2 @c This is part of the GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual.
3 @c Copyright (C) 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
4 @c See the file elisp.texi for copying conditions.
5 @node Calendar, Tips, Display, Top
6 @chapter Customizing the Calendar and Diary
8 There are many customizations that you can use to make the calendar and
9 diary suit your personal tastes.
12 * Calendar Customizing:: Defaults you can set.
13 * Holiday Customizing:: Defining your own holidays.
14 * Date Display Format:: Changing the format.
15 * Time Display Format:: Changing the format.
16 * Daylight Savings:: Changing the default.
17 * Diary Customizing:: Defaults you can set.
18 * Hebrew/Islamic Entries:: How to obtain them.
19 * Fancy Diary Display:: Enhancing the diary display, sorting entries,
20 using included diary files.
21 * Sexp Diary Entries:: Fancy things you can do.
22 * Appt Customizing:: Customizing appointment reminders.
25 @node Calendar Customizing
26 @section Customizing the Calendar
27 @vindex view-diary-entries-initially
29 If you set the variable @code{view-diary-entries-initially} to
30 @code{t}, calling up the calendar automatically displays the diary
31 entries for the current date as well. The diary dates appear only if
32 the current date is visible. If you add both of the following lines to
33 your @file{.emacs} file:@refill
36 (setq view-diary-entries-initially t)
41 this displays both the calendar and diary windows whenever you start Emacs.
43 @vindex view-calendar-holidays-initially
44 Similarly, if you set the variable
45 @code{view-calendar-holidays-initially} to @code{t}, entering the
46 calendar automatically displays a list of holidays for the current
47 three-month period. The holiday list appears in a separate
50 @vindex mark-diary-entries-in-calendar
51 You can set the variable @code{mark-diary-entries-in-calendar} to
52 @code{t} in order to mark any dates with diary entries. This takes
53 effect whenever the calendar window contents are recomputed. There are
54 two ways of marking these dates: by changing the face (@pxref{Faces}),
55 if the display supports that, or by placing a plus sign (@samp{+})
56 beside the date otherwise.
58 @vindex mark-holidays-in-calendar
59 Similarly, setting the variable @code{mark-holidays-in-calendar} to
60 @code{t} marks holiday dates, either with a change of face or with an
63 @vindex calendar-holiday-marker
64 @vindex diary-entry-marker
65 The variable @code{calendar-holiday-marker} specifies how to mark a
66 date as being a holiday. Its value may be a character to insert next to
67 the date, or a face name to use for displaying the date. Likewise, the
68 variable @code{diary-entry-marker} specifies how to mark a date that has
71 @vindex calendar-load-hook
72 The variable @code{calendar-load-hook} is a normal hook run when the
73 calendar package is first loaded (before actually starting to display
76 @vindex initial-calendar-window-hook
77 Starting the calendar runs the normal hook
78 @code{initial-calendar-window-hook}. Recomputation of the calendar
79 display does not run this hook. But if you leave the calendar with the
80 @kbd{q} command and reenter it, the hook runs again.@refill
82 @vindex today-visible-calendar-hook
83 The variable @code{today-visible-calendar-hook} is a normal hook run
84 after the calendar buffer has been prepared with the calendar when the
85 current date is visible in the window. One use of this hook is to
86 replace today's date with asterisks; to do that, use the hook function
87 @code{calendar-star-date}.
89 @findex calendar-star-date
91 (add-hook 'today-visible-calendar-hook 'calendar-star-date)
95 Another standard hook function marks the current date, either by
96 changing its face or by adding an asterisk. Here's how to use it:
98 @findex calendar-mark-today
100 (add-hook 'today-visible-calendar-hook 'calendar-mark-today)
104 @vindex calendar-today-marker
105 The variable @code{calendar-today-marker} specifies how to mark today's
106 date. Its value should be a character to insert next to the date or a
107 face name to use for displaying the date.
109 @vindex today-invisible-calendar-hook
111 A similar normal hook, @code{today-invisible-calendar-hook} is run if
112 the current date is @emph{not} visible in the window.
114 @node Holiday Customizing
115 @section Customizing the Holidays
117 @vindex calendar-holidays
118 @vindex christian-holidays
119 @vindex hebrew-holidays
120 @vindex islamic-holidays
121 Emacs knows about holidays defined by entries on one of several lists.
122 You can customize these lists of holidays to your own needs, adding or
123 deleting holidays. The lists of holidays that Emacs uses are for
124 general holidays (@code{general-holidays}), local holidays
125 (@code{local-holidays}), Christian holidays (@code{christian-holidays}),
126 Hebrew (Jewish) holidays (@code{hebrew-holidays}), Islamic (Moslem)
127 holidays (@code{islamic-holidays}), and other holidays
128 (@code{other-holidays}).
130 @vindex general-holidays
131 The general holidays are, by default, holidays common throughout the
132 United States. To eliminate these holidays, set @code{general-holidays}
135 @vindex local-holidays
136 There are no default local holidays (but sites may supply some). You
137 can set the variable @code{local-holidays} to any list of holidays, as
140 @vindex all-christian-calendar-holidays
141 @vindex all-hebrew-calendar-holidays
142 @vindex all-islamic-calendar-holidays
143 By default, Emacs does not include all the holidays of the religions
144 that it knows, only those commonly found in secular calendars. For a
145 more extensive collection of religious holidays, you can set any (or
146 all) of the variables @code{all-christian-calendar-holidays},
147 @code{all-hebrew-calendar-holidays}, or
148 @code{all-islamic-calendar-holidays} to @code{t}. If you want to
149 eliminate the religious holidays, set any or all of the corresponding
150 variables @code{christian-holidays}, @code{hebrew-holidays}, and
151 @code{islamic-holidays} to @code{nil}.@refill
153 @vindex other-holidays
154 You can set the variable @code{other-holidays} to any list of
155 holidays. This list, normally empty, is intended for individual use.
157 @cindex holiday forms
158 Each of the lists (@code{general-holidays}, @code{local-holidays},
159 @code{christian-holidays}, @code{hebrew-holidays},
160 @code{islamic-holidays}, and @code{other-holidays}) is a list of
161 @dfn{holiday forms}, each holiday form describing a holiday (or
162 sometimes a list of holidays).
164 Here is a table of the possible kinds of holiday form. Day numbers
165 and month numbers count starting from 1, but ``dayname'' numbers
166 count Sunday as 0. The element @var{string} is always the
167 name of the holiday, as a string.
170 @item (holiday-fixed @var{month} @var{day} @var{string})
171 A fixed date on the Gregorian calendar.
173 @item (holiday-float @var{month} @var{dayname} @var{k} @var{string})
174 The @var{k}th @var{dayname} in @var{month} on the Gregorian calendar
175 (@var{dayname}=0 for Sunday, and so on); negative @var{k} means count back
176 from the end of the month.
178 @item (holiday-hebrew @var{month} @var{day} @var{string})
179 A fixed date on the Hebrew calendar.
181 @item (holiday-islamic @var{month} @var{day} @var{string})
182 A fixed date on the Islamic calendar.
184 @item (holiday-julian @var{month} @var{day} @var{string})
185 A fixed date on the Julian calendar.
187 @item (holiday-sexp @var{sexp} @var{string})
188 A date calculated by the Lisp expression @var{sexp}. The expression
189 should use the variable @code{year} to compute and return the date of a
190 holiday, or @code{nil} if the holiday doesn't happen this year. The
191 value of @var{sexp} must represent the date as a list of the form
192 @code{(@var{month} @var{day} @var{year})}.
194 @item (if @var{condition} @var{holiday-form})
195 A holiday that happens only if @var{condition} is true.
197 @item (@var{function} @r{[}@var{args}@r{]})
198 A list of dates calculated by the function @var{function}, called with
199 arguments @var{args}.
202 For example, suppose you want to add Bastille Day, celebrated in
203 France on July 14. You can do this as follows:
206 (setq other-holidays '((holiday-fixed 7 14 "Bastille Day")))
210 The holiday form @code{(holiday-fixed 7 14 "Bastille Day")} specifies the
211 fourteenth day of the seventh month (July).
213 Many holidays occur on a specific day of the week, at a specific time
214 of month. Here is a holiday form describing Hurricane Supplication Day,
215 celebrated in the Virgin Islands on the fourth Monday in August:
218 (holiday-float 8 1 4 "Hurricane Supplication Day")
222 Here the 8 specifies August, the 1 specifies Monday (Sunday is 0,
223 Tuesday is 2, and so on), and the 4 specifies the fourth occurrence in
224 the month (1 specifies the first occurrence, 2 the second occurrence,
225 @minus{}1 the last occurrence, @minus{}2 the second-to-last occurrence, and
228 You can specify holidays that occur on fixed days of the Hebrew,
229 Islamic, and Julian calendars too. For example,
233 '((holiday-hebrew 10 2 "Last day of Hanukkah")
234 (holiday-islamic 3 12 "Mohammed's Birthday")
235 (holiday-julian 4 2 "Jefferson's Birthday")))
239 adds the last day of Hanukkah (since the Hebrew months are numbered with
240 1 starting from Nisan), the Islamic feast celebrating Mohammed's
241 birthday (since the Islamic months are numbered from 1 starting with
242 Muharram), and Thomas Jefferson's birthday, which is 2 April 1743 on the
245 To include a holiday conditionally, use either Emacs Lisp's @code{if} or the
246 @code{holiday-sexp} form. For example, American presidential elections
247 occur on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of years
251 (holiday-sexp (if (= 0 (% year 4))
252 (calendar-gregorian-from-absolute
253 (1+ (calendar-dayname-on-or-before
254 1 (+ 6 (calendar-absolute-from-gregorian
255 (list 11 1 year))))))
256 "US Presidential Election"))
263 (if (= 0 (% displayed-year 4))
265 (extract-calendar-day
266 (calendar-gregorian-from-absolute
267 (1+ (calendar-dayname-on-or-before
268 1 (+ 6 (calendar-absolute-from-gregorian
269 (list 11 1 displayed-year)))))))
270 "US Presidential Election"))
273 Some holidays just don't fit into any of these forms because special
274 calculations are involved in their determination. In such cases you
275 must write a Lisp function to do the calculation. To include eclipses,
276 for example, add @code{(eclipses)} to @code{other-holidays}
277 and write an Emacs Lisp function @code{eclipses} that returns a
278 (possibly empty) list of the relevant Gregorian dates among the range
279 visible in the calendar window, with descriptive strings, like this:
282 (((6 27 1991) "Lunar Eclipse") ((7 11 1991) "Solar Eclipse") ... )
285 @node Date Display Format
286 @section Date Display Format
287 @vindex calendar-date-display-form
289 You can customize the manner of displaying dates in the diary, in mode
290 lines, and in messages by setting @code{calendar-date-display-form}.
291 This variable holds a list of expressions that can involve the variables
292 @code{month}, @code{day}, and @code{year}, which are all numbers in
293 string form, and @code{monthname} and @code{dayname}, which are both
294 alphabetic strings. In the American style, the default value of this
298 ((if dayname (concat dayname ", ")) monthname " " day ", " year)
302 while in the European style this value is the default:
305 ((if dayname (concat dayname ", ")) day " " monthname " " year)
309 The ISO standard date representation is this:
312 (year "-" month "-" day)
316 This specifies a typical American format:
319 (month "/" day "/" (substring year -2))
322 @node Time Display Format
323 @section Time Display Format
324 @vindex calendar-time-display-form
326 The calendar and diary by default display times of day in the
327 conventional American style with the hours from 1 through 12, minutes,
328 and either @samp{am} or @samp{pm}. If you prefer the European style,
329 also known in the US as military, in which the hours go from 00 to 23,
330 you can alter the variable @code{calendar-time-display-form}. This
331 variable is a list of expressions that can involve the variables
332 @code{12-hours}, @code{24-hours}, and @code{minutes}, which are all
333 numbers in string form, and @code{am-pm} and @code{time-zone}, which are
334 both alphabetic strings. The default value of
335 @code{calendar-time-display-form} is as follows:
338 (12-hours ":" minutes am-pm
339 (if time-zone " (") time-zone (if time-zone ")"))
343 Here is a value that provides European style times:
346 (24-hours ":" minutes
347 (if time-zone " (") time-zone (if time-zone ")"))
350 @node Daylight Savings
351 @section Daylight Savings Time
352 @cindex daylight savings time
354 Emacs understands the difference between standard time and daylight
355 savings time---the times given for sunrise, sunset, solstices,
356 equinoxes, and the phases of the moon take that into account. The rules
357 for daylight savings time vary from place to place and have also varied
358 historically from year to year. To do the job properly, Emacs needs to
359 know which rules to use.
361 Some operating systems keep track of the rules that apply to the place
362 where you are; on these systems, Emacs gets the information it needs
363 from the system automatically. If some or all of this information is
364 missing, Emacs fills in the gaps with the rules currently used in
365 Cambridge, Massachusetts, which is the center of GNU's world.
368 @vindex calendar-daylight-savings-starts
369 @vindex calendar-daylight-savings-ends
370 If the default choice of rules is not appropriate for your location,
371 you can tell Emacs the rules to use by setting the variables
372 @code{calendar-daylight-savings-starts} and
373 @code{calendar-daylight-savings-ends}. Their values should be Lisp
374 expressions that refer to the variable @code{year}, and evaluate to the
375 Gregorian date on which daylight savings time starts or (respectively)
376 ends, in the form of a list @code{(@var{month} @var{day} @var{year})}.
377 The values should be @code{nil} if your area does not use daylight
380 Emacs uses these expressions to determine the start and end dates of
381 daylight savings time as holidays and for correcting times of day in the
382 solar and lunar calculations.
384 The values for Cambridge, Massachusetts are as follows:
388 (calendar-nth-named-day 1 0 4 year)
389 (calendar-nth-named-day -1 0 10 year)
394 i.e., the first 0th day (Sunday) of the fourth month (April) in
395 the year specified by @code{year}, and the last Sunday of the tenth month
396 (October) of that year. If daylight savings time were
397 changed to start on October 1, you would set
398 @code{calendar-daylight-savings-starts} to this:
404 For a more complex example, suppose daylight savings time begins on
405 the first of Nisan on the Hebrew calendar. You should set
406 @code{calendar-daylight-savings-starts} to this value:
409 (calendar-gregorian-from-absolute
410 (calendar-absolute-from-hebrew
411 (list 1 1 (+ year 3760))))
415 because Nisan is the first month in the Hebrew calendar and the Hebrew
416 year differs from the Gregorian year by 3760 at Nisan.
418 If there is no daylight savings time at your location, or if you want
419 all times in standard time, set @code{calendar-daylight-savings-starts}
420 and @code{calendar-daylight-savings-ends} to @code{nil}.
422 @vindex calendar-daylight-time-offset
423 The variable @code{calendar-daylight-time-offset} specifies the
424 difference between daylight savings time and standard time, measured in
425 minutes. The value for Cambridge is 60.
427 @vindex calendar-daylight-savings-starts-time
428 @vindex calendar-daylight-savings-ends-time
429 The variable @code{calendar-daylight-savings-starts-time} and the
430 variable @code{calendar-daylight-savings-ends-time} specify the number
431 of minutes after midnight local time when the transition to and from
432 daylight savings time should occur. For Cambridge, both variables'
435 @node Diary Customizing
436 @section Customizing the Diary
438 @vindex holidays-in-diary-buffer
439 Ordinarily, the mode line of the diary buffer window indicates any
440 holidays that fall on the date of the diary entries. The process of
441 checking for holidays can take several seconds, so including holiday
442 information delays the display of the diary buffer noticeably. If you'd
443 prefer to have a faster display of the diary buffer but without the
444 holiday information, set the variable @code{holidays-in-diary-buffer} to
447 @vindex number-of-diary-entries
448 The variable @code{number-of-diary-entries} controls the number of
449 days of diary entries to be displayed at one time. It affects the
450 initial display when @code{view-diary-entries-initially} is @code{t}, as
451 well as the command @kbd{M-x diary}. For example, the default value is
452 1, which says to display only the current day's diary entries. If the
453 value is 2, both the current day's and the next day's entries are
454 displayed. The value can also be a vector of seven elements: for
455 example, if the value is @code{[0 2 2 2 2 4 1]} then no diary entries
456 appear on Sunday, the current date's and the next day's diary entries
457 appear Monday through Thursday, Friday through Monday's entries appear
458 on Friday, while on Saturday only that day's entries appear.
460 @vindex print-diary-entries-hook
461 @findex print-diary-entries
462 The variable @code{print-diary-entries-hook} is a normal hook run
463 after preparation of a temporary buffer containing just the diary
464 entries currently visible in the diary buffer. (The other, irrelevant
465 diary entries are really absent from the temporary buffer; in the diary
466 buffer, they are merely hidden.) The default value of this hook does
467 the printing with the command @code{lpr-buffer}. If you want to use a
468 different command to do the printing, just change the value of this
469 hook. Other uses might include, for example, rearranging the lines into
470 order by day and time.
472 @vindex diary-date-forms
473 You can customize the form of dates in your diary file, if neither the
474 standard American nor European styles suits your needs, by setting the
475 variable @code{diary-date-forms}. This variable is a list of patterns
476 for recognizing a date. Each date pattern is a list whose elements may
477 be regular expressions (@pxref{Regular Expressions}) or the symbols
478 @code{month}, @code{day}, @code{year}, @code{monthname}, and
479 @code{dayname}. All these elements serve as patterns that match certain
480 kinds of text in the diary file. In order for the date pattern, as a
481 whole, to match, all of its elements must match consecutively.
483 A regular expression in a date pattern matches in its usual fashion,
484 using the standard syntax table altered so that @samp{*} is a word
487 The symbols @code{month}, @code{day}, @code{year}, @code{monthname},
488 and @code{dayname} match the month number, day number, year number,
489 month name, and day name of the date being considered. The symbols that
490 match numbers allow leading zeros; those that match names allow
491 three-letter abbreviations and capitalization. All the symbols can
492 match @samp{*}; since @samp{*} in a diary entry means ``any day'', ``any
493 month'', and so on, it should match regardless of the date being
496 The default value of @code{diary-date-forms} in the American style is
500 ((month "/" day "[^/0-9]")
501 (month "/" day "/" year "[^0-9]")
502 (monthname " *" day "[^,0-9]")
503 (monthname " *" day ", *" year "[^0-9]")
507 The date patterns in the list must be @emph{mutually exclusive} and
508 must not match any portion of the diary entry itself, just the date and
509 one character of whitespace. If, to be mutually exclusive, the pattern
510 must match a portion of the diary entry text---beyond the whitespace
511 that ends the date---then the first element of the date pattern
512 @emph{must} be @code{backup}. This causes the date recognizer to back
513 up to the beginning of the current word of the diary entry, after
514 finishing the match. Even if you use @code{backup}, the date pattern
515 must absolutely not match more than a portion of the first word of the
516 diary entry. The default value of @code{diary-date-forms} in the
517 European style is this list:
520 ((day "/" month "[^/0-9]")
521 (day "/" month "/" year "[^0-9]")
522 (backup day " *" monthname "\\W+\\<[^*0-9]")
523 (day " *" monthname " *" year "[^0-9]")
528 Notice the use of @code{backup} in the third pattern, because it needs
529 to match part of a word beyond the date itself to distinguish it from
532 @node Hebrew/Islamic Entries
533 @section Hebrew- and Islamic-Date Diary Entries
535 Your diary file can have entries based on Hebrew or Islamic dates, as
536 well as entries based on the world-standard Gregorian calendar.
537 However, because recognition of such entries is time-consuming and most
538 people don't use them, you must explicitly enable their use. If you
539 want the diary to recognize Hebrew-date diary entries, for example,
542 @vindex nongregorian-diary-listing-hook
543 @vindex nongregorian-diary-marking-hook
544 @findex list-hebrew-diary-entries
545 @findex mark-hebrew-diary-entries
547 (add-hook 'nongregorian-diary-listing-hook 'list-hebrew-diary-entries)
548 (add-hook 'nongregorian-diary-marking-hook 'mark-hebrew-diary-entries)
552 If you want Islamic-date entries, do this:
554 @findex list-islamic-diary-entries
555 @findex mark-islamic-diary-entries
557 (add-hook 'nongregorian-diary-listing-hook 'list-islamic-diary-entries)
558 (add-hook 'nongregorian-diary-marking-hook 'mark-islamic-diary-entries)
561 Hebrew- and Islamic-date diary entries have the same formats as
562 Gregorian-date diary entries, except that @samp{H} precedes a Hebrew
563 date and @samp{I} precedes an Islamic date. Moreover, because the
564 Hebrew and Islamic month names are not uniquely specified by the first
565 three letters, you may not abbreviate them. For example, a diary entry
566 for the Hebrew date Heshvan 25 could look like this:
569 HHeshvan 25 Happy Hebrew birthday!
573 and would appear in the diary for any date that corresponds to Heshvan 25
574 on the Hebrew calendar. And here is Islamic-date diary entry that matches
578 IDhu al-Qada 25 Happy Islamic birthday!
581 As with Gregorian-date diary entries, Hebrew- and Islamic-date entries
582 are nonmarking if they are preceded with an ampersand (@samp{&}).
584 Here is a table of commands used in the calendar to create diary entries
585 that match the selected date and other dates that are similar in the Hebrew
590 Add a diary entry for the Hebrew date corresponding to the selected date
591 (@code{insert-hebrew-diary-entry}).
593 Add a diary entry for the day of the Hebrew month corresponding to the
594 selected date (@code{insert-monthly-hebrew-diary-entry}). This diary
595 entry matches any date that has the same Hebrew day-within-month as the
598 Add a diary entry for the day of the Hebrew year corresponding to the
599 selected date (@code{insert-yearly-hebrew-diary-entry}). This diary
600 entry matches any date which has the same Hebrew month and day-within-month
601 as the selected date.
603 Add a diary entry for the Islamic date corresponding to the selected date
604 (@code{insert-islamic-diary-entry}).
606 Add a diary entry for the day of the Islamic month corresponding to the
607 selected date (@code{insert-monthly-islamic-diary-entry}).
609 Add a diary entry for the day of the Islamic year corresponding to the
610 selected date (@code{insert-yearly-islamic-diary-entry}).
613 @findex insert-hebrew-diary-entry
614 @findex insert-monthly-hebrew-diary-entry
615 @findex insert-yearly-hebrew-diary-entry
616 @findex insert-islamic-diary-entry
617 @findex insert-monthly-islamic-diary-entry
618 @findex insert-yearly-islamic-diary-entry
619 These commands work much like the corresponding commands for ordinary
620 diary entries: they apply to the date that point is on in the calendar
621 window, and what they do is insert just the date portion of a diary entry
622 at the end of your diary file. You must then insert the rest of the
625 @node Fancy Diary Display
626 @section Fancy Diary Display
627 @vindex diary-display-hook
628 @findex simple-diary-display
630 Diary display works by preparing the diary buffer and then running the
631 hook @code{diary-display-hook}. The default value of this hook
632 (@code{simple-diary-display}) hides the irrelevant diary entries and
633 then displays the buffer. However, if you specify the hook as follows,
636 @findex fancy-diary-display
638 (add-hook 'diary-display-hook 'fancy-diary-display)
642 this enables fancy diary display. It displays diary entries and
643 holidays by copying them into a special buffer that exists only for the
644 sake of display. Copying to a separate buffer provides an opportunity
645 to change the displayed text to make it prettier---for example, to sort
646 the entries by the dates they apply to.
648 As with simple diary display, you can print a hard copy of the buffer
649 with @code{print-diary-entries}. To print a hard copy of a day-by-day
650 diary for a week by positioning point on Sunday of that week, type
651 @kbd{7 d} and then do @kbd{M-x print-diary-entries}. As usual, the
652 inclusion of the holidays slows down the display slightly; you can speed
653 things up by setting the variable @code{holidays-in-diary-buffer} to
656 @vindex diary-list-include-blanks
657 Ordinarily, the fancy diary buffer does not show days for which there are
658 no diary entries, even if that day is a holiday. If you want such days to be
659 shown in the fancy diary buffer, set the variable
660 @code{diary-list-include-blanks} to @code{t}.@refill
662 @cindex sorting diary entries
663 If you use the fancy diary display, you can use the normal hook
664 @code{list-diary-entries-hook} to sort each day's diary entries by their
665 time of day. Here's how
667 @findex sort-diary-entries
669 (add-hook 'list-diary-entries-hook 'sort-diary-entries)
673 For each day, this sorts diary entries that begin with a recognizable
674 time of day according to their times. Diary entries without times come
675 first within each day.
677 Fancy diary display also has the ability to process included diary
678 files. This permits a group of people to share a diary file for events
679 that apply to all of them. Lines in the diary file of this form:
682 #include "@var{filename}"
686 includes the diary entries from the file @var{filename} in the fancy
687 diary buffer. The include mechanism is recursive, so that included files
688 can include other files, and so on; you must be careful not to have a
689 cycle of inclusions, of course. Here is how to enable the include
692 @vindex list-diary-entries-hook
693 @vindex mark-diary-entries-hook
694 @findex include-other-diary-files
695 @findex mark-included-diary-files
697 (add-hook 'list-diary-entries-hook 'include-other-diary-files)
698 (add-hook 'mark-diary-entries-hook 'mark-included-diary-files)
701 The include mechanism works only with the fancy diary display, because
702 ordinary diary display shows the entries directly from your diary file.
704 @node Sexp Diary Entries
705 @section Sexp Entries and the Fancy Diary Display
706 @cindex sexp diary entries
708 Sexp diary entries allow you to do more than just have complicated
709 conditions under which a diary entry applies. If you use the fancy
710 diary display, sexp entries can generate the text of the entry depending
711 on the date itself. For example, an anniversary diary entry can insert
712 the number of years since the anniversary date into the text of the
713 diary entry. Thus the @samp{%d} in this dairy entry:
715 @findex diary-anniversary
717 %%(diary-anniversary 10 31 1948) Arthur's birthday (%d years old)
721 gets replaced by the age, so on October 31, 1990 the entry appears in
722 the fancy diary buffer like this:
725 Arthur's birthday (42 years old)
729 If the diary file instead contains this entry:
732 %%(diary-anniversary 10 31 1948) Arthur's %d%s birthday
736 the entry in the fancy diary buffer for October 31, 1990 appears like this:
739 Arthur's 42nd birthday
742 Similarly, cyclic diary entries can interpolate the number of repetitions
747 %%(diary-cyclic 50 1 1 1990) Renew medication (%d%s time)
754 Renew medication (5th time)
758 in the fancy diary display on September 8, 1990.
760 The generality of sexp diary entries lets you specify any diary entry
761 that you can describe algorithmically. A sexp diary entry contains an
762 expression that computes whether the entry applies to any given date.
763 If its value is non-@code{nil}, the entry applies to that date;
764 otherwise, it does not. The expression can use the variable @code{date}
765 to find the date being considered; its value is a list (@var{month}
766 @var{day} @var{year}) that refers to the Gregorian calendar.
768 Suppose you get paid on the 21st of the month if it is a weekday, and
769 on the Friday before if the 21st is on a weekend. Here is how to write
770 a sexp diary entry that matches those dates:
773 &%%(let ((dayname (calendar-day-of-week date))
774 (day (car (cdr date))))
775 (or (and (= day 21) (memq dayname '(1 2 3 4 5)))
776 (and (memq day '(19 20)) (= dayname 5)))
777 ) Pay check deposited
780 The following sexp diary entries take advantage of the ability (in the fancy
781 diary display) to concoct diary entries whose text varies based on the date:
783 @findex diary-sunrise-sunset
784 @findex diary-phases-of-moon
785 @findex diary-day-of-year
786 @findex diary-iso-date
787 @findex diary-julian-date
788 @findex diary-astro-day-number
789 @findex diary-hebrew-date
790 @findex diary-islamic-date
791 @findex diary-french-date
792 @findex diary-mayan-date
794 @item %%(diary-sunrise-sunset)
795 Make a diary entry for the local times of today's sunrise and sunset.
796 @item %%(diary-phases-of-moon)
797 Make a diary entry for the phases (quarters) of the moon.
798 @item %%(diary-day-of-year)
799 Make a diary entry with today's day number in the current year and the number
800 of days remaining in the current year.
801 @item %%(diary-iso-date)
802 Make a diary entry with today's equivalent ISO commercial date.
803 @item %%(diary-julian-date)
804 Make a diary entry with today's equivalent date on the Julian calendar.
805 @item %%(diary-astro-day-number)
806 Make a diary entry with today's equivalent astronomical (Julian) day number.
807 @item %%(diary-hebrew-date)
808 Make a diary entry with today's equivalent date on the Hebrew calendar.
809 @item %%(diary-islamic-date)
810 Make a diary entry with today's equivalent date on the Islamic calendar.
811 @item %%(diary-french-date)
812 Make a diary entry with today's equivalent date on the French Revolutionary
814 @item %%(diary-mayan-date)
815 Make a diary entry with today's equivalent date on the Mayan calendar.
819 Thus including the diary entry
822 &%%(diary-hebrew-date)
826 causes every day's diary display to contain the equivalent date on the
827 Hebrew calendar, if you are using the fancy diary display. (With simple
828 diary display, the line @samp{&%%(diary-hebrew-date)} appears in the
829 diary for any date, but does nothing particularly useful.)
831 These functions can be used to construct sexp diary entries based on
832 the Hebrew calendar in certain standard ways:
835 @findex diary-rosh-hodesh
836 @cindex parasha, weekly
837 @findex diary-parasha
838 @cindex candle lighting times
839 @findex diary-sabbath-candles
843 @findex diary-yahrzeit
845 @item %%(diary-rosh-hodesh)
846 Make a diary entry that tells the occurrence and ritual announcement of each
848 @item %%(diary-parasha)
849 Make a Saturday diary entry that tells the weekly synagogue scripture reading.
850 @item %%(diary-sabbath-candles)
851 Make a Friday diary entry that tells the @emph{local time} of Sabbath
854 Make a diary entry that gives the omer count, when appropriate.
855 @item %%(diary-yahrzeit @var{month} @var{day} @var{year}) @var{name}
856 Make a diary entry marking the anniversary of a date of death. The date
857 is the @emph{Gregorian} (civil) date of death. The diary entry appears
858 on the proper Hebrew calendar anniversary and on the day before. (In
859 the European style, the order of the parameters is changed to @var{day},
860 @var{month}, @var{year}.)
863 @node Appt Customizing
864 @section Customizing Appointment Reminders
866 You can specify exactly how Emacs reminds you of an appointment, and
867 how far in advance it begins doing so, by setting these variables:
869 @vindex appt-message-warning-time
872 @vindex appt-display-mode-line
873 @vindex appt-msg-window
874 @vindex appt-display-duration
875 @vindex appt-disp-window-function
876 @vindex appt-delete-window-function
878 @item appt-message-warning-time
879 The time in minutes before an appointment that the reminder begins. The
880 default is 10 minutes.
882 If this is non-@code{nil}, Emacs rings the
883 terminal bell for appointment reminders. The default is @code{t}.
885 If this is non-@code{nil}, Emacs displays the appointment
886 message in the echo area. The default is @code{t}.
887 @item appt-display-mode-line
888 If this is non-@code{nil}, Emacs displays the number of minutes
889 to the appointment on the mode line. The default is @code{t}.
890 @item appt-msg-window
891 If this is non-@code{nil}, Emacs displays the appointment
892 message in another window. The default is @code{t}.
893 @item appt-disp-window-function
894 This variable holds a function to use to create the other window
895 for the appointment message.
896 @item appt-delete-window-function
897 This variable holds a function to use to get rid of the appointment
898 message window, when its time is up.
899 @item appt-display-duration
900 The number of seconds to display an appointment message. The default