[Bitpim-devel] Outlook import script

[Somerlot, Chris]

I've put together some code to pull in info from Outlook (XP) to Bitpim. I
started working with the old data structure, but there's somehting I can't
figure out about the 0.7 data structure. I see the new data structure starts
out like

result['phonebook']={
1073417321:
{
I got everything from here in...

What is this integer, and how do I determine one for a new entry? Also, how
do I negotiate the serials?

[Roger Binns]

Post by Somerlot, Chris
result['phonebook']={
{
I got everything from here in...

The insides are all documented at the top of phonebook.py

Post by Somerlot, Chris
What is this integer, and how do I determine one for a new entry? Also, how
do I negotiate the serials?

The number is random and has no meaning. When BitPim starts using a database,
it will be the database key. The serials are a property of wherever the record
came from and identify the record should we ever write back again.

Thanks for the pointer to the ASPN article. Things have to be done slightly
differently to work when shipping the code as a binary (you need to include
the generated wrapper for example - it can't be generated on the fly).
The code also needs to be hooked into the import mechanism which goes through
the import dialog which will do the merging correctly.

Has anyone found any good synchronization algorithms?

As far as I can tell, you have to keep or synthesize a transaction log
of changes, and apply them during synchronization.

Roger

[Somerlot, Chris]

Post by Roger Binns

Post by Somerlot, Chris
result['phonebook']={
{
I got everything from here in...

The insides are all documented at the top of phonebook.py

Post by Somerlot, Chris
What is this integer, and how do I determine one for a new entry?
Also, how do I negotiate the serials?

The number is random and has no meaning. When BitPim starts
using a database, it will be the database key. The serials
are a property of wherever the record came from and identify
the record should we ever write back again.

Is directly importing/snychronizing with Outlook a feature that would be
valuable to Bitpim? I mostly worked with that code for my own educational
purposes, but I would be glad to continue to refine it into a usable product
if that is a worthwhile endeavour, as I am genuinely interested in having
that feature.

Chris

[Roger Binns]

Post by Somerlot, Chris
Is directly importing/snychronizing with Outlook a feature that would be
valuable to Bitpim?

Yes, and I intend to have it in BitPim.

Post by Somerlot, Chris
I mostly worked with that code for my own educational
purposes, but I would be glad to continue to refine it into a usable product
if that is a worthwhile endeavour, as I am genuinely interested in having
that feature.

It does need to be plumbed in differently and the COM wrappers have to
be done differently for it to work in a shipping binary distribution.

I'll see if I can do those bits once we get 0.7test2 out of the door.

Roger