2.3.3. Viewing Lists of Scheduled Items

The calendar views described in Section 2.3.1 are organized in standard calendar units of days through years. The user may also view scheduled items in the alternate form of ordered lists. To view a list of scheduled items, the user chooses the `View Lists' menu command. In response, the system displays the submenu shown in Figure 31.


Figure 31: View lists submenu.



The first four commands are used to list the four different types of scheduled item. The fifth `All Items' command displays a list of all four types of scheduled item. The last command displays a menu of custom views created by the user.

By default, one separate window is used for each of the six subcommands. For example, if the user executes `View Lists Appointments' followed by `View Lists Meetings', both an appointments list and meetings list window are displayed on the screen. Hence, there are up to six list windows, each holding the result of the most recently executed listing command. When the user re-executes a particular `View Lists' command, that command's display is changed (if necessary) and brought to the front, without a new window being created. For example, if the user executes `View Lists Appointments', then adds two new appointments, and re-executes `View Lists Appointments', the appointments-list display window is changed, with no new window created.

As for the view-level commands of Section 2.3.1, the user may change the default display style by enabling two-window or multi-window viewing mode. In two-window mode, the results of view commands are shown in just two windows, one for calendars and the other for lists. In multi-window mode, the results of each and every viewing command are shown in a separate new window, even for lists of the same type. For example, if the user executes two successive `View Lists Meetings' commands in multi-window mode, the results are shown in two separate meeting list windows. Complete details of multi-window viewing are described in Section 2.3.6.

Multi-window lists are particularly useful when applied in conjunction with filtered viewing. For example, the user can display a list of two different categories of appointments in two separate side-by-side windows. Complete details of filtered viewing are presented in Section 2.3.4.

2.3.3.1. Appointment Lists

Figure 32 shows the response to the user's selection of the `View Lists Appointments' command.


Figure 32: Basic Appointments List.



The figure shows a list of appointments created by the user in the scenarios presented thus far. By default, the list is sorted primarily by date, secondarily by time, thirdly by duration, and fourthly by title. The default date range of the list is the three-week period starting one week prior to today's date. The default physical height of the list display window is twenty items. Any of these default settings can be changed using the options commands described in Section 2.7.3.

For the ongoing scenario, the current date is September 23. This means that the three-week period covers the dates September 16 through October 6, inclusive. Since there are more than twenty appointments scheduled in this period, the list window can be scrolled or resized to view the additional items.

The items in an appointments list are a somewhat abbreviated version of the information for a scheduled appointment. The precise extent of the abbreviations is as follows:

  1. A list item has only a start date, with no end date. This is because there is a separate list item for every instance of a recurring appointment.

  2. A list item has only a yes/no indication of whether the appointment recurs, not the full recurring information.

  3. A list item contains no remind information or details.

The user can change the default order of the list by clicking on any of the column labels that appear in the display. For example, if the user clicks on the Title column label in Figure 32 the system updates the display to that shown in Figure 33, where the list items are sorted alphabetically by title.


Figure 33: Appointments list sorted by title.



The precise sorting rules for each of columns are as follows:

  1. The Title column is sorted in ascending lexical order of title string, ignoring differences in the case of letter characters. Lexical ordering is defined precisely as the case-insensitive characterwise comparison of strings based on the ASCII collating sequence, or comparable collating sequence in standard use in a particular operating environment.

  2. Date is sorted in ascending chronological order.

  3. Time is sorted in ascending time-of-day order.

  4. Duration is sorted is in ascending order from shortest to longest duration.

  5. Recurs is sorted with all `yes' values before all `no' values.

  6. Category is sorted lexically in the same manner as Title. Items with an empty category value appear after all items with non-empty category value.

  7. Location is sorted in the same manner as Category.

  8. Security is sorted in the order `public', `title', `protected', `private'.

  9. `Priority' is sorted with `must' values before `optional' values.

Since no single field value in an appointment is necessarily unique, the primary sorting order must be augmented with secondary, tertiary, quaternary and in some cases quintinary orders. Table 1 specifies the precise subordering for each of the column labels used as the primary sorting key.



Primary Secondary Tertiary Quaternary Quintinary
Title Date Time Duration  
Date Time Duration Title  
Time Date Duration Title  
Duration Date Time Title  
Recurs Date Time Duration Title
Category Date Time Duration Title
Location Date Time Duration Title
Security Date Time Duration Title
Priority Date Time Duration Title

Table 1: Sorting suborders for appointment and meeting lists.



Figure 33 shows how the banner of a list window is altered to indicate that a sorting order other than the default is in use. The format of the banner for all list displays is the following:

type-of-list, sorted by field-name
where type-of-list is one of Appointments, Meetings, Tasks, Events, or All Items; field-name is the name of item field used as the primary sorting key.

The default date range of the list can be changed using the custom list features described in Section 2.3.3.6, as well as with the filtering commands described in Section 2.3.4.1 The default display height and width can be changed using the general option commands described in Section 2.7.3.

2.3.3.2. Meeting Lists

To view a list of scheduled meetings, the user selects the `View Lists Meetings' menu command. Figure 34 shows the result of the user so doing.


Figure 34: Meetings List.



The list contains eleven entries, which reflects that fact that eleven meetings are scheduled for the default listing period of September 16 through October 6. The format of meetings lists is the same as appointments, with the addition of a `Sched By' column. This new column contains the id of the Calendar Tool user who scheduled the meeting.

The default sorting order for meeting lists is the same as for appointments. The `Sched By' column is sorted lexically in the same manner as `Title'. When `Sched By' is used as the primary sorting key, the secondary through quintinary sorting keys are, respectively: Date, Time, Duration, and Title.

2.3.3.3. Task Lists

When the user selects the `Tasks' command from the `View Lists' menu, the system displays a window of the form shown in Figure 35.


Figure 35: Tasks list.



The list reflects the fact that there are only six tasks scheduled in the default three-week list period.

By default, the task list is sorted primarily by due date, secondarily by due time, thirdly by title. Tasks without a user-specified due time are considered to have a time after those with user-specified due times.

As for the appointments list, the task list is an abbreviation of the full information for scheduled tasks. Specifically,

  1. There is a separate list item for each instance of a recurring task.

  2. A list item has only a yes/no indication of whether the task recurs, not the full recurring information.

  3. A task list has a completion date column, but no separate checkbox to indicate task completion; a blank completion date in the list indicates the task is not yet completed.

  4. A list item contains no remind information or details.

Also as with appointments lists, the user can change the default order of the list by clicking on any of the column labels that appear in the display. For list columns that are common to both appointments and tasks, the precise sorting rules for tasks lists are the same as those given above for appointment lists. Sorting rules for the other task list columns are as follows:

  1. `Due Date' is sorted in ascending chronological order.

  2. `Due Time' is sorted in ascending time-of-day order for those tasks with a user-specified due time; tasks without user-specified due time appear after those with user-specified due times.

  3. `Priority' is sorted in descending numeric order, i.e., higher priority tasks appear earlier in the list.

  4. `Completed' is sorted in ascending chronological order, with all uncompleted items appearing after all completed items.
The subordering for each of the primary sorting keys in a task list is given in Table 2.



Primary Secondary Tertiary Quaternary
Title Date Time  
Due Date Time Title  
Due Time Date Title  
Recurs Date Time Title
Category Date Time Title
Security Date Time Title
Priority Date Time Title
Completed Date Time Title

Table 2: Sorting suborders for task lists.



These are the same subordering rules as for appointments, without the Duration field.

2.3.3.4. Event Lists

Figure 36 shows the result of the user selecting the `View Lists Events' command.


Figure 36: Events list.



Only two events are scheduled for the three-week listing period. The September 24 event was scheduled by the user. The September 22 event is built-in to the Calendar tool and hence automatically scheduled. The complete list of system- defined events is given in Section 2.11.12. By default, the events list is sorted primarily by date, secondarily by title.

Events do not recur, but multi-day events can be defined with a start and end date. There is a separate list item for each day of a multi-day event. For example, there are three separate list items for an event with start date September 21 and end date September 23.

The events-list columns are a subset of the appointments list. For those columns that are present in the events list, the precise sorting rules are the same as given above for appointment lists.

The subordering for each of the primary sorting keys is given in Table 3.



Primary Secondary Tertiary
Title Date  
Date Title  
Category Date Title
Security Date Title

Table 3: Sorting suborders for event lists.



2.3.3.5. All Items Lists

The final listing form contains all four types of scheduled item together in one list. To select this form, the user executes the `View Lists All Items' command, in response to which the system displays a window of the form shown in Figure 37.


Figure 37: All items list.



By default, the list is sorted primarily by date. Among items of the same type, the precise sorting rules for each list column are as stated above in Sections 2.3.3.1,   2.3.3.2,   2.3.3.3,   and 2.3.3.4 above.

Table 4 gives the subordering for all possible primary keys, of which there are twelve in the all-items list.



Primary Secondary Tertiary Quaternary Quintinary
Title Date Time Duration  
Date Time Duration Title  
Time Date Duration Title  
Due Time Date Time Duration Title
Duration Date Time Title  
Recurs Date Time Duration Title
Category Date Time Duration Title
Location Date Time Duration Title
Security Date Time Duration Title
Priority Date Time Duration Title
Sched By Date Time Duration Title
Completed Date Time Duration Title

Table 4: Sorting suborders for all-item lists.



The `Time' field applies to appointments and meetings, representing the start time of the item. `Due Time' applies only to tasks, representing the time the task is due. The `Time' and `Due Time' columns are distinct in the all-items list so that the relative order among appointments, meetings, and tasks can be made consistent with the order among these items in calendar views.

The following assumptions are made for sorting lists with different types of items, in which one or more of the suborder keys are missing:

  1. The `Time' value for any event is considered to be earlier than that of any appointment, meeting, or task; this means that events precede tasks, appointments, and meetings when `Time' is used as the sort key.

  2. The `Time' value (not the `Due Time') for any task is considered to be later than that of any event and earlier than that of any appointment or meeting; this means that tasks follow events and precede appointments and meetings when `Time' is used as the sort key. (The `Time' key for a task is effectively its start time, as distinguished from its due time; task due time is a separate list column with its own relative sorting order.)

  3. The `Due Time' value for appointments, meetings, and events is considered to be greater than any task; this means that tasks precede all other types of item when `Due Time' is the sort key.

  4. The `Duration' of any event is considered to be shorter than that of any appointment meeting, or task; this means that events precede all other types of item with `Duration' is the sort key.

  5. The `Duration' of any task is considered to be longer than that of any event, shorter than any appointment or meeting; this means that tasks follow events and precede appointments and meetings when `Duration' is used as the sort key.

  6. The `Recurs' value for events is considered to be `no'; this means that events follow all other types of item when `Recurs' is used as the sort key.

  7. The `Location' value for events is considered to be emtpy; this means that events follow all other types of item when `Location' is used as the sort key.

  8. The `Priority' value for events is considered to be higher than any appointment, meeting, or task; this means that events precede all other types of item when `Priority' is used as the sort key.

  9. The `Sched By' value for appointments, tasks, and events is considered to be greater than that for any meeting; this means that meetings precede all other types of item when `Sched By' is used as the sort key.

  10. The `Completed' value for appointments, meetings, and events is considered to be greater than any task; this means that tasks (whether completed or not) precede all other types of item when `Completed' is used as the sort key.

2.3.3.6. Custom Lists

The custom lists feature of the Calendar Tool allows the user to define specialized forms of lists. In particular, the user can specify which types of items appear in a list, which item fields appear as list columns, and what range of dates the list covers. For example, the user can define a list that shows only the title and date of appointments and meetings for the next six months.

By default, there are no pre-defined custom lists. Hence, when the user initially selects the `View Lists Custom' menu command, the system displays the submenu as shown in Figure 38.


Figure 38: Initial custom lists menu.



The blank space above the `Edit ...' command is where the names of custom lists appear once they are defined by the user.

To create a new custom list, the user selects the `Edit ...' command, whereupon the system displays the custom list dialog shown in Figure 39.


Figure 39: Custom list dialog.



The `List Name' text box contains the name of the list being defined. The initial default name is "New List". The user enters a new list name by typing in the text box. The name for each custom list must be unique among all other defined lists.

The check boxes under the heading `Show these items' specify which types of item appear in a custom list. At least one of the boxes must be checked. The check boxes under the heading `Show these fields' specify which item fields appear as column headings in the list. At least one of the boxes must be checked. The `Primary sort key' is a menu containing each of the fields listed under `Show these fields'. The default primary sort key for custom lists is the `Date' field.

The `Start Date' and `End Date' data entry fields specify the starting and ending dates of the custom list. As shown in the figure, the default start date is 1 week ago, the default end date 2 weeks from now. The small data-entry box immediately to the right of the label is a typeable numeric field in which the user can enter a value between 1 and 99. Immediately to the right of the numeric field is a menu-augmented text box containing the date range information. Immediately below the range information is a two-element menu containing the selections `ago' and `from now'. Figure 40 shows an expansion of both the pulldown menus.


Figure 40: Custom list date menus.



If either the `today' or `specific date' entries is selected, the numeric text field is disabled, since it does not apply in theses cases. Also in these cases, the date direction menu is disabled (physically greyed out). When `specific date' is selected, the user types a specific date value into the text field. When any of the other menu entries is selected, typing is disabled in the text field.

Figure 41 shows the result of the user having defined a new list named "Year's events".


Figure 41: Year`s events custom list.



The list applies only to events, leaves out the security column, and extends over the date range of six months before and after today. The figure illustrates how the check boxes for some fields are selectively disabled when a subset of item check boxes are on. The field check boxes that are disabled correspond to those fields that do not apply to any of the selected types of item. Table 5 defines specifically which fields apply to which types of item.



Data field Applicable to these types of item
Title all
Date all
Time appointments, meetings
Due Time tasks
Duration appointments, meetings
Recurs? appointments, meetings, tasks
Category all
Location appointments, meetings, events
Security all
Priority appointments, meetings, tasks
(`must' or `optional' for appointments and meetings;
 number between 0 and 10 for tasks)
Sched By meetings
Completed tasks

Table 5: Fields applicable to each type of scheduled item.



A check box under the `Show these fields' heading is enabled (physically solid type) when one or more of the types to which it applies is checked under the `Show these items' heading. The state of the check boxes is reflected in the `Primary sort key' pulldown menu. Specifically, the active menu items correspond to the check-box selected fields. For example, Figure 42 shows the state of the `Primary sort key' menu in the context of Figure 41


Figure 42: Primary sort key menu Year's events custom list.



The enabled menu items are correspond to the three selected check boxes. The disabled items in the menu cannot be selected as the primary sort key. When `Date' is not selected in the check boxes, the default primary sort key is chosen as the first checked key in top-to-bottom order of check boxes in the dialog (which is the order shown in Table 4 ).

Sorting suborder for custom lists is based on Table 3, with the following additional provisions. When a field that would otherwise be used as a suborder key is missing from the custom list, the next field in the subordering takes the place of the missing key. When one or more of the subording keys in Table is missing, additional subordering is defined by the following order among the remaining keys: `Due Time', `Recurs', `Category', `Location', `Security', `Priority', `Sched By', and `Completed'. For example, if the user defines a custom list that contains only `Location', `Priority', and `Sched By', those keys are used as the primary, secondary, and tertiary sorting keys, respectively.

To complete the definition of a new list, the user presses the `Add' button at the bottom of the custom lists dialog. In response, the system adds the list to those that are available for use. To define additional new lists, the user types the new names into the `List Name' text box, selects the desired settings, and presses the `Add' button for each new list to be defined.

The names of available lists appear in two contexts:

  1. the `View Lists Custom' submenu, accessible from the main command menubar;

  2. the `List Name' menu, in the custom lists dialog.
These contexts are illustrated in Figure 43.


Figure 43: Menu contexts in which list names appear.



The figure reflects the user having defined two additional custom lists named "Appt titles only" and "Mtgs next 2 months". The list names are sorted alphabetically in the menus. In the custom list dialog, the name in the `List Name' text box is that most recently selected or typed by the user.

Figure 44 shows the result of the user selecting the `Year's events' list in the `View Lists Custom' submenu.


Figure 44: Year`s events list display.



The banner of a custom list display contains the name of the custom list.

In the context of the scenarios thus far, "Jim's Birthday" is the only user- scheduled event. The other events in the `Year's Events' list are all pre-defined holidays, as discussed further in Section 2.11.12.

The user can change or delete defined lists in the custom list dialog. To change an existing list, the user selects the desired list in the `List Name' menu, or types its name in the text box and presses the Enter key. The user then performs the desired changes and presses the Change button. For example, Figure 45 shows the user having edited the previously defined `Year's events' list.


Figure 45: Changed years-events list.



The edits involve changing the date range to specific dates instead of the six month range before and after today's date. To perform these edits, the user selects `specific date' in both the `Start Date' and `End Date' menus, and then types the desired date range of January 1, 1999 to December 31, 1999. To confirm these changes, the user presses the `Change' button at the bottom of the dialog.

To delete an existing list, the user selects its name from the `List Name' menu and presses the `Delete' button. In response, the system removes the list from those that are defined, removes it from the `List Name' menu, and clears the `List Name' text box. The `Apply' button is used to apply the currently selected list, as if its name had been chosen from `View Lists Custom' submenu.

To clear all entered information in the custom list dialog, the user presses the `Clear' button. In response, the system restores the dialog to the state it was in when it was most recently displayed on the screen. The `Cancel' button removes the custom lists dialog from the screen. Only the explicit selection of `Cancel' (or an environment-specific window closing button) removes the dialog from the screen. Execution of any of the other commands (`Add' through `Clear') leaves the dialog on the screen.




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