## hpr1313 :: How I Manage Contacts

 How I Manage Contacts
About a year ago I decided to try to clean up my contacts. 
The problem: CRUFT! 

Importing, exporting re-importing in different accounts and in different email clients and several computers etc over span of ~10 years.
1200+ gmail contacts
Many duplicates

What I wanted:

1 set of contacts across platforms with single source file from which all
others are generated
plain-text format, easy to use w/scripting & text editor
No duplicates
no cruft
easy to maintain
easy to import/export in T-bird, ownCloud
sync with phone

Steps to Success:

Turn off Gmail default setting that saves every incoming email address in your address book
Deleted all extraneous contacts (went from ~1200 down to about 400)
Tedious part here: compare duplicates, consolidate info
Decide on source-file format
T-bird = LDIF
OwnCloud = vCard
LDIF wins b/c found script to convert to vCard, but not good script for other direction
Convert all disparate contacts lists to LDIF, begin consolidating into one file
LDIF ready? Import to T-bird
Perl script to convert LDIF to vCard –> import to ownCloud
CardDAV-sync to sync from o.c. to phone
Bash script to create new LDIF entries, convert to vcf, add to master file easily

Wishlist 

Make t-bird sync w/owncloud (t-bird SOGO extension broken)
CLI API to update owncloud contacts via a script instead of having to use the web interface

Links 

CardDAV-sync android app https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.dmfs.carddav.sync&hl=en
OwnCloud https://owncloud.org/
Thunderbird Addon: Duplicate Contact Manager https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/thunderbird/addon/duplicate-contact-manager/
Original ldif2vcf perl script https://www.barninger.com/ldif_to_vcard/
My modified version: https://paste.jonkulp.net/view/d47bbeca
My ldif creator bash script https://paste.jonkulp.net/view/32922107
