File:Extensions to the iCalendar Data Model Hierarchical Schedules and Temporally Related Events (IA extensionstoical1094517342).pdf

Computer calendaring has matured to the point where peoples calendars are easily synchronized across devices, shared between other people and organizations, and used to coordinate and schedule mutually agreeable meeting times. These and other advances have made computer calendaring indispensable in peoples personal and professional lives. Despite the recent advances in the scheduling capabilities of computer calendaring software, there are still areas of scheduling that are not so well accomplished or even possible in todays computer calendaring state of the art. Non-fixed date template schedules, used in military exercise and contingency plans (e.g., POA and M), are examples of schedules that are highly flexible and reusable. Because of their unique scheduling properties and relationships, however, they cannot be modeled in mainstream computer calendaring tools. As a result, when applying these types of schedules to a computer calendar, a great deal of human calculation, manual manipulation, and data entry are required to get the schedule information into the calendar. This thesis explores extensions to the iCalendar data model. These extensions will enable schedule hierarchies and temporally related events to be modeled in mainstream calendaring applications. The results will show considerable savings in human processing effort and that reduction in data-entry errors is possible.

Subjects: Calendaring; Calendaring Extensions; Temporally Related Events; Hierarchical Calendar Structure