Merge databases

[motiondude]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)
Processor: Power PC
Email Client: pop

Hello there, I was wondering if it's possible to actually merge databases. I've had some problems in the past so I have something like 3 databases. I know that they have quite an overlap and in order to make things neat and tidy I want to merge them into 1. Is that possible? And if so, what's the procedure.

 

[Bras]

It's possible,
http://www.entourage.mvps.org/import_export/manual_04_08.html
in this article you find different methods to export and import data from id
to id, if it's only mail, just drag out mail folders to the desktop and they
will be MBOX files then switch into the other id and drag it in to the local
inbox it will create a subfolder.
Bras

 

[motiondude]

Nope, that's not what I meant. I'm not talking about Mbox files, I'm talking about the real database. I have 3 of those. 1 active and 2 old ones. I want to merge them into 1. I've tried with import but there are only 3 options: import from archive, import from application and import from text files. None of them let you import a database. And that's what I need. Does this explaination make any sense?

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Hello there, I was wondering if it's possible to actually merge
databases. I've had some problems in the past so I have something like 3
databases. I know that they have quite an overlap and in order to make
things neat and tidy I want to merge them into 1. Is that possible? And
if so, what's the procedure.

Well assuming these are local e-mails (POP or On My Computer), contacts
and events, you can export them in an Entourage archive that will be
re-imported in the database of your choice.

Corentin

 

[motiondude]

Wrong assumption Corentin ;-) Its just like I said, it's about the big database containg everything. Look at: User/Documents/Microsoft User Data/Office 2004 identities/Main identity/Database. That one. Anyway, Entourgae itself is not capable of merging those I found out. I need a 3rd party app called MailSteward. Are there people around who have experience with this app?

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Wrong assumption Corentin ;-)

Well I don't understand at all then.

The Entourage database can contain local data (POP account, local
storage On My Computer, local calendar and address book) or server-side
data (IMAP e-mails, Exchange e-mail, address book and events).

If it's local, you can save it into an archive that can be reimported
into another identity.
If it is server side, there is no point: add the account to the other
identity and it will pull everythign from the server again.

Its just like I said, it's about the big
database containg everything.

wwwweeeeeeeellllllllllll, the big database has both locally stored data,
and server data (only cached locally).

Look at: User/Documents/Microsoft User
Data/Office 2004 identities/Main identity/Database. That one.

You can have more than one in there an it can be local or server.

Anyway,
Entourgae itself is not capable of merging those I found out. I need a
3rd party app called MailSteward. Are there people around who have
experience with this app?

*If* the identities in there are distinct, you can merge them exactly as
I suggested. Switch from one to the other through the Entourage menu,
export the data and re-import it all in the identity of your choice. It
won't import settings like rules or account settings though. Just the
e-mails, contacts, events, etc.

I am beginning to suspect though that what you are seeing is not really
distinct identities, but rather multiple copies of one and only
indentity. When you rebuild your database, Entourage keeps a copy of the
old identity (renaming it accordingly) and creates a fresh new one
that's fixed and cleaned-up.
No need to merge anything there. You can keep the old ones as backup, or
trash tem if you are confident that you won;t ever again need them,

Corentin

 

[Diane Ross]

Wrong assumption Corentin ;-) Its just like I said, it's about the big
database containg everything. Look at: User/Documents/Microsoft User
Data/Office 2004 identities/Main identity/Database. That one. Anyway,
Entourgae itself is not capable of merging those I found out. I need a 3rd
party app called MailSteward. Are there people around who have experience with
this app?

In all the time I've used Entourage which is from the very first version, I
have never heard of MailSteward. Does this tell you to be very careful when
using something no one has ever mentioned on this newsgroup.

I just googled it and it says nothing about merging Identities. It archives
your mail, but it does not merge Identities.

Corentin mentioned using the MBOX method. See this page for help that
describes other methods and more details.

How to manually move your data. (when import fails and/or you need to move
to a new Identity same version or revert to an older version)

<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/install/manual_install.html>

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Corentin mentioned using the MBOX method. See this page for help that
describes other methods and more details.

I was thinking more about Entourage archives which will store all
contacts, events, etc. In addition to e-mails.

Corentin

 

[motiondude]

Thanks for your replies. I was pretty busy so I had no time to respond. If I understand Corentin right, then he suggest to

1. switch to and old database and export that one as a rge
2. repeat step 1 as many times as you have old databases
3. switch to current database
4. import the rge files
5. Delete double messages, contacts, appointments etc.

Or is step 5 taken care of during import? I agree with Diane you have to be very careful when performing tasks like merging databases. Regarding her remark that merging was not a feature in MailSteward I looked at the info again. They have a version that supports merging.