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MS Office Forum / Outlook / Contacts / March 2005Outlook 2003, Contact Folder, Format of General TAB
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook 2003, when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big information window off to one side. How do I get this field to show my currrent contacts in the old format? Note, I know how to set this up for New Contacts, but I have several hundred old contacts, and I don't wish to manually copy all that data to contacts list which has the old format. I know that the data in the mailbox.pst file is kept in the same format now as it was before. Microsoft must have the Contact List format defined in some file somewhere. BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work. The "format" is defined by the value of the MessageClass property on each item. It sounds like you've already created a custom form to handle new contacts. The step still remaining is to change the MessageClass on the existing items to point to your new form's class. See http://www.outlookcode.com/d/newdefaultform.htm#convert for several tools and scripts to accomplish this.  SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx >I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook 2003, > when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big information [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > > BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work. Hi Sue, Thanks for the info, which script do I use, that page is pretty busy, but contains lots of info? Gerry > The "format" is defined by the value of the MessageClass property on each > item. It sounds like you've already created a custom form to handle new [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > > > > BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work. You can use whichever tool you want. If you want to learn about VBA, use one of the scripts. If not, use one of the run-once tools. If you hover over each link, you'll see a screen tip pop up with the date the tool was added to the list, so you can maybe try the most recent. SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Hi Sue, > [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] >> > >> > BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work. I must be dense or something, but I downloaded two utilities, on was the MSWord Macro script that should change the default form, and also convert the existing contacts, and the other was the Outlook Forms Administrator program from the Microsoft site. Both ran like they were doing something, but no change to my existing Contact-General format??? Any ideas what I could be doing wrong?? I am running the program FormSwap.exe, and in the Target field I am selecting - Contact (IPM.Contact), in the field "For composing I am putting - IPM.Contact.contactsTest, and for the field for reading I am putting - IPM.Contact.contactsTest. The "contactsTest is the form I designed that has the fields where I want them, and it works for new contacts, because they appear with the correct format, though the old contacts still show up in the old format?? Gerry > You can use whichever tool you want. If you want to learn about VBA, use one > of the scripts. If not, use one of the run-once tools. If you hover over [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > >> > > >> > BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work. Where did you publish the IPM.Contact.contactsTest form? You can only use the Formswap.exe utility on forms published to Organizational Forms or Personal Forms. I'd suggest changing the message class of the existing items instead. If you've already done that, add the Message Class field to the Phone List view (right-click on column headings and choose Field Chooser). What value do existing items show for the Message Class? SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx >I must be dense or something, but I downloaded two utilities, on was the > MSWord Macro script that should change the default form, and also convert [quoted text clipped - 66 lines] >> >> > >> >> > BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work. Got it fixed. here's what worked - Using the Microsoft Tool called "changeforms.exe" available at - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ba26fff8-46d2-4ab3-84d6 -80cc592d980c&displaylang=en First I created a Form in the format I desired, and published it as "contact1". Then I installed the "changeforms.exe" program by running the executable above, and it extracted to one of my folders. I then ran the install, and it installed a dll. Then I went into Outlook, and right clicked on the folder where my contacts were located. I selected properties, and in the field "When posting to this folder, use:" and I selected "contact1". Then I said ok. Then I went back to my Contacts folder, and selected Edit - Select all. Then I went to Tools - Forms - Change Forms, and told the program to change "IPM.Contact" to "IPM.Contact.contact1". It ran thru all 457 of my contacts, and when it finished, I was able to open my contacts in the format used in Outlook XP. I want to thank you for all your help. I'd still be plundering along without it. Thanks. > Where did you publish the IPM.Contact.contactsTest form? You can only use > the Formswap.exe utility on forms published to Organizational Forms or [quoted text clipped - 73 lines] > >> >> > > >> >> > BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work. Do you know how to set the forms back to default. I've messed things up so much now, I need to start fresh, with the default forms, and try changing them back to the new one...if I can ever figure out how to make that work. I've designed a couple of new forms, set the new forms to the default, made new contacts, and seen that they were created in the new format, but no matter what I do, I still see the old contacts in the old format?? Gerry > You can use whichever tool you want. If you want to learn about VBA, use one > of the scripts. If not, use one of the run-once tools. If you hover over [quoted text clipped - 36 lines] > >> > > >> > BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work. Not without knowing exactly what you've done. Can you take a deep breath and give us the complete picture? SignatureSue Mosher, Outlook MVP Author of Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for Administrators, Power Users, and Developers http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx > Do you know how to set the forms back to default. I've messed things up so > much now, I need to start fresh, with the default forms, and try changing [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] >> added >> to the list, so you can maybe try the most recent. >> > Hi Sue, >> > [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] >> >> > >> >> > BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work. Hi Sue, I got it working, and I want to thank you for your help. I'd have never gotten this fixed without it. Just to assist anyone else who may be experiencing this issue, here is how I got it working: 1. Using the Microsoft self extracting zip file called "changeforms.exe" available at - http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=ba26fff8-46d2-4ab3-84d6 -80cc592d980c&displaylang=en 2. First in Outlook, I created a Form in the format I desired, and published it as "contact1". Note: after publishing this form, I discovered that it took a minute or two for the new form to show in Outlook?? It wasn't there immediately, but appeared while I was plundering around trying to figure out why it didn't appear?? 3. Then I ran the self-extracting zipped file "changeforms.exe" (see above) which extracted two files - Changefm.dll, and ChangefmReadme.rtf, and it put them in a directory called "Addins". A small note here, if you have more than one hard drive, the installer puts this directory on the drive with the largest amount of free space. 4. Then I went into Outlook, and right clicked on the folder where my contacts were located. I selected properties, and in the field "When posting to this folder, use:" and I selected "contact1". Then I said ok. This sets the default for NEW Contacts you might create, to use the form you have designed, but it does not alter the format of any of the existing contacts. 5. Then I went back to my Contacts folder, and selected Edit - Select all. This should select ALL of your existing Contacts. 6. Then I went to Tools -> Forms -> Change Forms, and told the program to change "IPM.Contact" to "IPM.Contact.contact1". It ran thru all 457 of my contacts, and when it finished, I was able to open my contacts in the format used in Outlook XP. So thanks again for all your help. Gerry > Not without knowing exactly what you've done. Can you take a deep breath and > give us the complete picture? [quoted text clipped - 58 lines] > >> >> > > >> >> > BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work. |
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