Specifying Multiple Values in Calendar Expressions

You can specify multiple values in calendar expressions, as described in the following sections.

Using Wildcards in Calendar Expressions

Setting an attribute to an asterisk symbol (*) represents all allowable values for the attribute.

The following expression represents every minute:

minute="*"

The following expression represents every day of the week:

dayOfWeek="*"

Specifying a List of Values

To specify two or more values for an attribute, use a comma (,) to separate the values. A range of values is allowed as part of a list. Wildcards and intervals, however, are not allowed.

Duplicates within a list are ignored.

The following expression sets the day of the week to Tuesday and Thursday:

dayOfWeek="Tue, Thu"

The following expression represents 4:00 a.m., every hour from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. using a range, and 10:00 p.m.:

hour="4,9–17,22"

Specifying a Range of Values

Use a dash character (–) to specify an inclusive range of values for an attribute. Members of a range cannot be wildcards, lists, or intervals. A range of the form x–x, is equivalent to the single-valued expression x. A range of the form x–y where x is greater than y is equivalent to the expression x–maximum value, minimum value–y. That is, the expression begins at x, rolls over to the beginning of the allowable values, and continues up to y.

The following expression represents 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.:

hour="9–17"

The following expression represents Friday through Monday:

dayOfWeek="5–1"

The following expression represents the twenty-fifth day of the month to the end of the month, and the beginning of the month to the fifth day of the month:

dayOfMonth="25–5"

It is equivalent to the following expression:

dayOfMonth="25–Last,1–5"

Specifying Intervals

The forward slash (/) constrains an attribute to a starting point and an interval and is used to specify every N seconds, minutes, or hours within the minute, hour, or day. For an expression of the form x/y, x represents the starting point and y represents the interval. The wildcard character may be used in the x position of an interval and is equivalent to setting x to 0.

Intervals may be set only for second, minute, and hour attributes.

The following expression represents every 10 minutes within the hour:

minute="*/10"

It is equivalent to:

minute="0,10,20,30,40,50"

The following expression represents every 2 hours starting at noon:

hour="12/2"