iOS contact database not found - potential fix in description

[achalddave]

Thanks for this great tool! I received the following error when using this with the latest version of WhatsApp: "Contact database not found." I think the uuid(?) for the contacts db in whatsapp may have changed.

Changing this line:

WhatsApp-Chat-Exporter/Whatsapp_Chat_Exporter/utility.py

Line 299 in c27f5ee

CONTACT = "b8548dc30aa1030df0ce18ef08b882cf7ab5212f"

from

    CONTACT = "b8548dc30aa1030df0ce18ef08b882cf7ab5212f"

to

    CONTACT = "016df2e52e5bfaa000f98a1dbe5c40cd6dc7f657"

fixed the issue for me. I'm not sure if this is a general fix, so I'm not submitting a PR, but opening this issue in case anyone else runs into it.

[KnugiHK]

I currently don't have access to the latest iOS WhatsApp. Once it has been confirmed, I will make changes to the code. Thanks for your report and the potential fix anyway!

[SvenHerr]

@achalddave how did you know that this is the new db ? i cant find 016df2e52e5bfaa000f98a1dbe5c40cd6dc7f657 with the version 17.2.1

[achalddave]

I'm sure there's a better way, but I went to the path to my Manifest.db, which was in a path like: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/<numbers>/Manifest.db, and then ran:

~ sqlite3 Manifest.db
SQLite version 3.39.5 2022-10-14 20:58:05
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite> select * from files;

This printed a bunch of tables, and I looked for one which said ContactsV2.sqlite, and copied the hash at the start of that line.

[KnugiHK]

I'm sure there's a better way, but I went to the path to my Manifest.db, which was in a path like: ~/Library/Application Support/MobileSync/Backup/<numbers>/Manifest.db, and then ran:

~ sqlite3 Manifest.db
SQLite version 3.39.5 2022-10-14 20:58:05
Enter ".help" for usage hints.
sqlite> select * from files;

This printed a bunch of tables, and I looked for one which said ContactsV2.sqlite, and copied the hash at the start of that line.

This is the correct way to find a file inside an iOS backup.

[SvenHerr]

thank you for your reply. I just looked throu all files with .sqlite and i cant find any db with contacts.

[Rerebla]

I get the same error "Contact database not found". Running the program with the default or the suggested fix results in the same error. I couldn't find any ContactsV2 or anything containing 'contacts' related to WhatsApp (just blockedContacts.dat).

[angelbanderasudg]

@Rerebla The file with blockedContacts.dat was the only one that appeared, but it used it and worked.

After following the steps of searching it with sqlite3, the complete line is this:
4c6a43645ed0557e7ea2ebb662ef8a2c81b505b8|AppDomain-net.whatsapp.WhatsApp|Documents/blockedcontacts.dat|1|bplist00?

You only need the first part: 4c6a43645ed0557e7ea2ebb662ef8a2c81b505b8

The file to modify, like I have the installation of python in the default directory, the path is: /Users/your_username/Library/Python/3.9/lib/python/site-packages/Whatsapp_Chat_Exporter/utility.py

My WhatsApp version is 23.23.79

[roisec]

@angelbanderasudg it's solved the issue but after I have another issue
Unexpected contact format: broadcast

  File "/Users//repos/iphone/lib/python3.11/site-packages/Whatsapp_Chat_Exporter/__main__.py", line 425, in main
    create_html(
  File "/Users//repos/iphone/lib/python3.11/site-packages/Whatsapp_Chat_Exporter/android_handler.py", line 753, in create_html
    safe_file_name, name = get_file_name(contact, chat)
                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users//repos/iphone/lib/python3.11/site-packages/Whatsapp_Chat_Exporter/utility.py", line 141, in get_file_name
    raise ValueError("Unexpected contact format: " + contact)
ValueError: Unexpected contact format: broadcast

[jpfleischer]

please merge @angelbanderasudg 's fix

[KnugiHK]

@angelbanderasudg it's solved the issue but after I have another issue Unexpected contact format: broadcast

  File "/Users//repos/iphone/lib/python3.11/site-packages/Whatsapp_Chat_Exporter/__main__.py", line 425, in main
    create_html(
  File "/Users//repos/iphone/lib/python3.11/site-packages/Whatsapp_Chat_Exporter/android_handler.py", line 753, in create_html
    safe_file_name, name = get_file_name(contact, chat)
                           ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
  File "/Users//repos/iphone/lib/python3.11/site-packages/Whatsapp_Chat_Exporter/utility.py", line 141, in get_file_name
    raise ValueError("Unexpected contact format: " + contact)
ValueError: Unexpected contact format: broadcast

I notice that your handler is for Android. Please open a separate issue for that as this issue exclusively appear in iOS.

[KnugiHK]

A workaround has been implemented in #106.

[KnugiHK]

Potential fix proposed in #109 (comment) by @ReclusiveEagle.

[KnugiHK]

I currently don't have access to the latest iOS WhatsApp. Once it has been confirmed, I will make changes to the code. Thanks for your report and the potential fix anyway!

I created an iOS (17.6.1) backup with WhatsApp 2.24.17.78. I do see the ContactsV2.sqlite file. Not sure how to reproduce the issue. Any ideas?

[KnugiHK]

Hi @ReclusiveEagle, I took a look at your solution and it does not seem right to me.

Using any of the unique hashes assigned to anyone of your contact's chat seem to fix the issue.

For example:

0618655a1de1254eca90c229002cdea325de408d for:

0618655a1de1254eca90c229002cdea325de408dAppDomainGroup-group.net.whatsapp.WhatsApp.sharedMessage/Media/[Contacts Number]@s.whatsapp.net/0/6/06693485-42bb-4f27-844d-1c37d93c1291.opusbplist00

In utility.py, for class WhatsAppIdentifier(StrEnum): replace the hash in CONTACT = "to the unique hash from one of your contacts." and run the script again.

However, the contact file should be a SQLite database, while your solution seems to be extracting a non-SQLite file—specifically, an audio file in this case.

[jpfleischer]

for whatever reason, the hash from the audio file works. this has allowed me to use this library without throwing any errors

[KnugiHK]

for whatever reason, the hash from the audio file works. this has allowed me to use this library without throwing any errors

That might indeed help resolving the contact database not found error (I haven't test it), but it's not really a proper solution.

Instead, the contact database could treated as optional, if iOS backups can't guarantee its inclusion.

[KnugiHK]

The commit fe88f1b should allow the tool to proceed even if the database is not presented.

[KnugiHK]

The contact database may not be included in the iOS backup. Since there are no alternative files to replace it, the commit fe88f1b is deemed an appropriate solution. This fix was released in 0.10.5.