How to: Export events into a single iCalendar file?

Question

Can I export multiple calendar events into a single iCalendar file?

Answer 1

You simply make an iCalendar file with multiple VEVENT sections. For example:

BEGIN:VCALENDAR
BEGIN:VEVENT
DESCRIPTION:
DTEND:20071202T220000Z
DTSTAMP:20081124T220920Z
DTSTART:20071202T200000Z
LOCATION:Wherever
STATUS:CONFIRMED
SUMMARY:An event
UID:event-the-first
END:VEVENT
BEGIN:VEVENT
DESCRIPTION:Doing whatever, because for no good reason.
DTEND:20071209T210000Z
DTSTAMP:20081124T220920Z
DTSTART:20071207T190000Z
LOCATION:A specific place
STATUS:CONFIRMED
SUMMARY:Something, somewhere
UID:event-the-second
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR

Answer 2

Just a note, you need to escape the "," and ";" on strings. Also strlength should be < 75 chars. \r\n should be followed by a white space.

Answer 3

The easiest way is to create a separate calendar in Calendar.app, née iCal. I call mine "Export". Change the events to be in that calendar and then export that calendar using File > Export > Export....

You'll have a file called {calendar name}.ics that includes all the events in the given calendar, which you can rename to whatever you like. Importing the .ics file into iCal will prompt the user to choose a calendar into which they'd like to import the events.

After you've exported the events, simply change them back to your normal calendar and you're good to go. Personally, I keep my "export" calendar around so I don't have to create it each time I want to do this but you can delete it if you'd like.