rdotson102
asked on
Import the field Categories from Outlook contacts into linked table
I set up a nice little automated contact management db and have run into one frustrating problem. I can't seem to get the field Categories from the first page of the Outlook contact to move over to the Access linked table. I've modified the schema.ini file to include that field, but it no data makes it across. Without having to manually link the table, how can I get that field into the table? I noticed that it's marked as a type Keywords in the Properties/Value box when in design mode, where the other fields are marked text. That's the only thing I can think of now, but I don't know what real difference that makes. Anybody know how to do this?
Rey Obrero (Capricorn1)
i think Categories is located in the Outlook Notes folder.
check this link
Internal Fields Used by Outlook Folders
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/195576/EN-US/
Internal Fields Used by Outlook Folders
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/195576/EN-US/
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ASKER
My problem isn't finding the field, it's getting the information entered into the field to also populate my linked table in access. We use that field to designate whether an Outlook contact is business or personal. Since I only want to send email to business contacts, I need that to designate which is which. I use Access to populate my mass mailing system and to load excel spreadsheets for our marketing department. If someone enters personal in Outlook in the Categories field which is located on the first page of the Contact at the bottom right, I want it to move over to my linked table.
ASKER
Sorry OM Gang. I was typing when your response hit. I'll take a look at this and get back.
In my application I dispensed the link table in favor of using automation to access the Outlook contacts directly like in my example above. Since I couldn't get the field Categories via linking a linked table wasn't really of any use. If you have have need of a local Access table perhaps you can populate it every time the app runs by using a routine to similar to my example that adds the desired fields to your table. That way you are always getting the most recent data from Outlook.
OM Gang
OM Gang
Be aware that the Categories property of an Outlook item object is a delimited (semicolon, IIRC) list
of the various Categories assigned to that item. So, to look for 'business' or 'personal', you may have
to use a Like operator, or use Split to break up the list and loop through the resulting array.
Also, if you choose to use automation to poll the Outlook objects, there is a last updated property.
I have written Access apps that store the 'last sync date', and then loop through Contact items.
Whenever an item is found with last update > last sync, I grab the relevant properties from the
item and stick them in the Access db.
Patrick
of the various Categories assigned to that item. So, to look for 'business' or 'personal', you may have
to use a Like operator, or use Split to break up the list and loop through the resulting array.
Also, if you choose to use automation to poll the Outlook objects, there is a last updated property.
I have written Access apps that store the 'last sync date', and then loop through Contact items.
Whenever an item is found with last update > last sync, I grab the relevant properties from the
item and stick them in the Access db.
Patrick
ASKER
Thanks for the help. I just took one of the user fields and created a new form that did what I needed. It seemed like the easiest way to go.
Glad you got it working.
OM Gang
OM Gang