| Inherits from | |
| Conforms to | |
| Framework | /System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework |
| Availability | Available in Mac OS X v10.2 and later. |
| Companion guide | |
| Declared in | ABGroup.h |
The ABGroup class supports the concept of a “group” containing one or more persons. People may belong to multiple groups, and groups may also belong to other groups unless the relationship causes a circular reference. The only predefined property of a group is its name. However, similar to person records, you can add your own properties to group records. Groups not only help to organize person records, but also allow you to create email distribution lists.
The ABGroup class is “toll-free bridged” with its procedural C opaque-type counterpart. This means that the ABGroupRef type is interchangeable in function or method calls with instances of the ABGroup class.
Adds the given properties to all records of this type in the Address Book database.
+ (NSInteger)addPropertiesAndTypes:(NSDictionary *)properties
A dictionary of properties to be added and their types.
The number of properties successfully added.
In each dictionary entry, the key is a string with the property’s name, and the value is a constant with the property’s type. The property’s name must be unique. You may want to use Java-style package names for your properties, for example, org.dogclub.dogname or com.mycompany.groupID. The property type must be one of the constants described in “Property Types” in Address Book Objective-C Constants Reference.
ABGroup.h
Returns an array of the names of all the properties for this record type in the Address Book database.
+ (NSArray *)properties
ABGroup.h
Removes the given properties from all the records of this type in the Address Book database.
+ (NSInteger)removeProperties:(NSArray *)properties
An array of the properties to be removed.
The number of properties successfully removed.
ABGroup.h
Returns a search element object that searches for records of this type.
+ (ABSearchElement *)searchElementForProperty:(NSString *)property label:(NSString *)label key:(NSString *)key value:(id)value comparison:(ABSearchComparison)comparison
The name of the property to search on. It cannot be nil. For a full list of the properties, see “Default Record Properties” in Address Book Objective-C Constants Reference and “Default Group Properties” in Address Book Objective-C Constants Reference.
The label name for a multivalue list. If property does not have multiple values, pass nil. If property does have multiple values, pass nil to search all the values. By default, ABGroup records don’t contain any multivalue list properties.
The key name for a dictionary. Pass nil if property is not a dictionary. If property is a dictionary, pass nil to search all keys. By default, ABGroup records don’t contain any properties that are dictionaries.
What you’re searching for. If nil, the only supported value for comparison is kABEqual or kABNotEqual.
The type of comparison to perform and is an ABSearchComparison, such as kABEqual or kABPrefixMatchCaseInsensitive.
+ searchElementForProperty:label:key:value:comparison: (ABPerson)+ searchElementForConjunction:children: (ABSearchElement)– recordsMatchingSearchElement: (ABAddressBook)ABGroup.h
Returns the type for a given property.
+ (ABPropertyType)typeOfProperty:(NSString *)property
The property whose type will be returned.
The property type of property.
If the property does not exist, this method returns kABErrorInProperty.
ABGroup.hAdds a person to a group.
- (BOOL)addMember:(ABPerson *)person
The person record to be added.
YES if successful; otherwise, NO.
If the person argument is already part of the group, this method does nothing and returns NO. If the person argument is nil, this method raises an exception.
ABGroup.hAdds a subgroup to another group.
- (BOOL)addSubgroup:(ABGroup *)group
The group to add as a subgroup.
YES if successful; otherwise, NO.
If the group argument is already part of the receiver, this method does nothing and returns NO. If adding the group would create a recursion, this method also does nothing and returns NO. (For example, if the group Animal Lovers is in Dog Lovers, and you add Dog Lovers to Animal Lovers, that would create a recursion, which this method won’t allow.) If the group argument is nil, this method raises an exception.
ABGroup.hReturns the distribution identifier for the given property and person.
- (NSString *)distributionIdentifierForProperty:(NSString *)property person:(ABPerson *)person
The property whose distribution identifier will be returned.
The person whose distribution identifier will be returned.
The distribution identifier for the given property and person.
If a distribution identifier is not set, this method returns the multivalue’s primary identifier. If either the property or the person argument is nil, this method returns nil. This method also returns nil if property is not a multivalue list property.
Distribution identifiers let you use groups as distribution lists, by indicating which value in a multivalue property should be used when addressing the group. See “Using Address Book Groups as Distribution Lists” for more detailed discussion.
ABGroup.hReturns an array of persons in a group.
- (NSArray *)members
If this group doesn’t contain any people, this method returns an empty array.
ABGroup.hReturns an array containing a group’s parents—that is, the groups that a group belongs to.
- (NSArray *)parentGroups
If this group doesn’t belong to any groups, this method returns an empty array.
ABGroup.hRemoves a person from a group.
- (BOOL)removeMember:(ABPerson *)person
The person to be removed.
YES if successful; otherwise, NO.
If the person argument is not in the group, this method does nothing and returns NO. If person is nil, this method raises an exception.
ABGroup.hRemoves a subgroup from a group.
- (BOOL)removeSubgroup:(ABGroup *)group
The subgroup to be removed.
YES if successful; otherwise, NO.
If the group argument is not a subgroup, this method does nothing and returns NO. If group is nil, this method raises an exception.
ABGroup.hAssigns a specific distribution identifier for a person’s multivalue list property so that the group can be used as a distribution list.
- (BOOL)setDistributionIdentifier:(NSString *)identifier forProperty:(NSString *)property person:(ABPerson *)person
The identifier to be set as the distribution identifier
The property whose distribution identifier will be set.
The person whose distribution identifier will be.
YES if successful; otherwise, NO.
The default distribution identifier is a multivalue list’s primary identifier. If person is nil, this method raises an exception.
Distribution identifiers let you use groups as distribution lists, by indicating which value in a multivalue property should be used when addressing the group. See “Using Address Book Groups as Distribution Lists” for more detailed discussion.
– distributionIdentifierForProperty:person:– setPrimaryIdentifier: (ABMutableMultiValue)ABGroup.hReturns an array containing a group’s subgroups.
- (NSArray *)subgroups
If this group doesn’t contain any groups, this method returns an empty array.
ABGroup.h
Last updated: 2009-07-23
