GNU Emacs Lisp Reference Manual

36.10: Customizing Appointment Reminders

You can specify exactly how Emacs reminds you of an appointment, and how far in advance it begins doing so, by setting these variables:

appt-message-warning-time

The time in minutes before an appointment that the reminder begins. The default is 10 minutes.

appt-audible

If this is non-nil, Emacs rings the terminal bell for appointment reminders. The default is t.

appt-visible

If this is non-nil, Emacs displays the appointment message in the echo area. The default is t.

appt-display-mode-line

If this is non-nil, Emacs displays the number of minutes to the appointment on the mode line. The default is t.

appt-msg-window

If this is non-nil, Emacs displays the appointment message in another window. The default is t.

appt-disp-window-function

This variable holds a function to use to create the other window for the appointment message.

appt-delete-window-function

This variable holds a function to use to get rid of the appointment message window, when its time is up.

appt-display-duration

The number of seconds to display an appointment message. The default is 5 seconds.