dates on addresses (Mac)

[danll]

In Thunderbird, is there any way to trace the DATE an address landed in your address book? I see mysterious addresses there, and I'm wondering if those were put there in the last year or two decades ago.

[morat]

I tried the following commands in command prompt.

Code: Select all

sqlite3.exe abook.sqlite .dump > temp_abook.txt
sqlite3.exe history.sqlite .dump > temp_history.txt

There is a LastModifiedDate value, but not a created date value.

Thunderbird Address Book Formats
http://www.recoverytools.com/blog/thund ... ress-book/

Unix Timestamp
http://www.unixtimestamp.com/

SQLite Downloads
http://www.sqlite.org/download.html

[danll]

Sorry, this is with a Mac. How do I read the sqlite files?

When I do ssqlite3 abook.sqlite .dump > temp_abook.txt my temp_abook.txt file is just

PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
/**** ERROR: (26) file is not a database *****/
ROLLBACK; -- due to errors

[morat]

Is the abook.sqlite file in the current working directory?

[danll]

Yes. I put it on the Desktop and cd'd to Desktop before invoking sqlite3. Was I supposed to keep it in the Library?

[morat]

Sorry, I don't know how to use the ssqlite3 command on Mac.

I get the following output when the input file doesn't exist in the current directory on Windows.

Code: Select all

sqlite3.exe test.sqlite .dump

Output:

PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
COMMIT;

P.S.

I can show the LastModifiedDate value of the selected contact in the address book window using the error console.

Menu Bar > Tools > Developer Tools > Error Console (Ctrl+Shift+J)

Code: Select all

(function () {
  var win = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/appshell/window-mediator;1"].
    getService(Components.interfaces.nsIWindowMediator).
      getMostRecentWindow("mail:addressbook");
  var card = win.gAbView.getCardFromRow(win.gAbView.selection.currentIndex);
  for (var {name, value} of card.properties) {
    if (name == "LastModifiedDate") {
      console.log(name + ": " + value);
    }
  }
})();

[danll]

Well, again, when cd to Desktop, and abook.sqlite is on the Desktop, and I do

sqlite3 abook.sqlite .dump

I get

PRAGMA foreign_keys=OFF;
BEGIN TRANSACTION;
/**** ERROR: (26) file is not a database *****/
ROLLBACK; -- due to errors

I select a contact in the address book, then close the address book window, and go to the Error Console, and I don't see it.

[morat]

Instructions:

* open application
* open address book
* select a contact in address book (do not close the address book window)
* open error console
* paste code into error console, then press enter

If you close the address book window, then the code results in an error because the win variable equals null.

I saw the following output in the error console when I used the code.

LastModifiedDate: 1655395730

Unix Timestamp
http://www.unixtimestamp.com/

[danll]

Unless I close the Address Book, Thunderbird Tools doesn't give me the option of Developer Tools and thereby Error Console. It only allows Import and Export.
As soon as I close the Address Book, those options return. Assuming I could do this, what code do I paste into the error console, and where do I paste that in?

[morat]

In Thunderbird, the Browser Console is called the Error Console.

Browser Console
http://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/ ... index.html

I can open the Main window and Address Book window and Error Console window at the same time on Windows.

Use the Tools menu in the Main window to open the Error Console window, not in the the Address Book window.

i.e. Main window > Menu Bar toolbar > Tools menu > Developer Tools menu > Error Console menu item

Try typing 2+2 after the >> symbol, then press enter. The output should be 4.

Browser Console Command Line
http://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/ ... ndline.png

Paste the above (function () { ... })(); code snippet after the >> symbol, then press enter to run the code snippet.

If you don't see the >> symbol, then check the following pref values in the about:config tab.

* set devtools.chrome.enabled pref to true
* set devtools.debugger.remote-enabled pref to true
* set devtools.debugger.prompt-connection pref to false
* set devtools.inspector.showAllAnonymousContent pref to true

Sorry, I'm not a Mac user. I may be giving you wrong instructions by mistake.

[danll]

OK, I think we just established a fundamental difference between a Mac TB implementation and a Windows TB implementation. On my Monterey Mac, Tools won't let you open the Developer Tools menu when the Address Book is open. Not even with SHIFT-COMMAND-J. In fact, if I open up the Error Console first, I'm not even offered the option of opening the Address Book next. In my Error Console, there is no >>. Nor do I see >> anywhere in http://firefox-source-docs.mozilla.org/ ... index.html.

I think we're just stuck, but thanks for your effort.

[morat]

You're welcome.

I asked a forum moderator to add [Mac] to the thread title. Hopefully, a Mac user will reply.

Maybe you can use a SQLite application to view the database.

SQLite frontend for OS X
http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/15330

DB Browser for SQLite
http://sqlitebrowser.org/

Remember to open a copy of the database so you don't mistakenly corrupt the original.

Edit:

I asked a Mac user for help in a private message.

When I want to use the error console with the Address Book I first open TB, then the error console. Then I return to the main window, open the address book and finally switch back to the error console.