Question

Help this nonprofit export notes, history, contacts out of ACT! 2005

Asked by: genesisinfo

I recently started a job at a very small nonprofit, and amongst other things inherited an ACT!2005 database of donor/potential donor contacts. Its a stand-alone workstation on the network, and has notes and history within the 700 or so records.

I'd like to get it out of ACT! into Access, where I am very very good at. Additionally, we could share the data across the network in a multi-user Access database, unlike ACT!. The problem is, I've found no easy way to get all the notes, history and stuff -- only the contacts, and thats not acceptable. To make matters worse, the company just doesnt have the money to put into buying addon software like the few I've found - I asked, and the Exec Director says we have to put it into the budget for next year any software purchases.

Is there ANY WAY at all, to get the full data out of ACT! without buying software? I'm pretty competent with Access, but look at ACT! and dont find it very useful; that and the fact since its a standalone version, its rarely used.

Any ideas, any at all?

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Asked On
2007-09-09 at 15:00:02ID22816521
Tags

export

,

act

,

notes

Topics

ACT

,

Microsoft Access Database

Participating Experts
4
Points
500
Comments
14

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Answers

 

by: GLComputingPosted on 2007-09-09 at 15:25:41ID: 19858116

The only way to do that, unless you have some programming skills, is to use one of the add-on products. I usually recommend www.jltechnical.com

Of course, you CAN share the data across a network with multiple users with any version of ACT!... why do you think you can't? You just need (as you do for Access) a license for each user.

 

by: GLComputingPosted on 2007-09-09 at 15:27:06ID: 19858119

Actually, if Access can read an OLEDB database, you can read most of the ACT! data that way.

 

by: genesisinfoPosted on 2007-09-09 at 15:37:32ID: 19858145

>Of course, you CAN share the data across a network with multiple users with any version of ACT!... why do you think you can't? You just need (as you do for Access) a license for each user.

Because, we already own multiple licenses of Access, as it came with every purchase of Office Professional that was made so its on every PC. We only own 1 copy of ACT! as as I stated, the ED wont approve any new software purchases until the next fiscal year (8 months away) so its either x-number of additional ACT! licenses or software to convert the data, notes, history, etc. out of ACT! and into Access. What I am trying to do is get it out before than, and into a format most of the company is familiar with, rather than having to go walk over to this office where the data resides and use it there.

Any freeware tools for converting this, extracting this data?

 

by: markandrew21Posted on 2007-09-09 at 15:41:06ID: 19858151

Free Act Export tool:
http://www.nwoods.com/act/SmartExport.htm

Get your data out within 30 days.... its 30 day trial software.

 

by: GLComputingPosted on 2007-09-09 at 15:41:27ID: 19858153

No... as I said, if you have skills with OLEDB or .Net programming, you can access all the data. But the tools that do this for a non-programmer and keep the links of all the sub-tables intact are not freeware.

 

by: GLComputingPosted on 2007-09-09 at 15:43:58ID: 19858161

I think the Northwood's product is only ACT! 5/6 and not ACT! 2005 as genesisinfo needs

 

by: genesisinfoPosted on 2007-09-09 at 17:00:13ID: 19858327

>I think the Northwood's product is only ACT! 5/6 and not ACT! 2005 as genesisinfo needs


Yuck. And please, call me Danny.

 

by: GLComputingPosted on 2007-09-09 at 17:44:09ID: 19858409

Sorry Danny...

ACT! 5/6 was a DBF format, and there were easier methods to access the data. ACT! 2005 (7.0) and later use Microsoft's MS-SQL and have many more tables that are linked to support all the functions.

 

by: SStrozPosted on 2007-09-10 at 00:08:07ID: 19859308

Danny,

Call a local ACT! consultant and plead your case.  You can find them at www.act.com.

If a non-profit called me I might be swayed to help.  (We have these tools).  There's no way you're going to be able to do this without programming skills.  You can open most of the views and get most of the data with Excel and the OLEDB Provider but Excel can't read the GUIDs so you can't put them together.

Do you have Crystal Reports version 11?  If so, you could write a custom report that would pull the data.  That's the easiest thing I can think of short of the www.jltechnical.com add-on.  Too bad since that will put all of the data right into an Access database.  Maybe you should take up a collection.

Good luck

Steve

 

by: genesisinfoPosted on 2007-09-13 at 05:26:37ID: 19883022

Thanks for your help guys; i guess their is no solution to this.

:(

 

by: GLComputingPosted on 2007-09-13 at 06:55:45ID: 19883645

You said you were "very good" at Access... can it read an OLEDB database?

 

by: modtoddPosted on 2007-10-18 at 11:39:08ID: 20103456

One other point here ... Access is NOT a multi-user database if you want multiple people hitting this data at once use SQL Server or PostGres (free versions) otherwise you be in worse shape than you are sharing ACT! across the network

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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