gDeskCal
========
1. What is gDeskCal?
--------------------
gDeskCal is a calendar for your desktop. It features transparency with smooth
alpha-blending and its appearance can be changed completely by using skins.
It can also store and remind you about your appointments, and can even include
the calendars of other iCalendar-compatible applications, such as
Novell Evolution.
2. Requirements
---------------
Your system has to meet the following requirements in order to be able to run
gDeskCal:
* Python 2.3 or later with basic XML support
* PyGTK 2.6 or later
* A window manager complying with the EWMH standards of www.freedesktop.org is
highly recommended; exotic or antiquated window managers may yield strange
results
3. Installing gDeskCal
----------------------
If you have the source code distribution of gDeskCal, you have to invoke the
build system for installing the software:
$ ./configure
$ make
$ make install
Please note that "make install" might require root privileges depending on
where you are going to install gDeskCal to. The installation prefix defaults
to "/usr/local" but can be changed using the "--prefix" option of the
"configure" command, for instance:
$ ./configure --prefix=/opt/gdeskcal
4. Usage
--------
4.1 Starting the Calendar
-------------------------
gDeskCal accepts a number of command line options, which are:
--skin=<skin> The name of the skin to use. A skin's name is the name
of its directory.
--dpi=<resolution> Tells gDeskCal that the screen resolution is
<resolution> dots per inch. You normally don't have to
use this option since gDeskCal can guess the value.
This option affects the scaling of fonts and will not
be saved.
--dontsave Tells gDeskCal not to save any configuration changes.
--first-day=<n> The number of the first day of the week. Can be in the
range from 1 (Monday) to 7 (Sunday). The default is
Monday (the European norm).
--no-ewmh Tells gDeskCal to not use EWMH window flags for
changing the window's behavior. This setting will not
be saved.
--numerals=<value> Tells gDeskCal which numerals it should use.
<value> can be one of:
* national - use the numerals defined by the current
locale, e.g. Hindi numerals in the
Arabic locale or Chinese numerals in
the Chinese locale
* default - use Arabic numerals no matter what the
locale says; Arabic numerals are common
in most regions of the world
-x <value> The x coordinate.
-y <value> The y coordinate.
--help Displays help about the command line options and exits.
Settings from command line options override saved settings and unless you
run the program with '--dontsave', settings from the command line will be
saved.
4.2 Moving
----------
You can move the calendar around by pressing and holding down the middle mouse
button, or by selecting "Move" from the popup menu.
4.3 Menu
--------
Pressing the right mouse button on gDeskCal will open the popup menu:
Current Month Jumps to the current month
Previous Month Goes back one month
Next Month Goes forward one month
---
Overlay calendars... Opens the overlay editor (see 4.X)
---
Move Allows you to move the calendar window on screen
---
Change Skin... Opens the skin browser (see 4.3)
---
About Tells you more about gDeskCal and the people
behind the project
---
Quit Quits gDeskCal
4.4 Overlay Editor
------------------
gDeskCal can overlay other calendars to include their appointments. The overlay
editor lets you add or remove overlayed calendar files.
Some restrictions apply, however:
* gDeskCal can only overlay calendar files in iCal format
* overlayed calendar appointments cannot be edited with gDeskCal
4.5 Skin Browser
----------------
The skin browser displays a list of all available gDeskCal skins on your
system. To change the current skin, just select an item from the list.
The close button will make the browser window disappear.
New skins can be installed by dragging a skin archive from your file manager
into the skin browser window.
Alternatively, you may also copy the archive of the skin you want to install
into the "~/.gdeskcal/skins" directory and extract it there. The skin browser
will list the newly installed skin the next time you open it.
4.6 Browsing Through Months
---------------------------
The calendar window shows three navigation buttons for browsing through
the months:
* The left arrow takes you to the previous month
* The right arrow takes you to the next month
* The home button (between the arrows) takes you to the current month
Alternatively, you may also use the corresponding menu items or the mouse
wheel for browsing:
* Roll the mouse wheel up to go the previous month
* Roll the mouse wheel down to go to the next month
The function keys F1 - F12 on your keyboard will also take you to the
corresponding months (only if your window manager lets gDeskCal receive
key presses):
F1 - January F2 - February F3 - March F4 - April
F5 - May F6 - June F7 - July F8 - August
F9 - September F10 - October F11 - November F12 - December
4.7 Setting Appointments
------------------------
Double-clicking on a day opens the appointments editor for that day. Changes
there are saved immediately, but you cannot edit appointments from overlayed
calendars.
4.8 Appointment Reminders
-------------------------
The appointment editor lets you set a reminder for events. The reminder will
pop up a number of minutes before the appointment is due. Use the appointment
editor to specify how many minutes before the appointment you want to get
reminded about.
4.9 National Numerals
----------------------
National numerals are numerals that are used instead of the international
Arabic numerals in some languages. gDeskCal supports national numerals for some
languages. Pass the option '--numerals=national' to gDeskCal in order to enable
national numerals.
E.g. to make gDeskCal use Hindi numerals, which are set for the Arabic
locale, set your system's locale to Arabic and start 'gDeskCal' with
'--numerals=national', e.g.:
$ export LANG=ar_EG
$ gdeskcal --numerals=national
The setting for national numerals will be saved, so you only have to give
this option once.
If you want to switch back to the international numerals, use the option
'--numerals=default'.
5. License and Disclaimer
-------------------------
This software is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTIBILITY or FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the file 'LICENSE' for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this software; if not, write to the
Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 390, Boston,
MA 02111-1307 USA
This software is provided "as is" and the author is not and cannot be made
responsible for any damage resulting from the use of this software.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
gDeskCal is copyright (c) 2002 - 2007 by Martin Grimme
eMail: martin.grimme@lintegra.de
The latest version can be found at http://www.pycage.de
