CAL(1) | General Commands Manual | CAL(1)

# NAME

`cal` — displays a calendar

# SYNOPSIS

`cal` | [`-jmwy`] [month] [year]

# DESCRIPTION

`cal` displays a simple calendar. Calendars may be displayed by month or by year.

The options are as follows:

`-j`
  Display Julian dates (days one-based, numbered from January 1). The options `-j` and `-w` are mutually exclusive.
`-m`
  Display weeks starting on Monday instead of Sunday.
`-w`
  Display week numbers in the month display. If `-m` is specified, the ISO week format is assumed. The options `-j` and `-w` are mutually exclusive.
`-y`
  Display a calendar for the current year.

A single numerical parameter specifies the year (1 - 9999) to be displayed. The year must be fully specified: “`cal 89`” will not display a calendar for 1989. Two parameters denote the month (1 - 12, or a month name or abbreviation thereof) and year. Alternatively, a single parameter may be given specifying the name or abbreviated name of a month: in that case a calendar is displayed for that month of the current year. If no parameters are specified, the current month's calendar is displayed.

A year starts on January 1st.

The Gregorian Reformation is assumed to have occurred in 1752 after the 2nd of September. By this time, most countries had recognized the Reformation (although a few did not recognize it until the early 1900s). Eleven days following that date were eliminated by the Reformation, so the calendar for that month is a bit unusual.

# EXIT STATUS

The `cal` utility exits 0 on success, and >0 if an error occurs.

# SEE ALSO

calendar(1)

# STANDARDS

The `cal` utility is compliant with the X/Open System Interfaces option of the specification.

The flags [`-jmwy`], as well as the ability to specify a month name as a single argument, are extensions to that specification.

The week number computed by `-mw` is compliant with the ISO 8601 specification.

# HISTORY

A `cal` command appeared in Version 1 AT&T UNIX.

July 31, 2024 | Debian