[kaddressbook] [Bug 325186] New: There is no way to merge contacts

[wjl at icecavern.net]

https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=325186

            Bug ID: 325186
           Summary: There is no way to merge contacts
    Classification: Unclassified
           Product: kaddressbook
           Version: 4.10.5
          Platform: Debian unstable
                OS: Linux
            Status: UNCONFIRMED
          Severity: major
          Priority: NOR
         Component: general
          Assignee: kdepim-bugs at kde.org
          Reporter: wjl at icecavern.net
                CC: tokoe at kde.org

KAddressBook in a previous version used to be able to merge contacts. The new
version does not have any way to do this.

Two contacts cannot even be merged manually in any easy way, because only one
contact's details can be displayed and/or edited at a time. So the only way to
do it in KAddressBook is to either print one contact our and re-enter the info
from paper while doing a manual merge, or by juggling the contact editor window
open and closed over and over many times for each piece of information.

Currently, the fastest way I have found to merge contacts is to export as
vCard, merge with a different program, then delete everything in KAddressBook
and reimport the externally merged vCards. This is suboptimal to say the least!

Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1. Create a lot of contacts with names, multiple e-mail addresses, and IM
information  (e.g. imported from an e-mail program).
2. Create a lot more contacts about mostly the same people, but this time with
just names, phone numbers, and mailing address (e.g. imported from another
address book application) 
3. Look for an automatic "find and merge" and don't find it.
4. Try to highlight two contacts and manually select "merge", but see there is
no such feature.
5. Attempt to merge them by hand.
6. (Do this for at least 100 contacts before saying this is no big deal.)
Actual Results:  
There is no feasible way to merge contacts, even by hand. It's easier to use
another program, or even just edit the raw vCards with a text editor.

Expected Results:  
KAddressBook should have at least a way to highlight some contacts and hit
"Merge", which lets you interactive resolve conflicts. Even better would be a
smarter "find and merge" which asks the user if this should be done all fuzzy
matches based on existing names or data.

Kontact is a top-of-the-line program in many respects, but KAddressBook not
handling contact merges well (or really at all) is a disincentive to the import
of a bunch of contact information into the program.

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