importing contacts into EE hub

[heelisp]

Hi

I have been trying to import contacts in vcard format into my hub. Apart from manually entering them in to the phones, this is the only way. However I get an error "invalid data CHOP3-903"

I have checked the format by opening in a text editor and it conforms to the standard vcf file format. So I do not know where to go from here

As anyone successfully imported contacts. Would it be possible for them to post an example vcard that imported (after anonymising of course).

[heelisp]

Hi

I did not get a solution as yet.  I will let you know what happened

[heelisp]

Hi

I was importing contacts exported from a Mac contacts file, not from a smart hub 2. However once I know the format that the SH31b will take, I can manually edit the contacts file to suit.

[bobpullen]

@heelisp - is the file you are using always derived from an exported Mac contacts file? Have you tried creating the file afresh using a text editor?

I imagine the functionality is intended for somebody exporting contacts from an older BT hub (which another poster has reported success with), but in principal I can't see why you can't get it working with some file manipulation.

I've managed to successfully import a test VCF file containing the following (as @juiceof2limes advised, there's a CRLF at the end of each line): -

BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
FN:BT
N:;BT;;;
TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE=home:tel:0800800150
MEDLODY:0
ACCOUNTID:0
DFTNUM:0
OWN:0
END:VCARD
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
FN:EE
N:;EE;;;
TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE=home:tel:08000798586
MEDLODY:0
ACCOUNTID:0
DFTNUM:0
OWN:0
END:VCARD
BEGIN:VCARD
VERSION:4.0
FN:Plusnet
N:;Plusnet;;;
TEL;VALUE=uri;TYPE=home:tel:08004320200
MEDLODY:0
ACCOUNTID:0
DFTNUM:0
OWN:0
END:VCARD

Another thought - what browser/OS are you using to import the file and have you tried alternatives?

[heelisp]

Hi

I tried pasting in your contact into textedit on the Mac and saved as a vcf file. However It would not import using safari, Firefox or chrome.

When you say the is a CRLF at the end of each line, do you just press return to insert one, sorry if this is a dumb question

[XRaySpeX]

MacOS, à la Unix, just puts out a LF char. You need somehow to insert in front of it a CR = Ascii 13 (0DH).

[bobpullen]

A spot of Googling suggests that the BBEdit text editor has the ability to switch between line break methods, and also possibly display the invisible LF/CR characters so you can see what you are doing.

When I next get the chance, I'll take my test file from earlier, convert all the CRLF's to LF's and see what happens when I try and import it.

[SJM2000]

Hello.  Have you resolved this yet. Just switched over from BT to EE. With Bt you could import and export contact phone lists via vcard by logging on to the hub. EE only seems to have an import choice. Export is needed so that any changes you add to the phone numbers and contacts can be saved to a computer for future use. If that cannot be done all the data is lost if you have to reset the system. Or am I missing something?

[heelisp]

Hi

sadly, I have not solved the problem, but it appears to relate to adding CRLF to each line. Once I can understand how to do that with a text editor, it may work.

[bobpullen]

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@bobpullen wrote:

When I next get the chance, I'll take my test file from earlier, convert all the CRLF's to LF's and see what happens when I try and import it.

---

Found some time to do this. I took the file from my post here, that I was able to successfully import, and checked for CR and LF control characters using Notepad++

I then stripped the CR's, leaving just the LF's, and saved the file: -

And on attempting to re-import the file: -

So it seems fairly conclusive that the EE Smart Hub Plus does not like .vcf files that have been created using MacOS/*nix. This had me wondering...

1. Does the BT Smart Hub 2/newer EE Smart Hub behave the same?
A: I was able to test this too and it doesn't. I can import the file with the 'missing' CR's to a BT Smart Hub 2 without error.

2. What does a .vcf file look like when exported from a BT Smart Hub 2/newer EE Smart Hub using a MacOS/*nix device?
A: It preserves the CRLF characters and the resulting file can be imported successfully to the Smart Hub Plus.

So, to summarise: -

• Exporting from an older BT or EE hub generates a .vcf file with CRLF characters at the end of each line. The resulting file can be successfully imported into an EE Smart Hub Plus without error, regardless as to whether you use a Windows or *nix machine to do the exporting/importing.
• If however, you obtain a VCF file from a third party application, or create one yourself using a *nix-based operating system, then there are no CR control characters at the end of each line. If you subsequently try importing this file into a Smart Hub Plus it will error, however the same file can be imported into an older hub like the BT Smart Hub Two or newer EE Smart Hub.

@SJM2000 - getting to the bottom of this problem won't have any bearing on the inability to export contacts from the Smart Hub Plus as the functionality doesn't exist; I don't know of any way to export from a Smart Hub Plus currently that doesn't involve 'pen and paper' (so to speak).

[bobpullen]

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@heelisp wrote:

Once I can understand how to do that with a text editor, it may work.

---

Does this offer any clues?