abcddb2vcard

This python script reads an AddressBook database file (AddressBook-v22.abcddb) and export its content to a vCard file (.vcf).

I created this script to automate my contacts backup procedure. The output of this script should be exactly the same as dragging and dropping the "All Contacts" card.

Installation

To install abcddb2vcard from PyPi, use pip:

pip install abcddb2vcard

abcddb2vcard can then be used from any working directory in the Terminal.

To uninstall:

pip uninstall abcddb2vcard

Usage

Export all contacts

abcddb2vcard backup/contacts_$(date +"%Y-%m-%d").vcf

Export into individual files

abcddb2vcard outdir -s 'path/%{fullname}.vcf'

Extract contact images

vcard2img AllContacts.vcf ./profile_pics/

Usage help

abcddb2vcard

usage: abcddb2vcard [-h] [-f] [--dry-run] [-i AddressBook.abcddb] [-s FORMAT]
                    outfile.vcf

Extract data from AddressBook database (.abcddb) to Contacts VCards file
(.vcf)

positional arguments:
  outfile.vcf           VCard output file.

optional arguments:
  -h, --help            show this help message and exit
  -f, --force           Overwrite existing output file.
  --dry-run             Do not write file(s), just print filenames.
  -i AddressBook.abcddb, --input AddressBook.abcddb
                        Specify another abcddb input file. Default:
                        ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/AddressBook-v22.abcddb
  -s FORMAT, --split FORMAT
                        Output into several vcf files instead of a single
                        file. File format can use any field of type Record.
                        E.g. "%{id}_%{fullname}.vcf".

vcard2img

usage: vcard2img [-h] infile.vcf outdir

Extract all profile pictures from a Contacts VCards file (.vcf)

positional arguments:
  infile.vcf  VCard input file.
  outdir      Output directory.

optional arguments:
  -h, --help  show this help message and exit

Supported data fields

• firstname
• lastname
• middlename
• nameprefix
• namesuffix
• nickname
• maidenname
• phonetic_firstname
• phonetic_middlename
• phonetic_lastname
• phonetic_organization
• organization
• department
• jobtitle
• birthday
• [email]
• [phone]
• [address]
• [socialprofile]
• note
• [url]
• [xmpp-service]
• image
• iscompany

Limitations

Currently, the image field only supports JPG images. But as far as I see, Apple converts PNG to JPG before storing the image. If you encounter a db which includes other image types, please let me know.

Disclaimer

You should check the output for yourself before using it in a production environment. I have tested the script with many arbitrary fields, however there may be some edge cases missing. Feel free to create an issue for missing or wrong field values.

Note: The output of diff or FileMerge.app can be different to this output. Apple uses some data transformations (on vcf export) which are not only unnecessary but may break the re-import of the file.