Tag: API

If you’ve left information in the Address Book in OS X, any other program on the machine can use Cocoa APIs to extract information automatically.

#import <Foundation/Foundation.h>
#import <AddressBook/AddressBook.h>
#import <AppKit/NSWorkspace.h>

void sayHello(void)
{
   ABPerson *currUser = [[ABAddressBook sharedAddressBook] me];
   NSString *firstName = [currUser valueForProperty:kABFirstNameProperty];
   NSString *lastName = [currUser valueForProperty:kABLastNameProperty];
   [[NSWorkspace sharedWorkspace] 
                           openURL:[NSURL URLWithString:
                                                     [NSString stringWithFormat:
                                                     @"http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%@+%@", 
                                                          firstName,
                                                          lastName]]];
}

int main (int argc, const char * argv[])
{
   NSAutoreleasePool *pool = [[NSAutoreleasePool alloc] init];
   sayHello();
   [pool release];
   return 0;
} 

This will take the name labelled as the currently logged in user and hit up Google, placing the first and last name in the search box and run a search with it. Other pieces of information are also accessible via the AddressBook API.

As you can well see, this can be used for many purposes: nifty automagical hacks in the OS’s built-in suite of personal information and communcation apps, for example. But I can think of less beneficial uses for this API. You should be able to trust the programs you run.