cal(1) - NetBSD Manual Pages

CAL(1)                  NetBSD General Commands Manual                  CAL(1)


NAME

     cal -- displays a calendar


SYNOPSIS

     cal [-3hjry] [-A after] [-B before] [-C context] [-d day-of-week]
         [-R reform-spec] [[month] year]


DESCRIPTION

     cal displays a simple calendar.  If arguments are not specified, the cur-
     rent month is displayed.  The options are as follows:

     -3      Same as ``-A 1 -B 1''.

     -A after
             Display after months after the specified month.

     -B before
             Display before months before the specified month.

     -C context
             Display context months before and after the specified month.

     -d day-of-week
             Specifies the day of the week on which the calendar should start.
             Valid values are 0 through 6, presenting Sunday through Saturday,
             inclusively.  The default output starts on Sundays.

     -h      Highlight the current day, if present in the displayed calendar.
             If output is to a terminal, then the appropriate terminal
             sequences are used, otherwise overstriking is used.  If more than
             one -h is used and output is to a terminal, the current date will
             be highlighted in inverse video instead of bold.

     -j      Display Julian dates (days one-based, numbered from January 1).

     -R reform-spec
             Selects an alternate Gregorian reform point from the default of
             September 3rd, 1752.  The reform-spec can be selected by one of
             the built-in names (see NOTES for a list) or by a date of the
             form YYYY/MM/DD.  The date and month may be omitted, provided
             that what is specified uniquely selects a given built-in reform
             point.  If an exact date is specified, then that date is taken to
             be the first missing date of the Gregorian Reform to be applied.

     -r      Display the month in which the Gregorian Reform adjustment was
             applied, if no other month or year information is given.  If used
             in conjunction with -y, then the entire year is displayed.

     -y      Display a calendar for the current year.

     If no parameters are specified, the current month's calendar is dis-
     played.  A single parameter specifies the year and optionally the month
     in ISO format: ``cal 2007-12'' Two parameters denote the month (1 - 12)
     and year.  Note that the century must be included in the year.

     A year starts on Jan 1.


NOTES

     In the USA and Great Britain the Gregorian Reformation occurred in 1752.
     By this time, most countries had recognized the reformation (although a
     few did not recognize it until the 1900's.)  Eleven days following
     September 2, 1752 were eliminated by the reformation, so the calendar for
     that month is a bit unusual.

     In view of the chaotic way the Gregorian calendar was adopted throughout
     the world in the years between 1582 and 1928 make sure to take into
     account the date of the Gregorian Reformation in your region if you are
     checking a calendar for a very old date.

     cal has a decent built-in list of Gregorian Reform dates and the names of
     the countries where the reform was adopted:

             Italy           Oct.  5, 1582   Denmark         Feb. 19, 1700
             Spain           Oct.  5, 1582   Great Britain   Sep.  3, 1752
             Portugal        Oct.  5, 1582   Sweden          Feb. 18, 1753
             Poland          Oct.  5, 1582   Finland         Feb. 18, 1753
             France          Dec. 12, 1582   Japan           Dec. 20, 1872
             Luxembourg      Dec. 22, 1582   China           Nov.  7, 1911
             Netherlands     Dec. 22, 1582   Bulgaria        Apr.  1, 1916
             Bavaria         Oct.  6, 1583   U.S.S.R.        Feb.  1, 1918
             Austria         Jan.  7, 1584   Serbia          Jan. 19, 1919
             Switzerland     Jan. 12, 1584   Romania         Jan. 19, 1919
             Hungary         Oct. 22, 1587   Greece          Mar. 10, 1924
             Germany         Feb. 19, 1700   Turkey          Dec. 19, 1925
             Norway          Feb. 19, 1700   Egypt           Sep. 18, 1928

     The country known as Great Britain can also be referred to as England
     since that has less letters and no spaces in it.  This is meant only as a
     measure of expediency, not as a possible slight to anyone involved.


HISTORY

     A cal command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.

NetBSD 10.99                     May 29, 2018                     NetBSD 10.99