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Calendar Menu Help

The calendar lets you record events, appointments, and activities to dates. Exit with Z-chord.

The following menu options are available: 
Today- Displays a list of events, ordered by time of day. Events with no time is assignment will appear first.  
Week- Displays a list of events for today's date and the following six days. The options 'previous' and 'next' are displayed at the top of list (dots 1, 2, 3, space) and bottom of the list (dots 4, 5, 6, space), respectively. Selecting 'previous week' shows a list of events occurring on the six previous days, including the earliest date on the currently displayed list. Select next week to view events occurring over the next six days, including the last day of the currently displayed list. 
Month- Displays a list of events in the month of today's date. Select 'previous' (top of list) or 'next' (bottom of list) to view entries in a different month.  
Search Date- Prompts for a date to search. Refer to the date formats listed below for accepted date entry formats.
Search Event- Prompts user to search for an event by keyword. Displays a list of chronologically ordered events matching the search keyword 
Add an entry- Prompts user for a date, time, and event to add to the calendar. If a time is not entered, the event time defaults to 'all day'. See 'Date formats' and 'Time formats' below for a list of date and time entry formats supported. A message will display indicating if a date is not recognized. If the time is improperly entered, it may cause its data to appear with the event name/description.
Gregorian Date Calculator- allows you to calculate the day of the week of a past or future date (see 'date calculator' section below)
Calendar options- toggle calendar preferences or save your calendar to a .txt (explained below)

Selecting an event from a list will display the following options to act on the event:
Edit date- shows the current date assignment and prompts user for a new date assignment. Enter key saves the new date if it is entered in the correct format (see date formats below)
Edit time- shows the current time assignment for an event (if a time is assigned) and prompts user for a new time to assign to the event. Enter key saves the new time (see time formats below). If no time is assigned, the event defaults to 'All day'
Edit event- shows the current event name/description and prompts user for a new event name assignment. Enter saves the new entry description.
Delete event- permanently removes the selected event from your calendar. User is prompted to confirm whether or not to delete the entry as the change is permanent.

Calendar options menu:
Braille input- Select 'on' to create and edit entries in contracted braille. Select 'off' for standard text entries.
Save calendar as text- Select this option to save your calendar as a chronologically line-ordered list of events in plain text. The resulting file saves to your home directory named with the current date in the format YYMMDD-calendar.txt  
Export backup calendar- Exports a read-only backup of your calendar to your home directory with a .btcal extension. You will be prompted 'Name?' to choose a name for your calendar backup file.
Import backup calendar- Imports a calendar backup file.btcal from your home directory, replacing your current calendar. Only .btcal files in valid JSON format can be imported.

Link Google Calendar: This option will link your Google account and synchronize Google Calendar events to your BT Speak's local Calendar. Options are ON or OFF. Default is OFF. Instructions to use this feature follow.

After toggling this option, Google calendar synchronization will begin the next time any function of the calendar is accessed.

You will be prompted to authenticate your Google account the first time using this feature and occasionally thereafter if Google requires you to refresh your authentication or your login has changed.

The following describes the procedure for authenticating and linking your Google Calendar account to BT Speak's Calendar.

 

1) When first logging into Google and granting permission to link your Google Calendar events, you MUST have Desktop mode booted. If Desktop mode is not booted, a message will display asking you to boot Desktop mode and try again. Press dots-1,2,3,4,5,6 and 8 to start desktop mode and wait roughly 30 seconds for the boot to complete.

2) Select Calendar Options from the calendar menu. Then select link Google Calendar and select ON.

3) Return to the Calendar main menu and select a Calendar function (Today, Week, Month, Search Event, or Search Date)

4) A message will display "Chromium is open to Google login. Navigate to Dekstop Mode to sign in.". Press enter, then navigate to Desktop mode (dots-1,2,3,4,5,6 and 8). Chromium browser will be open to the Google sing-in page for BT Speak Calendar and instruct you to sign in. Use tab to select the Google account you would like to authenticate.

5) Enter your Google login credentials as needed. Follow instructions on the proceeding pages to grant permission to link your Google account to BT Speak Calendar. Grant permission by tabbing to and selecting the Continue button on the page.

6) If authentication is successful, you will be directed to a webpage reading "The authentication flow has completed. You may close this window.". At this point, navigate back to Traditional Mode (dots 1,2,3,4,5,6 and 7).

7) Calendar is now linked to your Google Calendar account and will automatically synchronize with your Google Calendar events when loaded. After returning to Traditional Mode, the Calendar will proceed with the function (egs. Search Event) selected prior to authentication.


Supported entry formats:
Date formats (example January 01, 2024): 
01-01 (defaults to the current year when year is not specified) 
1-1
01-01-24
1/1 
1/1/24 
1/01/24 
Jan 01 
Jan 1 
Jan 1 2024 
January 01 
January 1, 2024

Time formats: 
1pm 
1:30pm 
1 am 
1:30am

 

Date Calculator
The date calculator allows you to calculate the day of the week of a past or future date in three ways:
1.  By entering the number of days (starting from the current date). An optional plus sign (Dots 3-4-6) at the beginning means you want to look forward, while a minus (Dots 3-6) means you w>
2.  By entering a specific date either in the form MMDDYY or MMDDYYYY, where MM represents the month, DD the day, and YY or YYYY the year.
3.  By entering a number-sign (Dots 3-4-5-6) to hear the day number of the current year.

All numbers should be entered using Computer Braille (that is, dropped numbers with no number-sign).
When finished, press 8 to hear the date.
If the date calculator was not able to understand what you entered, it responds with "invalid input."

Some examples:
1.  To find the date 30 days from now, enter 30 or +30.
2.  To find the date 500 days ago, enter -500.
3.  To learn which day of the week occurred on July 4, 1776, type 07041776.
4.  To learn when January 1, 1995 occurred, enter either 010195 or 01011995.
5.  To find the number of days since the current year began, enter the number-sign. January 1 is day 1, while December 31 is day 365.

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