We will see how to use the built in Calendar utility in the Linux based Operating Systems.
Built in Utility
Like the bc tool, we have a built in Calendar utility in the `*nix Operating Systems. This
Usage
Like any other tool, you would use cal to invoke it in the shell or the terminal. In its simple usage, it shows the present month.
Syntax : cal.
raghs@Raghs-LegionY540-TPIN:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32$ cal
September 2021
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
raghs@Raghs-LegionY540-TPIN:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32$
In an actual terminal output, the current date is highlighted! You can see it in the image below.
Screenshot
How to get a custom date in the terminal
You can pass an additional parameter for the month along with the cal as follows in the terminal.
Syntax : cal <Month> <Year>.
Remember, the year must be supplied after the month, otherwise the output may be unpredicted.
In the following examples, we get the calendars in the following order.
- Sep 2021 - Current Month
- Aug 2021 - Previous Month
- Oct 2021 - Next Month
raghs@Raghs-LegionY540-TPIN:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32$ cal 9 2021
September 2021
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4
5 6 7 8 9 10 11
12 13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25
26 27 28 29 30
raghs@Raghs-LegionY540-TPIN:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32$ cal 8 2021
August 2021
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28
29 30 31
raghs@Raghs-LegionY540-TPIN:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32$ cal 10 2021
October 2021
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9
10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23
24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
raghs@Raghs-LegionY540-TPIN:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32$
Again, here as well, in the actual terminal output, the current date is highlighted! You can see it in the image below.
Screenshot
How to get a calendar view for an entire year
You can just enter an additional input as a parameter to the cal utility in the terminal to get the calendar of that year.
Example: cal 2021 gets the calendar view of the entire year 2021 based on the locale set in the machine.
Syntax : cal <Year>.
raghs@Raghs-LegionY540-TPIN:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32$ cal 2021
2021
January February March
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 28 28 29 30 31
31
April May June
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 1 1 2 3 4 5
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
25 26 27 28 29 30 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30
30 31
July August September
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31 26 27 28 29 30
October November December
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 28 29 30 26 27 28 29 30 31
31
raghs@Raghs-LegionY540-TPIN:/mnt/c/WINDOWS/System32$
Again, here as well, in the actual terminal output, the current date is highlighted! You can see it in the image below.
Screenshot
Usage
Whenver we want to work on a time bound activity and we prepare a calendar / plan, this utilty really helps you, as otherwise we need to look at other physical calendar, or keep clicking on the Calendar on the Desktop on the Operating System (Windows, or others).
Cheers,
RM…
Raghavan alias Saravanan Muthu
29 Sep 2021 | Wed | 23:40:41 PM IST