ms access macro/vba to update contacts table from ms outlook

First, you might want to think about just linking to the Outlook Contacts table: http://www.fmsinc.com/MicrosoftAccess/Email/linked/

Thanks for the help but I think it will not include categories.  Right?

You are correct, the linked Outlook Contacts table will not include any categories.

What is it you are trying to do? It might be convenient to just use the Outlook Contacts table for your application. If you need to just use the Outlook Contacts table to update your custom Access contacts table, here is some sample/template code (once you have Outlook Contacts linked):

dim dbs as DAO.Database
dim rstI as DAO.Recordset
dim rstO as DAO.Recordset
set dbs = CurrentDB()
set rstI = dbs.openrecordset("Contacts", dbopenforwardonly)
set rstO = dbs.openrecordset("MyCustomContactsTable",dbopendynaset)
do while not rstI.EOF
    rsto.findfirst "MyTableFirstName = " & chr(34) & rstI!First & chr(34) &  " AND MyTableLastName  = " & chr(34) & rsti!last & chr(34)
    if rsto.nomatch then
        rsto.addnew
    else
        rsto.edit
    endif
    rsto!MyTableFirstName = rsti!first
    rsto!MyTableLastName = rsti!last
    rsto.update
    rstI.movenext
loop
set rstI = nothing
set rstO = nothing
set dbs = nothing

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I am simply trying to create a report in ms access that uses categories as one of it's filters.  What you have offered above is probably what I need but I do not know how to implement.  Can you help with that?  Linking a table to outlook (as you shared in your first post) is pretty easy.  Is that what you meant by"once you have outlook contacts linked"?

I might be trying to over complicate things...

I have a list on contacts (around 1000) that I have categorized in outlook.  Some are sub-contractors and others are vendors for instance.

I would like to create a custom report in MS Access but I need to filter by the categories that are set up in outlook.

I know that you can sort of do this in outlook views but that is not exactly what I want.  The linked table gives me everything that I need accept for what category they are.

I am sure I am not asking the right questions and probably not in the right spot...  Just a bit of an amateur.

I really appreciate you patience and help.

pdebaets,

I hope you haven't given up on me but I certainly understand.

I think this is closer to what I would like to do (activated by an event) but I cannot get it to work.  See my screen shot below the code.

Sub ImportContactsFromOutlook()

   ' This code is based in Microsoft Access.

   ' Set up DAO objects (uses existing "tblContacts" table)
   Dim rst As DAO.Recordset
   Set rst = CurrentDb.OpenRecordset("tblContacts")


   ' Set up Outlook objects.
   Dim ol As New Outlook.Application
   Dim olns As Outlook.Namespace
   Dim cf As Outlook.MAPIFolder
   Dim c As Outlook.ContactItem
   Dim objItems As Outlook.Items
   Dim Prop As Outlook.UserProperty

   Set olns = ol.GetNamespace("MAPI")
   Set cf = olns.GetDefaultFolder(olFolderContacts)
   Set objItems = cf.Items
   iNumContacts = objItems.Count
   If iNumContacts <> 0 Then
      For i = 1 To iNumContacts
         If TypeName(objItems(i)) = "ContactItem" Then
            Set c = objItems(i)
            rst.AddNew
            rst!FirstName = c.FirstName
            rst!LastName = c.LastName
            rst!Address = c.BusinessAddressStreet
            rst!City = c.BusinessAddressCity
            rst!State = c.BusinessAddressState
            rst!Zip_Code = c.BusinessAddressPostalCode
            ' Custom Outlook properties would look like this:
            ' rst!AccessFieldName = c.UserProperties("OutlookPropertyName")
            rst.Update
         End If
      Next i
      rst.Close
      MsgBox "Finished."
   Else
      MsgBox "No contacts to export."
   End If

End Sub

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pdebaets,

Your response below was exactly what I needed...

____________________________________________________  
In your code, you need to add a reference to Outlook. Click Tools > References then put a check mark next to Microsoft Outlook x.0 Object Library. The version number may be different on your computer. I have version 14.0 (2010).  
 
The code you have will update an Access table with contact information from Outlook. You can include a Categories field in your Access table and include this line of code in the update to have it filled with Categories information from Outlook:
 
rst!Categories = c.Categories
 
Let me know if this helps,
______________________________________________