How to get VCF data with contact images using CNContactVCardSerialization dataWithContacts: method? - ios

Question

I'm using CNContacts and CNContactUI framework and picking a contact via this
CNContactPickerViewController *contactPicker = [CNContactPickerViewController new];
contactPicker.delegate = self;
[self presentViewController:contactPicker animated:YES completion:nil];
and
-(void)contactPicker:(CNContactPickerViewController *)picker didSelectContact:(CNContact *)contact
{
NSArray *array = [[NSArray alloc] initWithObjects:contact, nil];
NSError *error;
NSData *data = [CNContactVCardSerialization dataWithContacts:array error:&error];
NSLog(#"ERROR_IF_ANY :: %#",error.description);
}
This contact object have contact.imageData and coming in logs. But when I tried to cross check this data by
NSArray *contactList = [NSArray arrayWithArray:[CNContactVCardSerialization contactsWithData:data error:nil]];
CNContact *contactObject = [contactList objectAtIndex:0];
This is getting null:
//contactObject.imageData
Why am I getting this null and this contact has image when check in contacts?

Answer 1

I'd like to improve upon and modernise for Swift 3 the excellent answer by kudinovdenis.
Just put the following extension into your project
import Foundation
import Contacts
extension CNContactVCardSerialization {
internal class func vcardDataAppendingPhoto(vcard: Data, photoAsBase64String photo: String) -> Data? {
let vcardAsString = String(data: vcard, encoding: .utf8)
let vcardPhoto = "PHOTO;TYPE=JPEG;ENCODING=BASE64:".appending(photo)
let vcardPhotoThenEnd = vcardPhoto.appending("\nEND:VCARD")
if let vcardPhotoAppended = vcardAsString?.replacingOccurrences(of: "END:VCARD", with: vcardPhotoThenEnd) {
return vcardPhotoAppended.data(using: .utf8)
}
return nil
}
class func data(jpegPhotoContacts: [CNContact]) throws -> Data {
var overallData = Data()
for contact in jpegPhotoContacts {
let data = try CNContactVCardSerialization.data(with: [contact])
if contact.imageDataAvailable {
if let base64imageString = contact.imageData?.base64EncodedString(),
let updatedData = vcardDataAppendingPhoto(vcard: data, photoAsBase64String: base64imageString) {
overallData.append(updatedData)
}
} else {
overallData.append(data)
}
}
return overallData
}
}
and then you can use it similarly to the existing serialisation method:
CNContactVCardSerialization.data(jpegPhotoContacts: [contact1, contact2])
Note that this takes care of serialisation, you'll need to write a similar method for deserialisation if you are also importing.

Answer 2

As a workaround you can create PHOTO field inside of VCard.
NSError* error = nil;
NSData* vCardData = [CNContactVCardSerialization dataWithContacts:#[contact] error:&error];
NSString* vcString = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:vCardData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
NSString* base64Image = contact.imageData.base64Encoding;
NSString* vcardImageString = [[#"PHOTO;TYPE=JPEG;ENCODING=BASE64:" stringByAppendingString:base64Image] stringByAppendingString:#"\n"];
vcString = [vcString stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString:#"END:VCARD" withString:[vcardImageString stringByAppendingString:#"END:VCARD"]];
vCardData = [vcString dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
For some reasons CNContactVCardSerialization does not use any photo of contact. VCard after serialization is looks like:
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
PRODID:-//Apple Inc.//iPhone OS 9.3.2//EN
N:Contact;Test;;;
FN: Test Contact
END:VCARD
After insertion the PHOTO field inside VCard you will get
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:3.0
PRODID:-//Apple Inc.//iPhone OS 9.3.2//EN
N:Contact;Test;;;
FN: Test Contact
PHOTO;TYPE=JPEG;ENCODING=BASE64:<photo base64 string>
END:VCARD
After this insertion contact will looks fine in CNContactViewController

Answer 3

For N number of contacts, you can add image data into VCF by using simple method as below.
-(NSData*)getVCFDataWithImagesFromContacts:(NSArray*)arrContacts
{
//---- Convert contacts array into VCF data.
NSError *error;
NSData *vcfData = [CNContactVCardSerialization dataWithContacts:arrContacts error:&error];
//--- Convert VCF data into string.
NSString *strVCF = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:vcfData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
//--- Split contacts from VCF.
NSMutableArray *arrSplit = (NSMutableArray*)[strVCF componentsSeparatedByString:#"END:VCARD"];
[arrSplit removeLastObject];//-- if object is "\r\n" otherwise comment this line.
//--- Validate array count
if (arrSplit.count == arrContacts.count)
{
for (int index=0;index<arrContacts.count;index++)
{
//--- Get current contact and VCF contact string.
CNContact *contact = arrContacts[index];
NSString *strContact = arrSplit[index];
//--- Get base64 string of image.
NSString* base64Image = [UIImagePNGRepresentation([ViewController imageWithImage:[UIImage imageWithData:contact.imageData] scaledToSize:CGSizeMake(50,50)]) base64EncodedStringWithOptions:NSDataBase64EncodingEndLineWithCarriageReturn];
//--- Append image tag into contact string.
NSString* vcardImageString = [[#"PHOTO;ENCODING=BASE64;JPEG:" stringByAppendingString:base64Image] stringByAppendingString:#"\r\n"];
strContact = [strContact stringByAppendingString:[NSString stringWithFormat:#"%#%#",vcardImageString,#"END:VCARD\r\n"]];
//--- Update contact string from array.
[arrSplit replaceObjectAtIndex:index withObject:strContact];
NSLog(#"strContact :%#",strContact);
}
}
//--- Combine all contacts together in VCF.
vcfData = [[arrSplit componentsJoinedByString:#""] dataUsingEncoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];
strVCF = [[NSString alloc] initWithData:vcfData encoding:NSUTF8StringEncoding];//--- VCF Data
NSLog(#"Contact VCF error :%#",error.localizedDescription);
return vcfData;
}
+(UIImage *)imageWithImage:(UIImage *)image scaledToSize:(CGSize)newSize
{
UIGraphicsBeginImageContextWithOptions(newSize, NO, 0.0);
[image drawInRect:CGRectMake(0, 0, newSize.width, newSize.height)];
UIImage *newImage = UIGraphicsGetImageFromCurrentImageContext();
UIGraphicsEndImageContext();
return newImage;
}