Overview Holiday time clock

This function block implements a holiday time clock. The switching times are set using ICal files (*.ics) that are loaded from a server.




Inputs

FG
 Enable
 Optional enable. If nothing is connected at this input, the clock is automatically enabled. Otherwise only when a value of 1 is present at the input.

Outputs
A1-x
 Output 1-x
 Outputs. The same value is output at all outputs.

Parameters
Number of outputs
 Number of outputs.
Value on/off
 When the switching time is reached, Value on is output at the outputs, otherwise Value off.
URL ICal file URL from which the ics file is loaded. The file is automatically loaded once per day from this server. These can, for example, be loaded from Internet sites that provide ICal files (e.g. https://www.ferienwiki.at) and provided on your own server.

The following calendar sources are supported:
  • Google Calendar: Open Google Calendar in a browser on a computer (not in the mobile app), click the gear icon > "Settings" in the top right, then click the desired calendar on the left under "Settings for my calendars". In the section "Integrate calendar", copy the "Public address in iCal format" or "Secret address in iCal format" and paste it here.
  • Apple iCloud Calendar: Share the calendar publicly and paste the share link (starts with webcal://...). How to get there depends on the device:
    • iPhone/iPad: Open the Calendar app, tap "Calendars" at the bottom, then tap the info icon (i) next to the desired iCloud calendar. Enable the "Public Calendar" option, tap "Share Link" and copy the link (e.g. via "Copy" or by sending it to yourself).
    • Mac: In the Calendar app, right-click the calendar in the sidebar and choose "Share Calendar ..." (or click the icon next to the calendar name). Check "Public Calendar", then right-click the calendar and choose "Copy URL".
    • iCloud.com in the browser: Open Calendar, click the share icon next to the calendar in the sidebar, enable "Public Calendar" and copy the displayed link.
    Notes: Only iCloud calendars can be shared publicly (not Google or Exchange calendars added to the Apple Calendar app). Anyone who knows the link can read the events of this calendar - it is therefore best to create a separate calendar just for the switching times. The webcal:// link can be pasted as it is.
  • Google Drive: Store an ics file in Google Drive, share it with "Anyone with the link" and paste the share link.
  • Dropbox: Store an ics file in Dropbox and paste the share link.
  • Any http/https/webcal address that directly delivers an ics file.
Share links are automatically converted into download addresses. The file must start with BEGIN:VCALENDAR. Events with yearly recurrence are supported, other recurrence rules (e.g. weekly) are not. For events with a time of day, the whole day counts. If the server cannot be reached or delivers an invalid response, the last loaded file is kept.

The files can contain holidays for several years. In addition, the URL can contain a placeholder for the year (%YYYY), which is replaced by the current year when loading. This allows several years to be provided in advance on your own server.

Ready-made holiday calendars from Google:
Google provides public holiday calendars for most countries. The address can be pasted directly, e.g.:
  • Austria: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/de.austrian%23holiday%40group.v.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
  • Germany: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/de.german%23holiday%40group.v.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
  • Switzerland: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/de.ch%23holiday%40group.v.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
  • Italy: https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/it.italian%23holiday%40group.v.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
  • South Tyrol (Italian holidays in German language): https://calendar.google.com/calendar/ical/de.italian%23holiday%40group.v.calendar.google.com/public/basic.ics
Alternatively via the Google Calendar interface: In a browser on a computer, click the plus sign next to "Other calendars" at the bottom left, choose "Browse calendars of interest" and subscribe to the desired country under "Regional holidays". Then click the holiday calendar in the settings and copy the "Public address in iCal format" under "Integrate calendar".

Ready-made holiday calendars from Apple:
Apple also provides the holiday calendars known from iPhone/Mac publicly (the built-in "Holidays" calendar on the device itself cannot be shared, but the underlying addresses can be accessed directly), e.g.:
  • Austria: webcal://calendars.icloud.com/holidays/at_de.ics
  • Germany: webcal://calendars.icloud.com/holidays/de_de.ics
  • Switzerland: webcal://calendars.icloud.com/holidays/ch_de.ics
  • Italy: webcal://calendars.icloud.com/holidays/it_it.ics (Italian language only; for South Tyrol in German use the Google calendar above)
The address pattern is webcal://calendars.icloud.com/holidays/<country>_<language>.ics (e.g. fr_fr, es_es, us_en). Not available for all countries.

Address generator:
Here the calendar address can be put together for all EU countries and Switzerland. Select country and state/region, then copy the desired address and paste it into the "URL ICal file" parameter:

Country:
State/region:
Google:
Apple:

Important: This address generator cannot take future changes of the calendar addresses by Google and Apple into account. If a generated address does not work, please refer to the current documentation of the respective provider (Google Calendar Help or Apple Support).

Note: The holiday calendars from Google and Apple partly also contain observances that are not public holidays (e.g. Valentine's Day, Mother's Day). If you only want to switch on legal public holidays, it is best to create your own calendar (see above) and enter the desired days yourself - with yearly recurrence this only has to be done once.







See also common parameters of all function blocks.