OL97: Cannot Import or Export User-defined Contact Fields

• Microsoft Outlook 97

SYMPTOMS

In Microsoft Outlook 97, you cannot import or export user-defined fields for Contacts from or into other file formats using the standard File menu Import and Export procedures.

NOTE: This is true of user-defined fields in all Outlook items, not just Contacts.

CAUSE

User-defined fields do not appear in the Map Custom Fields dialog box.

WORKAROUND

Importing User-defined Fields

You can import data into four general Outlook fields called User Field 1, User Field 2, User Field 3, and User Field 4. These fields are available in a Contact record on the All Fields tab under Miscellaneous fields.

For information on programmatically importing user-defined fields, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

   ARTICLE-ID:  Q170320
   TITLE     :  OL97: How to Programmatically Import Outlook Items from
                Access

Exporting User-defined Fields

To export user-defined fields from your Contacts, define a Table view of the Contacts containing the user-defined fields. Then copy the contacts from Outlook and paste them into Microsoft Excel where you can save them in a variety of formats.

MORE INFORMATION

To define a Table view of your Contacts folder containing the user-defined fields you want to export, follow these steps:

1. On the View menu, click Define Views.

2. In the Define Views for Contacts dialog box, select one of the tabular views, such as Phone List, and then click Copy.

3. In the Copy View dialog box, type a name for your new view and click OK.

4. In the View Summary dialog box, and click Fields.

5. In the Show Fields dialog box, select the field source from the "Select available fields from" list. This may be either "User-defined fields in folder" or a form containing the user-defined fields.

6. Select the user-defined fields from the "Available fields" box and click Add to move the fields to the "Show these fields in this order" box.

7. You may position the fields in the list by selecting them and clicking the Move Up and Move Down buttons.

8. When you are finished, click OK.

9. Click OK in the View Summary dialog box.

10. In the Views for Contacts dialog box, click Apply View.

To complete the processes:

1. Select the set of Contacts you want to export and on the Edit menu, click Copy.

2. Open Microsoft Excel and paste the contacts into a new Sheet.

3. Save the Contact records in any of a number of formats available in Microsoft Excel.