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How it works

How does it work?

VisualCard supports contacts and calendars.

Contacts

When either a string containing a path to the vCard file (GetCards(string)) or a string containing the vCard content (GetCardsFromString(string)) or a stream containing the vCard content (GetCards(StreamReader)) is passed, VisualCard converts the content to a stream first in case we encounter a large vCard file.

VisualCard then attempts to parse all the lines line by line, but first looks for the vCard header by parsing the property and comparing the property name with BEGIN and the value with VCARD. Each contact file must begin with this header, and each contact in a single file must have the begin and the end tags. Parsing fails if omitted.

After the begin tag is spotted, it looks for the version in the any line of each contact. If the prefix is VERSION and it's either 2.1, 3.0, 4.0, or 5.0, VisualCard appends the card version to the CardVersion property of the parser. VisualCard will then keep adding lines of content until the ending tag is spotted, END:VCARD, parsing it in the same method as parsing the start.

You can specify the version anywhere on vCards that use v2.1 or v3.0 of the specification, but this is forbidden in vCard 4.0 and 5.0.

Once the ending tag is seen, VisualCard creates a new instance of the VcardParser class containing necessary functions to parse the contact, which causes this library to call Parse() on the individual contact parser instance which attempts to process all the keys found in the card content, CardContent.

The parser first checks to see if the card content is not empty to verify that the builder works right. Once these checks were made, the parser processes each key found. In vCard 4.0 and 5.0, VisualCard takes the ALTID for each supported key with their own cardinality into account. The main ALTID for all the properties is -1.

Then, the parser checks the type to see if it is supported by each property type. If the required type is not found, the parser fails. Some of the property types support extra types, such as postal address, IBM Mail e-mail address, and so on.

Once the parser finishes installing all the values from all the supported keys, VisualCard checks for the below requirements:

vCard
Name (N)
Full name (FN)

vCard 2.1

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vCard 3.0

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vCard 4.0

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vCard 5.0

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If the requirements are met, VisualCard returns a new Card instance that you can fetch its values from using one of the following methods:

  • GetPartsArray()

  • GetString()

Spec sheets

Each vCard version comes with its own data specification sheets as defined as Request For Comments (RFCs) defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), except that VisualCard also supports vCard 5.0, which is defined by Aptivi:

Calendars

When either a string containing a path to the vCalendar file (GetCalendars(string)) or a string containing the vCalendar content (GetCalendarsFromString(string)) or a stream containing the vCalendar content (GetCalendars(StreamReader)) is passed, VisualCard converts the content to a stream first in case we encounter a large vCalendar file.

VisualCard then attempts to parse all the lines line by line, but first looks for the vCalendar header at exactly the first line:

BEGIN:VCALENDAR

Each calendar file must begin with the above header, and each contact in a single file must have the begin and the end tags. Parsing fails if omitted.

After the begin tag is spotted, it looks for the version in the root property list before any event, to-do, alarm, free/busy, or journal. If it's either one of:

  • VERSION:1.0

  • VERSION:2.0

VisualCard appends the calendar version to the CalendarVersion property of the parser. VisualCard will then keep adding lines of content until the ending tag is spotted, END:VCALENDAR.

Once the ending tag is seen, VisualCard creates a new instance of the VCalendarParser class containing necessary functions to parse the calendar, which causes this library to call Parse() on the individual calendar parser instance which attempts to process all the keys found in the calendar content, CalendarContent.

The parser first checks to see if the calendar content is not empty to verify that the builder works right. Once these checks were made, the parser processes each key found. Then, the parser checks the type to see if it is supported by each property type. If the required type is not found, the parser fails.

Once the parser finishes installing all the values from all the supported keys, VisualCard checks for the below requirements:

  • Root calendar component (after START:VCALENDAR before any START:VCOMPONENT specifier)

    • PRODID is required in vCalendar v2.0 but not v1.0

  • Events and To-dos (after START:VEVENT or START:VTODO)

    • UID and DTSTAMP properties are required in vCalendar v2.0 but not v1.0

In addition to the above requirements, there are vCalendar 2.0 components that have their own requirements according to the specification:

  • Journals and Free/Busy info (after START:VJOURNAL or START:VFREEBUSY)

    • UID and DTSTAMP properties are required

  • Time zone info (after START:VTIMEZONE before standard/daylight components)

    • TZID is required

  • Standard and daylight info (after START:STANDARD or START:DAYLIGHT)

    • DTSTART is required

    • TZOFFSETFROM and TZOFFSETTO is required

If the requirements are met, VisualCard returns a new Calendar instance that you can fetch its values from using one of the following methods:

  • GetPartsArray()

  • GetInteger()

  • GetString()

Spec sheets

Each vCalendar version comes with its own data specification sheets as defined as Request For Comments (RFCs) defined by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF):

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