It looks like the Google Contacts web UI (both in Gmail and Google
Apps) destroys the structured name information when the user edits a
contact's name and the structured address information when the user
edits the contact's address.
From the migration guide (
http://is.gd/VqhM) I had assumed that Google
would apply some heuristics to the edited unstructured name/address to
populate the structured fields.
Is this a bug or a feature? ;-)
Here's how to reproduce the problematic behavior:
* Create a contact using the Contact Data API v3 and include a
structured name, like:
<gd:name>
<gd:namePrefix>Dr.</gd:namePrefix>
<gd:givenName>Eric</gd:givenName>
<gd:additionalName>Emerson</gd:additionalName>
<gd:familyName>Schmidt</gd:familyName>
<gd:nameSuffix>Ph.D.</gd:nameSuffix>
</gd:name>
* Fetch the contacts feed using the API, verify that the structured
data is there, including a generated <gd:fullName />
* Edit the contact in the Google Contacts web UI (e.g., change
"Emerson" to "E.")
* Fetch the contacts feed using the API, verify that the structured
data is gone, leaving only the <gd:fullName />
I get similar results when editing postal addresses. Please let me
know if you need any more info.
Thanks,
Charlie