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Translating contacts list from vcf to csv

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  Translating contacts list from vcf to csv "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2021-04-26 18:18 +0000
    Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> - 2021-04-26 14:32 -0400
      Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2021-04-26 20:09 +0100
        Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> - 2021-04-26 16:23 -0400
      Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2021-04-26 19:39 +0000
        Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> - 2021-04-26 16:23 -0400
          Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2021-04-27 00:53 +0000
        Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> - 2021-04-27 07:27 +0100
          Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Dave Royal<dave@dave123royal.com> - 2021-04-27 07:58 +0000
            Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> - 2021-04-27 20:45 +0100
              Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> - 2021-04-27 20:47 +0100
          Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv "J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> - 2021-04-27 15:33 +0100
          Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2021-04-27 16:50 +0000
            Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2021-04-27 19:56 +0000
              Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Dave Royal<dave@dave123royal.com> - 2021-04-27 20:32 +0000
                Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> - 2021-04-27 17:06 -0400
                  Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2021-04-27 21:26 +0000
                    Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> - 2021-04-27 17:58 -0400
                      Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> - 2021-04-27 22:46 +0000
                      Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv "J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> - 2021-04-28 19:01 +0100
                    Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Dave Royal<dave@dave123royal.com> - 2021-04-28 07:01 +0000
                Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv "J. P. Gilliver (John)" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> - 2021-04-28 18:46 +0100
              Re: Translating contacts list from vcf to csv Andy Burns <usenet@andyburns.uk> - 2021-04-28 08:18 +0100

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#259 — Translating contacts list from vcf to csv

This may be of some use to a Thunderbird user as the addressbook is
either maintained or exportable as vcf. If it's exportable directly as
csv, never mind.

I received a new cell phone last week. The old cell phone is not
designed to export its addressbook. It was a cheap cell phone I got on
an emergency basis after washing the previous cell phone in the laundry.
I was going to hang on to it until I got a smart phone. Years later, I
finally got the smart phone.

The addressbook is large.

I intend to create a database or spreadsheet on the desktop computer and
enter each contact.

On the new smart phone, I was able to export a small addressbook as vcf,
then copy it to the desktop computer. I then found this helpful macro to
translate vcf to csv or xls so I can use a spreadsheet manager.

https://sourceforge.net/projects/bulkvcftocsv/

If this is useful to a Thunderbird user, I'm mentioning it, but if
Thunderbird already has the ability to export its addressbook as csv,
this is unnecessary.

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#262

On 4/26/21 2:18 PM, this is what Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> This may be of some use to a Thunderbird user as the addressbook is
> either maintained or exportable as vcf. If it's exportable directly as
> csv, never mind.
> 
> I received a new cell phone last week. The old cell phone is not
> designed to export its addressbook. It was a cheap cell phone I got on
> an emergency basis after washing the previous cell phone in the laundry.
> I was going to hang on to it until I got a smart phone. Years later, I
> finally got the smart phone.
> 
> The addressbook is large.
> 
> I intend to create a database or spreadsheet on the desktop computer and
> enter each contact.
> 
> On the new smart phone, I was able to export a small addressbook as vcf,
> then copy it to the desktop computer. I then found this helpful macro to
> translate vcf to csv or xls so I can use a spreadsheet manager.
> 
> https://sourceforge.net/projects/bulkvcftocsv/
> 
> If this is useful to a Thunderbird user, I'm mentioning it, but if
> Thunderbird already has the ability to export its addressbook as csv,
> this is unnecessary.
> 
You mention putting the data in a database.  I wouldn't double entry.  If the phone is using a gmail.com email address it is linked to an 
online gmail account you can access from the desktop.  If you import into that database, then you basically are importing it to the phone too.



-- 
Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.1 64bit, Dell Inspiron 5570 laptop
Quad Core i7-8550U, 16G Memory, 512G SSD, 750G & 1TB HDDs
   *I collect teddy bears.

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#265

Teddy-Bears wrote:

> If the phone is using a gmail.com email address it is linked to an 
> online gmail account you can access from the desktop.

unlikely if the old phone isn't a smartphone.

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#269

On 4/26/21 3:09 PM, this is what Andy Burns wrote:
> Teddy-Bears wrote:
> 
>> If the phone is using a gmail.com email address it is linked to an online gmail account you can access from the desktop.
> 
> unlikely if the old phone isn't a smartphone.
I'm not saying that.
The OP wants to take his address book on the old phone and enter it into a database for the new phone.   My point is why add it to a 
database and then create an extra step to get it from that database to the new phone.   Just enter it into gmail contacts and it will show 
on the new phone.

-- 
Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.1 64bit, Dell Inspiron 5570 laptop
Quad Core i7-8550U, 16G Memory, 512G SSD, 750G & 1TB HDDs
   *I collect teddy bears.

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#267

Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> wrote:
>On 4/26/21 2:18 PM, this is what Adam H. Kerman wrote:

>>This may be of some use to a Thunderbird user as the addressbook is
>>either maintained or exportable as vcf. If it's exportable directly as
>>csv, never mind.

>>I received a new cell phone last week. The old cell phone is not
>>designed to export its addressbook. It was a cheap cell phone I got on
>>an emergency basis after washing the previous cell phone in the laundry.
>>I was going to hang on to it until I got a smart phone. Years later, I
>>finally got the smart phone.

>>The addressbook is large.

>>I intend to create a database or spreadsheet on the desktop computer and
>>enter each contact.

>>On the new smart phone, I was able to export a small addressbook as vcf,
>>then copy it to the desktop computer. I then found this helpful macro to
>>translate vcf to csv or xls so I can use a spreadsheet manager.

>>https://sourceforge.net/projects/bulkvcftocsv/

>>If this is useful to a Thunderbird user, I'm mentioning it, but if
>>Thunderbird already has the ability to export its addressbook as csv,
>>this is unnecessary.

>You mention putting the data in a database.  I wouldn't double entry. 
>If the phone is using a gmail.com email address it is linked to an 
>online gmail account you can access from the desktop.  If you import
>into that database, then you basically are importing it to the phone
>too.

The old cell phone is not designed to export its addressbook.

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#268

On 4/26/21 3:39 PM, this is what Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> wrote:
>> On 4/26/21 2:18 PM, this is what Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> 
>>> This may be of some use to a Thunderbird user as the addressbook is
>>> either maintained or exportable as vcf. If it's exportable directly as
>>> csv, never mind.
> 
>>> I received a new cell phone last week. The old cell phone is not
>>> designed to export its addressbook. It was a cheap cell phone I got on
>>> an emergency basis after washing the previous cell phone in the laundry.
>>> I was going to hang on to it until I got a smart phone. Years later, I
>>> finally got the smart phone.
> 
>>> The addressbook is large.
> 
>>> I intend to create a database or spreadsheet on the desktop computer and
>>> enter each contact.
> 
>>> On the new smart phone, I was able to export a small addressbook as vcf,
>>> then copy it to the desktop computer. I then found this helpful macro to
>>> translate vcf to csv or xls so I can use a spreadsheet manager.
> 
>>> https://sourceforge.net/projects/bulkvcftocsv/
> 
>>> If this is useful to a Thunderbird user, I'm mentioning it, but if
>>> Thunderbird already has the ability to export its addressbook as csv,
>>> this is unnecessary.
> 
>> You mention putting the data in a database.  I wouldn't double entry.
>> If the phone is using a gmail.com email address it is linked to an
>> online gmail account you can access from the desktop.  If you import
>> into that database, then you basically are importing it to the phone
>> too.
> 
> The old cell phone is not designed to export its addressbook.
> 
I'm not saying that.
The OP wants to take his address book on the old phone and enter it into a database for the new phone.   My point is why add it to a 
database and then create an extra step to get it from that database to the new phone.   Just enter it into gmail contacts and it will show 
on the new phone.

-- 
Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.1 64bit, Dell Inspiron 5570 laptop
Quad Core i7-8550U, 16G Memory, 512G SSD, 750G & 1TB HDDs
   *I collect teddy bears.

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#283

Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> wrote:
>On 4/26/21 3:39 PM, this is what Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>>Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> wrote:
>>>On 4/26/21 2:18 PM, this is what Adam H. Kerman wrote:

>>>>This may be of some use to a Thunderbird user as the addressbook is
>>>>either maintained or exportable as vcf. If it's exportable directly as
>>>>csv, never mind.
 
>>>>I received a new cell phone last week. The old cell phone is not
>>>>designed to export its addressbook. It was a cheap cell phone I got on
>>>>an emergency basis after washing the previous cell phone in the laundry.
>>>>I was going to hang on to it until I got a smart phone. Years later, I
>>>>finally got the smart phone.

>>>>The addressbook is large.

>>>>I intend to create a database or spreadsheet on the desktop computer and
>>>>enter each contact.

>>>>On the new smart phone, I was able to export a small addressbook as vcf,
>>>>then copy it to the desktop computer. I then found this helpful macro to
>>>>translate vcf to csv or xls so I can use a spreadsheet manager.

>>>>https://sourceforge.net/projects/bulkvcftocsv/

>>>>If this is useful to a Thunderbird user, I'm mentioning it, but if
>>>>Thunderbird already has the ability to export its addressbook as csv,
>>>>this is unnecessary.

>>>You mention putting the data in a database.  I wouldn't double entry.
>>>If the phone is using a gmail.com email address it is linked to an
>>>online gmail account you can access from the desktop.  If you import
>>>into that database, then you basically are importing it to the phone
>>>too.

>>The old cell phone is not designed to export its addressbook.

>I'm not saying that.
>The OP wants to take his address book on the old phone and enter it into
>a database for the new phone.   My point is why add it to a 
>database and then create an extra step to get it from that database to
>the new phone.   Just enter it into gmail contacts and it will show 
>on the new phone.

I'm the OP.

I don't want to use Gmail for this purpose. Google spies on me enough as
it is.

Once it's in the database, I'll create a translation table, if
necessary, then output it in a format that can be read into the phone. I
think it can read csv. If not, I'll translate it to vcf. This is the
easy bit.

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#286

In article <s674tq$c2$1@dont-email.me>,
   Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
{Snippy]
> The old cell phone is not designed to export its addressbook.

What a PITA that is...
A short while ago my dear wife replaced her bog standard 'old' cell phone
(Not smartphone) with a new (Recently produced but not smartphone) phone
(Same company, different phone but current model) She couldn't export her
old address book let alone import anything into the new one.
So she ended up typing them all in again...

Dave

I contacted the company and they came up with some convoluted method that
involved transferring all her original phone addressbook out of memory to
the phones SIM card, taking the SIM out of her old phone, putting it in
the new phone, transferring out of SIM to the new phone's memory.

Slight snag though... They (Company) didn't seem aware... The new phone
has a mini SIM and her old phone has/had a full size SIM.


D.

-- 

Dave Triffid

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#287

On 27 Apr 2021 07:27:00 +0100 Dave wrote:
>
>Slight snag though... They (Company) didn't seem aware... The new phone
>has a mini SIM and her old phone has/had a full size SIM.

No problem. All you need is a craft knife and a steady hand. Google it.
-- 
(Remove numerics from email address)

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#312

In article <s68g7i$6eo$1@dont-email.me>,
   Dave Royal<dave@dave123royal.com> wrote:
> On 27 Apr 2021 07:27:00 +0100 Dave wrote:
> >
> >Slight snag though... They (Company) didn't seem aware... The new phone
> >has a mini SIM and her old phone has/had a full size SIM.

> No problem. All you need is a craft knife and a steady hand. Google it.

Thanks all for your thoughts...  :-)

I'm fully aware of the options from craft knife to a stand alone SIM
reader, but this happened some months ago and the boss told me not to
bother as re-typing in gave her to opportunity to excise a lot of dross
from her address book.

Dave

-- 

Dave Triffid

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#313

In article <5923e2b789dave@triffid.co.uk>,
   Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:
> In article <s68g7i$6eo$1@dont-email.me>,
>    Dave Royal<dave@dave123royal.com> wrote:
> > On 27 Apr 2021 07:27:00 +0100 Dave wrote:
> > >
> > >Slight snag though... They (Company) didn't seem aware... The new
> > >phone has a mini SIM and her old phone has/had a full size SIM.

> > No problem. All you need is a craft knife and a steady hand. Google it.

> Thanks all for your thoughts...  :-)

> I'm fully aware of the options from craft knife to a stand alone SIM
> reader, but this happened some months ago and the boss told me not to
> bother as re-typing in gave her to opportunity to excise a lot of dross
> from her address book.

> Dave

It should say.  ...gave her the opportunity...
                            ^^^

Dave

-- 

Dave Triffid

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#290

On Tue, 27 Apr 2021 at 07:27:00, Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote (my 
responses usually follow points raised):
>In article <s674tq$c2$1@dont-email.me>,
>   Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>{Snippy]
>> The old cell phone is not designed to export its addressbook.
>
>What a PITA that is...
>A short while ago my dear wife replaced her bog standard 'old' cell phone
>(Not smartphone) with a new (Recently produced but not smartphone) phone
>(Same company, different phone but current model) She couldn't export her
>old address book let alone import anything into the new one.
>So she ended up typing them all in again...
>
>Dave

Originally, a lot of fobiles didn't even _have_ their own memory for 
numbers, but used the SIM, which from the start had address-book memory 
(though I don't know how many or whether they stored more than just name 
and number).
>
>I contacted the company and they came up with some convoluted method that
>involved transferring all her original phone addressbook out of memory to
>the phones SIM card, taking the SIM out of her old phone, putting it in
>the new phone, transferring out of SIM to the new phone's memory.

Well, it may sound convoluted, but if the internal memory on the old 
'phone (assuming it does actually have one and it isn't just using the 
SIM anyway) has no other way to export, that's the only way to do it.
>
>Slight snag though... They (Company) didn't seem aware... The new phone
>has a mini SIM and her old phone has/had a full size SIM.
>
Well, apart from Dave Royal's craft knife method (which hadn't occurred 
to me!), you could look for a SIM reader/writer - they used to be both 
common and cheap, but I haven't seen one for a while. (Does the new 
non-smart 'phone have any external data connection, or only take power 
through the lead?)
>
>D.
>
John
-- 
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

How do you govern a country that seems to have decided that facts are the work
of the devil? - Andy Hamilton on HIGNFY, 2010

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#295

Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:
>Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

>{Snippy]
>>The old cell phone is not designed to export its addressbook.

>What a PITA that is...
>A short while ago my dear wife replaced her bog standard 'old' cell phone
>(Not smartphone) with a new (Recently produced but not smartphone) phone
>(Same company, different phone but current model) She couldn't export her
>old address book let alone import anything into the new one.
>So she ended up typing them all in again...

>Dave

>I contacted the company and they came up with some convoluted method that
>involved transferring all her original phone addressbook out of memory to
>the phones SIM card, taking the SIM out of her old phone, putting it in
>the new phone, transferring out of SIM to the new phone's memory.

Alas, that won't work for me. The addressbook on the SIM card is capable
of storing name and number, but I have additional information. It cannot
handle a contact with multiple numbers associated with it. I'd lose one
of the numbers.

>Slight snag though... They (Company) didn't seem aware... The new phone
>has a mini SIM and her old phone has/had a full size SIM.

If the SIM card isn't too old, these days all SIM cards are minis. There
are several levels of plastic to pop them out of.

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#315

Adam H. Kerman <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>Dave <dave@triffid.co.uk> wrote:

>>>. . . 

>>Slight snag though... They (Company) didn't seem aware... The new phone
>>has a mini SIM and her old phone has/had a full size SIM.

>If the SIM card isn't too old, these days all SIM cards are minis. There
>are several levels of plastic to pop them out of.

Correction: These days, all SIM cards are nanos. I just received a new
SIM card today and had to pop the nano card out of the holder. On the
cell phone I'm no longer using, it took a mini.

I suppose the original GSM phones took the full-sized card but I never
used one.

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#318

On 27 Apr 2021 19:56:34 -0000 (UTC) Adam H. Kerman wrote:

>Correction: These days, all SIM cards are nanos. I just received a new
>SIM card today and had to pop the nano card out of the holder. On the
>cell phone I'm no longer using, it took a mini.
>
>I suppose the original GSM phones took the full-sized card but I never
>used one.

In 1996 I had a phone with a full-size SIM - a Motorola flip phone. The 
SIM was the size of a credit card. It had a neat feature, way down in 
the menus, to send a 'Short Message'. They weren't called texts yet.

I have a hand punch that reduces a mini SIM into a micro. In my iPhone 
I have a nano SIM which has been cut down twice - the second time with 
a knife. Fortunately they can't get any smaller! And the phone has some 
old contacts which I know came from that SIM.
-- 
(Remove numerics from email address)

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#319

On 4/27/21 4:32 PM, this is what Dave Royal wrote:
> On 27 Apr 2021 19:56:34 -0000 (UTC) Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> 
>> Correction: These days, all SIM cards are nanos. I just received a new
>> SIM card today and had to pop the nano card out of the holder. On the
>> cell phone I'm no longer using, it took a mini.
>>
>> I suppose the original GSM phones took the full-sized card but I never
>> used one.
> 
> In 1996 I had a phone with a full-size SIM - a Motorola flip phone. The
> SIM was the size of a credit card. It had a neat feature, way down in
> the menus, to send a 'Short Message'. They weren't called texts yet.
> 
> I have a hand punch that reduces a mini SIM into a micro. In my iPhone
> I have a nano SIM which has been cut down twice - the second time with
> a knife. Fortunately they can't get any smaller! And the phone has some
> old contacts which I know came from that SIM.
> 
The last flip phone I owned had 2 sims in it.  And the contacts app allowed me to export to sim, file or gmail contacts.  And it also 
allowed me to select which one I wanted to use also.

-- 
Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.1 64bit, Dell Inspiron 5570 laptop
Quad Core i7-8550U, 16G Memory, 512G SSD, 750G & 1TB HDDs
   *I collect teddy bears.

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#320

Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> wrote:
 
>The last flip phone I owned had 2 sims in it. . . . 

It registered on two networks at the same time with incompatible IDs?

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#321

On 4/27/21 5:26 PM, this is what Adam H. Kerman wrote:
> Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> wrote:
>   
>> The last flip phone I owned had 2 sims in it. . . .
> 
> It registered on two networks at the same time with incompatible IDs?
> 
Not sure about the term "incompatible IDs" part but yes, it was supposedly for those travelers that used one chip for the US and another for 
EU or other area.  Not sure if you could use them together, or if you could use T-Mobile and Sprint say, together.


-- 
Linux Mint Cinnamon 20.1 64bit, Dell Inspiron 5570 laptop
Quad Core i7-8550U, 16G Memory, 512G SSD, 750G & 1TB HDDs
   *I collect teddy bears.

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#324

Teddy-Bears  <Bears@invalid.com> wrote:
>On 4/27/21 5:26 PM, this is what Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>> Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> wrote:
>>   
>>> The last flip phone I owned had 2 sims in it. . . .
>> 
>> It registered on two networks at the same time with incompatible IDs?

>Not sure about the term "incompatible IDs" part but yes, it was
>supposedly for those travelers that used one chip for the US and another
>for 
>EU or other area.  Not sure if you could use them together, or if you
>could use T-Mobile and Sprint say, together.

That's interesting.

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#370

On Tue, 27 Apr 2021 at 17:58:21, Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> wrote 
(my responses usually follow points raised):
>On 4/27/21 5:26 PM, this is what Adam H. Kerman wrote:
>> Teddy-Bears <Bears@invalid.com> wrote:
>>
>>> The last flip phone I owned had 2 sims in it. . . .
>>  It registered on two networks at the same time with incompatible 
>>IDs?
>>
>Not sure about the term "incompatible IDs" part but yes, it was 
>supposedly for those travelers that used one chip for the US and 
>another for EU or other area.  Not sure if you could use them together, 
>or if you could use T-Mobile and Sprint say, together.
>
I have a smart (though dumb by today's standards - Android 4.3 IIRR) 
phone that takes two SIMs (different sizes - standard and micro, IIRR). 
It does indeed register on two networks, using two different numbers. 
When I dial a number, it asks me which network to use. (IIRR I can also 
allocate for each number in the address book a preferred network, though 
I haven't done that.) At the top of the screen, it shows two different 
sets of bars. I don't think I could use both at once (beyond the extent 
it does already, i. e. register with both and let me choose) - if so 
I've no idea _how_ I would.
>
-- 
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

[What's your guilty pleasure?] Why should you feel guilty about pleasure? -
Michel Roux Jr in Radio Times 2-8 February 2013

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