note><para>If you change this calendar file in the preferences file,
you should also edit the <application>alarm daemon</application>'s
<filename>clients</filename> configuration file to remove the old
calendar file reference. This should be done while the
<application>alarm daemon</application> is not running to avoid it
overwriting your change.</para></note>

<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.</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.</para>

<para>The file <filename>$KDEHOME/share/apps/kalarmd/clients</filename>
holds details of client applications which have previously been
registered with the <application>alarm daemon</application>, and their
calendar files.</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>. In addition, in &kde; versions
previous to 3.1, there is a small application
<application>kalarmautostart</application> whose function is to start
&kalarm;'s system tray icon at login.</para>
</answer>
</qandaentry>

</qandaset>
</chapter>


<chapter id="credits">

<title>Credits and License</title>

<para>
&kalarm;
</para>
<para>
Program copyright 2001, 2002, 2003 David Jarvie <email>software@astrojar.org.uk</email>
</para>
<para>
Alarm daemon authors:
<itemizedlist>
<listitem><para>Preston Brown <email>pbrown@kde.org</email></para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>David Jarvie <email>software@astrojar.org.uk</email></para>
</listitem>
<listitem><para>Cornelius Schumacher <email>schumacher@kde.org</email></para>
</listitem>
</itemizedlist>
</para>

<para>
Documentation copyright 2001, 2002, 2003 David Jarvie <email>software@astrojar.org.uk</email>
</para>

<!-- TRANS:CREDIT_FOR_TRANSLATORS -->

<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>

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

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

</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/linux/kalarm.html">http://www.astrojar.org.uk/linux/kalarm.html</ulink>
</para>

</sect1>

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

<para>&kalarm; requires the standard &kde; libraries to be installed
(the <filename>kdelibs</filename> package). To compile from source,
you also need the &Qt; and <filename>kdelibs</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>&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/linux/kalarm.html">http://www.astrojar.org.uk/linux/kalarm.html</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>kdepim-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>
</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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