Linux cal command

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What is the cal command

calIt is a simple but practical command-line tool in Linux systems, used to display calendars in the terminal. Its name comes from the abbreviation of "calendar".

Basic functions

  • Display the calendar of the current month
  • Display the calendar of a specified month
  • Display the calendar for an entire year
  • Support multiple display formats and options

Basic syntax

cal [选项] [[月份] 年份]

Parameter description

  • Without any parameters: displays the calendar of the current month
  • Specifying only the year: displays calendars of all months of that year
  • Specifying both month and year: displays the calendar of that month

Common options explained in detail

1. Display current month calendar (default)

Example

cal

Example output:

      十月 2023         
日 一 二 三 四 五 六  
 1  2  3  4  5  6  7  
 8  9 10 11 12 13 14  
15 16 17 18 19 20 21  
22 23 24 25 26 27 28  
29 30 31

2. Display calendar of specified month

Example

cal 12 2023

Display the calendar of December 2023

3. Display calendar for entire year

Example

cal 2023

Display calendars of all months of 2023

4. Display previous/next month calendar

Example

cal -3

Display the current month and the months before and after it (three months in total)

5. Display Julian calendar (1-366)

Example

cal -j

Display calendar in Julian date format, counting from day 1 to day 365/366 each year

6. Display Monday as the first day of the week

Example

cal -m

By default Sunday is the first day of the week; use-moption to change to Monday

Advanced usage

1. Combine options

Example

cal -j -m 12 2023

Display the Julian calendar of December 2023, with Monday as the first day of the week

2. Display calendar for a specific year

Example

cal 1752

Display the calendar of 1752 (the year of the historical transition from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar)

3. Display historical calendar

Example

cal 9 1752

Display the calendar of September 1752 (note that this month is missing 11 days)

Practical application examples

Example 1: Quickly view next month

Example

cal $(date +"%m %Y" -d "next month")

Example 2: View current quarter

Example

month=$(date +%m)
cal -3 $(( (month-1)/3*3+1 )) $(date +%Y)

Example 3: Create calendar file

Example

cal 2023 > 2023_calendar.txt

Save the 2023 calendar to a file

FAQ

Q1: cal command display inaccurate?

A: Make sure the entered year is in the range 1-9999 and the month is in the range 1-12

Q2: How to display calendar in other languages?

A: You can set the LANG environment variable, for example:

Example

LANG=zh_CN.UTF-8 cal

Q3: What is the difference between cal and ncal?

A: ncal is a variant of cal, providing different layout options. You canman ncalview details

Summary table

Option Description Example
None Display current month calendar cal
-j Julian calendar format cal -j
-m Monday as the first day of the week cal -m
-3 Display previous/current/next three months cal -3
-y Display all months of the current year cal -y
Month Year Display calendar of specified month cal 12 2023
Year Display calendar of specified year cal 2023

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