Webcal
{{short description|Unofficial URI scheme for accessing iCalendar files}}
{{Refimprove|date=June 2016}}
Webcal is a uniform resource identifier (URI) scheme for accessing iCalendar files. WebCal allows you to create and maintain an interactive events calendar or scheduling system on a Web site or app.{{cite web |title=WebCal Documentation Part 1 |url=http://awsd.com/scripts/webcal/webcal-documentation-part-1/|website=awsd.com|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606121258/http://awsd.com/scripts/webcal/webcal-documentation-part-1/ |archive-date=2023-06-06 }}
The webcal scheme was devised for use with the Apple iCal application and has become a common de facto standard for accessing iCalendar formatted files via WebDAV, usually using GET method.{{citation needed|date=August 2007}} It is not an official URI scheme, such as http and ftp, as registered with IANA. {{As of|2012|09|23}}, the webcal scheme has provisional status with IANA.{{cite web |title=Resource Identifier (RI) Scheme name: webcal |website=IANA |date=23 September 2012 |url=https://www.iana.org/assignments/uri-schemes/prov/webcal}} The Webcal protocol prefix is used to trigger an external protocol handler which is passed the URL of the .ics file rather than being passed the downloaded contents of the file, in much the same way feed is sometimes used to trigger external RSS readers. The idea is that with this protocol prefix the target file should be subscribed to rather than imported into the calendar application as would happen with a simple download.
Handlers
Notable software packages and web applications supporting the webcal protocol include:
- Google Calendar{{cite web |title=Open Webcal Links with Google Calendar |website=Google Operating System |date=7 October 2011 |url=http://googlesystem.blogspot.ca/2011/10/open-webcal-links-using-google-calendar.html }}
- Microsoft Outlook{{cite web |title=View and Subscribe to Internet Calendars |website=Microsoft Office |url=http://office.microsoft.com/en-ca/outlook-help/view-and-subscribe-to-internet-calendars-HA010167325.aspx }}
- Mozilla Thunderbird{{cite web |title=Creating New Calendars |website=Mozilla Support for Thunderbird |url=https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/creating-new-calendars#w_on-the-network }}
- Nextcloud{{cite web |title=Import a calendar |website=Nextcloud user documentation |url=https://docs.nextcloud.com/server/latest/user_manual/en/groupware/calendar.html#import-a-calendar }}
Alternative protocols
CalDAV and GroupDAV are both efforts to provide WebDAV-based access to calendar stores with finer granularity. The CalDAV Access protocol has been standardized by the IETF and published as RFC 4791. Extensions to CalDAV for automated scheduling are also standardized, as RFC 6638.
Neither of those protocols call for using DAV style URIs. Instead, both drafts call for using the HTTP OPTIONS feature to return that the server supports calendaring extensions.
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IETF RFC|4324|link=no}}: Calendar Access Protocol (CAP)
- {{IETF RFC|5545|link=no}}: Internet Calendaring and Scheduling Core Object Specification (iCalendar) (replaces {{IETF RFC|2445|link=no}})
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20071222113039/http://larry.cannell.org/webcal Webcal description and rationale] archived at the Wayback Machine.
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