Calendar Reminder

A bash script that monitors calendar events from .ics files and displays desktop notifications with interactive panel icons.

Features

• Desktop Notifications: Shows reminders 15 minutes before events (configurable)
• Interactive Panel Icons: Click to view event details or dismiss notifications
• All-day Event Support: Proper handling of whole-day events
• Real-time Monitoring: Continuously checks for upcoming events
• Configurable Timing: Customizable check intervals and reminder times

Dependencies

Before using this script, install the required tools:

# On Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S yad fyi

Required tools:

• yad - For panel icons and dialog boxes (fork of zenity)
• fyi - For desktop notifications (alternative to notify-send)
• awk - For parsing .ics files (usually pre-installed)

Usage

Basic Usage

# Use default settings (~/calendar.ics, check every 60s, remind 15min before)
./calendar_reminder.sh

# Specify custom .ics file
./calendar_reminder.sh -f ~/Documents/mycalendar.ics

# Custom check interval and reminder time
./calendar_reminder.sh -i 30 -r 30  # Check every 30s, remind 30min before

Command Line Options

-f, --file FILE         Path to .ics file (default: ~/calendar.ics)
-i, --interval SECONDS  Check interval in seconds (default: 60)
-r, --reminder MINUTES  Reminder time in minutes before event (default: 15)
-h, --help              Display help message

Configuration

Edit the configuration variables at the top of the script:

ICS_FILE="$HOME/calendar.ics"  # Path to .ics file
CHECK_INTERVAL=60              # Check every 60 seconds
REMINDER_TIME=900              # Reminder 15 minutes before (in seconds)
NOTIFICATION_ICON="calendar"   # Notification icon

How It Works

1. Monitors: Continuously monitors your .ics calendar file
2. Parses: Extracts event details (title, time, location, description)
3. Notifies: Shows desktop notifications before events start
4. Interactive: Creates clickable panel icons for each notification
5. Details: Click icons to view full event details or dismiss notifications

Event Types

• Timed Events: Shows exact time and countdown
• All-day Events: Displays as morning reminders for the event day
• Past Events: Brief notifications for recently started events

Notification Features

• Desktop notifications via fyi
• Persistent panel icons via yad
• Event details popup window
• Manual dismissal options
• Automatic cleanup

File Structure

The script creates temporary files in /tmp/calendar_reminder/ for:

• Notification data storage
• YAD process management
• Event detail scripts

Stopping the Script

Press Ctrl+C to stop the monitoring and clean up all notifications.

Troubleshooting

1. No notifications appearing: Check if your .ics file exists and contains valid events
2. Missing dependencies: Install yad and fyi using your package manager
3. Panel icons not showing: Ensure you're using a panel that supports system tray (e.g., tint2)

License

This script is provided as-is for personal use.