RFC - vCard and vCalendar - parse & generate

[Jay Lawrence]

I have the basics of a v* file parser/generator underway. This stemmed from my initial need to parse vCard files (because Apple's Address Book can't print and I needed my xmas card labels! *** ) and ultimately vCalendar files. These modules will also be able to write v(Calendar|Card|\w+) files back out as the need/demand arises.

I am aware of Net::ICal which works with [iv]Calendar files - however given its dependance on other modules (Class::MakeMethods or MethodMaker?) and a few other reasons I have elected not to use it.

I also don't feel this module belongs in the Net::* space to begin with. I can see how the anticipated use for talking with calendar servers prompted them to chose this name ... however that may actually be a much smaller subset of its functionality restricted to the network protocol portions. The data parsing and generation is really a more generic component that can work with standalone files, text blocks, etc.

I am thinking more along the line of:

Business::vFile::
VCALENDAR
VFILE

Where Business::vFile can load vCalendar, vCard and ideally any other v* file.

Or, is there a more relevant section of CPAN for data-specific formats?

Thanks for any input!
Jay

ps - for those who might not be familiar with vCard or vCalendar files - refer to RFC 2426 & 2445 respectively. Or more simply - vCard is a virtual business card that many address books and PIM programs now understand. vCalendar files are understood by many calendaring programs and can express information about events, alarms, todo items etc. These modules allow Perl developers to easily load these formats to report, extract, import or export address book and calendar event data. :)

*** so I read the RFCs, checked out Net::ICal, exported my Address book into a vCard file & wrote a simple parser that let me fire the vCard data into PDFLib to make address label sheets which I then happily printed out and set off my cards - albeit late by then.