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TICKET ARCHIVE -> How to Share Address Book Among Accounts
billyboy - Aug 3, 2005 - 4:30 pm
When I got my new Mac Mini (OS 10.4) I set up the main Account as an Administrator account for myself and created an address list for the Mail program which works fine
Recently I added a Standard (and less complex) account for my wife. I find that when logged in to her account she can send, receive, and view email the same as I can and that's as I would like it. However her address book is empty.
How can I give her access to our common address book? Do I have to make and maintain a seperate copy in her Account? If so, how do I perform the copy?
Thanks.....billyboy
Recently I added a Standard (and less complex) account for my wife. I find that when logged in to her account she can send, receive, and view email the same as I can and that's as I would like it. However her address book is empty.
How can I give her access to our common address book? Do I have to make and maintain a seperate copy in her Account? If so, how do I perform the copy?
Thanks.....billyboy
earthsaver - Aug 3, 2005 - 6:51 pm
You can move your AddressBook folder from Home/Library/Application Support to /Users/Shared/Library/Application Support. Then, both of you will have equal access to the Address Book.
Keep in mind that you created that distribution list in Address Book, not in Mail.
- Ben
Keep in mind that you created that distribution list in Address Book, not in Mail.
- Ben
billyboy - Aug 4, 2005 - 2:10 pm
Thanks, Ben, for the prompt response.
Your proposed solution seems plausible enough. Unfortunately I have not yet been able to get it to work. I suppose that the devil is in the details.
When I prepare to move the AddressBook folder into the Users\Shared folder I find that that folder does not contain the two subfolders Library and Application Support that you mention. So I create those folders (initially empty) and move the AddressBook into the lower level one. Now I find that AddressBook does not work with Mail in either my wife's or my accounts.
I also tried moving AddressBook directly under the Users\Shared folder and that didn't work either.
What am I doing wrong?
Billyboy.......
Your proposed solution seems plausible enough. Unfortunately I have not yet been able to get it to work. I suppose that the devil is in the details.
When I prepare to move the AddressBook folder into the Users\Shared folder I find that that folder does not contain the two subfolders Library and Application Support that you mention. So I create those folders (initially empty) and move the AddressBook into the lower level one. Now I find that AddressBook does not work with Mail in either my wife's or my accounts.
I also tried moving AddressBook directly under the Users\Shared folder and that didn't work either.
What am I doing wrong?
Billyboy.......
earthsaver - Aug 4, 2005 - 2:24 pm
Perhaps I missed a most important step. I found a related hint on Mac OS X Hints which clarified that you probably need to create a symbolic link (like an alias) to direct each user's Address Book to the location of the AddressBook folder in Users/Shared.
To do this, use Terminal (in the Utilities folder) and enter the following code:
ln -s /Users/Shared/AddressBook ~/Library/Application\ Support/AddressBook
(Press Return at the end of the line to perform the operation.) You'll find what looks and appears to the Finder as an alias in Application Support. In a deeper way, though, it is hard linked to the AddressBook folder you put in Shared. Enter the above command separately while logged into your wife's account.
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- Ben
To do this, use Terminal (in the Utilities folder) and enter the following code:
ln -s /Users/Shared/AddressBook ~/Library/Application\ Support/AddressBook
(Press Return at the end of the line to perform the operation.) You'll find what looks and appears to the Finder as an alias in Application Support. In a deeper way, though, it is hard linked to the AddressBook folder you put in Shared. Enter the above command separately while logged into your wife's account.
--------
- Ben
earthsaver - Aug 4, 2005 - 2:34 pm
If it still doesn't work, then it's a permissions issue. The solution is to create a disk image in an place on your hard disk accessible to both of you. Use Disk Utility to make it; it needs to be read/write and sized large enough for your current Address Book and then some. (50 MB should be more than enough, but take a look in the Finder at the size of the AddressBook folder to make the right judgment.)
After you've created the image, mount it and get info on the mounted disk. Tell the Finder to ignore ownership and permissions. Use the symbolic link creation command in Terminal to point each user to the AddressBook folder, which you've moved to the mounted disk image. Make sure also to put the image in each user's Login Items.
- Ben
After you've created the image, mount it and get info on the mounted disk. Tell the Finder to ignore ownership and permissions. Use the symbolic link creation command in Terminal to point each user to the AddressBook folder, which you've moved to the mounted disk image. Make sure also to put the image in each user's Login Items.
- Ben
billyboy - Aug 4, 2005 - 4:43 pm
I seem to be getting closer, but am not there yet. After finding that Terminal is finicky about needing "ln" instead of "In" and that it closely examines spaces I couldn't get it to accept the command line exactly as you had sent it--always comming back with "no such file or directory" with respect to the Application\Support entry. I find that in my original Home/Library folder the file is labled "Application Support" (with a space). In the command, I've tried closing up the space, leaving it there, using your backspace, and using a "_". Terminal wouldn't accept any of them.
Any suggestions?
Billyboy....
Any suggestions?
Billyboy....
earthsaver - Aug 4, 2005 - 5:00 pm
First of all, "ln" is the lowercase of "LN." That said, to tell Terminal a path that contains a space, a backslash needs to precede the space, not replace it. So, the folder Application Support would be represented as
Application\ Support
If it's easier, instead of manually typing the whole path, just drag the Application Support folder and the Shared/AddressBook folder, respectively, from the Finder into the Terminal window.
- Ben
Application\ Support
If it's easier, instead of manually typing the whole path, just drag the Application Support folder and the Shared/AddressBook folder, respectively, from the Finder into the Terminal window.
- Ben
billyboy - Aug 4, 2005 - 7:41 pm
Sorry to be such a Klutz, Ben, but what is it about these machines that the more you learn the more you find ot that you don't know.
I'm getting to old for this sort of thing (passed 84 yesterday).
After I finally got Terminal to listen to me (mostly by getting all the spaces in the right place) things worked as you had promised and I still had access to my AddressBook from my mail account. I then went through the same procedure in my wife's account (fleda) but I still couldn't access AddrssBook from her Mail account.
I'm not sure I want to undertake the more involved "disk image" route of your second suggestion. I think that it might be easier just to let her use my account and hope for the best that she won't screw it up.
As one further attempt, however, let me see if I have a fairly clear understanding of where we want to be--as opposed to the "do this", "do that" approach. In my bumbling around I may have left some files that should not be there.
When I log in under my name (william evans, an Administrator account) I find 6 entries totaling 465 KB under Users/Shared/AddressBook. One of these entries is a 4KB file labled AddressBook that is an alias pointing to Users/Shared/AddressBook.
Under Users/williamevans/Library/Application Support/ I find a 4KB Alias named AddressBook and pointing to Users/Shared/AddressBook
I get into trouble when I go to Users/fleda/Library (fleda is my wife's name). There the Library folder icon bears a small "-" inside a red circle and I can't go deeper via the flippy triangle.
I thought as Administator I was supposed to have access to everything??
I'm afraid to log out now and back in under her account to check what is in her Library lest I loose this thread.
Have I given you any more clues?
I'm getting to old for this sort of thing (passed 84 yesterday).
After I finally got Terminal to listen to me (mostly by getting all the spaces in the right place) things worked as you had promised and I still had access to my AddressBook from my mail account. I then went through the same procedure in my wife's account (fleda) but I still couldn't access AddrssBook from her Mail account.
I'm not sure I want to undertake the more involved "disk image" route of your second suggestion. I think that it might be easier just to let her use my account and hope for the best that she won't screw it up.
As one further attempt, however, let me see if I have a fairly clear understanding of where we want to be--as opposed to the "do this", "do that" approach. In my bumbling around I may have left some files that should not be there.
When I log in under my name (william evans, an Administrator account) I find 6 entries totaling 465 KB under Users/Shared/AddressBook. One of these entries is a 4KB file labled AddressBook that is an alias pointing to Users/Shared/AddressBook.
Under Users/williamevans/Library/Application Support/ I find a 4KB Alias named AddressBook and pointing to Users/Shared/AddressBook
I get into trouble when I go to Users/fleda/Library (fleda is my wife's name). There the Library folder icon bears a small "-" inside a red circle and I can't go deeper via the flippy triangle.
I thought as Administator I was supposed to have access to everything??
I'm afraid to log out now and back in under her account to check what is in her Library lest I loose this thread.
Have I given you any more clues?
billyboy - Aug 4, 2005 - 7:57 pm
After submitting my last episode I Logged in to fleda's account and looked under her Users/fleda/Library folder and found Applicaton Support/AddressBook, an 80KB folder and under that a 4KB AddressBoook Alias with a red "-" in the lower right of its icon.
earthsaver - Aug 5, 2005 - 12:28 am
First off, as Administrator, you have access to most settings of your system but you don't have permission to weed through other users' files. That is solely a privilege of the "root" or super user. Accessing that user is not made easy for that reason.
Your current scenario sounds to me that you still need to use the symbolic link command in Terminal while logged into Fleda's account. You'll also need to delete her Library/App Support/AddressBook folder (the 80 kB one), so the system doesn't get confused.
You should not have an AddressBook alias inside your own AddressBook folder; it should only appear in each user's Application Support folder and should point to the AddressBook folder in Shared. Again, that "alias" (actually "symbolic link") needs to be created for each user while logged in as that user.
Let me know if Terminal doesn't give you permission to do so for Fleda.
- Ben
Your current scenario sounds to me that you still need to use the symbolic link command in Terminal while logged into Fleda's account. You'll also need to delete her Library/App Support/AddressBook folder (the 80 kB one), so the system doesn't get confused.
You should not have an AddressBook alias inside your own AddressBook folder; it should only appear in each user's Application Support folder and should point to the AddressBook folder in Shared. Again, that "alias" (actually "symbolic link") needs to be created for each user while logged in as that user.
Let me know if Terminal doesn't give you permission to do so for Fleda.
- Ben
billyboy - Aug 5, 2005 - 2:47 pm
First, I found that if I log in under Fleda'sa account and then Use AddressBook to create a card for one of her friends, then her account contains Library and Application Support folders where I'm almost sure none existed before.
Then, while still logged in under her name I launched Terminal and attempted to create a "symbolic link" by runing the "ln" command string that you gave me. It came back with:
ln: illegal option --/
followed by a usage: listing
What is it trying to tell me?
Billyboy
Then, while still logged in under her name I launched Terminal and attempted to create a "symbolic link" by runing the "ln" command string that you gave me. It came back with:
ln: illegal option --/
followed by a usage: listing
What is it trying to tell me?
Billyboy
earthsaver - Aug 5, 2005 - 3:19 pm
In UNIX, command options are designated by a hyphen preceding a letter. Did you perhaps use a hyphen instead of a tilde when entering the command in this case?
- Ben
- Ben
billyboy - Aug 5, 2005 - 3:42 pm
No, I'm sure I didn't. I Typed the command in twice to be sure.
billyboy
billyboy
earthsaver - Aug 5, 2005 - 3:46 pm
Hmm. The error doesn't seem to refer to a problem with user permission, however try preceding the command with "sudo" (no quotes), and when requested enter your administrative password. See if that does the trick.
I think this might be where we could get stuck anyway because there are permissions problems even with the Shared Users folder; that's why the hint suggested using a disk image instead.
- Ben
I think this might be where we could get stuck anyway because there are permissions problems even with the Shared Users folder; that's why the hint suggested using a disk image instead.
- Ben
billyboy - Aug 5, 2005 - 4:43 pm
When I tried the "sudo" route it came back with:
fleda is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
william-evans-mac-mini: ~fleda$ postdrop: warning: unable to look up public/pickup: no such file or directory.
Ben, I think that we should just abandon this chase. I thought I had said goodbye to the world of arcane typed commands over ten years ago when I abandoned DOS and joined the Mac clan. Now that I have been spoiled I am reluctant at my age to start down that road again. I know that it just leads deeper and deeper into the woods. If the multi-account file-sharing feature can't be configured by simple drag-and-drop methods then I'm just not interested in using it.
Why did we need to use UNIX to create the symbolic links? Why would't a simple Mac alias do the trick?
Billyboy...
fleda is not in the sudoers file. This incident will be reported.
william-evans-mac-mini: ~fleda$ postdrop: warning: unable to look up public/pickup: no such file or directory.
Ben, I think that we should just abandon this chase. I thought I had said goodbye to the world of arcane typed commands over ten years ago when I abandoned DOS and joined the Mac clan. Now that I have been spoiled I am reluctant at my age to start down that road again. I know that it just leads deeper and deeper into the woods. If the multi-account file-sharing feature can't be configured by simple drag-and-drop methods then I'm just not interested in using it.
Why did we need to use UNIX to create the symbolic links? Why would't a simple Mac alias do the trick?
Billyboy...
earthsaver - Aug 5, 2005 - 6:32 pm
Wikipedia provides a better definition of the symbolic link than I:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolic_link
In essence, you are creating what looks to the system as a copy of a folder. When interacting with the system, the symbolic link is generally treated as the original item to which it points. In terms of aliases, this is a process known as resolving; that is, when an application resolves an alias, it performs an action on the original to which the alias points. However, aliases are not always resolved; symbolic links are.
However, we are still left in a position in which Freda doesn't have the same privileges to access the AddressBook folder in Users/Shared as do you. Therefore, the disk image trick (with permissions ignored) is the easiest way to proceed, as I imagine you don't have a separate partition available on your hard disk to serve the same purpose. Again, I don't think the disk image process will be as difficult to put together as was the UNIX experience. I apologize for that.
(By the way, I too grew up on DOS and was thrilled to find Macintosh, only to be thoroughly disappointed when I later came in contact with Windows. I continue to find joy only on the Mac side.)
Are you ready to proceed?
- Ben
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbolic_link
In essence, you are creating what looks to the system as a copy of a folder. When interacting with the system, the symbolic link is generally treated as the original item to which it points. In terms of aliases, this is a process known as resolving; that is, when an application resolves an alias, it performs an action on the original to which the alias points. However, aliases are not always resolved; symbolic links are.
However, we are still left in a position in which Freda doesn't have the same privileges to access the AddressBook folder in Users/Shared as do you. Therefore, the disk image trick (with permissions ignored) is the easiest way to proceed, as I imagine you don't have a separate partition available on your hard disk to serve the same purpose. Again, I don't think the disk image process will be as difficult to put together as was the UNIX experience. I apologize for that.
(By the way, I too grew up on DOS and was thrilled to find Macintosh, only to be thoroughly disappointed when I later came in contact with Windows. I continue to find joy only on the Mac side.)
Are you ready to proceed?
- Ben
billyboy - Aug 5, 2005 - 7:20 pm
No, let's just let it die. But thanks very much for your efforts.
In the meantime, I tried making a copy of the 490K AddressBook folder from the Shared account and moving it (via iDisk) into Fleda's Library/Application Support folder. That didn't work either.
Billyoy.......
In the meantime, I tried making a copy of the 490K AddressBook folder from the Shared account and moving it (via iDisk) into Fleda's Library/Application Support folder. That didn't work either.
Billyoy.......
earthsaver - Aug 5, 2005 - 7:56 pm
Do you both have .Mac accounts?
- Ben
- Ben
billyboy - Aug 5, 2005 - 8:24 pm
I don't think so. I just signed up for one but iDisk appeared to work OK in her account. Maybe it was just from a local copy. I'm not yet comfortable with iDisk.
billyboy - Aug 6, 2005 - 4:26 pm
Today I have good news to report.
Last night a distant relative (My sister-in-law's grandson) was here. Knowing that he was a programmer I had him read the thread of our recent exchanges.
He picked up where you left off and with a few quick Unix keystrokes was able to get me into business. It all went so fast that I couldn't really tell you what he did but it involved logging in as a super user, altering some of the Permissions, then completing the soft links that you had started. I could see that it would have taken me a very long time to do the same thing via email coaching alone.
My suggestion is that the next time you encounter a similiar challenge, first warn the user what is in store for him, then proceed only if he seems sufficiently patient and technically proficent.
In any event, thanks a lot for your help. I learned a lot--more than I really want to know--but at leas we can now enjoy our shared AddressBook.
billyboy.....
Last night a distant relative (My sister-in-law's grandson) was here. Knowing that he was a programmer I had him read the thread of our recent exchanges.
He picked up where you left off and with a few quick Unix keystrokes was able to get me into business. It all went so fast that I couldn't really tell you what he did but it involved logging in as a super user, altering some of the Permissions, then completing the soft links that you had started. I could see that it would have taken me a very long time to do the same thing via email coaching alone.
My suggestion is that the next time you encounter a similiar challenge, first warn the user what is in store for him, then proceed only if he seems sufficiently patient and technically proficent.
In any event, thanks a lot for your help. I learned a lot--more than I really want to know--but at leas we can now enjoy our shared AddressBook.
billyboy.....
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