Exporting Events

You can export all or a subset of the data of the event calendar in two different ways:

  • by choosing the link "export events" in the sponsor's options menu
  • or by directly accessing the export URL
    e.g. "http://events.msu.edu/export.php?calendar=default&type=xml&timebegin=2000-03-17&timeend=2000-05-20".
Currently the calendar supports only XML as an export format.


This is an example of the XML format the event data is exported in: 
<events>
  <event>
    <eventid>3454</eventid>
    <sponsorid>uusa</sponsorid>
    <inputsponsor>University Unions & Student Activities</inputsponsor>
    <displayedsponsor>Graduate Student Assembly</displayedsponsor>
    <displayedsponsorurl>http://gsa.uusa.vt.edu</displayedsponsorurl>
    <date>2000-03-27</date>
    <timebegin>18:00</timebegin>
    <timeend>19:00</timeend>
    <repeat_vcaldef></repeat_vcaldef>
    <repeat_startdate></repeat_startdate>
    <repeat_enddate></repeat_enddate>
    <categoryid>8</categoryid>
    <category>Lectures</category>
    <title>Lethal Viruses: Ebola & the Hot Zone</title>
    <description>Colonel Nancy Jaax is delivering this keynote address for the Research Symposium.  
    She is a leading specialist in biological hazards. </description>
    <location>Commonwealth Ballroom</location>
    <price>free</price>
    <contact_name>Kali Phelps</contact_name>
    <contact_phone>231-7919</contact_phone>
    <contact_email>kkniel@vt.edu</contact_email>
    <url>http://gsa.uusa.vt.edu</url>
    <recordchangedtime>2000-03-27 09:50:08</recordchangedtime>
    <recordchangeduser>jsmith</recordchangeduser>
  </event>
  <event>
    ...
  </event>
  ...
</events>

The following table describes the data format:

field name usage
eventid the index number of this event
sponsorid the short identifier of the organization that inputed the event into the calendar
inputsponsor the name of the organization that inputed the event into the calendar
displayedsponsor the name of the sponsor that is displayed in the calendar's detailed view
displayedsponsorurl the URL of the homepage of the sponsor that is displayed in the calendar's detailed view
date the date the event takes place, written in the ISO-8601 format
timebegin
  • the time the event begins, written in the ISO-8601 format (military/24 hour time)
  • if the value is "00:00" and timeend is "23:59" the event is considered to be an "all day event"
timeend
  • the time the event ends, written in the ISO-8601 format (military/24 hour time)
  • if the value is completely ommitted the event is considered to not have a specified ending time
repeat_vcaldef
  • if the event is a recurring event it contains the recurrence definition in vCalendar format
  • e.g. "W1 MO WE FR 20000502T235900" means that an event repeats every week
    Monday, Wednesday & Friday until May 2, 2000
repeat_startdate if the event is a recurring event it contains the date where the recurrence starts
repeat_enddate if the event is a recurring event it contains the date where the recurrence ends
categoryid an index number indicating the category of the event (see table below)
category the name of the category associated with the event
title the event title (displayed in weekly, monthly and detailed view)
description a long text describing the specifics of an event
the description is only displayed in the detailed view
location the location where the event takes place (building, room etc.)
price the price of the event
contact_name the name of a person that can be contacted if further info is required
contact_phone contact phone number(s)
contact_email contact email address
url URL of a web page specifically describing the event
recordchanged a timestamp indicating when this event was changed the last time

The value for "categoryid" is one of the following index numbers:
index name
1 Academic
2 Administration
3 Agriculture
4 Alumni
7 Athletics
5 Break / Holidays
8 Conferences / Seminars / Lectures
6 Exhibits (Museum, Gardens, ...)
13 International Events (Study Abroad, ...)
9 Movie / Film
50 Performing Arts (Dance, Music, Theatre, ...)
52 Public Programs
51 Special Events
11 Student Events
12 Training