Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Address Book Contact Card does not display First/Last Name properly

Running Snow Leopard 10.6.8; Address Book version 4.5


I select Address Book==>Preferences==>General==>Show First Name to "Before last name" but the name sequence will not change in the card. I have reopened the program after changing and the button is still selected but the card format never changes. Any ideas? Thanks in advance.

iPhone 3GS, iOS 5.0.1, MBP running Snow Leopard 10.6.8

Posted on Feb 19, 2012 6:39 PM

Reply
18 replies
Sort By: 

Feb 19, 2012 7:53 PM in response to Registrant

Works as expected on my machine.


Silly question, but are you sure you entered first and last names in different fields ("First" and "Last", respectively)?


If the answer is yes, then try re-setting AB prefs by quitting AB, and deleting (or moving to another location)


<~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.AddressBook.abd.plist>

<~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.AddressBook.plist>


HTH

Reply

Feb 19, 2012 10:08 PM in response to fane_j

@fane_j

Thanks for the reply.

I was curious if you are running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 as well ?

Yes, I checked that the names are entered in their appropriated fields.


To add to the curious behavior...

I selected all the contacts; opened the Address Book Preferences and under the General tab switched between "Before last name" and "After last name". A few of the listings did respond appropriately but the vast majority did not.

Reply

Feb 19, 2012 10:42 PM in response to Registrant

can you do an edit to one of the entries that does not look right?


is the first name saved on the first name box and same with the last name?


we had an issue with a business card reader when it does an export to address book, the whole name is saved only on the last name field and the first name is just a space.

Reply

Feb 19, 2012 10:54 PM in response to boink boink

@boink boink

Thanks for the response


All data is in the appropiate field but the majority of the contacts will not display as specified in the Address Book Preferences.


All data was input by hand over the years.


I have tried exporting the data and importing it back in (which replaces existing data) but the results are the same.


? ? ?

Reply

Feb 20, 2012 12:19 AM in response to Registrant

Registrant wrote:


I was curious if you are running Snow Leopard 10.6.8 as well ?

Yes.

A few of the listings did respond appropriately but the vast majority did not.

Other than resetting the prefs as indicated, I'm afraid have no other suggestion. Perhaps erase any caches in


<~/Library/Caches/com.apple.AddressBook>

Reply

Feb 20, 2012 7:37 AM in response to boink boink

Again, thanks for response


I did move my Address Book ".plist" files and regenerated them when the Address Book was reopened. Same issues.


See screen shots below


One shows "Following last name" in Preferences. The other shows "Before last name" in Preferences.


Note the names "Richard Armstrong" and "G.W. Atkerson" respond to Preferences change, however, none of the other contacts respond.


User uploaded file



User uploaded file

Reply

Feb 20, 2012 8:22 AM in response to Registrant

Registrant wrote:


See screen shots below

The screen shots show a card that behaves perfectly normally. If there's any clue to your problem, it must be with the cards which do not behave normally, so a screen shot of one of them would be useful.


Another option is to drag to the desktop one card which behaves normally and one which doesn't. When you drag a card to the desktop, the card is exported to a .vcf file. This is really a text file; so you can open both with a text editor -- TextEdit, if you have nothing better (TextWrangler is free, btw) -- and then you can compare the two, trying to find anything in the template that is different or might give you a clue.

Reply

Feb 20, 2012 10:13 AM in response to boink boink

@boink boink

@fane_j


Again thanks for hangin' on this issue

Here is a screen shot that should addres both your request. Note the "Armstrong Richard R" contact does not reflect the preference "Before last name" while the "Richard Armstrong" contact does.


Prior to the screen shot all contacts were selected and the Preferences were set as per evidenced in the shot.


I opened each of the ".vcf" files for the two referenced contacts.



User uploaded file



User uploaded file

Reply

Feb 20, 2012 4:38 PM in response to Registrant

can you try this screenshot on Armstrong Tich with the head icon


highlight first name


User uploaded file


and another on highlighting the last name


User uploaded file


i'm kinda leaning towards a vcard issue and if that will be the case, you'll be editing the ones affected individually. i hope this is not the case.

Reply

Feb 20, 2012 5:30 PM in response to boink boink

@ boink boink


Based upon a comment you made in the last response...


Refer to my previous post that showed the ".vcf" text files.


Note that the "Armstrong ,Richard,R" file — which wasn't responding correctly — contained the line

"X-ABOrder:LAST".


I replaced "LAST" with "FIRST" and Saved. I drug the icon of the altered file to the contacts list which effectively began the Import prcess which duplcated the listing. The new listing responded correctly to changes in the Preferences to display the first name either "Before" or "Following" the last name. The original listing did not respond correctly.


Courious still, when I pulled a copy of the newest ".vcf" — which worked correctly — back out and opened it the altered line of copy was no longer there and the copy was identical to the original file except, of course, for the X-ABUID line of copy.


As you might imagine, I'm not thrilled about the idea of changing the majority of the ".vcf" files individually and replace the current listing files.


I will probably put-up with this bug and leave the listings in the "Lastname / Firstname" sort format if someone doesn't offer a solution.

Reply

Feb 20, 2012 5:45 PM in response to Registrant

Registrant wrote:


Note the "Armstrong Richard R" contact does not reflect the preference "Before last name" while the "Richard Armstrong" contact does.

I use vCard v2.1, but that should affect only the exported vCards. I switched the pref to vCard 3.0, and I still couldn't reproduce your issue.


However, looking at the two .vcfs, I notice that the 'wrong' one has an extra property, X-ABOrder, which might be linked to the issue. (X- are private extensions to the specifications, see


<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VCard>


for details.)


So I created a new .vcf with the data in your screen shot, including the X-ABOrder property, and imported it. Sure enough, it displayed the issue you're complaining of. Same .vcf, no X-ABOrder property, no problem.


Consequently, it seems to me that the behaviour you described is caused by the X-ABOrder property. How is the value for this property entered or edited? I have no clue, I'm not an Adress Book expert.


As to solving your problem, I noticed that the X-ABOrder property is not included if the card is exported in vCard v2.1 format. So, the solution I suggest is, change the vCard format to 2.1, export all your contacts to a file, then import them back. An alternative solution is keep to vCard 3.0, export all contacts to a file, then open the file with a text editor (eg, TextWrangler) and delete all lines containing the "X-ABOrder" string, save, then import back. (In BBEdit, TextWrangler's elder brother, this is trivial.)


Whatever solution you choose, make sure, (a) to make a backup first, in case something goes wrong, and, (b) to test it first on a few contacts, then, if it works, apply it to all.


HTH

Reply

Feb 20, 2012 6:02 PM in response to boink boink

@boink boink


Nope, I have an iPhone 3GS which is set to "Firstname / Lastname" list display but is sorted by Lastname and everything is correct on the iPhone. I sync the iPhone with Gmail Contacts which displays in the "Lastname / Firstname" format, however, the sync does not change the way the list is displayed in the iPhone (remains "Firstname / Lastname").

Reply

Address Book Contact Card does not display First/Last Name properly

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.