Alarm Message DisplayAlarm messages may be displayed in windows or as notifications, depending on the option chosen in the Alarm Edit dialog. These two display options are described below.
If you inhibit notifications for the desktop, the execution of display alarms will be suspended until notifications are re-enabled. Note that this applies to all display alarms, regardless of whether they are displayed in windows or as notifications.
Alarm messages which are displayed in windows provide the fullest functionality.
When an alarm message is due, it is displayed on each desktop and cannot be covered by ordinary windows, to ensure that you see it. The message window shows the time for which the alarm was scheduled, so that you can see when it popped up if you were away from the computer at the time. If the alarm's scheduled time is in a different time zone from your local computer's setting, its time zone will also be displayed. (For reminder messages, the date/time shown is that for the main alarm or its recurrence, not the reminder message time, and the window title is “Reminder”.)
Alarm message windows remain visible until you acknowledge them, unless Auto-close window after late-cancelation time was checked in the Alarm Edit dialog. In the case of a recurring alarm, if an unacknowledged message window remains from a previous occurrence of the alarm, the existing window is simply popped up when the alarm recurs. This avoids having to acknowledge multiple copies of the same message should you not wish, or be unable, to acknowledge a message at the time it appears.
The alarm message window provides whichever of the following options are applicable to the displayed alarm:
Acknowledge the alarm by clicking the button. This closes the window (after a prompt for confirmation, if you selected Confirm acknowledgment).
Edit the alarm by clicking the button. This displays the Alarm Edit dialog.
Display options to defer the alarm until later by clicking the 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 to defer the alarm message and close its window.
Note
The time the alarm is deferred to must be earlier than its next scheduled occurrence or next advance reminder. For this reason, the button in the alarm message window and the button in the Deferral dialog are disabled one minute before the next occurrence or advance reminder.
Note that if a reminder is configured after the alarm, you can defer the alarm past its reminder time. In this case, the reminder will be suppressed.
Note
The button is not available for alarms which are displayed at login due to the Repeat at login option having been selected.
Stop playing the alarm's sound file by clicking the button showing the “stop playing” symbol.
If the alarm message was created by dragging an email from KMail, you can directly access the email in KMail by clicking the button showing the KMail icon. This will display the email and select the folder containing the email in KMail's folder list.
Warning
If KMail's indexes are regenerated, the link to the email in KMail will be lost.
The button showing the KAlarm icon provides a convenient way to activate KAlarm's main window, with that alarm highlighted.
You can choose in the Configuration dialog which of two different modes should be used to display alarm message windows:
As a normal window. In this mode, the keyboard focus is taken by the alarm message window when it appears, so if you are typing at the time your keystrokes will be diverted to it rather than your original application.
As a non-modal window. In this mode, the keyboard focus is unaffected when the alarm message window appears, so it will not interfere with your typing. However in this mode the window has no titlebar or frame, so you cannot move it or resize it.
Note
When an alarm is displayed on top of a full screen application, it is shown as a non-modal window regardless of this configuration setting. This is due to a limitation of the window system.
You can choose in the Configuration dialog which of two schemes should be used to position alarm message windows:
The windows are displayed as far away from the current mouse cursor as possible. This minimizes disruption to your work flow and minimizes the possibility of accidentally acknowledging the alarm.
The windows are displayed in the center of the screen. To reduce the chance of accidentally acknowledging the alarm, the buttons on the window are initially disabled, becoming active only after a configurable delay.
If you have several alarm message windows, or error messages, displayed, you can spread the windows out across the screen to make them all visible, or group them all together again in the top left corner of the screen, by means of the → menu option. If you wish, you can set up a global shortcut key for this action.
Alarm messages which are displayed as notifications provide less functionality than those displayed in windows.
When an alarm message is due, it is displayed as a notification. The notification shows the time for which the alarm was scheduled. If the alarm's scheduled time is in a different time zone from your local computer's setting, its time zone will also be displayed. (For reminder messages, the date/time shown is that for the main alarm or its recurrence, not the reminder message time, and a “Reminder” heading is shown.)
The notification automatically closes after a short time-out. (Note that the time-out is common to all applications; it can be changed in System Settings.) After a notification times out, it can still be seen in the notification history until you remove it or until you log out. Because applications have no way to access the notification history, KAlarm cannot remove or replace notifications in the history as it would for alarm windows. So the history may contain multiple notifications for the same alarm, including reminders and recurrences.
The alarm message notification provides the following options. Note that selecting any option will immediately close the notification, and prevent it being shown in the notification history. Note also that these options are only available while the notification is active, before it times out. If you subsequently access the notification in the notification history, then due to the limitations of the notification system, the only interaction available is to remove it from the history.
Acknowledge the alarm by clicking the button. This closes the notification.
Edit the alarm by clicking the button. This displays the Alarm Edit dialog.
Display options to defer the alarm until later by clicking the button. This button is only shown if it is possible to defer the alarm. See the description of the defer option in the Alarm Message Window section for details.
Clicking the notification anywhere other than a button will activate KAlarm's main window, with that alarm highlighted.