4.6.1 Event Component

Basic Definition

Component Name

VEVENT

Purpose

Provide a grouping of component properties that describe an event.

Format Definition

A "VEVENT" calendar component is defined by the
following notation:

  eventc     = "BEGIN" ":" "VEVENT" CRLF
               eventprop *alarmc
               "END" ":" "VEVENT" CRLF

  eventprop  = *(

             ; the following are optional,
             ; but MUST NOT occur more than once

             class / created / description / dtstart / geo /
             last-mod / location / organizer / priority /
             dtstamp / seq / status / summary / transp /
             uid / url / recurid /

             ; either 'dtend' or 'duration' may appear in
             ; a 'eventprop', but 'dtend' and 'duration'
             ; MUST NOT occur in the same 'eventprop'

             dtend / duration /

             ; the following are optional,
             ; and MAY occur more than once

             attach / attendee / categories / comment /
             contact / exdate / exrule / rstatus / related /
             resources / rdate / rrule / x-prop

             )

Description

A "VEVENT" calendar component is a grouping of component properties, and possibly including "VALARM" calendar components, that represents a scheduled amount of time on a calendar. For example, it can be an activity; such as a one-hour long, department meeting from 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM, tomorrow. Generally, an event will take up time on an individual calendar. Hence, the event will appear as an opaque interval in a search for busy time. Alternately, the event can have its Time Transparency set to "TRANSPARENT" in order to prevent blocking of the event in searches for busy time.

The "VEVENT" is also the calendar component used to specify an anniversary or daily reminder within a calendar. These events have a DATE value type for the "DTSTART" property instead of the default data type of DATE-TIME. If such a "VEVENT" has a "DTEND" property, it MUST be specified as a DATE value also. The anniversary type of "VEVENT" can span more than one date (i.e, "DTEND" property value is set to a calendar date after the "DTSTART" property value).

The "DTSTART" property for a "VEVENT" specifies the inclusive start of the event. For recurring events, it also specifies the very first instance in the recurrence set. The "DTEND" property for a "VEVENT" calendar component specifies the non-inclusive end of the event. For cases where a "VEVENT" calendar component specifies a "DTSTART" property with a DATE data type but no "DTEND" property, the events non-inclusive end is the end of the calendar date specified by the "DTSTART" property. For cases where a "VEVENT" calendar component specifies a "DTSTART" property with a DATE-TIME data type but no "DTEND" property, the event ends on the same calendar date and time of day specified by the "DTSTART" property. The "VEVENT" calendar component cannot be nested within another calendar component. However, "VEVENT" calendar components can be related to each other or to a "VTODO" or to a "VJOURNAL" calendar component with the "RELATED-TO" property.

Example

The following is an example of the "VEVENT" calendar
component used to represent a meeting that will also be opaque to
searches for busy time:

  BEGIN:VEVENT
  UID:19970901T130000Z-123401@host.com
  DTSTAMP:19970901T1300Z
  DTSTART:19970903T163000Z
  DTEND:19970903T190000Z
  SUMMARY:Annual Employee Review
  CLASS:PRIVATE
  CATEGORIES:BUSINESS,HUMAN RESOURCES
  END:VEVENT

The following is an example of the "VEVENT" calendar component used
to represent a reminder that will not be opaque, but rather
transparent, to searches for busy time:

  BEGIN:VEVENT
  UID:19970901T130000Z-123402@host.com
  DTSTAMP:19970901T1300Z
  DTSTART:19970401T163000Z
  DTEND:19970402T010000Z
  SUMMARY:Laurel is in sensitivity awareness class.
  CLASS:PUBLIC
  CATEGORIES:BUSINESS,HUMAN RESOURCES
  TRANSP:TRANSPARENT
  END:VEVENT

The following is an example of the "VEVENT" calendar component used
to represent an anniversary that will occur annually. Since it takes
up no time, it will not appear as opaque in a search for busy time;
no matter what the value of the "TRANSP" property indicates:

  BEGIN:VEVENT
  UID:19970901T130000Z-123403@host.com
  DTSTAMP:19970901T1300Z
  DTSTART:19971102
  SUMMARY:Our Blissful Anniversary
  CLASS:CONFIDENTIAL
  CATEGORIES:ANNIVERSARY,PERSONAL,SPECIAL OCCASION
  RRULE:FREQ=YEARLY
  END:VEVENT

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