Using

Graphical mode
When it is run with no command line parameters, starts in graphical mode. It displays the current list of outstanding alarms, showing their times, repetition counts, colours, and message texts or names of files to display.
Screenshot of the main window
Main window
For a repeated alarm, the list shows its next scheduled time for display and the number of times which it is due to repeat after that.
The alarms may be ordered by date/time, repeat count, colour or message text by clicking on the title bar for the appropriate column. To reverse the sort order, click the column title bar again.
When starts in graphical mode, it checks whether the alarm daemon is running. If it is not already running, starts it.

Adding a new alarm
To add a new alarm message, select Actions New. This displays the alarm message edit window:
Screenshot of the alarm edit window
Alarm edit window
In the Message group box, select either Text in order to enter the message text (which may include newlines) in the edit box, or File to enter the name or of a text file whose contents are to be displayed in the alarm message. When File is selected, Browse... may be used to display a file selection dialog.
In the Time group box, select At date/time: to enter the date and time when the message is to be displayed, or select Time from now: to enter how long after now (in hours and minutes) the message should be displayed.
If you want the alarm to be repeated, enter in the Repetition group box the number of repetitions (after the initial display) and the interval (in hours and minutes, in the range 1 minute to 99 hours) between repetitions. Check Repeat at login if you want the alarm to be displayed whenever you log in, in addition to its other scheduled times. (Note that an alarm repeated at login will also be displayed any time you enable alarms, or restart or reset the alarm daemon.)
The Cancel if late checkbox determines what happens if the alarm can't be displayed at its scheduled time. Check this box to cancel the alarm if it can't be displayed within 1 minute after the right time. Leave the box unchecked to display the alarm at the first opportunity starting at the scheduled time.
An alarm can only be displayed while you are logged in, and while both X and the alarm daemon are running.
Check the Beep checkbox if you want an audible alarm to sound when the alarm message is displayed.
Select the background colour for the alarm message window.
Press the OK button when all details are correct, to add the alarm to the scheduled list.

Modifying an existing alarm
To modify an existing alarm message, do one of the following:
Select it by clicking on its entry in the alarm list. Then choose Actions Modify.
Right click on its entry in the alarm list and choose Modify from the context menu.
This displays the alarm message edit window as described above.

Deleting an existing alarm
To delete an existing alarm message, do one of the following:
Select it by clicking on its entry in the alarm list. Then choose Actions Delete .
Right click on its entry in the alarm list and choose Delete from the context menu.

Acknowledging an alarm
When an alarm message window is displayed, do one of the following:
Acknowledge it by clicking the Close button.
Display options to defer the alarm by clicking the Defer... button. Then select Defer to date/time: to enter the date and time when the message is to be redisplayed, or select Defer for time interval: to enter how long after now (in hours and minutes) the message should be redisplayed. Then click Defer to defer the alarm message.
The Defer... button is not available for alarms which are displayed at login due to the Repeat at login option having been selected.
The button with the icon provides a convenient way to activate . Clicking it has no effect on the alarm message window.

Displaying in the system tray
You must be running the desktop in order to display in the system tray. If is running in continuous mode, the system tray icon is always displayed. These instructions apply only to on-demand mode. (See Configuring default options for a description of run modes.)
To display in the system tray, select View Show in System Tray .
To remove from the system tray, do one of the following:
Select View Hide from System Tray.
Right click on the system tray icon and choose Quit from the context menu.
Use of the system tray icon is described below.

Enabling/disabling alarm monitoring

Enabling alarm monitoring
First, if 's run mode is continuous and you have selected Disable alarms while not running in the Preferences dialog, you must ensure that is running in order for alarm monitoring to take place.
Then if alarm monitoring is currently disabled, do one of the following:
Select Actions Enable Alarms.
Right click on the system tray icon and choose Enable Alarms from the context menu.
The alarm daemon is started if necessary and alarms will be monitored for when they become due.
Starting the alarm daemon will affect any other applications which use the alarm daemon.

Disabling alarm monitoring
To disable alarm monitoring when it is currently enabled, do one of the following:
Select Actions Alarms Enabled.
Right click on the system tray icon and choose Alarms Enabled from the context menu.
If 's run mode is 'continuous' and you have selected Disable alarms while not running in the Preferences dialog, quit .
The alarm daemon stops monitoring 's alarms. will not display any further alarms until alarms are re-enabled.
The alarm daemon is not stopped by this operation: it simply stops monitoring 's alarms. So there will be no effect on the functioning of any other applications which use the alarm daemon.

Resetting the alarm daemon
To reset the alarm daemon, select Actions Reset Daemon .
See the Alarm daemon section for a discussion about resetting the alarm daemon.

Configuring default options
To set default options for , select Settings Configure .... This displays the configuration dialog. Here, you can:
Specify 's run mode. You can choose either to run it continuously in the system tray, or to run it only on demand. This selection does not affect the display of alarms when they become due, since it is the alarm daemon and not which monitors the alarm list. Running in the system tray makes the application more accessible and displays an alarm-enabled indication, but running an application continuously does consume some system resources. So if system performance is of concern, the on-demand option may be preferable.
When running in on-demand mode, the system tray icon can still be displayed. The main difference in operation between the two modes is the effect of closing the system tray icon: in on-demand mode, closing it has no effect on any windows, while in continuous mode, closing it also closes all main windows.
If you specified that should run in continuous mode, you can disable all alarms due for display while is not running.
Specify that the system tray icon should be displayed at session login.
Set the frequency at which the system tray icon is updated to reflect whether alarms are currently being monitored. This involves checking whether the alarm daemon is running.
Set the default font and background colour to use for alarm message display.

Configuring the alarm daemon
To set options for the alarm daemon, select Settings Configure Alarm Daemon.... This displays the alarm daemon configuration dialog.

Quitting the program
Quit by closing all its windows and the system tray icon, or if it is running in 'continuous' mode, by closing any message windows and selecting Quit in the system tray icon context menu.
File Quit closes only the window concerned. The effect of the system tray icon context menu item Quit depends on the run mode: in on-demand mode it hides the system tray icon, while in continuous mode it quits the program.
Quitting has no effect on the alarm daemon, which if already active will continue to monitor scheduled alarms and request their display when they become due (unless you have selected Disable alarms while not running in the Preferences dialog).

System tray icon
may be run as an icon in the system tray. This icon allows one-click activation of , and provides both control and status indication of alarm monitoring. A normal icon indicates that alarms are being monitored, while a red cross through the icon indicates that alarms are not being monitored.
Left click on the system tray icon to toggle between displaying and hiding the main window.
Right click on the system tray icon to display its context menu:
Enable Alarms 	Enables monitoring of alarms.
See Enabling/disabling alarm monitoring for details.
Alarms Enabled 	Disables monitoring of alarms.
See Enabling/disabling alarm monitoring for details.
Configure ... 	Displays the preferences dialog.
The preferences dialog is described in Configuring default options. It includes options relating to the system tray icon.
Configure Alarm Daemon... 	Displays the alarm daemon's configuration dialog.
Restore / Minimise 	Restores or minimises the main window.
This option is only available if the run mode is 'continuous'. (See Configuring default options for a description of run modes.)
Quit 	Closes the system tray icon.
In continuous run mode only, it also closes all main windows. It has no effect on the monitoring of alarms by the alarm daemon (unless you have selected Disable alarms while not running in the Preferences dialog).

Command line operation
When command line parameters are supplied, does not display the list of scheduled alarms as described in Graphical mode above. Command line options specific to may be used to perform the following operations:
schedule a new alarm message
control the alarm daemon
control 's display mode
obtain help
Additional command line options are provided primarily to enable other programs to interface to . They are described in the chapter Developer's Guide to .
The command line must only contain options applicable to one operation. If you want to perform multiple operations, you must invoke multiple times with a single set of options each time.

Schedule a new alarm message
The following options are used to schedule an alarm message for display by :
Option	Description
-b, --beep	Make an audible beep when the message is displayed.
-c, --color, --colour colour	Set the message background colour to the specified colour name or hex code 0xRRGGBB.
-f, --file URL	Specify the name or of a text file whose contents are to form the alarm message. message must not be present if this option is specified.
-i, --interval minutes	Set the interval between repetitions of the alarm to the specified number of minutes. Mandatory if --repeat is specified.
-l, --late-cancel	Cancel the message if it cannot be displayed at the correct time.
-L, --login	Display the message every time you log in.
-r, --repeat minutes	The number of times the alarm should be repeated, after its initial display. Mandatory if --interval is specified.
-t, --time time	Display message at 'time' [[[yyyy-]mm-]dd-]hh:mm (default is immediately).
message	Message text to display.
Either a message text or --file must be specified; except as noted, all the options are optional.
Two alternative examples which display a multi-line message with a red background at 10 p.m. on the 27th of this month are:

% kalarm -c red -t 27-22:00 "Remember to\nSTOP"
% kalarm -c 0xFF0000 -t 27-22:00 "Remember to\nSTOP"

Other options
The following options are used to reset or halt the alarm daemon, or to control 's display mode.
See the Alarm daemon section for a discussion about resetting and stopping the alarm daemon.
Option	Description
--reset	Reset the alarm daemon.
--stop	Stop the alarm daemon.
--tray	Display as an icon in the system tray.
For example, to reset the alarm daemon:

% kalarm --reset

Help options
The following help options are common to all programs:
Option	Description
--help	Shows a brief options help text.
--help-qt	Shows numerous generic -specific options.
--help-kde	Shows numerous generic -specific options.
--help-all	Shows all options.
--author	Shows the names and email addresses of authors.
-v, --version	Shows the running versions of the library , and .
--license	Show licence information.

Alarm daemon
The alarm daemon, , monitors 's calendar file for alarms becoming due. When it determines that an alarm is due, it tells to display it, or to cancel it if it is late and late display was not selected for that alarm message.
Under 3, the alarm daemon may also be used by other applications, including KOrganizer.
The alarm daemon runs in the background, with no user interface. Its configuration dialog may be accessed either via the control centre, or via the menu option Settings Configure Alarm Daemon... .

Starting, resetting and stopping the alarm daemon
The alarm daemon is normally started at session login (unless you use its configuration dialog to disable auto start), and runs continuously until logout. If for any reason it is not running, alarm monitoring will not occur and will not display any alarms.

Starting the alarm daemon
To start the alarm daemon, you can either run in its default graphical mode ( without any command line parameters), enable alarms using 's system tray icon menu, reset the daemon as described below, or you can run the alarm daemon directly from the command line:

% kalarmd

Resetting the alarm daemon
It is also possible to reset the alarm daemon without stopping it. Resetting causes the alarm daemon to re-read the list of scheduled messages from the calendar file and re-initialise its -related data.
Why might you want to reset the alarm daemon? It isn't a very likely occurrence, but if for any reason was not able to run when the alarm daemon told it to output a message, that message will never be output until the alarm daemon is either reset or restarted. Resetting is preferable to stopping the alarm daemon and restarting it, since resetting the daemon will not affect any other applications which use the alarm daemon.
Resetting starts the alarm daemon if it is not currently running.
To reset the alarm daemon, either use the menu command Actions Reset Daemon or type the following command:

% kalarm --reset

Stopping the alarm daemon
Stopping the alarm daemon will prevent any further monitoring of scheduled alarm messages until the daemon is restarted.
Stopping it will affect the functioning of any other applications which also use the alarm daemon. Consider resetting the daemon instead.
To stop the alarm daemon, type the following command:

% kalarm --stop