VERSION
This document describes version 0.14 released 1st September 2006.SYNOPSIS
use Tie::iCal;
tie %my_events, 'Tie::iCal', "mycalendar.ics" or die "Failed to tie file!\n";
tie %your_events, 'Tie::iCal', "yourcalendar.ics" or die "Failed to tie file!\n";
$my_events{"A-NEW-UNIQUE-ID"} = [
'VEVENT',
{
'SUMMARY' => 'Bastille Day Party',
'DTSTAMP' => '19970714T170000Z',
'DTEND' => '19970715T035959Z',
}
];
tie %our_events, 'Tie::iCal', "ourcalendar.ics" or die "Failed to tie file!\n";
# assuming %my_events and %your_events
# have no common keys (unless that's your intention)
#
while (my($uid,$event) = each(%my_events)) {
$our_events{$uid} = $event;
}
while (my($uid,$event) = each(%your_events)) {
$our_events{$uid} = $event;
}
untie %our_events;
untie %your_events;
untie %my_events;
DEPENDENCIES
Tie::File
DESCRIPTION
Tie::iCal represents an RFC2445 iCalendar file as a Perl hash. Each key in the hash represents an iCalendar component like VEVENT, VTODO or VJOURNAL. Each component in the file must have a unique UID property as specified in the RFC 2445. A file containing non-unique UIDs can be converted to have only unique UIDs (see samples/uniquify.pl).The module makes very little effort in understanding what each iCalendar property means and concentrates on the format of the iCalendar file only.
FILE LOCKING
The Tie::iCal object returned by tie can also be used to access the underlying Tie::File object. This is accessible via the 'A' class variable. This may be useful for file locking.
my $ical = tie %events, 'Tie::iCal', "mycalendar.ics";
$ical->{A}->flock;
DATES
The iCalendar specification uses a special format for dates. This module makes no effort in trying to interpret dates in this format. You should look at the Date::ICal module that can convert between Unix epoch dates and iCalendar date strings.How Tie::iCal interprets iCal files
Tie::iCal interprets files by mapping iCal components into Perl hash keys and iCal content lines into various Perl arrays and hashes.Components
An iCal component such as VEVENT, VTODO or VJOURNAL maps to a hash key:-
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:a_unique_uid
NAME1:VALUE1
..
END:VEVENT
corresponds to
$events{'a_unique_uid'} = ['VEVENT', {'NAME1' => 'VALUE1'}]
Subcomponents
An iCal subcomponent such as VALARM maps to a list of hash keys:-
BEGIN:VALARM
TRIGGER;VALUE=DURATION:-PT1S
TRIGGER;VALUE=DURATION:-PT1S
END:VALARM
BEGIN:VALARM
X-TIE-ICAL;VALUE=ANOTHER:HERE
X-TIE-ICAL:HERE2
X-TIE-ICAL-NAME:HERE2
END:VALARM
corresponds to
'VALARM' => [
{
'TRIGGER' => [
[{'VALUE' => 'DURATION'},'-PT1S'],
[{'VALUE' => 'DURATION'},'-PT1S']
]
},
{
'X-TIE-ICAL' => [
[{'VALUE' => 'ANOTHER'},'HERE'],
['HERE2']
],
'X-TIE-ICAL-NAME' => 'HERE2'
}
]
To see how individual content lines are formed see below.
Content Lines
Once unfolded, a content line may look like:-
NAME;PARAM1=PVAL1;PARAM2=PVAL2;...:VALUE1,VALUE2,...
having an equivalent perl data structure like: -
'NAME' => [{'PARAM1'=>'PVAL1', 'PARAM2'=>'PVAL2', ..}, 'VALUE1', 'VALUE2', ..]
or
NAME:VALUE1,VALUE2,...
having an equivalent perl data structure like: -
'NAME' => ['VALUE1', 'VALUE2', ..]
or
NAME:VALUE
having an equivalent perl data structure like: -
'NAME' => 'VALUE'
An blank value is mapped from
NAME:
to
'NAME' => ''
Multiple contentlines with same name, i.e. FREEBUSY, ATTENDEE:-
NAME;PARAM10=PVAL10;PARAM20=PVAL20;...:VALUE10,VALUE20,...
NAME;PARAM11=PVAL11;PARAM21=PVAL21;...:VALUE11,VALUE21,...
...
having an equivalent perl data structure like: -
'NAME' => [
[{'PARAM10'=>'PVAL10', 'PARAM20'=>'PVAL20', ..}, 'VALUE10', 'VALUE20', ..],
[{'PARAM11'=>'PVAL11', 'PARAM21'=>'PVAL21', ..}, 'VALUE11', 'VALUE21', ..],
...
]
or
NAME:VALUE10,VALUE20,...
NAME:VALUE11,VALUE21,...
...
having an equivalent perl data structure like: -
'NAME' => [
['VALUE10', 'VALUE20', ..],
['VALUE11', 'VALUE21', ..],
...
]
or in a mixed form, i.e.
NAME:VALUE10,VALUE20,...
NAME;PARAM11=PVAL11;PARAM21=PVAL21:VALUE11,VALUE21,...
NAME:VALUE12,VALUE22,...
...
having an equivalent perl data structure like: -
'NAME' => [
['VALUE10', 'VALUE20', ..],
[{'PARAM11'=>'PVAL11', 'PARAM21'=>'PVAL21', ..}, 'VALUE11', 'VALUE21', ..],
['VALUE12', 'VALUE22', ..],
...
]
BUGS
Property names are assumed not to be folded, i.e.
DESCR
IPTION:blah blah..
RRULE property does not support parameters.
Property names that begin with UID can potentially confuse this module.
Subcomponents such as VALARM must exist after any UID property.
Deleting events individually may leave non-RFC2445 compliant empty VCALENDAR objects.