Subject: representing scheduled events

From: Mark Nottingham <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 14:01:49 -0700

Hello,

Just a quick question. I've seen several fields where it's desireable
to model a scheduled event and then represent it in some form (XML or
a simple string, usually).

For example, I'd want to model and express:
  - "Every Tueday at 6pm"
  - "The first Monday of the month at noon"
  - "Every other day at midnight"

Possible uses include for HTTP cache freshness, recurring events in
RSS news feeds, and policy updates for things like P3P. In general,
I'm talking about representing a publication schedule.

Does calsch have a solution for this, or any thoughts that would
point an effort to develop such a thing in the right direction?

Cheers,

-- 
Mark Nottingham, Research Scientist
Akamai Technologies (San Mateo, CA USA)

---

From: "Shannon J. Clark" <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 23:49:22 -0500

This seems to me to be a case which supports my suggestion of breaking out
the reoccurrence rules (limited to timed events) into a separately defined
standard, they would them be easily available for use in cases such as Mark
suggested.

Certainly the whole category of repeating in TIME events which are cases of
software talking to software (as in HTTP cache freshness) is a case that
does not require most of the iCalendar spec (attendees, etc) but is clearly
related to Calendaring.

By using a common standard syntax to indicate repeating events, and by using
a common conceptual framework for how to describe timed occurrences, we
would be helping move applications and the Internet in a direction that will
facilitate the use and adoption of calendaring & scheduling software.

Anyway, just my two cents,

Shannon

Shannon J. Clark
CEO - JigZaw, Inc
1.800.4.JIGZAW (454.4929)
[email-masked]
www.jigzaw.com

-----Original Message-----
From: [email-masked]
[mailto:[email-masked]]On Behalf Of Mark Nottingham
Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2001 4:02 PM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: representing scheduled events

Hello,

Cheers,

---

From: "Graham Gilmore" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 17 Apr 2001 16:54:15 -0400

----- Original Message -----
From: "Shannon J. Clark" <[email-masked]>
To: <[email-masked]>
Sent: 16 April, 2001 00:49
Subject: RE: representing scheduled events

> facilitate the use and adoption of calendaring & scheduling software.

    Splitting off the concept of recurrence rules into a separate
document (which could be used for much more than simply scheduling)
makes a lot of sense to me - in fact, there are a number of seemingly
independent concepts mixed together in RFC 2445 which might be more
clearly expressed (and more easily used) if they were separate
documents.  For example, I can't imagine any reasonable case where one
might want to have an event which has both a recurrence rule specifying
a repetition in seconds, and ATTENDEE information.  Should they really
be part of the same document?
    Obviously if we want to continue moving the iTIP/CAP stuff towards
standard status it would be silly to tear apart iCalendar v2.0 at this
point, but might we not consider a newer, more modular version in the
future?

    Graham