VTCalendar
Latest Release
2.2.2
Feb. 17, 2005
Latest Pre-Release
2.3.0
Release Candidate
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VTCalendar (XML) Export Format

The VTCalendar (XML) format is used for importing and exporting events between instances of VTCalendar.

This allows sponsors to backup and restore their events.

It should not be used to backup and entire calendar or VTCalendar installation.

Top-Level Elements :

In the example below, we see that the root element is <events>, which contains one or more <event> elements.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<events>
	<event>
		...
	</event>
	<event>
		...
	</event>
</events>

<event> Elements:

The <event> element contains several child elements, all of which are required (but some can be empty).

field name usage
eventid The index number of this event
sponsorid The short identifier of the organization that inputed the event into the calendar
inputsponsor The name of the organization that inputed the event into the calendar
displayedsponsor The name of the sponsor that is displayed in the calendar's detailed view
displayedsponsorurl The URL of the homepage of the sponsor that is displayed in the calendar's detailed view
date The date the event takes place, written in the ISO-8601 format
timebegin
  • The time the event begins, written in the ISO-8601 format (military/24 hour time)
  • If the value is "00:00" and timeend is "23:59" the event is considered to be an "all day event"
timeend
  • The time the event ends, written in the ISO-8601 format (military/24 hour time)
  • If the value is completely ommitted the event is considered to not have a specified ending time
repeat_vcaldef
  • If the event is a recurring event it contains the recurrence definition in vCalendar format
  • e.g. "W1 MO WE FR 20000502T235900" means that an event repeats every week
    Monday, Wednesday & Friday until May 2, 2000
repeat_startdate If the event is a recurring event it contains the date where the recurrence starts
repeat_enddate If the event is a recurring event it contains the date where the recurrence ends
categoryid An index number indicating the category of the event (see table below)
category The name of the category associated with the event
title The event title (displayed in weekly, monthly and detailed view)
description A long text describing the specifics of an event
the description is only displayed in the detailed view
location The location where the event takes place (building, room etc.)
price The price of the event
contact_name The name of a person that can be contacted if further info is required
contact_phone Contact phone number(s)
contact_email Contact email address
url No longer used as of 2.3.0. URL of a web page specifically describing the event
recordchanged A timestamp indicating when this event was changed the last time

Example - Non-Repeating Event:

In the example below, we now see a full <event> element for a non-repeating event.

In the example below note the following:

  • As of VTCalendar version 2.3.0, the URL field is still supported for importing, but will always be blank in export XML.
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<events>
	<event>
		<eventid>1219171341079</eventid>
		<sponsorid>1</sponsorid>
		<inputsponsor>Univ. Communications</inputsponsor>
		<displayedsponsor>School of Law Law Journal Symposium</displayedsponsor>
		<displayedsponsorurl/>
		<date>2008-10-24</date>
		<timebegin>08:30</timebegin>
		<timeend>16:00</timeend>
		<repeat_vcaldef/>
		<repeat_startdate/>
		<repeat_enddate/>
		<categoryid>2</categoryid>
		<category>Seminar/Conference</category>
		<title>5th Annual Wiley A. Branton Law Journal Symposium</title>
		<description>The symposium theme this year is &quot;Thurgood Marshall.</description>
		<location>Law School (West Campus), Moot Court Room</location>
		<price>open to the public</price>
		<contact_name>Jackie Young</contact_name>
		<contact_phone>202-555-8084</contact_phone>
		<contact_email>jyoung@example.edu</contact_email>
		<url>http://example.edu/eventdetails.htm</url>
		<recordchangedtime>2008-08-19 14:42:21</recordchangedtime>
		<recordchangeduser>bsmith</recordchangeduser>
	</event>
</events>

Example - Repeating Event

In the example below, we now see a full <event> element for an event that repeats every Sunday.

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<events>
	<event>
		<eventid>1219179596898-0008</eventid>
		<sponsorid>200</sponsorid>
		<inputsponsor>Univ. Communications</inputsponsor>
		<displayedsponsor/>
		<displayedsponsorurl/>
		<date>2008-10-26</date>
		<timebegin>11:00</timebegin>
		<timeend>13:00</timeend>
		<repeat_vcaldef>W1 SU 20081207T235900</repeat_vcaldef>
		<repeat_startdate>2008-08-31</repeat_startdate>
		<repeat_enddate>2008-12-07</repeat_enddate>
		<categoryid>50</categoryid>
		<category>Spirituality</category>
		<title>Call to Chapel</title>
		<description>Speaker Schedule forthcoming at: http://chapel.example.edu/schedule.htm</description>
		<location/>
		<price/>
		<contact_name/>
		<contact_phone/>
		<contact_email/>
		<url/>
		<recordchangedtime>2008-08-19 16:59:57</recordchangedtime>
		<recordchangeduser>bsmith</recordchangeduser>
	</event>
</events>