How to Merge 2 Address Books

Hi folks. Just wanted to know if anybody knew how to merge 2 address books. I don't mean two identical or similar contacts. Whole address books.
A duplicated, put into B machine. They both took on separate lives.
This is what I am thinking:
- A backed up.
- B exported.
- B imported into A, conflicts resolved (that could take some time, if it's manual, as my book has 1600 cards)
- A (which is new), exported, put back into B.
Any ideas?
Cheers

Well, unfortunately, Address Book doesn't have a function to compare then only merge identical cards. Its four import options are Keep Old, Keep New, Keep Both, and Update. The Update option is closest to what you want, but it will assume that contacts with similar fields (like the John Q Public example I gave earlier) are the same person and will combine them into one (I found this out the hard way).
Your best bet I think would be to export All Contacts for each Address Book as a single vcard (this is the only format that Address Book natively exports), open in a spreadsheet/database program that can compare and merge identical fields, and do the combine there. Address Book can import .csv files, so something like Excel or Araxis Merge (➚) might be able to do it (I don't know if Excel's Merge Workbooks function is applicable in this case).
Perhaps other people have suggestions on how to only combine identical cards. I don't know programming, so AppleScript and Terminal puts me out of my depth. For what you want to do, Address Book's import/export functions are insufficient by themselves.

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How to merge address book fields

Okay, here goes...
I have created a template page in Pages so that I can print out some laser address labels and utilise the merge address book fields to speed up the process, but I have hit a problem.
The template that I have created has 21 text boxes with address fields applied, so I thought I would end up with 21 different addresses on one page.
Wrong! I have ended up with hundreds of pages with 21 of the same address per page, when really I want there to be 21 different addresses per page.
What am I doing wrong here? Can Pages handle this kind of thing as I know that it works perfectly for letters where you would only have one address per page.
Please help
Regards
jim

jim_78 wrote:
The template that I have created has 21 text boxes with address fields applied, so I thought I would end up with 21 different addresses on one page.
You thought wrongly
Wrong! I have ended up with hundreds of pages with 21 of the same address per page, when really I want there to be 21 different addresses per page.
This is the normal behavior
It's perfectly described in the Help which states:
Inserting Recipient Data for Contacts in Multiple Cards
You can personalize a document for multiple recipients by using multiple Address Book cards.
To insert recipient data for contacts in multiple cards:
Open a document that contains recipient fields.
Select the Address Book cards you want to use, and then drag them to a recipient field.
In the dialog that appears, choose New Document from the pop-up menu to create a new document that contains a section for each contact. Otherwise, choose “Send to printer” from the pop-up menu _to print a personalized copy of the document for each contact._
What am I doing wrong here? Can Pages handle this kind of thing as I know that it works perfectly for letters where you would only have one address per page.
You just didn't read sufficiently carefully the Help.
Pages is not designed to do what you want.
Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE vendredi 10 octobre 2008 16:53:19)

How to merge address book

How do I merge the Address Book on my iMac and the Contacts on my iPhone 4 into one list with everything? I have had the iPhone for a month now and have not synced it with the iMac yet.

jim_78 wrote:
The template that I have created has 21 text boxes with address fields applied, so I thought I would end up with 21 different addresses on one page.
You thought wrongly
Wrong! I have ended up with hundreds of pages with 21 of the same address per page, when really I want there to be 21 different addresses per page.
This is the normal behavior
It's perfectly described in the Help which states:
Inserting Recipient Data for Contacts in Multiple Cards
You can personalize a document for multiple recipients by using multiple Address Book cards.
To insert recipient data for contacts in multiple cards:
Open a document that contains recipient fields.
Select the Address Book cards you want to use, and then drag them to a recipient field.
In the dialog that appears, choose New Document from the pop-up menu to create a new document that contains a section for each contact. Otherwise, choose “Send to printer” from the pop-up menu _to print a personalized copy of the document for each contact._
What am I doing wrong here? Can Pages handle this kind of thing as I know that it works perfectly for letters where you would only have one address per page.
You just didn't read sufficiently carefully the Help.
Pages is not designed to do what you want.
Yvan KOENIG (from FRANCE vendredi 10 octobre 2008 16:53:19)

How to make Address Book obey Preferences? I run MacBook Pro 4.1 laptop, Mac OS X 10.6.8 Address Book 5.0.3 (883) Preferences set at ... General First name following Last name Sort for Last name Address Format Canada Font size Large Phone format set a

How to make Address Book obey Preferences?
I run MacBook Pro 4.1 laptop, Mac OS X 10.6.8
Address Book 5.0.3 (883)
Preferences set at ...
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First name following Last name
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Address Format Canada
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When application quits - it's all forgotten and it self-resets to
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Whenever you remove system modifications, they must be removed completely, and the only way to do that is to use the uninstallation tool, if any, provided by the third-party developers, or to follow their instructions. If the software has been incompletely removed, you may have to re-download or even reinstall it in order to finish the job.
Here are some general guidelines. Suppose you want to remove something called “BrickYourMac.” First, consult the product's Help menu, if there is one, for instructions. Finding none there, look on the developer's website, say www.brickyourmac.com. (That may not be the actual name of the site; if necessary, search the Web for the product name.) If you don’t find anything on the website or in your search, email the developer. While you're waiting for a response, download BrickYourMac.dmg and open it. There may be an application in there such as “Uninstall BrickYourMac.” If not, open “BrickYourMac.pkg” and look for an Uninstall button.
If you can’t remove software in any other way, you’ll have to erase your boot volume and perform a clean reinstallation of OS X. Never install any third-party software unless you're sure you know how to uninstall it; otherwise you may create problems that are very hard to solve.
Trying to remove complex system modifications by hunting for files by name often will not work and may make the problem worse. The same goes for "utilities" that purport to remove software.

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Merge Address Book Cards Greyed out

Hi all,
I've got an envelope that I use every once in a while. It has a logo and return address. For the recipient address, I just go to address book, change the information in the group that I call "current envelope" then I go to pages, merge and print.
However, last time I went to do this, it added the address that I wanted from the group, plus 3 other addresses (i don't know where they came from.) When I try to merge again with the address book to refresh the data, the Merge Address Book Cards option is grey. What is going on?
Thanks for any help.

Hi Osvaldo
I can just confirm I had it once too. I just restarted. That solved it. But I always tought that is a Win solution If I can reproduce it I try to search why it happened.
But I have an other problem with mail merge:
If I merge more then 1 address it asks me if it shall put it in a new document. If it does so it removes all the empty fields. If you merge only 1 address it merges it always in the curent document and the empty fields stay. That still would be ok but they also print with the field name on the letters. Looks like a bug to me.
Sure I could remove the fields manually... but hey? Either it should give the possibility to merge it into a new document even with 1 address and remove the empty fields or keep it in the same document with the empty fields but shouldn't print them.
I think this are the small thing they will need to sort out over time (like that there is no possiblity to choose from "recent documents" in the open/create file wizard - if you close the wizard it closes Pages too. Or that after opening Pages without the wizard and choosin from the recent documents the blank document created automatically with the start up is not closed automatically if it wasn't edit before an other file was opened (yes , even MS has some smart tricks)).
Cheers
Petr

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This is really a question better asked to Yahoo support but...
Go to the Addresses tab of Yahoo and click on the 'Import/Export' link
Click the Export Now button for vCard Single File, then when it downloads double click it to import into AddressBook.

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they synced over to my macbook address book ok.
then a few days later i had to do a full restore of my iphone for various reasons (the new one, already!) which i did. when i then looked in my iphone contacts, these contacts were no longer there. they WERE however, still in my macbook address book.
so i figured i'd switch icloud syncing off for contacts and then resync to get them back on my phone. it didn't work. so i then turned off icloud sync and tried a good old manual sync via itunes, making sure to check the box for syncing contacts. it still didn't work.
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I read through a lot of previous posts and saw where this iphone syncing and deleting contact lists is not a new problem. It also is not a function of my being a neo-luddite. Many others have had this happen. Is there some type of fix in the works to deter this from continuing to happen?
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Also found how to copy Address Book, as well as all others files on my computer.
The answer is to open Address Book.
Under FILE menu>Export>Address Book Archive
at prompt, Save to which ever location you wish on your computer ( I chose Documents). This will create an archive of your contact list with that date. Archive after anytime you change or add an address card. If saved to the same location on the same computer, prompt will ask if you want to Replace current>OK. If you archived on different days, you will create a new file with different date. You can throw away previously dated file or save as a backup.
To copy this file and all other files on my computer, I had to download the latest copy of Backup (v3.2) from the Apple downloads page under Apple support. This provides an installer to create a back up iDisk. I installed Backup>( it creates an Umbrella icon on my desktop)>followed the instructions to create a backup>program has standard backup protocols or you can customize.
I chose to backup my Home folders to a CD/DVD. System will tell you the size of the file and how many CD's or DVD's you will need. Select Burn.
Voila!!!!
I now have a DVD that contains all of the files in my Home folder (including the Address Book archive). This DVD will allow me to restore files to my computer, if I accidentally erase it again. Note that this method will not allow you to backup the entire startup, only files. You must use an external drive or Time Machine to create a rebootable copy of the operating system.
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My mac runs leopard 10.5.8. Meanwhile iPhone is updated to 5.1. and synced with iCloud. As we know, OS X 10.5 can not be synced with iCloud. How to sync Address book with iphone? My Address Book on my mac has almost all contacts that can be found on my iPhone. Even with pictures from FB and extra info such as twitter accounts, etc.
The question is - how can I manage my contacts? Now I have added several new entries to my iPhone, but they won't appear on mac's address book. In iTunes the contacts sync box is unchecked due to the fact that iPhone syncs with iCloud. But then I'm wondering where did Address Book get all the contact updates that were made on iPhone?
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Hope this helps,
Dave

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@GeorgeBetty, I asume that Address Book's built in print functionality doesn't meet your needs. correct?
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2670577
The Soliant_vCard_Import_v1.1.fp7 file will come in handy someday... I've got that saved. Thanks BDAqua!

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Jan Fuellemann
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ele,
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{quote:title=Julian Wright wrote:}Do you expect everything to be free?{quote}
Geez, ya big meanie, give the guy a break. Not everyone wants to spend $50 on a syncing solution! He just asked a question, and you heap attitude on him about his finances. Not your business!
5480, syncing that information between two Macs is both easy and tricky at the same time. It’s easy because you really can just copy the files back and forth. But it can get tricky if, for instance, you were to change information on both sides. Then you’ve got two different versions! The general solution to this is to be pretty careful about only changing data on one side at a time. If you add some contacts on one side, don’t go working in Address Book on the other side until you’ve copied the new info over.
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How to Merge 2 Address Books

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