MacOS – How to remove AddressBook book-like interface or enable debug menu

There is a better way to do this. The IT department at my company maintains a disk image with all of the settings in place they need to administer the Macs when they are received-including software in place registered with site licenses. They open the Macs and simply replace what's on the hard drive with the disk image.

Scripting is a logical path, but scripting System Preferences is a real bear because you have to go with GUI Scripting which is rife with problems, the least of which trying to decipher UIElementInspector to get what you need.

First, the database file is ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/*.abcddb (with abcddb meaning Address Book CoreData database). The files in ~/Library/Application Support/AddressBook/Metadata have extensions like .abcdp (Address Book CoreData person) and .abcdg (Address Book CoreData group). The metadata files can serve as a backup if the .abcddb goes bad or missing. So if you want to restore those abcdp files, you need to:

1. Back up your Address Book data
2. Quit all applications
3. Move, rename, or delete the .abcddb file mentioned above
4. Put the abcdp files into the Metadata subdirectory listed above
5. Launch Address Book.app
6. Select and drag the contacts out to save them in one or more vCard files
7. Restore your Address Book backup created in step 1
8. Import the vCard(s) created in step 6

If you need any help or clarification on this technique, please leave a comment. I hope this works for you!