Overview
Appointments can be either created or imported from iCal files, vCal files, tab- or comma-delimited data in files, or directly from the clipboard.
Appointments can be copied from sources such as Word, Mail, Safari or similar programs, to the clipboard and then directly imported in to iCalMaker.
iCalMaker can handle dates/details in the following formats (Importing from clipboard will accept date formats in dd/mm/yy, mm/dd/yy etc., i.e. the program uses the short date format default as set in the International date section of the system preferences (number of digits in the day, month or year can be 1, 2 or 4). Importing 24 hour clock times from the clipboard requires a : or . (or whatever you have the separator set to in the International control panel) between the hours and minutes). Some examples of 'valid' imports are:
To import the appointment:
The appointment will then be created. The text from the clipboard will be copied in to the notes of the appointment (this will allow you to view the accuracy of the 'interpretation'). Dates and times will be filled in using 'best guess'. If the event contains only one date in the text then this date will be used for both 'start' and 'end' dates. If the event contains only one time in the text the time will be used for the 'start' and an 'end' time set at 'start time' plus one hour. If there are no apparent times present then only dates will be used.
Text appointments can also be imported using 'drag and drop'.
Appointments can be imported from vCal files by using the 'Import From vCal File' button on the toolbar (if available), the 'From vCal file...' command in the Import submenu of the File Menu, or by dropping the file directly on to the appointment list section of the main window or the application icon.
It should be noted that the data format of vCal files is different from iCal files. In this software vCal files can be viewed as version 1.0 files of the vCal format and iCal files as version 2 of the vCal file format.
Appointments can be imported from iCal files by using the 'From iCal file' button on the toolbar (if available), the 'From iCal file...' command in the Import submenu of the File Menu, or by dropping the file directly on to the appointment list section of the main window or the application icon.
It should be noted that the data format of vCal files is different from iCal files. In this software vCal files can be viewed as version 1.0 files of the vCal format and iCal files as version 2 of the vCal file format.
Appointments can be imported directly from iCal by using either the 'From iCal' button on the toolbar (if available) or the 'From iCal' command in the Import submenu of the File Menu. The calendar data used for the import is from the calendar name selected in the popup calendar menu on the toolbar.
It should be noted that if appointments imported directly from iCal are exported back to iCal then you may get duplicate appointments. There is a window that will appear warning against such an export.
Importing from comma- and tab-delimited files
Appointments can be imported from comma- or tab-delimited files. The fields (data), i.e. <start time> <start date> <end time> <end date> <summary> and <description> can be in any order, however, this order has to be consistent through the file and this can be checked by stepping through the records in the import window. (The order is set by the user in a window that appears once the import file has been selected. The order is set by dragging the field names in the left hand pane of the table to match the corresponding field in the import data. Field orders are remembered between launches of iCalMaker.)
The <start date> and <end date> can be either in 'numerical' or 'natural language' formats. For example, numerical dates must be in the format of dd/mm/yy, mm/dd/yy etc., i.e. the program uses the short date format default as set in the International date section of the system preferences. For 'natural language; dates the format can be 12 February 2003, 12 Feb 2003, 13th Jan, 13 Jan, Wednesday 10th February, 12 Feb 2003, Wednesday February 10th, February 10th, Feb 10th or Feb 10 etc.
The <start time> and <end time> can be in either 24 hour or 12 hour clock format. (If the start and end times are left blank an 'all-day' event will be created.)
To import from a comma-delimited file use the 'From comma-delimited file...' and for tab-delimited files use 'From tab-delimited file...' menu item. Both menu items can be found in the 'Import' submenu of the 'File'. Alternatively, use the 'comma-delimited' or 'tab-delimited' button on the toolbar (if available), or drop the file directly on to the appointment list section of the main window or the application icon.
iCal, vCal, tab-delimited, and comma-delimited files can be imported by dragging and dropping the file directly on to the list display in the main window or on to the application icon.
Text and text-clippings files can be imported by dragging the file, or the selected text, and dropping directly on to the list display in the main window (please see 'Importing from clipboard' for valid text formats).