Access contacts database to Outlook problems

[Paul Gilligan]

Hi,

I have an extensive relationship management database in Access and would
like to be able to routinely export contact details into Outlook so that
they are more accessable for other users on our network.

This has proven to be an utter nightmare.

- I have already ruled out linking Outlook contacts using the Access wizard
as my tables are too delicately split within Access
- I have imported an Outlook dataset into a test environment in Access so
that I can see how Outlook names its fields when exporting. My thinking
being that this will be how Outlook would want data presented when
importing. When importing this data directly back into Outlook it comes
back presented differently
- I have also tried going through a 3rd format and exporting from Access as
csv and then importing to Outlook as csv. This produces another set of even
more different results

Basically, I need to find a way of bringing the data into Outlook so that it
looks the same as it would had I typed it all in myself..

Thanks,

Paul.

 

[John Nurick]

Hi Andrew,

As you've discovered, the "fields" you see in the usual Outlook forms
are only indirectly related to the actual data stored wherever that
particular installation of Outlook stores it. For instance, for Contacts
there are

1) the "fields" in the usual Contacts form, which are a subset of
2) the much wider set of "contact fields" available in the Outlook
Define Views dialog, which correspond more or less one-to-one to
3) the *properties* exposed by the Contact object in the Outlook
object model, which are *not* the same as
4) the actual data fields that are stored.

And then there are
(5) the fields that appear when you try and export from or link to the
Contacts folder.

In my experience the best and most flexible approach to the particular
task you describe is to write VBA code that manipulates the Outlook
object model to create a new Contact object in the appropriate folder
and then use the values from your fields to set its various properties.
Depending on the circs you can have code running in Access (e.g. an
"Export contact to Outlook" button on a form in your application) or in
Outlook (e.g. a button that puts up a form where you can select the
contacts to be imported).

Here are some useful links:

OL2000: How to Programmatically Import Outlook Items from Microsoft
Access
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=208232

Using Automation in Microsoft Office Access 2003 to Work with Microsoft
Office Outlook 2003
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d...ry/en-us/dno2k3ta/html/odc_ac_olauto.asp?_r=1

How to programmatically export Outlook items to Access
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=290792
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=253794

Accessing Microsoft Exchange and Outlook Data Using Visual Basic
http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dnout98/html/olexcoutlk.asp

Sample Procedure to Link a Microsoft Outlook Folder
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=209946

Finally, the best single place I know for information about Outlook is
http://www.slipstick.com

Good luck!