How to select a contact with ABPeoplePickerNavigationController in Swift?

Asked 9/8, 2014 at 12:7 Answered 30/1, 2017 at 21:10

Solved swift addressbook abaddressbook peoplepicker addressbookui

I have added the ABPeoplePickerNavigationController into my first view controller. I want that when I select a contact show the info to show in other view controller, but I'm trying use my code and this not show never when I click in a contact. This only open the contact into native app ABPeoplePickerNavigationController.

var people = ABPeoplePickerNavigationController()
var addressBook: ABAddressBookRef?

func extractABAddressBookRef(abRef: Unmanaged<ABAddressBookRef>!) -> ABAddressBookRef? {
    if let ab = abRef {
        self.view.addSubview(people.view)
        return Unmanaged<NSObject>.fromOpaque(ab.toOpaque()).takeUnretainedValue()
    }
    return nil
}

I tried this function

func peoplePickerNavigationController(peoplePicker: ABPeoplePickerNavigationController!,didSelectPerson person: ABRecordRef!) {

    var unmanagedEmails = ABRecordCopyValue(people, kABPersonEmailProperty)
    let emailObj: ABMultiValueRef = Unmanaged.fromOpaque(unmanagedEmails.toOpaque()).takeUnretainedValue() as NSObject as ABMultiValueRef

    var index = 0 as CFIndex

    var unmanagedEmail = ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(emailObj, index)
    var emailAddress:String = Unmanaged.fromOpaque(unmanagedEmail.toOpaque()).takeUnretainedValue() as NSObject as String

    println(emailAddress)      
}

Thanks!

Astrophysics answered 9/8, 2014 at 12:7 Comment(0)

A couple of thoughts:

Have you set the peoplePickerDelegate property of the people picker controller? If you don't do that, it won't know to try to call these methods in your class. Thus:
```
people.peoplePickerDelegate = self
presentViewController(people, animated: true, completion: nil)
```

Your example method is referencing people when you call ABRecordCopyValue. That's your picker controller. I assume you meant to reference person, the ABRecordRef! that was passed as a parameter.

You might also want to make sure you actually have an email address before trying to access it. You can use ABMultiValueGetCount.

I also think you can also eliminate that fromOpaque/toOpaque dance.

This yields:

func peoplePickerNavigationController(peoplePicker: ABPeoplePickerNavigationController, didSelectPerson person: ABRecord) {
    let emails: ABMultiValueRef = ABRecordCopyValue(person, kABPersonEmailProperty).takeRetainedValue()
    if ABMultiValueGetCount(emails) > 0 {
        let index = 0 as CFIndex
        let emailAddress = ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(emails, index).takeRetainedValue() as! String

        print(emailAddress)
    } else {
        print("No email address")
    }
}

If you need to support iOS 7, too, use:

func peoplePickerNavigationController(peoplePicker: ABPeoplePickerNavigationController, shouldContinueAfterSelectingPerson person: ABRecord, property: ABPropertyID, identifier: ABMultiValueIdentifier) -> Bool {
    let multiValue: ABMultiValueRef = ABRecordCopyValue(person, property).takeRetainedValue()
    let index = ABMultiValueGetIndexForIdentifier(multiValue, identifier)
    let email = ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(multiValue, index).takeRetainedValue() as! String

    print("email = \(email)")

    peoplePicker.dismissViewControllerAnimated(true, completion: nil)

    return false
}

You might, though, rather than assuming the user only wanted the first email address, instead, let them click through and pick one of the possible multiple email addresses the contact had. So, first, you might want to eliminate some of the "noise", by telling the picker that you only want to see email addresses:

people.peoplePickerDelegate = self
people.displayedProperties = [NSNumber(int: kABPersonEmailProperty)]
presentViewController(people, animated: true, completion: nil)

And then, remove the prior method we've been discussing, and instead implement:

func peoplePickerNavigationController(peoplePicker: ABPeoplePickerNavigationController!, didSelectPerson person: ABRecordRef!, property: ABPropertyID, identifier: ABMultiValueIdentifier) {
    let multiValue: ABMultiValueRef = ABRecordCopyValue(person, property).takeRetainedValue()
    let index = ABMultiValueGetIndexForIdentifier(multiValue, identifier)
    let email = ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(multiValue, index).takeRetainedValue() as String

    println("email = \(email)")
}

And to support iOS 7,0, too, you'd add:

func peoplePickerNavigationController(peoplePicker: ABPeoplePickerNavigationController, shouldContinueAfterSelectingPerson person: ABRecord, property: ABPropertyID, identifier: ABMultiValueIdentifier) -> Bool {
    let multiValue: ABMultiValueRef = ABRecordCopyValue(person, property).takeRetainedValue()
    let index = ABMultiValueGetIndexForIdentifier(multiValue, identifier)
    let email = ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(multiValue, index).takeRetainedValue() as! String

    print("email = \(email)")

    peoplePicker.dismissViewControllerAnimated(true, completion: nil)

    return false
}

By the way, iOS 8 offers a feature to control whether a contact is enabled or not. Since you're supporting iOS 7 and 8, you'd want to employ that conditionally, such as:
```
if people.respondsToSelector(Selector("predicateForEnablingPerson")) {
    people.predicateForEnablingPerson = NSPredicate(format: "emailAddresses.@count > 0")
}
```
This gives the user visual indication whether there is even an email address for the individual, and prevents them from selecting entry without email address.

Obviously, if using iOS 9 and later, you should retire all of this and use the ContactsUI framework, which simplifies the code further.

Varnado answered 9/8, 2014 at 15:23 Comment(7)

I have added thisfunctions, and write the code delegage, but this not open the function when I click into a contact.. I have class ViewPeopleController: ABPeoplePickerNavigationController, ABPeoplePickerNavigationControllerDelegate{ declaration and people.peoplePickerDelegate = self in viewDidLoad. What can I be doing wrong? Thanks! – Astrophysics 9/8, 2014 at 16:37

Could you upload your code-project to any place? Now I going to update my code question. Thanks! – Astrophysics 9/8, 2014 at 18:30

I've uploaded my demo to github.com/robertmryan/PeoplePickerSwiftDemo, but there's really nothing more than what you see above in my answer. – Varnado 10/8, 2014 at 1:36

I have detect my problem, the function to select a contact: func peoplePickerNavigationController(peoplePicker: ABPeoplePickerNavigationController!, didSelectPerson person: ABRecordRef!) { only is called in ios 8.0 simulator. I was trying this in ios 7.1 simulator. What need I make to call this function in -8.0? Thanks!! – Astrophysics 10/8, 2014 at 7:24

If you look at the documentation for ABPeoplePickerNavigationControllerDelegate, you'll see the deprecated methods you should use if your target was pre iOS 8 (e.g. shouldContinueAfterSelectingPerson). – Varnado 10/8, 2014 at 8:13

Now the problem is that dismissViewControllerAnimated not function, if I select a contact in ios7 this is open, and not copy and dimiss viewController like in ios8 code. And in cancel button I have the same problem – Astrophysics 10/8, 2014 at 8:42

I solve this with: if (ABMultiValueGetCount(emails) > 0) { let index = 0 as CFIndex let emailAddress = ABMultiValueCopyValueAtIndex(emails, index).takeUnretainedValue() as String peoplePicker.dismissViewControllerAnimated(true, completion: nil) return emailAddress } else { return "No email address" } in shouldContinue and adding this to didCancel: peoplePicker.dismissViewControllerAnimated(true, completion: nil) Really thanks for your help!!! – Astrophysics 10/8, 2014 at 8:59

Here is the latest framework for iOS 9 - ContactsUI

import ContactsUI
Conform to the CNContactPickerDelegate (No required methods)

Create a contacts picker object and present it:

let peoplePicker = CNContactPickerViewController()

peoplePicker.delegate = self

self.presentViewController(peoplePicker, animated: true, completion: nil)

Dismiss the CNContactPickerViewController in the contactPickerDidCancel delegate function

func contactPickerDidCancel(picker: CNContactPickerViewController) {
    picker.dismissViewControllerAnimated(true, completion: nil)
}

Here is how I Accessed a contacts name, phone numbers, phone number labels, and photo using the didSelectContact delegate function:

func contactPicker(picker: CNContactPickerViewController, didSelectContact contact: CNContact) {
//Dismiss the picker VC
picker.dismissViewControllerAnimated(true, completion: nil)
//See if the contact has multiple phone numbers
if contact.phoneNumbers.count > 1 {
    //If so we need the user to select which phone number we want them to use
    let multiplePhoneNumbersAlert = UIAlertController(title: "Which one?", message: "This contact has multiple phone numbers, which one did you want use?", preferredStyle: UIAlertControllerStyle.Alert)
    //Loop through all the phone numbers that we got back
    for number in contact.phoneNumbers {
        //Each object in the phone numbers array has a value property that is a CNPhoneNumber object, Make sure we can get that
        if let actualNumber = number.value as? CNPhoneNumber {
            //Get the label for the phone number
            var phoneNumberLabel = number.label
            //Strip off all the extra crap that comes through in that label
            phoneNumberLabel = phoneNumberLabel.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString("_", withString: "", options: NSStringCompareOptions.LiteralSearch, range: nil)
            phoneNumberLabel = phoneNumberLabel.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString("$", withString: "", options: NSStringCompareOptions.LiteralSearch, range: nil)
            phoneNumberLabel = phoneNumberLabel.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString("!", withString: "", options: NSStringCompareOptions.LiteralSearch, range: nil)
            phoneNumberLabel = phoneNumberLabel.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString("<", withString: "", options: NSStringCompareOptions.LiteralSearch, range: nil)
            phoneNumberLabel = phoneNumberLabel.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString(">", withString: "", options: NSStringCompareOptions.LiteralSearch, range: nil)
            //Create a title for the action for the UIAlertVC that we display to the user to pick phone numbers
            let actionTitle = phoneNumberLabel + " - " + actualNumber.stringValue
            //Create the alert action
            let numberAction = UIAlertAction(title: actionTitle, style: UIAlertActionStyle.Default, handler: { (theAction) -> Void in
                //Create an empty string for the contacts name
                var nameToSave = ""
                //See if we can get A frist name
                if contact.givenName == "" {
                    //If Not check for a last name
                    if contact.familyName == "" {
                        //If no last name set name to Unknown Name
                        nameToSave = "Unknown Name"
                    }else{
                        nameToSave = contact.familyName
                    }
                }else{
                    nameToSave = contact.givenName
                }

                // See if we can get image data
                if let imageData = contact.imageData {
                    //If so create the image
                    let userImage = UIImage(data: imageData)
                }
                //Do what you need to do with your new contact information here!
                //Get the string value of the phone number like this:
                actualNumber.stringValue  
            })
            //Add the action to the AlertController
            multiplePhoneNumbersAlert.addAction(numberAction)
        }
    }
    //Add a cancel action
    let cancelAction = UIAlertAction(title: "Cancel", style: UIAlertActionStyle.Cancel, handler: { (theAction) -> Void in
        //Cancel action completion
    })
    //Add the cancel action
    multiplePhoneNumbersAlert.addAction(cancelAction)
    //Present the ALert controller
    self.presentViewController(multiplePhoneNumbersAlert, animated: true, completion: nil)
}else{
    //Make sure we have at least one phone number
    if contact.phoneNumbers.count > 0 {
        //If so get the CNPhoneNumber object from the first item in the array of phone numbers
        if let actualNumber = contact.phoneNumbers.first?.value as? CNPhoneNumber {
            //Get the label of the phone number
            var phoneNumberLabel = contact.phoneNumbers.first!.label
            //Strip out the stuff you don't need
            phoneNumberLabel = phoneNumberLabel.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString("_", withString: "", options: NSStringCompareOptions.LiteralSearch, range: nil)
            phoneNumberLabel = phoneNumberLabel.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString("$", withString: "", options: NSStringCompareOptions.LiteralSearch, range: nil)
            phoneNumberLabel = phoneNumberLabel.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString("!", withString: "", options: NSStringCompareOptions.LiteralSearch, range: nil)
            phoneNumberLabel = phoneNumberLabel.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString("<", withString: "", options: NSStringCompareOptions.LiteralSearch, range: nil)
            phoneNumberLabel = phoneNumberLabel.stringByReplacingOccurrencesOfString(">", withString: "", options: NSStringCompareOptions.LiteralSearch, range: nil)

            //Create an empty string for the contacts name
            var nameToSave = ""
            //See if we can get A frist name
            if contact.givenName == "" {
                //If Not check for a last name
                if contact.familyName == "" {
                    //If no last name set name to Unknown Name
                    nameToSave = "Unknown Name"
                }else{
                    nameToSave = contact.familyName
                }
            }else{
                nameToSave = contact.givenName
            }

            // See if we can get image data
            if let imageData = contact.imageData {
                //If so create the image
                let userImage = UIImage(data: imageData)
            }
            //Do what you need to do with your new contact information here!
            //Get the string value of the phone number like this:
            actualNumber.stringValue
        }
    }else{
        //If there are no phone numbers associated with the contact I call a custom funciton I wrote that lets me display an alert Controller to the user
        self.displayAlert("Missing info", message: "You have no phone numbers associated with this contact")
    }
}
}

Bellows answered 31/7, 2015 at 17:19 Comment(4)

Thanks for the awesome code! Well, how can I pickup the multiple contacts at a time? – Appraise 29/9, 2015 at 5:21

For multiple contacts selection. Implement contactPicker(picker: CNContactPickerViewController, didSelectContacts contacts: [CNContact]) – Superintendent 14/10, 2015 at 9:56

Keep in mind that this code needs to check for and/or request access to the user's contacts before presenting the picker. – Zebulon 12/10, 2016 at 22:33

Great! Thank you! – Crissum 30/1, 2017 at 21:10