transferring data to entourage from word

[outofmydepth]

Version: 2008 Dear Mactopia whizzes, I'd really appreciate your help on any automation processes for getting a list of names and addresses which are in a Word document into the contacts in Entourage. I have pages and pages of data in the following format:

Name: John
Surname: Smith
Tel 1: 020 1234 1234
Tel 2: 020 1234 5555
Address: 10 Long Street, London
Other: (Contact from George Smith) **** Name: Jane
Surname: Smythe
Tel 1: 020 7555 5555
Tel 2: 020 1234 1234
Address: At home with the cat
Other: (Capricorn)(From PP Bookshop) ****

I can manipulate the data well with word, but is there a way to get this on to Entourage automatically to save me many hours of copy& paste?

I'd be very grateful for your advice.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Version: 2008 Dear Mactopia whizzes, I'd really appreciate your help on
any automation processes for getting a list of names and addresses
which are in a Word document into the contacts in Entourage. I have
pages and pages of data in the following format:

Name: John
Surname: Smith
Tel 1: 020 1234 1234
Tel 2: 020 1234 5555
Address: 10 Long Street, London
Other: (Contact from George Smith)
**** Name: Jane
Surname: Smythe
Tel 1: 020 7555 5555
Tel 2: 020 1234 1234
Address: At home with the cat
Other: (Capricorn)(From PP Bookshop)
****

That's going to be a pain. I would use regular expressions to convert
the data into a tabulated form and import the result in Entourage.
Entourage can deal with a proper table (think Excel) and use it to
import into the proper fields.

You could use BBEdit or its free version: TextWrangler for that (but it
requires to be comfortable enough with regular expressions :-\ )



Corentin

 

[outofmydepth]

Thank you Corentin,

I enjoy learning new ways to manipulate data - and a challenge. I'm going to be playing the wildcard all weekend, I think!

My main concern was the transfer to Entourage, and you have reassured me that this part of the process is possible, so now all I have to worry about is regulating the information I have. I'm off to sit a "regular expression" tutorial. Thank you again, I do appreciate your help.

 

[Corentin Cras-Méneur]

Thank you Corentin,

I enjoy learning new ways to manipulate data - and a challenge. I'm
going to be playing the wildcard all weekend, I think!

Regular expressions are a GREAT tool.

My main concern was the transfer to Entourage, and you have reassured
me that this part of the process is possible, so now all I have to
worry about is regulating the information I have. I'm off to sit a
"regular expression" tutorial. Thank you again, I do appreciate your
help.

The Help in BBEdit or TextWrangler is really well written. Take a look
at their regular expression chapter.

Entourage does indeed have the option to import from a text file. You
can take a look immediately actually,


Corentin