Question

I want to be able to import contact group data when I import contacts in my application. Is there a method for me to get this data from iOS or am I just limited to get contact details?

Answer 1

This is how I import contact information into my app. I store the info in an NSDictionary so I can read it back later easily. It’s in no way pretty, but works very well.

.h

#import <AddressBook/AddressBook.h>
#import <AddressBookUI/AddressBookUI.h>

@interface YourViewController : UIViewController <ABPeoplePickerNavigationControllerDelegate>
{
}
@end

.m

#pragma mark -
#pragma mark AddressBook Delegates

- (BOOL)peoplePickerNavigationController:(ABPeoplePickerNavigationController *)peoplePicker shouldContinueAfterSelectingPerson:(ABRecordRef)person property:(ABPropertyID)property identifier:(ABMultiValueIdentifier)identifier{
    return NO;
}
- (void)peoplePickerNavigationControllerDidCancel:(ABPeoplePickerNavigationController *)peoplePicker {
    [self dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];
}
- (BOOL)peoplePickerNavigationController:(ABPeoplePickerNavigationController *)peoplePicker shouldContinueAfterSelectingPerson:(ABRecordRef)person {

    /* photo */
    CFDataRef imgeData = ABPersonCopyImageData(person);
    if(imgeData)
    {
        /* set an image to something using: (NSData*)imgeData */
        CFRelease(imgeData);
    }else{
        /* theres no photo */
    }

    CFStringRef email,emailLabel, phone,phoneLabel, url,urlLabel;
    //Phone Numbers
    ABMutableMultiValueRef phoneMulti = ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonPhoneProperty);
    NSMutableDictionary *myPhoneDict = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithCapacity:ABMultiValueGetCount(phoneMulti)];
    for (CFIndex i = 0; i < ABMultiValueGetCount(phoneMulti); i++) { 
        phoneLabel = ABAddressBookCopyLocalizedLabel(ABMultiValueCopyLabelAtIndex(phoneMulti, i));
        phone = ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(phoneMulti, i); 
        [myPhoneDict setObject:(NSString*)phone forKey:(NSString*)phoneLabel];
        //NSLog(@"%@: %@",phoneLabel,phone);
        CFRelease(phone);
        CFRelease(phoneLabel);
    } 
    if ( [myPhoneDict objectForKey:@"mobile"] != nil) {
        [plistDict setObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@",[myPhoneDict objectForKey:@"mobile"]] forKey:@"Phone"];
    } else if ( [myPhoneDict objectForKey:@"home"] != nil) {
        [plistDict setObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@",[myPhoneDict objectForKey:@"home"]] forKey:@"Phone"];
    } else if ( [myPhoneDict objectForKey:@"work"] != nil) {
        [plistDict setObject:[NSString stringWithFormat:@"%@",[myPhoneDict objectForKey:@"work"]] forKey:@"Phone"];
    }

    //Email Address
    ABMutableMultiValueRef emailMulti = ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonEmailProperty);
    NSMutableDictionary *myEmailDict = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithCapacity:ABMultiValueGetCount(emailMulti)];
    for (CFIndex i = 0; i < ABMultiValueGetCount(emailMulti); i++) { 
        emailLabel = ABAddressBookCopyLocalizedLabel(ABMultiValueCopyLabelAtIndex(emailMulti, i));
        email = ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(emailMulti, i); 
        [myEmailDict setObject:(NSString*)email forKey:(NSString*)emailLabel];
        CFRelease(email);
        CFRelease(emailLabel);
    } 
    if ([myEmailDict objectForKey:@"home"] != nil) {
        [plistDict setObject:[myEmailDict objectForKey:@"home"] forKey:@"EmailHome"];
    } else {
        [plistDict setObject:@"" forKey:@"Email"];
    } if ([myEmailDict objectForKey:@"work"] != nil) {
        [plistDict setObject:[myEmailDict objectForKey:@"work"] forKey:@"EmailWork"];
    } else {
        [plistDict setObject:@"" forKey:@"Email"];
    } if ([myEmailDict objectForKey:@"other"] != nil) {
        [plistDict setObject:[myEmailDict objectForKey:@"other"] forKey:@"EmailOther"];
    } else {
        [plistDict setObject:@"" forKey:@"Email"];
    }

    //Website Address
    ABMutableMultiValueRef URLMulti = ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonURLProperty);
    NSMutableDictionary *myURLDict = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithCapacity:ABMultiValueGetCount(URLMulti)];
    for (CFIndex i = 0; i < ABMultiValueGetCount(URLMulti); i++) { 
        urlLabel = ABAddressBookCopyLocalizedLabel(ABMultiValueCopyLabelAtIndex(URLMulti, i));
        url = ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(URLMulti, i); 
        [myURLDict setObject:(NSString*)url forKey:(NSString*)urlLabel];
        //NSLog(@"%@",myURLDict);
        CFRelease(url);
        CFRelease(urlLabel);
    } 

    if ([myURLDict objectForKey:@"home page"] != nil) {
        [plistDict setObject:[myURLDict objectForKey:@"home page"] forKey:@"Website"];
    }else{
        [plistDict setObject:@"" forKey:@"Website"];
    }

    //Full Address
    ABMultiValueRef streets = ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonAddressProperty);
    //NSMutableDictionary *myAddressDict = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithCapacity:ABMultiValueGetCount(streets)];
    for (CFIndex j = 0; j < ABMultiValueGetCount(streets); j++) {
        NSMutableDictionary *myLabelDict = [[NSMutableDictionary alloc] init];
        CFDictionaryRef dict = ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(streets, j);
        CFStringRef typeTmp = ABMultiValueCopyLabelAtIndex(streets, j);
        CFStringRef type = ABAddressBookCopyLocalizedLabel(typeTmp);
        NSString *street = [(NSString *)CFDictionaryGetValue(dict, kABPersonAddressStreetKey) copy];
        NSString *city = [(NSString *)CFDictionaryGetValue(dict, kABPersonAddressCityKey) copy];
        NSString *state = [(NSString *)CFDictionaryGetValue(dict, kABPersonAddressStateKey) copy];
        NSString *zip = [(NSString *)CFDictionaryGetValue(dict, kABPersonAddressZIPKey) copy];
        NSString *country = [(NSString *)CFDictionaryGetValue(dict, kABPersonAddressCountryKey) copy];

        if ((street != nil) && (street.length > 0)){
            [plistDict setObject:street forKey:@"Street"];
        }else{
            [plistDict setObject:@"" forKey:@"Street"];
        }

        if ((city != nil) && (city.length > 0)){
            [plistDict setObject:city forKey:@"City"];
        }else{
            [plistDict setObject:@"" forKey:@"City"];
        }

        if ((state != nil) && (state.length > 0)){
            [plistDict setObject:state forKey:@"State"];
        }else{
            [plistDict setObject:@"" forKey:@"State"];
        }

        if ((zip != nil) && (zip.length > 0)){
            [plistDict setObject:zip forKey:@"Zip"];
        }else{
            [plistDict setObject:@"" forKey:@"Zip"];
        }

        if ((country != nil) && (country.length > 0)){
            [plistDict setObject:country forKey:@"Country"];
        }else{
            [plistDict setObject:@"" forKey:@"Country"];
        }

        if (type != nil){
            [plistDict setObject:(NSString *)type forKey:@"AddressType"];
        }else{
            [plistDict setObject:@"" forKey:@"AddressType"];
        }


        [myLabelDict release];
        [street release];
        [city release];
        [state release];
        [zip release];
        [country release];

        CFRelease(dict);
        CFRelease(type);
    }
    CFRelease(streets);
    CFRelease(phoneMulti);
    CFRelease(emailMulti);
    CFRelease(URLMulti);


    [plistDict writeToFile:current atomically:YES];
    [self dismissModalViewControllerAnimated:YES];

    [self refreshViews];
    [tblAddCarrier reloadData];
    return YES;

}