SOLVED - Help with loading address book into Kontact/Kmail after 2010.07 install

[Cressida]

Moving from 2009 to 2010.07 has not been easy.

I have stumbled around all afternoon and have gotten my old emails and directories.  I will learn to live without calendar entries and notes but need to get the "contacts" or address book data imported or transfer the file over.  

I first tried to simply copy (from my backup of /home before the reformat) certain files that I thought contained the contact information.  The old directories named Kaddressbookrc and Kaddressbook would not copy and didn't seem to have anything in them anyway.  I also read from the KDE web site something about the config files are now different b/t .kde4 and .kde and therefore a copy would not work anymore anyway.  Great news  

There is an "assistant" in the KDE4 Kontact that appears to be designed to help.  I can select a "Vcard" file to import however it defaults to a new .KDE4 file path and my address book is still on the external HD somewhere in the .KDE directory.  (Since we were told to do a clean install this time and reformat the old /home)

Can anyone help with the directory or file name I should be looking for within .kde  to use to see if I can let the "Akonadi" personal information data setup do it's thing and hopefully get the addresses moved over?

I'll even chase after a wild guess at this point.

In addition to the above, there is an "import" feature that request a file name to import (CSV, Vcard, GMX).  I don't see any of these files but I mention it in case this thread developes into something that might help others down the road.

[Old-Polack]

Moving from 2009 to 2010.07 has not been easy.

I have stumbled around all afternoon and have gotten my old emails and directories.  I will learn to live without calendar entries and notes but need to get the "contacts" or address book data imported or transfer the file over.  

I first tried to simply copy (from my backup of /home before the reformat) certain files that I thought contained the contact information.  The old directories named Kaddressbookrc and Kaddressbook would not copy and didn't seem to have anything in them anyway.  I also read from the KDE web site something about the config files are now different b/t .kde4 and .kde and therefore a copy would not work anymore anyway.  Great news  

There is an "assistant" in the KDE4 Kontact that appears to be designed to help.  I can select a "Vcard" file to import however it defaults to a new .KDE4 file path and my address book is still on the external HD somewhere in the .KDE directory.  (Since we were told to do a clean install this time and reformat the old /home)

Can anyone help with the directory or file name I should be looking for within .kde  to use to see if I can let the "Akonadi" personal information data setup do it's thing and hopefully get the addresses moved over?

I'll even chase after a wild guess at this point.

In addition to the above, there is an "import" feature that request a file name to import (CSV, Vcard, GMX).  I don't see any of these files but I mention it in case this thread developes into something that might help others down the road.

The file you are looking for is /home/<user>/.kde/share/apps/kabc/std.vcf. Copy it to /home/<user>/.kde4/share/apps/kabc/std.vcf in your new installation. Then open Kontact and click File --> New --> Add Adress book. Choose the first choice KDE Address Book (traditional). A KDE Compatibility Assistant window will open. Click Next. From the list choose File, and click Next. Format: should be vCard, Location: /home/<user>/.kde4/share/apps/kabc/std.vcf. Click Next again. Name: defaults to Address Book which you can keep, or change, if you have more than one you want to import, ie Friends, Business, Work Group. I left mine as the default for the moment. Click Finish, and your Address Book will appear in the left Kontact pane, with a list of contacts in the center pane. Click any name in the center pane list, and the details will appear in the right pane.

[Cressida]

Amazing.  Everything is hard until it is easy...   

Thanks old-polack.   Now I can work on fine tuning some things. 

At least this time I was able to get my sound to work on the new install without having to ask for help so I'm slowly learning some things.

[Old-Polack]

Amazing.  Everything is hard until it is easy...   

Thanks old-polack.   Now I can work on fine tuning some things. 

At least this time I was able to get my sound to work on the new install without having to ask for help so I'm slowly learning some things.

Thank you, for the question. I had copied the file from the old installation to the new, but neither Kontact or KAdressBook would open it, so I left it alone, awaiting further research, as I was otherwise occupied at the time. Your question prompted my renewed interest in getting it working, and I just shared what I found with you. 

[MikeyAtl]

I just used the suggestion and it WORKED !! Hooray.

I have been fighting with the addressbook import function for two days now.

Thanks again Old Polack

[Old-Polack]

I just used the suggestion and it WORKED !! Hooray.

I have been fighting with the addressbook import function for two days now.

Thanks again Old Polack

  You're Welcome.