This is a manual page for the Tcladdressbook extension for Tcl. It
documents version 1.2.4.
The Tcladdressbook extension defines a Tcl command called [addressbook]
to manipulate the Macintosh OS X Address Book database.
Synopsis
package require addressbook
addressbook subcommand ?arg arg...?
Subcommands
The valid subcommands are explained in the next sections.
addressbook add groupID recordID ?recordID ...?
This command lets you add one or more already existing items (persons or
groups) designated by their unique ID recordID to the group with ID
groupID.
The [changed] subcommand
addressbook changed
This command returns 1 if there has been changes made to the database, 0
otherwise. Changes are made in memory with commands such as addressbook
set, addressbook create, addressbook delete. To make
these changes permanent, one must call the addressbook save
command.
The [count] subcommand
addressbook count (-groups | -persons) ?-ingroup groupID?
This command returns the count of existing groups or persons in the
database. One can specify a particular group with the -ingroup option
to count only the subgroups or members in this group.
The [create] subcommand
addressbook create (group | person) name ?-ingroup groupID?
This command lets you create a new group or a new person record. The
name argument is the name to give to the new group or the last name of
the person for which a new record is created. With the -ingroup
option one can make the newly created record a subgroup or a member of the
particular group with unique ID groupID. If no error occurs, the
command returns the unique ID of the created record.
The [delete] subcommand
addressbook delete recordID
This command removes the record with unique ID recordID from the
database. Note that any changes made to the database won't be definitive
until you invoke the addressbook save command.
In version 1.0 of the extension, this command used to accept an option
called -fromgroup in order to remove the record from a particular
subgroup. This is achieved now by the addressbook remove command.
The [export] subcommand
addressbook export personID
This command lets you export the record with unique ID personID as
a VCard. The result should be considered as binary data since it can
contain an image associated to the record.
The [getme] subcommand
addressbook getme ?-id?
This command returns the ID or the data corresponding to the logged-in user
("Me", aka personal record). If the -id option is specified, it
returns the unique ID of the logged-in user. Otherwise the returned value
takes the form of a keyed list: see the addressbook record command
for a description of this format. Keyed lists can be easily manipulated
with the keylget and keylset commands defined in the TclX
extension. If no record is declared as the personal record, the command
raises an error.
The [groups] subcommand
addressbook groups ?-ids? ?-ingroup groupID?
This command returns a list of all the existing group records: if no option
is specified, it is a list whose elements are sublists made of two
elements. The first element is the unique ID associated with the group and
the second is its name. If the -ids argument is specified, the
returned list will contain only the unique IDs of the groups. If the
-ingroup option is specified, only the subgroups contained in the group
with ID groupID will be returned.
The [identifier] subcommand
This command has several forms.
addressbook identifier count personID propName
This command returns the number of items in a multi-value list property
(such as Phone, Email, Address, MSNInstant etc.).
addressbook identifier get personID propName index
Under this form, the command gets the unique identifier of an item in a multi-value list
property (such as Phone, Email, Address). It returns the identifier
of the item at index index in the multi-value list of property propName for the record corresponding to personID. One can get
the count of identifiers using the addressbook identifier count
command. Identifiers are used by the addressbook identifier set
command.
See the section Distribution lists and identifiers
below for explanations about identifiers.
addressbook identifier index personID propName ident
Under this form, the command returns the index in a multi-value list corresponding to the
identifier given in the ident argument. If ident is not a
valid identifier, the command raises an error. The valid identifers are the
values obtained by the addressbook identifier get command.
addressbook identifier primary personID propName ?ident?
Under this form, the command lets you get or set the primary identifier of property
propName in the record personID. This is the identifier
which will be used by default if no distribution identifier has
been specified using the addressbook identifier set command.
Property propName must be a multi-value list property (such as
Phone, Email, Address).
Used without the ident argument, the command will return the
primary identifier concerning property propName for the
person personID.
If the ident argument is specified, the command will set the
primary value to be the value for the given identifier ident. This
value must be a valid identifier used by the multi-value list: one can get
the identifiers of any element of a multi-value list using the
addressbook identifier get command.
addressbook identifier set groupID personID propName ?ident?
Under this form, the command lets you get or set the distribution identifier for a
multi-value list property of a person in a group. See the section
Distribution lists and identifiers below for
explanations about identifiers.
Used without the ident argument, the command will return the
distribution identifier for the person personID belonging to the
group groupID concerning property propName if it was set,
otherwise the property's primary identifier. Property propName must
be a multi-value list property (such as Phone, Email, Address).
If the ident argument is specified, this will assign a
specific distribution identifier for the person's multi-value list
property so that the group can be used as a distribution list (a mailing
list for instance, in the case of an email property). This value must be a
valid identifier used by the multi-value list: one can get the identifiers
of any element of a multi-value list using the addressbook identifier
get command.
The [image] subcommand
addressbook image personID ?imageData?
If no imageData argument is specified, this command returns the
custom image associated with the record corresponding to the unique ID
personID. The returned bytes are binary data. If no image exists, it
raises an error. If an imageData argument is specified, it should
contain valid binary data defining an image which will be associated to the
record with unique ID personID.
The [import] subcommand
addressbook import vCardData
This command imports data in VCard format. The data specified by the vCardData argument must be valid data in VCard format: a new person's
record is created in the database corresponding to the information
contained in the VCard. The VCard data must correspond to a single person:
the command can't import multiple VCards, only one at a time. The return
value, in case of success, it the record ID of the newly created person's
record.
Note that the data can be binary if the VCard contains an image.
Starting from version 1.1.1 of the extension, the image is also imported by
the command as a custom icon for the record.
The [label] subcommand
addressbook label recordID propName index ?value?
This command lets you get or set the label of a value in a multi-value property
for a particular record. If the property propName is not a
multivalue property, the command raises an error.
Used without the value argument, the command will return the
current label at index index in property propName for the
record specified by recordID. To determine the index range, one can
use the addressbook identifier count command.
If the value argument is specified, the command will set the
label at index index to this value.
The [parents] subcommand
addressbook parents ?-ids? recordID
This command returns a list of all the groups the record with unique ID
recordID belongs to. The elements of this list are sublists made of one
or two items: the unique ID and, possibly, the name of the record if this
field exists. If the -ids option is specified, only IDs are
returned.
The [persons] subcommand
addressbook persons ?-ids? ?-ingroup groupID?
This command returns a list of all the existing person records: if no
option is specified, it is a list whose elements are sublists made of one
or two items: the unique ID and, possibly, the name of the record if this
field exists. If the -ids argument is specified, the returned list
will contain only the unique IDs. If the -ingroup option is
specified, only the members belonging to the group with ID groupID
will be returned.
The [property] subcommand
This command has several forms.
addressbook property names (-groups | -persons)
Under this form, the command returns a list of all the properties defined in the database
for group or person records. New properties can be created or removed with
the addressbook property add and addressbook property remove commands.
addressbook property type (-groups | -persons) propName
Under this form, the command returns the type of the property specified by the
propName argument. The returned type is one of the values
listed with the addressbook property add command below
or Unknown.
addressbook property add (-groups | -persons) propName propType
Under this form, the command lets you add a new property to the database, either for person
or for group records. The name of the new property is specified by the
propName argument: it must be unique. One can get the list of all the
existing properties with the addressbook property names command.
The type of the property is specified by the propType argument.
This argument can have one of the following values: Array, Data, Date,
Dictionary, Integer, Real, String, MultiArray, MultiData, MultiDate,
MultiDictionary, MultiInteger, MultiReal, MultiString.
addressbook property remove (-groups | -persons | recordID) propName
Under this form, the command lets you remove a property from the database, either for
person or group records, or for a particular record specified by the recordID argument.
The name of the property is specified in the
propName argument. If the third argument is either -groups or
-persons, the command should remove the given property from all
the records of this type in the Address Book database. Otherwise the third
argument should be the record ID of a particular person or group: the
property is removed for this record only. The command returns 1 in case of
success.
One can get the list of all the existing
properties with the addressbook property names command.
WARNING:
This command is currently only working with a recordID argument. It
does not work with the -groups or -persons options
and always returns the value 0 in that case, because the function
ABRemoveProperties is not fully implemented in the AddressBook framework.
Invoking it leaves the following message in the console:
"Removal of custom properties is not yet implemented"
The [record] subcommand
addressbook record recordID
This command returns all the data available in the database concerning
the record with unique ID recordID. The returned value
takes the form of a keyed list.
The format used for a particular property's value depends on the type of
the property (string, integer, date, multivalue etc.). Some properties have
a multiple type: MultiString for fields like Email, Phone etc., MultiDate
for fields like ABDate, MultiDictionary for the Address field. In case of a
multivalue, the returned value is a keyed list itself. Each element of the list
corresponds to a single property. For instance:
- the elements of a MultiString or MultiDate value list are two-elements
sublists: the first element is the label of the corresponding
property (like Home, Work etc.) and the second is the value itself.
- the elements of a MultiDictionary value list are lists themselves,
representing a Label/Dictionary pair (dictionary in the AddressBook sense,
not a Tcl dictionary as defined in version 8.5 of Tcl). Each element of
this list has two elements: the first one is the label describing the
address (like Home, Work etc.) and the second one is a list representing
the dictionary. The lists representing dictionaries contain two-elements
sublists: the first item is the key in the dictionary and the second one is
the value associated with this key. For instance a person could have two
addresses: each address will be returned as a Label/Dictionary pair; the
elements of the dictionary are pairs like {City Paris} or {CountryCode fr}.
Dates are returned as values suitable for use with the clock
format Tcl command.
It is the number of seconds relative to "Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 GMT 1970".
Note that keyed lists can be easily manipulated
using the keylget and keylset commands defined in the TclX
extension.
The [remove] subcommand
addressbook remove groupID recordID ?recordID ...?
This command lets you remove one or more already existing items (persons or
groups) designated by their unique ID recordID from the group with ID
groupID.
The [save] subcommand
addressbook save
This command lets you save the changes made in the database. Commands such
as addressbook set, addressbook create or addressbook
delete modify the data in memory: to make the changes definitive in the
database, one must call explicitely the addressbook save command.
To check whether there has been changes in the database, use the
addressbook changed command.
The [search] subcommand
addressbook search ?(-groups | -persons)? ?-ids? ?-nocase? property op value
This command returns all the records corresponding to the criterion
described by the last three arguments:
- property is the name of the property you are searching on.
- op is an operator specifying the type of comparison. It can be
one of the following symbols:
==, !=, <, <=, >, >=, !<, !>, ^=, =$
which may have different interpretations depending on whether the value is
numeric or is a string.
- For a numeric value, they correspond respectively to:
== Equal
!= Not Equal
< Less Than
<= Less Than or Equal
!> Less Than or Equal
> Greater Than
>= Greater Than or Equal
!< Greater Than or Equal
The ^= and =$ operators are not applicable for numeric
values and will raise an error.
- For a string value, they correspond respectively to:
== Equal
!= Not Equal
> Contains Substring
!> Does Not Contain Substring
^= Prefix Match
=$ Suffix Match
The ^= and =$ operators match respectively at the
beginning or at the end of the string value (they are inspired by the ^
and $ symbols used in regular expressions).
The <, <= and !< operators are not applicable for
string values and will raise an error. The > and >=
operators are equivalent.
((li the argument value is the value you are searching for. In the case of
a simple property, value will be a simple string. In the case of a
MultiString, MultiInteger or MultiDate property, value will be a
two-elements list representing a label/value pair. In the case of a
MultiDictionary property, value will be a two-elements list
representing a label/dictionary pair, the dictionary itself being a
two-elements list representing a single key/value pair. For instance:
{Phone "01 02 03 04 05"}
{Home {City Paris}}
One can specify an empty string for the label in order to perform the
search over all the possible labels. One can also specify an empty string for
the key in order to perform the search over all the possible keys in a dictionary. li))
ul))
The -groups or -persons options let you specify the
kind of records you want to search. If it is not specified, the default is
-persons. If the -ids option is specified, only IDs of the
matching records are returned, rather than pairs made of the ID and the
name. The -nocase argument concerns string comparisons and requires
that no distinction be made between uppercase and lowercase letters.
To get a list of all possible properties, use the addressbook
property names command. To know the type of a particular property, use
the addressbook property type command.
The [set] subcommand
addressbook set recordID propertyName ?value?
This command lets you get or set the value of a particular property for the
record with unique ID recordID. If the value argument is
not specified, it returns the current value of the property specified in
the propertyName argument. If value is specified, the
property propertyName will be set to this value. See the
addressbook record command for a description of the format used for the
various kinds of properties.
The [setme] subcommand
addressbook setme recordID
This command sets the record that represents the logged-in user.
The [type] subcommand
addressbook type recordID
This command returns the type (ABPerson or ABGroup) of the record with
unique ID recordID.
Distribution lists and identifiers
Identifiers are necessary when one wants to use a group as a distribution
list, that is send something to all the members of the group. The members
can be addressed by Address, Phone, Email etc. For instance, a
group could be used as a mailing list. The Address, Phone, Email
properties are multi-value list properties: since a person can have several
e-mail addresses, one must specify which one is to be used in the
distribution list. Labels (such as Home, Work etc.) are not sufficient to
specify precisely an e-mail because they are not unique: one can have
several e-mails with the label Work. Here the identifiers come in: each
value of a multi-value list property has an identifier. One of them can be
designated as the distribution identifier. The AddressBook database
also has a notion of a primary identifier: it is the identifier
which will be used by default by the distribution list if no
distribution identifier as been specified.
Installation
The extension is made of two files: the dynamic library (called
libTcladdressbook1.1.dylib in version 1.1) and a
file pkgIndex.tcl necessary for Tcl to be able to locate the extension upon
request. Both files are contained in a directory called
TclAddressBook1.1, in version 1.1.
This directory should be installed on your system in /Library/Tcl or in
~/Library/Tcl or, more generally, in any directory contained in your
auto_path Tcl variable. If you use the extension within the AlphaX
editor (version 8.0b11 or greater), you can also install it in the
Tclextensions directory located inside the
application bundle.
Requirements and portability
This extension is only useful on Macintosh platforms. Version 10.2 or
greater of the system is required: the AddressBook framework was introduced
in version 10.2 of the System (aka Jaguar).
Source code
Tcladdressbook is an Open Source Project. Its source code is public and can
be found on the SourceForge site at the following address:
TclAddressbook
Project Page.
You can also browse the
Subversion
repository online.
Contributions
Code contributions (Tcl scripts making use of the Tcladdressbook extension)
are very welcome. There is a "Contribs" directory in the Tcladdressbook
project on SourceForge for code contributions. They must be free software,
distributed under an Open Source license acceptable by the SourceForge site
(for instance, the same licensing terms as the Tcl language itself).
See the TclX extension for keyed lists: TclX(n). See the Mk4Tcl
extension for commands to open the database file directly.
License and disclaimer
This software is free software and distributed under the same licensing terms
as the Tcl language itself. See license.terms in the Tcl distribution.
Tcladdressbook was written by Bernard Desgraupes.
Please e-mail any bug or problem you encounter:
bdesgraupes AT users.sourceforge.net
Copyright
Bernard Desgraupes 2003-2018
Last updated 2018-12-21 09:11:39