Outlook 2003, Contact Folder, Format of General TAB

I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook 2003,
when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big information
window off to one side. How do I get this field to show my currrent contacts
in the old format? Note, I know how to set this up for New Contacts, but I
have several hundred old contacts, and I don't wish to manually copy all that
data to contacts list which has the old format.

I know that the data in the mailbox.pst file is kept in the same format now
as it was before. Microsoft must have the Contact List format defined in some
file somewhere.

BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work.

The "format" is defined by the value of the MessageClass property on each
item. It sounds like you've already created a custom form to handle new
contacts. The step still remaining is to change the MessageClass on the
existing items to point to your new form's class. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/newdefaultform.htm#convert for several tools
and scripts to accomplish this.


--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook 2003,
when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big information
window off to one side. How do I get this field to show my currrent
contacts
in the old format? Note, I know how to set this up for New Contacts, but I
have several hundred old contacts, and I don't wish to manually copy all
that
data to contacts list which has the old format.

I know that the data in the mailbox.pst file is kept in the same format
now
as it was before. Microsoft must have the Contact List format defined in
some
file somewhere.

BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work.

Hi Sue,

Thanks for the info, which script do I use, that page is pretty busy, but
contains lots of info?

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

The "format" is defined by the value of the MessageClass property on each
item. It sounds like you've already created a custom form to handle new
contacts. The step still remaining is to change the MessageClass on the
existing items to point to your new form's class. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/newdefaultform.htm#convert for several tools
and scripts to accomplish this.


--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook 2003,
when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big information
window off to one side. How do I get this field to show my currrent
contacts
in the old format? Note, I know how to set this up for New Contacts, but I
have several hundred old contacts, and I don't wish to manually copy all
that
data to contacts list which has the old format.

I know that the data in the mailbox.pst file is kept in the same format
now
as it was before. Microsoft must have the Contact List format defined in
some
file somewhere.

BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work.

You can use whichever tool you want. If you want to learn about VBA, use one
of the scripts. If not, use one of the run-once tools. If you hover over
each link, you'll see a screen tip pop up with the date the tool was added
to the list, so you can maybe try the most recent.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the info, which script do I use, that page is pretty busy, but
contains lots of info?

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

The "format" is defined by the value of the MessageClass property on each
item. It sounds like you've already created a custom form to handle new
contacts. The step still remaining is to change the MessageClass on the
existing items to point to your new form's class. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/newdefaultform.htm#convert for several tools
and scripts to accomplish this.


--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook
2003,
when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big
information
window off to one side. How do I get this field to show my currrent
contacts
in the old format? Note, I know how to set this up for New Contacts,
but I
have several hundred old contacts, and I don't wish to manually copy
all
that
data to contacts list which has the old format.

I know that the data in the mailbox.pst file is kept in the same format
now
as it was before. Microsoft must have the Contact List format defined
in
some
file somewhere.

BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work.

I must be dense or something, but I downloaded two utilities, on was the
MSWord Macro script that should change the default form, and also convert the
existing contacts, and the other was the Outlook Forms Administrator program
from the Microsoft site. Both ran like they were doing something, but no
change to my existing Contact-General format??? Any ideas what I could be
doing wrong??

I am running the program FormSwap.exe, and in the Target field I am
selecting - Contact (IPM.Contact), in the field "For composing I am putting -
IPM.Contact.contactsTest, and for the field for reading I am putting -
IPM.Contact.contactsTest.

The "contactsTest is the form I designed that has the fields where I want
them, and it works for new contacts, because they appear with the correct
format, though the old contacts still show up in the old format??

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You can use whichever tool you want. If you want to learn about VBA, use one
of the scripts. If not, use one of the run-once tools. If you hover over
each link, you'll see a screen tip pop up with the date the tool was added
to the list, so you can maybe try the most recent.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the info, which script do I use, that page is pretty busy, but
contains lots of info?

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

The "format" is defined by the value of the MessageClass property on each
item. It sounds like you've already created a custom form to handle new
contacts. The step still remaining is to change the MessageClass on the
existing items to point to your new form's class. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/newdefaultform.htm#convert for several tools
and scripts to accomplish this.


--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook
2003,
when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big
information
window off to one side. How do I get this field to show my currrent
contacts
in the old format? Note, I know how to set this up for New Contacts,
but I
have several hundred old contacts, and I don't wish to manually copy
all
that
data to contacts list which has the old format.

I know that the data in the mailbox.pst file is kept in the same format
now
as it was before. Microsoft must have the Contact List format defined
in
some
file somewhere.

BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work.

Where did you publish the IPM.Contact.contactsTest form? You can only use
the Formswap.exe utility on forms published to Organizational Forms or
Personal Forms. I'd suggest changing the message class of the existing items
instead. If you've already done that, add the Message Class field to the
Phone List view (right-click on column headings and choose Field Chooser).
What value do existing items show for the Message Class?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
news
I must be dense or something, but I downloaded two utilities, on was the
MSWord Macro script that should change the default form, and also convert
the
existing contacts, and the other was the Outlook Forms Administrator
program
from the Microsoft site. Both ran like they were doing something, but no
change to my existing Contact-General format??? Any ideas what I could be
doing wrong??

I am running the program FormSwap.exe, and in the Target field I am
selecting - Contact (IPM.Contact), in the field "For composing I am
putting -
IPM.Contact.contactsTest, and for the field for reading I am putting -
IPM.Contact.contactsTest.

The "contactsTest is the form I designed that has the fields where I want
them, and it works for new contacts, because they appear with the correct
format, though the old contacts still show up in the old format??

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You can use whichever tool you want. If you want to learn about VBA, use
one
of the scripts. If not, use one of the run-once tools. If you hover over
each link, you'll see a screen tip pop up with the date the tool was
added
to the list, so you can maybe try the most recent.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the info, which script do I use, that page is pretty busy,
but
contains lots of info?

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

The "format" is defined by the value of the MessageClass property on
each
item. It sounds like you've already created a custom form to handle
new
contacts. The step still remaining is to change the MessageClass on
the
existing items to point to your new form's class. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/newdefaultform.htm#convert for several
tools
and scripts to accomplish this.


--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook
2003,
when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big
information
window off to one side. How do I get this field to show my currrent
contacts
in the old format? Note, I know how to set this up for New Contacts,
but I
have several hundred old contacts, and I don't wish to manually copy
all
that
data to contacts list which has the old format.

I know that the data in the mailbox.pst file is kept in the same
format
now
as it was before. Microsoft must have the Contact List format
defined
in
some
file somewhere.

BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work.

Do you know how to set the forms back to default. I've messed things up so
much now, I need to start fresh, with the default forms, and try changing
them back to the new one...if I can ever figure out how to make that work.
I've designed a couple of new forms, set the new forms to the default, made
new contacts, and seen that they were created in the new format, but no
matter what I do, I still see the old contacts in the old format??

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You can use whichever tool you want. If you want to learn about VBA, use one
of the scripts. If not, use one of the run-once tools. If you hover over
each link, you'll see a screen tip pop up with the date the tool was added
to the list, so you can maybe try the most recent.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the info, which script do I use, that page is pretty busy, but
contains lots of info?

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

The "format" is defined by the value of the MessageClass property on each
item. It sounds like you've already created a custom form to handle new
contacts. The step still remaining is to change the MessageClass on the
existing items to point to your new form's class. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/newdefaultform.htm#convert for several tools
and scripts to accomplish this.


--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook
2003,
when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big
information
window off to one side. How do I get this field to show my currrent
contacts
in the old format? Note, I know how to set this up for New Contacts,
but I
have several hundred old contacts, and I don't wish to manually copy
all
that
data to contacts list which has the old format.

I know that the data in the mailbox.pst file is kept in the same format
now
as it was before. Microsoft must have the Contact List format defined
in
some
file somewhere.

BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work.

Not without knowing exactly what you've done. Can you take a deep breath and
give us the complete picture?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
Do you know how to set the forms back to default. I've messed things up so
much now, I need to start fresh, with the default forms, and try changing
them back to the new one...if I can ever figure out how to make that work.
I've designed a couple of new forms, set the new forms to the default,
made
new contacts, and seen that they were created in the new format, but no
matter what I do, I still see the old contacts in the old format??

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You can use whichever tool you want. If you want to learn about VBA, use
one
of the scripts. If not, use one of the run-once tools. If you hover over
each link, you'll see a screen tip pop up with the date the tool was
added
to the list, so you can maybe try the most recent.


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the info, which script do I use, that page is pretty busy,
but
contains lots of info?

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

The "format" is defined by the value of the MessageClass property on
each
item. It sounds like you've already created a custom form to handle
new
contacts. The step still remaining is to change the MessageClass on
the
existing items to point to your new form's class. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/newdefaultform.htm#convert for several
tools
and scripts to accomplish this.

"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook
2003,
when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big
information
window off to one side. How do I get this field to show my currrent
contacts
in the old format? Note, I know how to set this up for New Contacts,
but I
have several hundred old contacts, and I don't wish to manually copy
all
that
data to contacts list which has the old format.

I know that the data in the mailbox.pst file is kept in the same
format
now
as it was before. Microsoft must have the Contact List format
defined
in
some
file somewhere.

BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work.

Got it fixed. here's what worked -

Using the Microsoft Tool called "changeforms.exe" available at -
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

First I created a Form in the format I desired, and published it as
"contact1". Then I installed the "changeforms.exe" program by running the
executable above, and it extracted to one of my folders. I then ran the
install, and it installed a dll. Then I went into Outlook, and right clicked
on the folder where my contacts were located. I selected properties, and in
the field "When posting to this folder, use:" and I selected "contact1". Then
I said ok. Then I went back to my Contacts folder, and selected Edit - Select
all. Then I went to Tools - Forms - Change Forms, and told the program to
change "IPM.Contact" to "IPM.Contact.contact1". It ran thru all 457 of my
contacts, and when it finished, I was able to open my contacts in the format
used in Outlook XP.

I want to thank you for all your help. I'd still be plundering along without
it. Thanks.

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Where did you publish the IPM.Contact.contactsTest form? You can only use
the Formswap.exe utility on forms published to Organizational Forms or
Personal Forms. I'd suggest changing the message class of the existing items
instead. If you've already done that, add the Message Class field to the
Phone List view (right-click on column headings and choose Field Chooser).
What value do existing items show for the Message Class?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
news
I must be dense or something, but I downloaded two utilities, on was the
MSWord Macro script that should change the default form, and also convert
the
existing contacts, and the other was the Outlook Forms Administrator
program
from the Microsoft site. Both ran like they were doing something, but no
change to my existing Contact-General format??? Any ideas what I could be
doing wrong??

I am running the program FormSwap.exe, and in the Target field I am
selecting - Contact (IPM.Contact), in the field "For composing I am
putting -
IPM.Contact.contactsTest, and for the field for reading I am putting -
IPM.Contact.contactsTest.

The "contactsTest is the form I designed that has the fields where I want
them, and it works for new contacts, because they appear with the correct
format, though the old contacts still show up in the old format??

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You can use whichever tool you want. If you want to learn about VBA, use
one
of the scripts. If not, use one of the run-once tools. If you hover over
each link, you'll see a screen tip pop up with the date the tool was
added
to the list, so you can maybe try the most recent.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the info, which script do I use, that page is pretty busy,
but
contains lots of info?

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

The "format" is defined by the value of the MessageClass property on
each
item. It sounds like you've already created a custom form to handle
new
contacts. The step still remaining is to change the MessageClass on
the
existing items to point to your new form's class. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/newdefaultform.htm#convert for several
tools
and scripts to accomplish this.


--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook
2003,
when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big
information
window off to one side. How do I get this field to show my currrent
contacts
in the old format? Note, I know how to set this up for New Contacts,
but I
have several hundred old contacts, and I don't wish to manually copy
all
that
data to contacts list which has the old format.

I know that the data in the mailbox.pst file is kept in the same
format
now
as it was before. Microsoft must have the Contact List format
defined
in
some
file somewhere.

BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work.

Hi Sue,

I got it working, and I want to thank you for your help. I'd have never
gotten this fixed without it.

Just to assist anyone else who may be experiencing this issue, here is how I
got it working:

1. Using the Microsoft self extracting zip file called "changeforms.exe"
available at -
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

2. First in Outlook, I created a Form in the format I desired, and published
it as "contact1". Note: after publishing this form, I discovered that it took
a minute or two for the new form to show in Outlook?? It wasn't there
immediately, but appeared while I was plundering around trying to figure out
why it didn't appear??

3. Then I ran the self-extracting zipped file "changeforms.exe" (see above)
which extracted two files - Changefm.dll, and ChangefmReadme.rtf, and it put
them in a directory called "Addins". A small note here, if you have more than
one hard drive, the installer puts this directory on the drive with the
largest amount of free space.

4. Then I went into Outlook, and right clicked on the folder where my
contacts were located. I selected properties, and in the field "When posting
to this folder, use:" and I selected "contact1". Then I said ok. This sets
the default for NEW Contacts you might create, to use the form you have
designed, but it does not alter the format of any of the existing contacts.

5. Then I went back to my Contacts folder, and selected Edit - Select all.
This should select ALL of your existing Contacts.

6. Then I went to Tools - Forms - Change Forms, and told the program to
change "IPM.Contact" to "IPM.Contact.contact1". It ran thru all 457 of my
contacts, and when it finished, I was able to open my contacts in the format
used in Outlook XP.

So thanks again for all your help.

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Not without knowing exactly what you've done. Can you take a deep breath and
give us the complete picture?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
Do you know how to set the forms back to default. I've messed things up so
much now, I need to start fresh, with the default forms, and try changing
them back to the new one...if I can ever figure out how to make that work.
I've designed a couple of new forms, set the new forms to the default,
made
new contacts, and seen that they were created in the new format, but no
matter what I do, I still see the old contacts in the old format??

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

You can use whichever tool you want. If you want to learn about VBA, use
one
of the scripts. If not, use one of the run-once tools. If you hover over
each link, you'll see a screen tip pop up with the date the tool was
added
to the list, so you can maybe try the most recent.


"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the info, which script do I use, that page is pretty busy,
but
contains lots of info?

Gerry

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

The "format" is defined by the value of the MessageClass property on
each
item. It sounds like you've already created a custom form to handle
new
contacts. The step still remaining is to change the MessageClass on
the
existing items to point to your new form's class. See
http://www.outlookcode.com/d/newdefaultform.htm#convert for several
tools
and scripts to accomplish this.

"Hhhelpppp!!!" wrote in message
...
I recently upgraded from Office XP to Office 2003, and now in Outlook
2003,
when I look at my contacts, on the General Tab, it has the big
information
window off to one side. How do I get this field to show my currrent
contacts
in the old format? Note, I know how to set this up for New Contacts,
but I
have several hundred old contacts, and I don't wish to manually copy
all
that
data to contacts list which has the old format.

I know that the data in the mailbox.pst file is kept in the same
format
now
as it was before. Microsoft must have the Contact List format
defined
in
some
file somewhere.

BY the way, I tried exporting, and importing, and it didn't work.