Repeat
======
Repeat an event or an appointment.
You must first select the item to be repeated by moving inside the appointment
panel. Then invoke the repeat command, and you will be asked you to select a
simple or advanced repetition. A simple repetition will lead you to a set of
three questions with which you specify the basic repetition characteristics:
o type: choose between a daily, weekly, monthly or yearly base period
o frequency: choose the interval between base periods. '1' means every day
(week, month or year), '2' means every other day (week, ...).
For example, if you want to remember an anniversary, choose a
yearly type with a frequency of 1, which means it will be
repeated every year. Another example: if you go to a restaurant
every second day, choose a daily type with a frequency of 2.
o until date: specifies a day after which the repetitions do not occur. To
indicate an endless repetition, enter 0 (zero) or RETURN, and
the item will be repeated forever. To obtain a specific
number of repetitions (a repeat count) enter '#' followed by
a number (e.g. #10); it will be turned into the appropriate
until date.
For an advanced repetition you may, in addition to the basic characteristics,
specify three lists of either days of the week, months of the year or days of
the month. The three lists modify the simple repetition in some way by either
limiting or expanding the basic pattern.
o Weekdays: abbreviated names of days of the week (as they appear above
the calendar). For monthly or yearly repetitions the name may
have a numerical prefix (1, 2, ... or -1, -2, ...) to specify
a particular weekday of the month or year, counted from either
the start or the end of the month or year.
o Months: the numerical name of a month (1, 2,..., 12).
o Monthdays: the numerical name of a day of the month (1, 2,..., 31) or the
opposites (-1, -2,..., -31) which count from the end of the
month.
For each list you may enter one or several values separated by spaces. The
prompt for the list gives a hint as to the format. If you enter '?' only, you
get very terse, context dependent information as to the effect on the
repetition. Note that both format and effect depend on the basic type. The
combined effect on the basic type of the listed days and months is derived
from the iCalendar specification (RFC5545).
Briefly, a weekday or monthday limits the repetitions of type daily, but
expands those of type weekly, monthly and yearly. For example, with 'Weekdays'
set to 'Sat Sun' a daily type (with frequency one) is only repeated on
Saturdays and Sundays (two instead of seven repetitions per week), while a
weekly type is also repeated on the extra day (two instead of one repetition
per week).
Similarly, a month limits the repetitions of type daily, weekly and monthly,
but expands those of type yearly. For example, with 'Months' set to '3 10', a
weekly type is only repeated in March and October, while a yearly type is also
repeated in the extra month (two instead of one yearly repetition).
Mnemonic. If the list type (day or month) is shorter than the basic type (day,
week, month, year), it expands the repetitions of the basic type, if not, it
limits them.
There are a some important exceptions, though, for 'Weekdays':
o For a monthly type, the expanded repetitions are special: a weekday with a
prefix expands to that particular weekday of the month ('3Mon' = third
Monday), while a weekday without prefix expands to all weekdays of the
month ('Wed' = all Wednesdays). Furthermore, repetitions are limited if
'Monthdays' is also set (for example, if 'Weekdays' is set to 'Fri' with
'Monthdays' set to '13', the monthly repetition occurs only on Friday 13th).
o For a yearly type, the expanded repetitions are special and depend also on
the setting of 'Months'. A weekday with a prefix expands to that particular
weekday of the year ('-1Sun' = last Sunday of the year), or, if 'Months' is
also set, to that weekday of the listed months. A weekday without prefix
expands to all weekdays ('Thu' = all Thursdays in either the year or listed
months). Furthermore, repetitions are limited if 'Monthdays' is also set
as for monthly type.
When you are finished setting up the repeating item, you may test it
interactively with the 'next' command, a subcommand of the generic command
(default ': n'). Invoked with a repeating item selected in the appointments
panel, it will go to the next repetition. By doing this repeatedly, you may
step through the repetitions one by one.
If you edit an item that is already repeating, you will be led through all six
characteristics and can modify any of them.
Here are some typical examples. It is assumed that you have invoked the repeat
command on what will become the first repetition and have selected an advanced
repetition, that your date input format is dd/mm/yyyy, and that your language
is English.
o an event that occurs every Tuesday and Thursday forever
type: weekly
frequency: 1
until: 0
weekdays: Tue Thu
months: (empty)
monthdays: (not possible)
o an event that occurs on workdays except in July forever (holidays are not
taken into account)
type: daily
frequency: 1
until: 0
weekdays: Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri
months: 1 2 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12
monthdays: (empty)
o an appointment that occurs on the first and last Monday of the month forever
type: monthly
frequency: 1
until: 0
weekdays: 1Mon -1Mon
months: (empty)
monthdays: (empty)
o an appointment that occurs on all Wednesdays in June and July until the
end of June 2022
type: monthly
frequency: 1
until: 30/6/2022
weekdays: Wed
months: 6 7
monthdays: (empty)
o an event that occurs when Daylight Saving Time begins in the EU (last
Sunday in March)
type: yearly
frequency: 1
until: 0
weekdays: -1Sun
months: 3
monthdays: (empty)
o an event that occurs on the penultimate day of February forever
type: monthly
frequency: 1
until: 0
weekdays: (empty)
months: 2
monthdays: -2
For an example that is not possible to specify consider an event that occurs
on the last workday of each month.
