Apple Script to Sort through the Address Book

Question

Dear All,
I am quite new to Apple and just a learner on Apple-scripts. Its been quite a task to learn.. I would require some help on a few things..
The script will eventually use numbers to send email and get the user inputs and any yet to reach there..
After going through lots of scripts to sort through the address book and make a clean address book, i found they are quite slow in processing takes about 20~30 Minutes to get through 2000 Contacts..
Hence after reading posting of Mr. Koenig & Mr. Hiroto and specifically on deep copy. I have written the following code which does the following on 2000 records within 6~8Mins.
The Script work its way through all the contact is the address List.. and creates Groups
1. Duplicate Email Id's — List of Contacts with same email ID's including Contacts where the email Id is entered twice.. (Strange.. Address Book Issue, copy of the email Id under work & home)
2. Duplicate Phone — List of Contacts with same Phone Numbers including Contacts where the Phone Nos is entered twice.
3. Duplicate Name — List of Contacts with Same Names
4. Duplicate No Name — List of Contacts without the First Name and Last Name
it also sort the Contacts under the following Group which you can edit later with all the information's..
1. Only Email Ids — List of Contacts with Email ID and No Phone Numbers
2. Only Phone — List of Contacts with Phone Numbers and No Email Id's
3. No Email or Phone — List of Contacts with No Email Id's and No Phone numbers (some half completed contacts )
My Question to the forum is why is the following code still taking too much time..
set onlyDupEList to every person of group theGroupEmail
repeat with j from 1 to count of Dup_email
set tempdata to item j of Dup_email
if onlyDupEList does not contain {tempdata} then add tempdata to group theGroupEmail
end repeat
save application "Address Book"
and the scripts slows down when the items in the list is quite large (over 800 or so )..
Any help is appreciated and thanks in advance..
-- the code ---
global MsgTitle
on run
set MsgTitle to "Search for Duplicates in Address Book Contacts"
display dialog ¬
"This Script takes a while to finish" & return & "maybe 10 min or More..." & return & "Depending on the Address Book Contacts." & return & return & "Hence Allow it to run for the while" with title MsgTitle ¬
with icon 1 ¬
buttons {"Continue"} ¬
giving up after 5
set question to display dialog "Select the Duplicate Search Parameter " with icon 1 with title MsgTitle ¬
buttons {"Contact Name", "Contacts on Phone & Email Id's", "Quit"} default button 3
set rtnValue to button returned of question
if rtnValue is "Quit" then
-- tell application "Address Book" to quit
tell me to quit
end if
if rtnValue is "Contact Name" then
-- tell application "Address Book" to quit
GetDup_byName("Duplicate Name")
end if
if rtnValue is "Contacts on Phone & Email Id's" then --Contacts on Phone & Email Id's
-- tell application "Address Book" to quit
Get_dup()
end if
end run
--- Search on Name Field ---
on GetDup_byName(theGroupName)
set question to display dialog "Do you want to search for duplicates based on Names? " with icon 0 with title MsgTitle ¬
buttons {"Continue", "Quit"} default button 1
set rtnValue to button returned of question
if rtnValue is "Quit" then
-- tell application "Address Book" to quit
tell me to quit
end if
tell application "Address Book"
activate
set biglist to {}
set NoNameList to {}
set theGroupNoName to "Duplicates No Names"
set theGroup to theGroupName
-- if not (exists (group "Dupilicate Entries")) then
if not (exists (group theGroup)) then
make new group with properties {name:theGroup}
save
end if
if not (exists (group theGroupNoName)) then
make new group with properties {name:theGroupNoName}
save
end if
set the_names to name of people
repeat with i from 1 to number of items in the_names
set theName to item i of the_names
-- return theName
if theName is not in biglist then
copy theName to end of biglist
else
set counter to (people whose name is theName)
if (count of counter) > 1 then
repeat with i from 1 to number of items in counter
set this_item to item i of counter
-- display dialog this_item
add this_item to group theGroup
end repeat
-- return counter as string
end if
end if
-- captures the Contacts without Name ---
if theName contains "@" then
-- display dialog theName
set counterList to (people whose name is theName)
repeat with i from 1 to number of items in counterList
set this_item to item i of counterList
-- display dialog this_item
add this_item to group theGroupNoName
end repeat
end if
-- save application "Address Book"
end repeat
save application "Address Book"
set peopleCount to (count every person)
-- set peopleCount to 50 -- only for testing --
repeat with i from 1 to peopleCount
set first_name to first name of person i as string
set Last_Name to last name of person i as string
if first_name is equal to "missing value" and Last_Name is equal to "missing value" then
-- display dialog first_name & " : " & Last_Name
set end of NoNameList to (id of person i)
end if
end repeat
repeat with j from 1 to the count of NoNameList
set tempdata to item j of NoNameList
-- set testdata to person id tempdata
-- if (name of groups of testdata does not contain theGroupNoEmail) then
add tempdata to group theGroupNoName
-- end if
end repeat
save application "Address Book"*)
display dialog ¬
"This Script Finished Processing Address Book Contacts the Duplicates are in the group" with title MsgTitle ¬
with icon 1 ¬
buttons {"Continue"} ¬
giving up after 5
end tell
end GetDup_byName
on Get_dup()
set question to display dialog "Do you want to search for duplicates based on Names? " with icon 0 with title MsgTitle ¬
buttons {"Continue", "Quit"} default button 1
set rtnValue to button returned of question
if rtnValue is "Quit" then
-- tell application "Address Book" to quit
tell me to quit
end if
tell application "Address Book"
activate
set theGroupEmail to "Duplicate Email Id's"
set theGroupPhone to "Duplicate Phone"
set theGroupNoEmail to "Only Phone Numbers"
set thegroupNoPhone to "Only Email Id's"
set theGroupNoData to "No Email or Phone"
-- set theGroup to theGroupName
if not (exists (group theGroupEmail)) then
make new group with properties {name:theGroupEmail}
save "Address Book"
end if
if not (exists (group theGroupPhone)) then
make new group with properties {name:theGroupPhone}
save "Address Book"
end if
if not (exists (group theGroupNoEmail)) then
make new group with properties {name:theGroupNoEmail}
save "Address Book"
end if
if not (exists (group thegroupNoPhone)) then
make new group with properties {name:thegroupNoPhone}
save "Address Book"
end if
if not (exists (group theGroupNoData)) then
make new group with properties {name:theGroupNoData}
save "Address Book"
end if
set ListofPeople to people --the_ID
set ListofEmailID to value of emails of people --the_emails
-- return ListofEmailID
set ListofPhones to value of phone of people -- the_phones
-- return ListofPhones
set biglist to {}
set ListEmail_Uniq to {}
set ListEmail_Dup to {}
set No_PhoneList to {}
set No_EmailList to {}
set No_dataList to {}
set FlagEmail to false
set FlagPhone to false
-- repeat with i from 1 to number of items in the_emails
repeat with i from 1 to count of ListofEmailID
set thePersonID to item i of ListofPeople
set theEmails to item i of ListofEmailID
if theEmails is equal to {} then
set end of No_EmailList to thePersonID
else
-- set FlagEmail to true
repeat with j from 1 to count of theEmails
set tmpdata to item j of theEmails
-- return tmpdata
if tmpdata is not in biglist then
set end of biglist to tmpdata
set end of ListEmail_Uniq to {tmpdata} & {thePersonID}
else
set end of ListEmail_Dup to {tmpdata} & {thePersonID}
end if
end repeat
end if
end repeat
-- return ListEmail_Uniq
-- return ListEmail_Dup
-- save application "Address Book"
set biglist to {}
set ListPhone_Uniq to {}
set ListPhone_Dup to {}
-- repeat with i from 1 to number of items in the_emails
repeat with i from 1 to count of ListofPhones
set thePersonID to item i of ListofPeople
set thePhones to item i of ListofPhones
if thePhones is equal to {} then
set end of No_PhoneList to thePersonID
else
-- set FlagPhone to true
repeat with j from 1 to count of thePhones
set tmpdata to item j of thePhones
-- return tmpdata
if tmpdata is not in biglist then
set end of biglist to tmpdata
set end of ListPhone_Uniq to {tmpdata} & {thePersonID}
else
set end of ListPhone_Dup to {tmpdata} & {thePersonID}
end if
end repeat
end if
end repeat
-- return ListPhone_Uniq
-- return ListPhone_Dup
set the Dup_email to {}
-- Find the Duplicates from the sorted list --
repeat with i from 1 to the count of ListEmail_Dup
set tempdata to item i of ListEmail_Dup
set dataEmailDup to item 1 of tempdata
set dataPersonDup to item 2 of tempdata
repeat with j from 1 to the count of ListEmail_Uniq
set tempdata to item j of ListEmail_Uniq
set dataEmailUniq to item 1 of tempdata
set dataPersonUniq to item 2 of tempdata
-- display dialog mainEmail1 & "=" & mainEmail2 & " " & mainID1 & "=" & mainID2
if dataEmailDup is equal to dataEmailUniq then
set end of Dup_email to dataPersonDup -- & "," & dataPersonUniq
set end of Dup_email to dataPersonUniq
end if
(* -- the code takes lot more time if add to group was used --
if dataEmailDup is equal to dataEmailUniq then
set testdata to person id dataPersonDup
add testdata to group theGroup
set testdata to person id dataPersonUniq
add testdata to group theGroup
end if
end repeat
end repeat
-- return Dup_email
set the Dup_Phone to {}
-- Find the Duplicates from the sorted list --
repeat with i from 1 to the count of ListPhone_Dup
set tempdata to item i of ListPhone_Dup
set dataPhoneDup to item 1 of tempdata
set dataPersonDup to item 2 of tempdata
repeat with j from 1 to the count of ListPhone_Uniq
set tempdata to item j of ListPhone_Uniq
set dataPhoneUniq to item 1 of tempdata
set dataPersonUniq to item 2 of tempdata
-- display dialog mainEmail1 & "=" & mainEmail2 & " " & mainID1 & "=" & mainID2
if dataPhoneDup is equal to dataPhoneUniq then
set end of Dup_Phone to dataPersonDup -- & "," & dataPersonUniq
set end of Dup_Phone to dataPersonUniq
end if
(*if dataPhoneDup is equal to dataPhoneUniq then
set testdata to person id dataPersonDup
add testdata to group theGroup
set testdata to person id dataPersonUniq
add testdata to group theGroup
-- save
end if*)
end repeat
end repeat
-- return Dup_Phone
set onlyDupEList to every person of group theGroupEmail
repeat with j from 1 to count of Dup_email
set tempdata to item j of Dup_email
if onlyDupEList does not contain {tempdata} then add tempdata to group theGroupEmail
end repeat
save application "Address Book"
set onlyDupPList to every person of group theGroupPhone
repeat with j from 1 to count of Dup_Phone
set tempdata to item j of Dup_Phone
if onlyDupPList does not contain {tempdata} then add tempdata to group theGroupPhone
end repeat
save application "Address Book"
set onlyPhoneList to every person of group theGroupNoEmail
repeat with j from 1 to the count of No_EmailList
set tempdata1 to item j of No_EmailList
if No_PhoneList does not contain {tempdata1} then
if onlyPhoneList does not contain {tempdata1} then add tempdata1 to group theGroupNoEmail
end if
(*set flagE to false
repeat with i from 1 to the count of No_PhoneList
set tempdata2 to item i of No_PhoneList
if tempdata1 is equal to tempdata2 then
set flagE to true
exit repeat
end if
end repeat
if flagE is false then add tempdata1 to group theGroupNoEmail*)
end repeat
save application "Address Book"
set onlyEmailList to every person of group thegroupNoPhone
repeat with j from 1 to the count of No_PhoneList
set tempdata1 to item j of No_PhoneList
if No_EmailList does not contain {tempdata1} then
if onlyEmailList does not contain {tempdata1} then add tempdata1 to group thegroupNoPhone
end if
end repeat
save application "Address Book"
set onlyList to every person of group theGroupNoData
repeat with i from 1 to count of ListofPeople
if (item i of ListofEmailID is equal to {}) and (item i of ListofPhones is equal to {}) then
set tempdata to item i of ListofPeople
if onlyList does not contain {tempdata} then add tempdata to group theGroupNoData
end if
end repeat
save application "Address Book"
display dialog ¬
"This Script Finished Processing Address Book Contacts the Duplicates are in the group" with title MsgTitle ¬
with icon 1 ¬
buttons {"Continue"} ¬
giving up after 5
end tell
end Get_dup
on quit
--set MsgTitle to "Change Email ID's Domain Name"
save application "Address Book"
display dialog "Contact Srikanth Kamath at [email protected] for any Help" with title MsgTitle with icon 1 buttons "OK"
continue quit
end quit

Answer 1

Hello Srikanth Kamath,
I'm not sure you're still following this thread, but anyway here's sample code I said I'd post later.
--SCRIPT2
main()
on main()
script o
-- input data
property xx : {1, 2, 3, 4, 5} -- list of parents
property yy : {{"g", "h"}, {"a", "b"}, {"b", "e", "f"}, {"e"}, {"c", "d"}} -- list of children per parent
-- work list
property pp : {} -- list of children tagged by parent; i.e, lits of {child, parent}
property qq : {}
property rr : {}
-- (1) build list of children tagged by parent
repeat with i from 1 to count my xx
set x to my xx's item i
set y to my yy's item i
repeat with p in y
set end of my pp to {p's contents, x}
end repeat
end repeat
--return pp -- {{"g", 1}, {"h", 1}, {"a", 2}, {"b", 2}, {"b", 3}, {"e", 3}, {"f", 3}, {"e", 4}, {"c", 5}, {"d", 5}}
-- (2) sort tagged list by child as key
msort(my by_key1, my pp)
--return pp -- {{"a", 2}, {"b", 2}, {"b", 3}, {"c", 5}, {"d", 5}, {"e", 3}, {"e", 4}, {"f", 3}, {"g", 1}, {"h", 1}}
-- (3) retrieve parents with duplicate child
(* retrieve list of {child, parent} for duplicate child *)
set my qq to uniq(my eq_key1, my pp, {_dup:true})
--return qq -- {{"b", 2}, {"b", 3}, {"e", 3}, {"e", 4}}
(* retrieve list of parent *)
repeat with q in my qq
set r to q's item 2
if r is not in my rr then set end of my rr to r
end repeat
return rr -- {2, 3, 4}
end script
tell o to run
end main
on by_key1(x, y)
msort's comparator for list of lists
key = item 1, ascending
returns true iff x and y are out of order
return x's item 1 > y's item 1
end by_key1
on eq_key1(x, y)
uniq's comparator for list of lists
key = item 1
returns true iff x and y are considered equal
return x's item 1 = y's item 1
end eq_key1
on msort(cmp_, aa) -- v1.2f2
Basic recursive merge sort handler having list sorted in place.
handler cmp_ : comparator
* cmp_(x, y) must return true iff list element x and y are out of order.
list aa : list to be sorted in place
script o
property parent : {} -- limit closure to minimum
property xx : aa -- to be sorted in place
property xxl : count my xx
property yy : {}
property cmp : cmp_
on merge(p, q, r)
property xx: source list
integer p, q, r : absolute indices to specify range to be merged such that
xx's items p thru r is the target range,
xx's items p thru (q-1) is the first sublist,
xx's items q thru r is the second sublist.
(p < q <= r)
local i, j, k, xp, xr, yi, yj, ix, jx
if r - p = 1 then
set xp to my xx's item p
set xr to my xx's item r
if my cmp(xp, xr) then
set my xx's item p to xr
set my xx's item r to xp
end if
return -- exit
else
if p < q - 1 then merge(p, (p + q) div 2, q - 1)
merge(q, (q + r + 1) div 2, r)
end if
At this point, sublits xx[p, q-1] and xx[q, r] have been already sorted (p < q <= r)
if my cmp(my xx's item (q - 1), my xx's item q) then
else -- xx[p, q-1] & xx[q, r] are already sorted
return
end if
set yy to my xx's items p thru r -- working copy for comparison
set ix to q - p
set jx to r - p + 1
set i to 1
set j to q - p + 1
set k to p
set yi to my yy's item i
set yj to my yy's item j
repeat
if my cmp(yi, yj) then
set my xx's item k to yj
set j to j + 1
set k to k + 1
if j > jx then
set my xx's item k to yi
set i to i + 1
set k to k + 1
repeat until k > r
set my xx's item k to my yy's item i
set i to i + 1
set k to k + 1
end repeat
return
end if
set yj to my yy's item j
else
set my xx's item k to yi
set i to i + 1
set k to k + 1
if i > ix then
set my xx's item k to yj
set j to j + 1
set k to k + 1
repeat until k > r
set my xx's item k to my yy's item j
set j to j + 1
set k to k + 1
end repeat
return
end if
set yi to my yy's item i
end if
end repeat
end merge
on cmp(x, y)
(* primary comparator *)
return x > y
end cmp
local d, i, j
if xxl ≤ 1 then return
if cmp_ = {} then set my cmp to cmp -- comparator fallback
my merge(1, (xxl + 1) div 2, xxl)
end script
tell o to run
end msort
on uniq(eq_, aa, {dup:dup}) -- v0.21
handler eq_ : comparator eq_(x, y) that returns true iff x and y are considered equal
list aa : pre-sorted list
(precisely, a list organized such that any duplicate items are adjacent to each other)
boolean _dup : option whether return unique items or duplicate items
return duplicate if true, unique otherwise.
script o
property parent : {} -- limit closure to minimum
property xx : aa
property yy : {}
property eq : eq_
on eq(x, y)
(* primitive comparator *)
x = y
end eq
if eq_ = {} then set my eq to my eq -- comparator fallback
local t, x, _on
if (count my xx) < 2 then return my xx's contents
if _dup then
set _on to false
set t to my xx's item 1
repeat with i from 2 to count my xx
set x to my xx's item i
if eq(x, t) then
set end of my yy to t
set _on to true
else if _on then
set end of my yy to t
set _on to false
end if
set t to x
end repeat
if _on then set end of my yy to x
return my yy's contents -- return duplicate elements
else
set t to my xx's item 1
set end of my yy to t
repeat with i from 2 to count my xx
set x to my xx's item i
if eq(x, t) then
else
set end of my yy to x
set t to x
end if
end repeat
return my yy's contents -- return uinque elements
end if
end script
tell o to run
end uniq
--END OF SCRIPT2
In order to apply it to your current Address Book problem, replace the main() handler with something like the following one.
--SCRIPT2a (part)
on main()
script o
-- input data
property xx : {} -- list of parent; given later
property yy : {} -- list of children per parent; given later
-- work list
property pp : {} -- list of children tagged by parent; i.e, lits of {child, parent}
property qq : {}
property rr : {}
-- (0) get input data from AB
tell application "Address Book"
tell people
set xx to its id
set yy to its every email's value
end tell
end tell
-- (1) build list of children tagged by parent *)
(* omitted (same as the previous) *)
-- (2) sort tagged list by child as key
(* omitted (same as the previous) *)
-- (3) retrieve parents with duplicate child
(* omitted (same as the previous) *)
-- (4) group the retrieved people in AB
tell application "Address Book"
repeat with r in my rr
add person id r to group "duplicate email"
end repeat
end tell
end script
tell o to run
end main
--END OF SCRIPT2a
Good luck,
Hiroto
Message was edited by: Hiroto