Apple Address Book to Zaurus ROM addressbook?

[jagrka]

I\'m starting this new topic, even though it has been discussed elsewhere in part, so that we might better understand how to bring one\'s Apple Address Book contacts in the Vcard (vcf) format into the Sharp ROM addressbook, which is in the box format. I\'m not looking for a sync solution, but rather a one-time import of my Apple Address Book data into the Zaurus.
The program \"Address Book vCard Extractor\" allows one to export Apple Address Book data into the .xml format. Is there anyway to import or to convert xml data into the Zaurus addressbook? The bundled program allows for no way to import data expect for IrDa.
I suppose I could you a different addressbook program that supports xml, but I like the interoperability of the Sharp PIM application.
Since I\'m discussing the addressbook in the box format, I am obviously using a SL-C7X0 Zaurus with the original Sharp ROM 1.20 JP.
I welcome any suggestions or advice. Thank you!

[jagrka]

Since my previous post, I have found a way to import/export data out of the Sharp ROM box format data stored in the /home/root/Applications/dtm directory. A Japanese programmer had built a program called \"zdbat\" that allows one to read/write data from the box files into CSV (comma delimitted) files, which can be edited within Microsoft Excel. This program lacks a GUI, but can be easily run from the console. This program can be downloaded at:

http://yakty.s31.xrea.com/cgi-bin/misc/dl....0.2.9-1_arm.ipk

The program handles data in the addressbook (address), ToDo (todo), Datebook (datebook), Mail Inbox (inbox), and Memo (memo) box files. The word in parenthesis should be inserted in the parameters of the command line. For example:

To read the AddressBook file data and convert it into a cvs format file (which can be imported into Excel), you need to issue the following command:

zdbat address -r > contacts.csv

To write a csv file back into the AddressBook on the Zaurus, use the following command:

zdbat address -w < contacts.csv

I was able to get this to work by first creating a sample template by reading out the data from within my Zaurus AddressBook using the first command above. I opened this file in Excel and then made sure that all the data that I exported out of the Apple AddressBook (cutting and pasting) conformed to the prearranged categories of the Zaurus AddressBook. Note that one can select/de-select what categories one wishes to use from within the Zaurus AddressBook. After I inserted all the data from my Apple Address Book into the predesignated categories within Excel from the file I exported from the Zaurus, I was then able to write this file back into the Zaurus using the second command above.
A few notes about writing the data into the Zaurus. The first column in the AddressBook template is CARDID. The number in this category is a unique record of all the individual data records. To ensure that all the data is imported correctly into the Zaurus, one must reset the CARDID cell for all entries to 0 (zero). The Zaurus AddressBook will then assign a unique number to each record after the file has been imported. The CARDID can be easily set to 0 from within Excel or one can issue the following command from within the Zaurus to the CSV file you hope to import back into the Zaurus:

sed \'s/^[ 0-9]*,/0,/\' contacts.csv > import.csv

While cutting and pasting entries from my exported Apple Address Book cvs file into the Zaurus format template I created was a pain, it did not take long to accomplish using Excel. As a result, I was able to import all of the 300 records in my Apple Address Book into my new Zaurus. While this is far from a long term solution to syncing the Zaurus AddressBook and Apple Address Book, it does allow one to periodically update data in either direction.