How to backup contacts to Google from Samsung devices which don't export vcf file?

Most of the contacts backup apps lack one feature or the other e.g. they don't backup high resolution photo when creating .vcf file. So I prefer CLI method to extract contacts data directly from database file using some scripting, but it requires root. That's how I do scheduled back up of my contacts without Google account.

The following script doesn't save Google sync account information to .vcf file but you can extend the script to include/exclude any data if the concept is perceived.

Original credits to dump-contacts2db.sh.

#!/system/bin/bash -e



# dumps following fields of contacts from Android's sqlite database to vcf:

# Name, Phone Number, Email, Address, Photo, Title, Organization, Notes, Website

# required binaries: sqlite3, base64, xxd (all included with Android)



# contacts directory, database file and photos directory

CONT_PROVIDER='/data/user/0/com.android.providers.contacts'

DB="$CONT_PROVIDER/databases/contacts2.db"

PHOTO_DIR="$CONT_PROVIDER/files/photos"



# vcf file

VCF="/data/media/0/contacts_$(date '+%d-%b-%y_%H-%M-%S').vcf"



# delete backup file if error occurs

trap '[ $? -eq 0 ] || rm -f $VCF' EXIT



GEN_VCARD()

{



 # skip blank contact for first time


 [ -n "$name" ] || return 0




 # count number of contacts


 n=$((n+1))




 vcard="${
name
}
${
tel
}
${
adr
}
${
email
}
${
url
}
${
note
}
${
org
}
${
title
}
${
photo
}
"


 vcard="BEGIN:VCARD"$'\n'"VERSION:3.0"$'\n'"${
vcard
}
""END:VCARD"


 echo "$vcard" >>$VCF


 echo >>$VCF


}




# fetch contacts data from different columns of 'view_entities' table of contacts sqlite database

ROWS="$(

sqlite3 $DB "

SELECT


 view_entities._id, view_entities.mimetype_id, view_entities.data1, view_entities.data2, view_entities.data3,


 view_entities.data4, view_entities.data5, view_entities.data6, quote(view_entities.data15), view_entities.photo_uri

FROM view_entities

WHERE view_entities.deleted = 0

ORDER BY view_entities._id, view_entities.mimetype_id

")"



# to parse rows

IFS=$'\n'



# iterate through contacts data rows

for ROW in $ROWS

do


 # to parse columns from a row


 IFS="|"


 i=0




 # iterate through columns


 for COL in $ROW


 do


  i=$((i+1))




  # data included in each column


  case $i in


1)  # Contact ID


 id=$COL;;




2)  # Mime Type ID


 mime_id=$COL;;




3)  # Phone Number, Website, Email, Notes, Address, Organization


 data=$COL;;




4)  # Type ID of Phone No. / Email / Address, First Name


 first_name=$COL; type_id=$COL;;




5)  # Name of Custom Phone No. Type / Email Type / Address Type, Last Name


 last_name=$COL; type=$COL;;




6)  # Name Prefix, Title


 name_prefix=$COL; tytle=$COL;;




7)  # Middle Name


 middle_name=$COL;;




8)  # Name Suffix


 name_suffix=$COL;;




9)  # Photo thumbnail hex data


 photo_hex=$COL;;




10) # Full resolution Photo URI


 photo_uri=$COL;;


  esac


 done




 # start new contact when all rows of same contact ID are parsed


 if [ "$prev_id" != "$id" ]


 then


  # echo current vcard prior to resetting variables


  GEN_VCARD




  # init new vcard


  for i in name tel adr email url note photo org title; do eval "$i=''"; done


 fi




 # add current row to current vcard, 'mimetype' determines data type on every row


 case $mime_id in


  1)


# Email


case $type_id in


 0)  email_type=X-$type;;


 1)  email_type=HOME;;


 2)  email_type=WORK;;


 3)  email_type="";;


 4)  email_type=CELL;;


 *)  echo "Unknown email type of '$data'" >&2; exit 1;;


esac




email=$email'EMAIL;TYPE='$email_type':'$data$'\n';;




  4)


# Organization, Title


org='ORG:'$data$'\n'


title='TITLE:'$tytle$'\n';;


  5)


# Phone No.


case $type_id in


 0)  tel_type=X-$type;;


 1)  tel_type=HOME;;


 2)  tel_type=CELL;;


 3)  tel_type=WORK;;


 7)  tel_type=VOICE;;


 12) tel_type=PREF;;


 *)  echo "Unknown phone no. type of '$data'" >&2; exit 1;;


esac




tel=$tel'TEL;TYPE='$tel_type':'$data$'\n';;




  7)


# Name


name="$name_prefix $first_name $middle_name $last_name $name_suffix"




# remove leading/trailing spaces


IFS=' ' read name <<<"$name"




# always add complete name as First Name


name="N:;"$name";;;"$'\n'"FN:"$name$'\n';;


  8)


# Postal Address


case $type_id in


 0)  adr_type=X-$type;;


 1)  adr_type=HOME;;


 2)  adr_type=WORK;;


 *)  echo "Unknown address type of '$data'" >&2; exit 1;;


esac




adr=$adr'ADR;TYPE='$adr_type':;;'$data';;;;'$'\n';;




  10)


# Photo


if [ $photo_hex != "NULL" ]


then


 # look for high-resolution photo instead of thumbnail


 uri=$(echo $photo_uri | sed 's|content://com.android.contacts/display_photo|'"$PHOTO_DIR"'|')


 if [ -f $uri ]


 then


  # convert binary to base64


  foto="$(base64 -w 0 $uri)"


 else


  # remove prefix/suffix from hex output, convert hex to binary to base64


  foto=$(echo $photo_hex | sed "s/^X'//; s/'$//" | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]' | xxd -pr | base64 -w 0)


 fi




 photo="PHOTO;ENCODING=BASE64;JPEG:"$foto$'\n'


fi;;




  12)


# Note


note="NOTE:"$data$'\n';;




  14)


# Website


url=$url"URL:"$data$'\n';;




  *)  echo "Unknown mime type: '$(sqlite3 $DB "SELECT view_entities.mimetype FROM view_entities WHERE view_entities.mimetype_id = $mime_id" | head -n1)'" >&2; exit 1;;




 esac




 # preserve current ID to compare with next row


 prev_id=$id




 # reset IFS for parent loop to parse rows


 IFS=$'\n'

done



# echo last vcard, loop is done

GEN_VCARD



echo "Backed up $n contacts."

If you prefer GUI or don't have root, you can use some app like Contacts VCF.