what purpose do Outlook contact nicknames serve?

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pjb - 23 Feb 2005 03:11 GMT

What purpose does the "Nickname" field in Outlook serve, and how can I use it?
If I enter a nickname in that field, does it overwrite the nickname which is
(apparently) auto-assigned by Outlook, and get stored in the *.nk2 file?
Why don't the auto-assigned nicknames appear in the Nickname field for a
Contact?
How does the nickname I specify for the Contact differ from the one which
Outllook automatically assigns?

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Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook] - 23 Feb 2005 12:55 GMT

It's just another field in the data record. It has nothing to do with the
.nk2 file, and Outlook does not use it for name resolution.

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Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx

> What purpose does the "Nickname" field in Outlook serve, and how can I use
> it?
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> How does the nickname I specify for the Contact differ from the one which
> Outllook automatically assigns?

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Randy - 28 Feb 2005 16:07 GMT

When you write Nickname field, do you man the Display As? The latter is a
direct link to the NK2 file. If you ever started to type an e-mail address
into a contact folder you will notice that it will begin to autocomplete if
there is a match in the NK2 file. This is a dynamically linked field
associated with the NK2 file. Also, you also notice when you export a
contact folder the display as information does not export...

This information is readily attainable using our NK2 autocomplete file
editor. You can review it at www.dcs-imaging.com/products.htm

Randy

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