vCard
Filename extension |
.vcf, .vcard |
---|---|
Internet media type |
text/vcard |
Type code | vCrd |
Uniform Type Identifier (UTI) | public.vcard |
Developed by | Internet Mail Consortium |
Type of format | electronic business card |
Container for | contact information |
vCard is a file format standard for electronic business cards. vCards are often attached to e-mail messages, but can be exchanged in other ways, such as on the World Wide Web or instant messaging. They can contain name and address information, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses, URLs, logos, photographs, and audio clips.
Media type
The standard Internet media type (MIME type) for a vCard is:[1]
- text/vcard
As of version 4.0 specification, other media types known to have been used previously are now deprecated, including:[1]
- text/x-vcard
- text/directory;profile=vCard
- text/directory
Example vCard files
The following is an example of a vCard file containing information for one person:
vCard 2.1
BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:2.1 N:Gump;Forrest FN:Forrest Gump ORG:Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. TITLE:Shrimp Man PHOTO;GIF:http://www.example.com/dir_photos/my_photo.gif TEL;WORK;VOICE:(111) 555-1212 TEL;HOME;VOICE:(404) 555-1212 ADR;WORK:;;100 Waters Edge;Baytown;LA;30314;United States of America LABEL;WORK;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:100 Waters Edge=0D=0ABaytown, LA 30314=0D=0AUnited States of America ADR;HOME:;;42 Plantation St.;Baytown;LA;30314;United States of America LABEL;HOME;ENCODING=QUOTED-PRINTABLE:42 Plantation St.=0D=0ABaytown, LA 30314=0D=0AUnited States of America EMAIL;PREF;INTERNET:forrestgump@example.com REV:20080424T195243Z END:VCARD
vCard 3.0
BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:3.0 N:Gump;Forrest;;Mr. FN:Forrest Gump ORG:Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. TITLE:Shrimp Man PHOTO;VALUE=URL;TYPE=GIF:http://www.example.com/dir_photos/my_photo.gif TEL;TYPE=WORK,VOICE:(111) 555-1212 TEL;TYPE=HOME,VOICE:(404) 555-1212 ADR;TYPE=WORK:;;100 Waters Edge;Baytown;LA;30314;United States of America LABEL;TYPE=WORK:100 Waters Edge\nBaytown\, LA 30314\nUnited States of Ameri ca ADR;TYPE=HOME:;;42 Plantation St.;Baytown;LA;30314;United States of America LABEL;TYPE=HOME:42 Plantation St.\nBaytown\, LA 30314\nUnited States of Ame rica EMAIL;TYPE=PREF,INTERNET:forrestgump@example.com REV:2008-04-24T19:52:43Z END:VCARD
vCard 4.0
BEGIN:VCARD VERSION:4.0 N:Gump;Forrest;;; FN:Forrest Gump ORG:Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. TITLE:Shrimp Man PHOTO;MEDIATYPE=image/gif:http://www.example.com/dir_photos/my_photo.gif TEL;TYPE=work,voice;VALUE=uri:tel:+11115551212 TEL;TYPE=home,voice;VALUE=uri:tel:+14045551212 ADR;TYPE=work;LABEL="100 Waters Edge\nBaytown, LA 30314\nUnited States of A merica":;;100 Waters Edge;Baytown;LA;30314;United States of America ADR;TYPE=home;LABEL="42 Plantation St.\nBaytown, LA 30314\nUnited States of America":;;42 Plantation St.;Baytown;LA;30314;United States of America EMAIL:forrestgump@example.com REV:20080424T195243Z END:VCARD
xCard
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<vcards xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:vcard-4.0">
<vcard>
<tel>
<parameters>
<type>
<text>work</text>
</type>
</parameters>
<uri>tel:+1-111-555-1212</uri>
</tel>
<adr>
<parameters>
<type><text>work</text></type>
<label><text>100 Waters Edge
Baytown, LA 30314
United States of America</text></label>
</parameters>
</adr>
<email><text>forrestgump@example.com</text></email>
</vcard>
</vcards>
jCard
["vcard",
[
["version", {}, "text", "4.0"],
["n", {}, "text", ["Gump", "Forrest", "", "", ""]],
["fn", {}, "text", "Forrest Gump"],
["org", {}, "text", "Bubba Gump Shrimp Co"],
["title", {} ,"text", "Shrimp Man"],
["photo", {"mediatype":"image/gif"}, "uri", "http://www.example.com/dir_photos/my_photo.gif"],
["tel", {"type":["work", "voice"]}, "uri", "tel:+1-111-555-1212"],
["tel", {"type":["home", "voice"]}, "uri", "tel:+1-404-555-1212"],
["adr",
{"label":"100 Waters Edge\nBaytown, LA 30314\nUnited States of America", "type":"work"},
"text",
["", "", "100 Waters Edge", "Baytown", "LA", "30314", "United States of America"]
],
["adr",
{"label":"42 Plantation St.\nBaytown, LA 30314\nUnited States of America", "type":"home"},
"text",
["", "", "42 Plantation St.", "Baytown", "LA", "30314", "United States of America"]
],
["email", {}, "text", "forrestgump@example.com"],
["rev", {}, "timestamp", "2008-04-24T19:52:43Z"]
]
]
hCard 1.0
hCard is a microformat that allows a vCard to be embedded inside an HTML page. It makes use of CSS class names to identify each vCard property. Normal HTML markup and CSS styling can be used alongside the hCard class names without affecting the webpage's ability to be parsed by a hCard parser.
<html>
<head>
<link rel="profile" href="http://microformats.org/profile/hcard" />
</head>
<body>
<div class="vcard">
<img class="photo" src="http://www.example.com/dir_photos/my_photo.gif" align="left" />
<h1 class="fn">Forrest Gump</h1>
<div class="email">
<span class="type">Internet</span> Email (<span class="type">pref</span>erred):
<a class="value" href="mailto:forrestgump@example.com">forrestgump@example.com</a>
</div>
<div class="n">
First Name: <span class="given-name">Forrest</span><br>
Last Name: <span class="family-name">Gump</span>
</div>
<div class="label" style="display:none">
<span class="type">home</span>
42 Plantation St.<br>Baytown, LA 30314<br>United States of America
</div>
<div class="adr">
<span class="type">Home</span> Address:<br>
<span class="street-address">42 Plantation St.</span><br>
<span class="locality">Baytown</span>, <span class="region">LA</span>
<span class="postal-code">30314</span><br>
<span class="country-name">United States of America</span>
</div>
<div class="tel">
<abbr class="type" title="voice"></abbr>
<span class="type">Home</span> Phone: <span class="value">+1-111-555-1212</span>
</div>
<div>
Organization: <span class="org">Bubba Gump Shrimp Co.</span><br>
Title: <span class="title">Shrimp Man</span>
</div>
<div class="label" style="display:none">
<span class="type">work</span>
100 Waters Edge<br>Baytown, LA 30314<br>United States of America
</div>
<div class="adr">
<span class="type">Work</span> Address:<br>
<span class="street-address">100 Waters Edge</span><br>
<span class="locality">Baytown</span>, <span class="region">LA</span>
<span class="postal-code">30314</span><br>
<span class="country-name">United States of America</span>
</div>
<div class="tel">
<abbr class="type" title="voice"></abbr>
<span class="type">Work</span> Phone: <span class="value">+1-404-555-1212</span>
</div>
<em>vCard last updated:</em>
<time class="rev" datetime="2008-04-24T19:52:43Z">April 24, 2008 at 7:52 PM GMT</time>
</div>
</body>
</html>
h-card
h-card is the microformats2 update to hCard. [2][3]
Properties
vCard defines the following property types.
All vCards begin with BEGIN:VCARD
and end with END:VCARD
. All vCards must contain the VERSION
property, which specifies the vCard version. VERSION
must come immediately after BEGIN
, except in the vCard 2.1 standard, which allows it to be anywhere in the vCard. Otherwise, properties can be defined in any order.
- R = required
- S = supported
- SP = special, supported
- NS = no longer supported as a property but can be used as a parameter inside another property
Name | Versions | Description | Example | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2.1 | 3.0 | 4.0 | |||
ADR | S | S | S | A structured representation of the physical delivery address for the vCard object. | ADR;TYPE=home:;;123 Main St.;Springfield;IL;12345;USA |
AGENT | S | S | Information about another person who will act on behalf of the vCard object. Typically this would be an area administrator, assistant, or secretary for the individual. Can be either a URL or an embedded vCard. | AGENT:http://mi6.gov.uk/007 | |
ANNIVERSARY | S | Defines the person's anniversary. | ANNIVERSARY:19901021 | ||
BDAY | S | S | S | Date of birth of the individual associated with the vCard. | BDAY:19700310 |
BEGIN | R | R | R | All vCards must start with this property. | BEGIN:VCARD |
CALADRURI | S | A URL to use for sending a scheduling request to the person's calendar. | CALADRURI:http://example.com/calendar/jdoe | ||
CALURI | S | A URL to the person's calendar. | CALURI:http://example.com/calendar/jdoe | ||
CATEGORIES | S | S | S | A list of "tags" that can be used to describe the object represented by this vCard. | CATEGORIES:swimmer,biker |
CLASS | S | Describes the sensitivity of the information in the vCard. | CLASS:public | ||
CLIENTPIDMAP | S | Used for synchronizing different revisions of the same vCard. | CLIENTPIDMAP:1;urn:uuid:3df403f4-5924-4bb7-b077-3c711d9eb34b | ||
EMAIL | S | S | S | The address for electronic mail communication with the vCard object. | EMAIL:johndoe@hotmail.com |
END | R | R | R | All vCards must end with this property. | END:VCARD |
FBURL | S | Defines a URL that shows when the person is "free" or "busy" on their calendar. | FBURL:http://example.com/fb/jdoe | ||
FN | S | R | R | The formatted name string associated with the vCard object. | FN:Dr. John Doe |
GENDER | S | Defines the person's gender. | GENDER:F | ||
GEO | S | S | S | Specifies a latitude and longitude. | 2.1, 3.0: GEO:39.95;-75.1667 4.0: GEO:geo:39.95,-75.1667 |
IMPP | SP* | S | Defines an instant messenger handle. * This property was introduced in a separate RFC when the latest vCard version was 3.0. Therefore, 3.0 vCards may use this property, even though it's not part of the 3.0 specifications. | IMPP:aim:johndoe@aol.com | |
KEY | S | S | S | The public encryption key associated with the vCard object. It may point to an external URL, may be plain text, or may be embedded in the vCard as a Base64 encoded block of text. | 2.1: KEY;PGP:http://example.com/key.pgp 2.1: KEY;PGP;ENCODING=BASE64:[base64-data] 3.0: KEY;TYPE=PGP:http://example.com/key.pgp 3.0: KEY;TYPE=PGP;ENCODING=b:[base64-data] 4.0: KEY;MEDIATYPE=application/pgp-keys:http://example.com/key.pgp 4.0: KEY:data:application/pgp-keys;base64,[base64-data] |
KIND | S | Defines the type of entity that this vCard represents: 'application', 'individual, 'group', 'location' or 'organization'; 'x-*' values may be used for experimental purposes.[4][5] | KIND:individual | ||
LABEL | S | S | NS* | Represents the actual text that should be put on the mailing label when delivering a physical package to the person/object associated with the vCard (related to the ADR property).* Not supported in version 4.0. Instead, this information is stored in the LABEL parameter of the ADR property. | LABEL;TYPE=HOME:123 Main St.\nSpringfield, IL 12345\nUSA |
LANG | S | Defines a language that the person speaks. | LANG:fr-CA | ||
LOGO | S | S | S | An image or graphic of the logo of the organization that is associated with the individual to which the vCard belongs. It may point to an external URL or may be embedded in the vCard as a Base64 encoded block of text. | 2.1: LOGO;PNG:http://example.com/logo.png 2.1: LOGO;PNG;ENCODING=BASE64:[base64-data] 3.0: LOGO;TYPE=PNG:http://example.com/logo.png 3.0: LOGO;TYPE=PNG;ENCODING=b:[base64-data] 4.0: LOGO;MEDIATYPE=image/png:http://example.com/logo.png 4.0: LOGO:data:image/png;base64,[base64-data] |
MAILER | S | S | Type of email program used. | MAILER:Thunderbird | |
MEMBER | S | Defines a member that is part of the group that this vCard represents. Acceptable values include:
KIND property must be set to "group" in order to use this property. | MEMBER:urn:uuid:03a0e51f-d1aa-4385-8a53-e29025acd8af | ||
N | R | R | S | A structured representation of the name of the person, place or thing associated with the vCard object. | N:Doe;John;;Dr; |
NAME | S | Provides a textual representation of the SOURCE property. | |||
NICKNAME | S | S | One or more descriptive/familiar names for the object represented by this vCard. | NICKNAME:Jon,Johnny | |
NOTE | S | S | S | Specifies supplemental information or a comment that is associated with the vCard. | NOTE:I am proficient in Tiger-Crane Style,\nand I am more than proficient in the exquisite art of the Samurai sword. |
ORG | S | S | S | The name and optionally the unit(s) of the organization associated with the vCard object. This property is based on the X.520 Organization Name attribute and the X.520 Organization Unit attribute. | ORG:Google;GMail Team;Spam Detection Squad |
PHOTO | S | S | S | An image or photograph of the individual associated with the vCard. It may point to an external URL or may be embedded in the vCard as a Base64 encoded block of text. | 2.1: PHOTO;JPEG:http://example.com/photo.jpg 2.1: PHOTO;JPEG;ENCODING=BASE64:[base64-data] 3.0: PHOTO;TYPE=JPEG:http://example.com/photo.jpg 3.0: PHOTO;TYPE=JPEG;ENCODING=b:[base64-data] 4.0: PHOTO;MEDIATYPE=image/jpeg:http://example.com/photo.jpg 4.0: PHOTO:data:image/jpeg;base64,[base64-data] |
PRODID | S | S | The identifier for the product that created the vCard object. | PRODID:-//ONLINE DIRECTORY//NONSGML Version 1//EN | |
PROFILE | S | S | States that the vCard is a vCard. | PROFILE:VCARD | |
RELATED | S | Another entity that the person is related to. Acceptable values include:
| RELATED;TYPE=friend:urn:uuid:03a0e51f-d1aa-4385-8a53-e29025acd8af | ||
REV | S | S | S | A timestamp for the last time the vCard was updated. | REV:20121201T134211Z |
ROLE | S | S | S | The role, occupation, or business category of the vCard object within an organization. | ROLE:Executive |
SORT-STRING | S | S | NS* | Defines a string that should be used when an application sorts this vCard in some way. * Not supported in version 4.0. Instead, this information is stored in the SORT-AS parameter of the N and/or ORG properties. | SORT-STRING:Doe |
SOUND | S | S | S | By default, if this property is not grouped with other properties it specifies the pronunciation of the FN property of the vCard object. It may point to an external URL or may be embedded in the vCard as a Base64 encoded block of text. | 2.1: SOUND;OGG:http://example.com/sound.ogg 2.1: SOUND;OGG;ENCODING=BASE64:[base64-data] 3.0: SOUND;TYPE=OGG:http://example.com/sound.ogg 3.0: SOUND;TYPE=OGG;ENCODING=b:[base64-data] 4.0: SOUND;MEDIATYPE=audio/ogg:http://example.com/sound.ogg 4.0: SOUND:data:audio/ogg;base64,[base64-data] |
SOURCE | S | S | S | A URL that can be used to get the latest version of this vCard. | SOURCE:http://johndoe.com/vcard.vcf |
TEL | S | S | S | The canonical number string for a telephone number for telephony communication with the vCard object. | TEL;TYPE=cell:(123) 555-5832 |
TITLE | S | S | S | Specifies the job title, functional position or function of the individual associated with the vCard object within an organization. | TITLE:V.P. Research and Development |
TZ | S | S | S | The time zone of the vCard object. | 2.1, 3.0: TZ:-0500 4.0: TZ:America/New_York |
UID | S | S | S | Specifies a value that represents a persistent, globally unique identifier associated with the object. | UID:urn:uuid:da418720-3754-4631-a169-db89a02b831b |
URL | S | S | S | A URL pointing to a website that represents the person in some way. | URL:http://www.johndoe.com |
VERSION | R | R | R | The version of the vCard specification. In versions 3.0 and 4.0, this must come right after the BEGIN property. | VERSION:3.0 |
XML | S | Any XML data that is attached to the vCard. This is used if the vCard was encoded in XML (xCard standard) and the XML document contained elements which are not part of the xCard standard. | XML:<b>Not an xCard XML element</b> | ||
A handful of separate specifications define additional vCard properties.
Name | Specification | Description | Example |
---|---|---|---|
BIRTHPLACE | RFC 6474 | The location of the individual's birth. | BIRTHPLACE;VALUE=text:Maida Vale\, London\, England |
DEATHDATE | RFC 6474 | The individual's time of death. | DEATHDATE:19540607 |
DEATHPLACE | RFC 6474 | The location of the individual death. | DEATHPLACE;VALUE=uri:geo:53.328,-2.229409 |
EXPERTISE | RFC 6715 | A professional subject area that the person has knowledge of. | EXPERTISE;LEVEL=expert:Computer Science |
HOBBY | RFC 6715 | A recreational activity that the person actively engages in. | HOBBY;LEVEL=high:knitting |
IMPP | RFC 4770 | Defines an instant messenger handle. This was added to the official vCard specification in version 4.0. | IMPP:aim:johndoe@aol.com |
INTEREST | RFC 6715 | A recreational activity that the person is interested in, but does not necessarily take part in. | INTEREST;LEVEL=high:baseball |
ORG-DIRECTORY | RFC 6715 | A URI representing the person's work place, which can be used to lookup information on the person's co-workers. | ORG-DIRECTORY:http://www.company.com/employees |
vCard extensions
vCard supports private extensions, with an "X-
" prefix, a number of which are in common usage.
Some of these include:
Extension | Used As | Data | Semantic |
---|---|---|---|
Extensions supported by several different programs. | |||
X-ABUID | property | string | Apple Address Book UUID for that entry |
X-ANNIVERSARY | property | YYYY-MM-DD | arbitrary anniversary (in addition to BDAY , birthday) |
X-ASSISTANT | property | string | assistant name (instead of AGENT ) |
X-MANAGER | property | string | manager name |
X-SPOUSE | property | string | spouse name |
X-GENDER | property | string | value Male or Female |
X-AIM | property | string | Instant Messaging (IM) contact information; TYPE parameter as for TEL |
X-ICQ | property | string | |
X-GOOGLE-TALK, | property | string | |
X-JABBER | property | string | |
X-MSN | property | string | |
X-YAHOO | property | string | |
X-TWITTER | property | string | |
X-SKYPE , X-SKYPE-USERNAME | property | string | |
X-GADUGADU | property | string | |
X-GROUPWISE | property | string | |
X-MS-IMADDRESS | property | string | IM address in VCF attachment from Outlook (right click Contact, Send Full Contact, Internet Format.) |
X-MS-CARDPICTURE | property | string | Works as PHOTO or LOGO . Contains an image of the Card in Outlook. |
X-MS-OL-DESIGN | property | string | Contains XML used by Outlook describing the layout of the information presented as a business card.[6] |
X-PHONETIC-FIRST-NAME , X-PHONETIC-LAST-NAME | property | string | alternative spellings, for assisting with the pronunciation of unfamiliar names |
Introduced and used by Mozilla; used by Evolution (software) | |||
X-MOZILLA-HTML | property | TRUE /FALSE | mail recipient prefers HTML-formatted email |
X-MOZILLA-PROPERTY | property | string | Thunderbird specific settings |
Introduced and used by Evolution (software) | |||
X-EVOLUTION-ANNIVERSARY | property | YYYY-MM-DD | arbitrary anniversary (in addition to BDAY , birthday) |
X-EVOLUTION-ASSISTANT | property | string | assistant name (instead of Agent ) |
X-EVOLUTION-BLOG-URL | property | string/URL | blog URL |
X-EVOLUTION-FILE-AS | property | string | file under different name (in addition to N , name components; and FN , full name) |
X-EVOLUTION-LIST | property | TRUE /FALSE | entry defines a mailing list (e.g. X-EVOLUTION-LIST:TRUE) |
X-EVOLUTION-LIST-SHOW_ADDRESSES | property | TRUE /FALSE | sets whether individual addresses will appear in e-mails sent using a mailing list (e.g. X-EVOLUTION-LIST-SHOW_ADDRESSES:FALSE) |
X-EVOLUTION-MANAGER | property | string | manager name |
X-EVOLUTION-SPOUSE | property | string | spouse name |
X-EVOLUTION-VIDEO-URL | property | string/URL | video chat address |
X-EVOLUTION-CALLBACK | TEL TYPE parameter value | - | callback phone number |
X-EVOLUTION-RADIO | TEL TYPE parameter value | - | radio contact information |
X-EVOLUTION-TELEX | TEL TYPE parameter value | - | Telex contact information |
X-EVOLUTION-TTYTDD | TEL TYPE parameter value | - | TTY TDD contact information |
Introduced and used by Kontact and KAddressBook | |||
X-KADDRESSBOOK-BlogFeed | property | string/URL | blog URL |
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Anniversary | property | ISO date | arbitrary anniversary, in addition to BDAY = birthday |
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-AssistantsName | property | string | assistant name (instead of Agent ) |
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-IMAddress | property | string | im address |
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-ManagersName | property | string | manager name |
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Office | property | string | office description |
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-Profession | property | string | profession |
X-KADDRESSBOOK-X-SpouseName | property | string | spouse name |
Note: The Internet media type text/vcard was used incorrectly in some SyncML documents to refer to vCard 3.0, and the example was followed in various implementations.
See also
References
- 1 2 RFC 6350, section 10.1 "Media Type Registration"
- ↑ Çelik, Tantek (2015-02-18). "h-card". Retrieved 2015-04-05.
- ↑ "microformats 2". 2015-03-13. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
- ↑ "vCard Format Specification: 6.1.4. KIND". IETF. August 2011.
- ↑ "vCard KIND:application". IETF. December 2011.
- ↑ "meaning of X-MS-OL-DESIGN;CHARSET=utf-8:". 2011-05-02. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
External links
- Internet mail Consortium - Personal Data Interchange
- vCard: The Electronic Business Card (Version 2.1) vCard 2.1 specification (Sept-18-1996)
- Representing vCard Objects in RDF, W3C Member Submission 20 January 2010
- vCard implementations notes and bug reports
- vCard proposed errata
- RFC 2425 — A MIME Content-Type for Directory Information
- RFC 2426 — vCard MIME Directory Profile
- RFC 2739 — Calendar Attributes for vCard and LDAP
- RFC 4122 — UUID URN namespace (could be used for UID type)
- RFC 4770 — vCard Extensions for Instant Messaging
- RFC 6350 — vCard Format Specification
- RFC 6351 — xCard: vCard XML Representation
- RFC 6473 — vCard KIND:application
- RFC 6474 — vCard Format Extensions: Place of Birth, Place and Date of Death
- RFC 6715 — vCard Format Extensions: Representing vCard Extensions Defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) Converged Address Book (CAB) Group
- RFC 6868 — Parameter Value Encoding in iCalendar and vCard
- RFC 7095 — jCard: The JSON Format for vCard
- IETF vCardDAV working group
- CSV to vCard contacts file converter
- DFDL schemas for vCard