ical.js

jsical - Javascript parser for rfc5545

This is a library to parse the iCalendar format defined in rfc5545, as well as similar formats like vCard.

There are still some issues to be taken care of, but the library works for most cases. If you would like to help out and would like to discuss any API changes, please contact me or create an issue.

The initial goal was to use it as a replacement for libical in the Mozilla Calendar Project, but the library has been written with the web in mind. This library is now called ICAL.js and enables you to do all sorts of cool experiments with calendar data and the web. I am also aiming for a caldav.js when this is done. Most algorithms here were taken from libical. If you are bugfixing this library, please check if the fix can be upstreamed to libical.

Validator

There is a validator that demonstrates how to use the library in a webpage in the sandbox/ subdirectory.

Try the validator online, it always uses the latest copy of ICAL.js.

Installing

Run: npm install ical.js

ICAL.js has no dependencies and uses fairly basic JavaScript. Therefore, it should work in all versions of node and modern browsers. It does use getters and setters, so the minimum version of Internet Explorer is 9.

Developing

To contribute to ICAL.js you need to set up the development environment. This requires node 0.10.x or later and grunt. Run the following steps to get started.

npm install -g grunt-cli  # Might need to run with sudo
npm install .

You can now dive into the code, run the tests and check coverage.

Tests

Tests can either be run via node or in the browser, but setting up the testing infrastructure requires node. More information on how to set up and run tests can be found on the wiki.

in node js

The quickest way to execute tests is using node. Running the following command will run all test suites: performance, acceptance and unit tests.

grunt test-node

You can also select a single suite, or run a single test.

grunt test-node:performance
grunt test-node:acceptance
grunt test-node:unit

grunt test-node:single --test test/parse_test.js

Appending the --debug option to any of the above commands will run the test(s) with node-inspector. It will start the debugging server and open it in Chrome or Opera, depending on what you have installed. The tests will pause before execution starts so you can set breakpoints and debug the unit tests you are working on.

If you run the performance tests comparison will be done between the current working version (latest), a previous build of ICAL.js (previous) and the unchanged copy of build/ical.js (from the master branch). See the wiki for more details.

in the browser

Running grunt test-server will start a webserver and open the page in your browser. You can then select and execute tests as you wish. If you want to run all tests you can also open a second terminal and run grunt test-browser

Code Coverage

ICAL.js is set up to calculate code coverage. You can view the coverage results online, or run them locally to make sure new code is covered. Running grunt coverage will run the unit test suite measuring coverage. You can then open coverage/lcov-report/index.html to view the results in your browser.

Linters

To make sure all ICAL.js code uses a common style, please run the linters using grunt linters. Please make sure you fix any issues shown by this command before sending a pull request.

Packaging

When you are done with your work, you can run grunt package to create the single-file build for use in the browser. This file needs to be checked in (in a separate commit) and can be found in build/ical.js. Please see CONTRIBUTING.md for more details.

Documentation

Aside from inline documentation and jsdoc in the source, there are some guides and descriptions in the wiki. If you are missing anything, please don't hesitate to create an issue.

Similar packages

Other packages similar to ical.js

ical

The 'ical' package is a lightweight iCalendar parser for Node.js. It focuses on parsing iCalendar data and extracting information from it. Compared to ical.js, it is simpler and more focused on parsing rather than creating or manipulating iCalendar data.

node-ical

The 'node-ical' package is a comprehensive iCalendar library for Node.js. It supports parsing, creating, and manipulating iCalendar data. It is similar to ical.js in terms of functionality but is designed specifically for Node.js environments.

ical-generator

The 'ical-generator' package is a library for generating iCalendar files in Node.js. It focuses on creating iCalendar data programmatically. Compared to ical.js, it is more specialized in generating iCalendar data rather than parsing or manipulating existing data.