Select All and Copy not available in GAL

[patc]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel Email Client: Exchange I have well over 200 contacts in our GAL..
Server is Exchange 2003
Client is 2008 (mac)

I can view all contacts from our GAL but the application (Entourage) doesn't allow me to "Add to Address Book" more than one contact at a time one for 200 contacts for 200 Macs. But I think I shouldn't be doing the Computer's job!?

Anyone have an AppleScript to circumvent this 'feature'? Or maybe something I'm sure I'm missing out on if someone can enlighten me!

Thanks in advance!
-pat

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

I have well over 200 contacts in our GAL.. Server is Exchange 2003
Client is 2008 (mac)

I can view all contacts from our GAL but the application (Entourage)
doesn't allow me to "Add to Address Book" more than one contact at a
time one for 200 contacts for 200 Macs. But I think I shouldn't be
doing the Computer's job!?

Anyone have an AppleScript to circumvent this 'feature'? Or maybe
something I'm sure I'm missing out on if someone can enlighten me!

This isn't quite a "feature" but rather the design by which Entourage works.

If you were to copy all users from your GAL into your Contacts, then you
would essentially be duplicating what's already there. Why would you
ever need everyone individually? You should be using Exchange groups to
send to multiple people.

If you need to access the GAL while traveling then use my AppleScript
here to look up users while outside your company network:

"Accessing the Global Address List from Home"
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/exchange/exchangelookups.html>

If your company is running Exchange Server 2007 then you don't even need
the script for that.

Hope this helps!

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck>

 

[William Smith [MVP]]

Why do I need everyone in the GAL? When the owner of the company wants
it, then what am I to do?

If you're his support then you're suppose to make sure he gets what he
needs, not necessarily what he's asking for. Those aren't always the
same. ;-)

Quite often, I run into users asking me how to do something. If the
request is bizarre sounding then my response is, "What are you trying to
accomplish by doing this?" Many times, they've pre-determined their own
solution without knowing better options are possible. Then they ask for
help to implement their solution, which may not be the best solution.

When I add a brand new Exchange Account into Entourage, the Contact List
of this Domain Account is always blank and never populated.
I would go into our Public Folders, which was maintained by our
Reception Dept and manually Copy all these Contacts into the newly made
Entourage account.
But we discovered that the GAL doesn't reflect what our Reception Dept
is doing, obviously.

The Contacts list is not a substitute for the Global Address List. It is
a personal address book for the individual account that gets
synchronized with the Exchange server and is meant to augment what is
not put into the GAL (such as extra phone numbers) or cannot be put into
the GAL (such as personal contacts).

I've used your script which is nice but it still doesn't allow to Select
more than one contact to be added to the Entourage Contact of the
Exchange Account.

I wasn't suggesting it as a method of moving all your GAL entries into
the Contacts list. This is a method of looking up users in the GAL who
may not be in the account's Contacts list.

--

bill

Entourage Help Page <http://entourage.mvps.org/>
Entourage Help Blog <http://blog.entourage.mvps.org/>
YouTalk <http://nine.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/youtalk>
Twitter: follow <http://twitter.com/meck>