Symbian: Is it possible to get access to a list of contacts through an application?

There are at least two ways that I know of to write a Symbian application: 1. J2ME 2. A native application.

My question is, does the SDK/API for either of those methods (or any other method) grant me (at least) read-only access to contact information (names/numbers/etc) on the phone itself? Does this in any way depend on the specific phone being used?

From stackoverflow

• In C++, you can use e.g. the Contacts Model API. There's an example in Forum Nokia.

  In J2ME, you need to be working on a phone that has JSR-75. Again, there's an example in Forum Nokia.

  AlexeyMK : Thanks - what % of the existing Nokia smartphones is this available for? The Contacts Model API looks like it's S60 only, and JSR-75 looks like it's for PDAs. Are these technologies also applicable for lower-end/older nokia phones?

  Mark Wilcox : You asked specifically about Symbian :-) All Nokia Smartphones are S60 apart from a few legacy ones on S80, they're all Symbian anyway and the Contacts Model is there. JSR-75 has two components, File Connection and PIM access. Unfortunately I think the latter part is relatively rare on low-end devices.

  laalto : @AlexeyMK: The Contacts Model API is a Symbian API so it is not restricted to S60 only. JSR-75 is supported on practically all recent devices. I'll add details to my answer, the URL is practically too long to include here.

  AlexeyMK : Thanks guys. I should have been specific - I'm interested in specifically lower-end devices such as those most in use in the developing world - India, CIS states, etc.

• Don't forget, as well as native C++ and J2ME (MIDP), you have:

  • Python (Example of Contacts access)
  • Flash Lite (Example of contacts access)
  • Widgets (Example of contacts access)

  If you are thinking about lower-end devices which are often S40 devices, MIDP is probably your best bet however.

• Open the default contact database using CContactDatabase::OpenL(). use thus returned database object in TContactIter::NextL() in a loop to fetch the IDs of every contact in the contact book.

  ardsrk : Dude try adding some more detail to your answer. It would really help others too