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Vista - Problem importing CSV contact list

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Old 01-19-2008   #1 (permalink)
rv.gronoff


 
 

Problem importing CSV contact list

Hi again,

I'm trying to import my contact list from Thunderbird. I exported the list
in a CSV file, but when I import it in WLM it looks like gibberish. WLM asks
me to select a field first, but it doesn't seem to care about the separation
commas and puts everything into this field (like first name).
What should I do to get a proper contacts list ?

Ta,
RVG


My System SpecsSystem Spec
Old 01-19-2008   #2 (permalink)
Ildhund


 
 

Re: Problem importing CSV contact list

Looks like you may be posting from foreign parts. Are you sure TB exported
your contacts as comma separated values? It may be that some other character
like a semicolon ( was used instead, as is often the case in places where
the comma (,) is the decimal separator. It could be that WLMail (even in
foreign parts) demands commas, not semicolons. Check the export options in
TB.
--
Noel

"rv.gronoff" <regis.gronoff@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4ECDDAF7-ED14-4962-8A3F-7B4AA8EFDFAB@xxxxxx
Quote:

> Hi again,
>
> I'm trying to import my contact list from Thunderbird. I exported the list
> in a CSV file, but when I import it in WLM it looks like gibberish. WLM
> asks me to select a field first, but it doesn't seem to care about the
> separation commas and puts everything into this field (like first name).
> What should I do to get a proper contacts list ?
>
> Ta,
> RVG

My System SpecsSystem Spec
Old 01-19-2008   #3 (permalink)
rv.gronoff


 
 

Re: Problem importing CSV contact list



"Ildhund" <jnllb@xxxxxx> a écrit dans le message de groupe de
discussion : C68B06CF-0C05-4BBB-AE38-8CB07380A8AB@xxxxxx...
Quote:

> "rv.gronoff" <regis.gronoff@xxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:4ECDDAF7-ED14-4962-8A3F-7B4AA8EFDFAB@xxxxxx
Quote:

>> Hi again,
>>
>> I'm trying to import my contact list from Thunderbird. I exported the
>> list in a CSV file, but when I import it in WLM it looks like gibberish.
>> WLM asks me to select a field first, but it doesn't seem to care about
>> the separation commas and puts everything into this field (like first
>> name).
>> What should I do to get a proper contacts list ?
>>
> Looks like you may be posting from foreign parts. Are you sure TB exported
> your contacts as comma separated values? It may be that some other
> character like a semicolon ( was used instead, as is often the case in
> places where the comma (,) is the decimal separator. It could be that
> WLMail (even in foreign parts) demands commas, not semicolons. Check the
> export options in TB.
No, there are commas all right. But perhaps the categories should be in
english even in localized versions of WLM.

My System SpecsSystem Spec
Old 01-19-2008   #4 (permalink)
Ildhund


 
 

Re: Problem importing CSV contact list

rv.gronoff wrote...
Quote:

> Ildhund a écrit...
Quote:

>> rv.gronoff wrote ...
Quote:

>>> I'm trying to import my contact list from Thunderbird. I exported the
>>> list in a CSV file, but when I import it in WLM it looks like gibberish.
>>> WLM asks me to select a field first, but it doesn't seem to care about
>>> the separation commas and puts everything into this field (like first
>>> name).
>>> What should I do to get a proper contacts list ?
Quote:
Quote:

>> Looks like you may be posting from foreign parts. Are you sure TB
>> exported your contacts as comma separated values? It may be that some
>> other character like a semicolon ( was used instead, as is often the
>> case in places where the comma (,) is the decimal separator. It could be
>> that WLMail (even in foreign parts) demands commas, not semicolons. Check
>> the export options in TB.
Quote:

> No, there are commas all right. But perhaps the categories should be in
> english even in localized versions of WLM.
These are the header fields used by WLMail:
First Name
Last Name
Middle Name
Name
Nickname
E-mail Address
Home Street
Home City
Home Postal Code
Home State
Home Country Region
Home Phone
Home Fax
Mobile Phone
Personal Web Page
Business Street
Business City
Business Postal Code
Business State
Business Country Region
Business Web Page
Business Phone
Business Fax
Pager
Company
Job Title
Department
Office Location
Notes

You can see them in the [Contacts] File > Export wizard at about page 3.
They may be different in the French version, so you may have to do a bit of
work on the CSV file to get it to import properly. You could do this in
Excel: don't double-click the .csv file to open it in Excel. (What follows
is for Excel 2003; in earlier versions you may have to use Data > Import >
Text file. Excel 2007 may be slightly different.) Start Excel and then File
Quote:

> Open. In the wizard, choose Delimited and on the next page , check
"Comma". On the next page, find any columns containing phone numbers, click
on the column heading (which will probably say 'General') and select the
Text radio button. Otherwise, Excel will strip any leading zeroes from phone
numbers or display them in E format or even truncate them.
Beware of rows which only contain bits from a Notes field that includes
newline characters.

You could copy the list above and paste it into an empty worksheet in Excel,
then copy it, Paste Special and select Transform to give you the headings
for a new list. Then copy the column data from the CSV list to the
appropriate column in your new list, then save that new worksheet as CSV and
try importing again.
--
Noel



My System SpecsSystem Spec
Old 01-19-2008   #5 (permalink)
Ildhund


 
 

Re: Problem importing CSV contact list

Ildhund wrote...
Quote:

> You could copy the list above and paste it into an empty worksheet in
> Excel, then copy it, Paste Special and select Transform...
For Transform read Transpose. Sorry.
--
Noel



My System SpecsSystem Spec
Old 01-19-2008   #6 (permalink)
rv.gronoff


 
 

Re: Problem importing CSV contact list



"Ildhund" <jnllb@xxxxxx> a écrit dans le message de groupe de
discussion : 83C76CFD-CC3A-41FF-96C1-7E0CC595C7E7@xxxxxx...
Quote:

> rv.gronoff wrote...
Quote:

>> Ildhund a écrit...
Quote:

>>> rv.gronoff wrote ...
>>>> I'm trying to import my contact list from Thunderbird. I exported the
>>>> list in a CSV file, but when I import it in WLM it looks like
>>>> gibberish. WLM asks me to select a field first, but it doesn't seem to
>>>> care about the separation commas and puts everything into this field
>>>> (like first name).
>>>> What should I do to get a proper contacts list ?
>
Quote:
Quote:

>>> Looks like you may be posting from foreign parts. Are you sure TB
>>> exported your contacts as comma separated values? It may be that some
>>> other character like a semicolon ( was used instead, as is often the
>>> case in places where the comma (,) is the decimal separator. It could be
>>> that WLMail (even in foreign parts) demands commas, not semicolons.
>>> Check the export options in TB.
>
Quote:

>> No, there are commas all right. But perhaps the categories should be in
>> english even in localized versions of WLM.
>
> These are the header fields used by WLMail:
> First Name
> Last Name
> Middle Name
> Name
> Nickname
> E-mail Address
> Home Street
> Home City
> Home Postal Code
> Home State
> Home Country Region
> Home Phone
> Home Fax
> Mobile Phone
> Personal Web Page
> Business Street
> Business City
> Business Postal Code
> Business State
> Business Country Region
> Business Web Page
> Business Phone
> Business Fax
> Pager
> Company
> Job Title
> Department
> Office Location
> Notes
>
> You can see them in the [Contacts] File > Export wizard at about page 3.
> They may be different in the French version, so you may have to do a bit
> of work on the CSV file to get it to import properly. You could do this in
> Excel: don't double-click the .csv file to open it in Excel. (What follows
> is for Excel 2003; in earlier versions you may have to use Data > Import
Quote:

> > Text file. Excel 2007 may be slightly different.) Start Excel and then
> File
Quote:

> > Open. In the wizard, choose Delimited and on the next page , check
> "Comma". On the next page, find any columns containing phone numbers,
> click on the column heading (which will probably say 'General') and select
> the Text radio button. Otherwise, Excel will strip any leading zeroes from
> phone numbers or display them in E format or even truncate them.
> Beware of rows which only contain bits from a Notes field that includes
> newline characters.
>
> You could copy the list above and paste it into an empty worksheet in
> Excel, then copy it, Paste Special and select Transform to give you the
> headings for a new list. Then copy the column data from the CSV list to
> the appropriate column in your new list, then save that new worksheet as
> CSV and try importing again.
What I feared happened: TB and WLM use different titles for the same
categories.
I'll be spending some time trying to figure out what corresponds to what.
:-(

My System SpecsSystem Spec
Old 01-19-2008   #7 (permalink)
rv.gronoff


 
 

Re: Problem importing CSV contact list



"Ildhund" <jnllb@xxxxxx> a écrit dans le message de groupe de
discussion : 83C76CFD-CC3A-41FF-96C1-7E0CC595C7E7@xxxxxx...
Quote:

> You can see them in the [Contacts] File > Export wizard at about page 3.
> They may be different in the French version, so you may have to do a bit
> of work on the CSV file to get it to import properly. You could do this in
> Excel: don't double-click the .csv file to open it in Excel. (What follows
> is for Excel 2003; in earlier versions you may have to use Data > Import
Quote:

> > Text file. Excel 2007 may be slightly different.) Start Excel and then
> File
Quote:

> > Open. In the wizard, choose Delimited and on the next page , check
> "Comma". On the next page, find any columns containing phone numbers,
> click on the column heading (which will probably say 'General') and select
> the Text radio button. Otherwise, Excel will strip any leading zeroes from
> phone numbers or display them in E format or even truncate them.
> Beware of rows which only contain bits from a Notes field that includes
> newline characters.
>
> You could copy the list above and paste it into an empty worksheet in
> Excel, then copy it, Paste Special and select Transform to give you the
> headings for a new list. Then copy the column data from the CSV list to
> the appropriate column in your new list, then save that new worksheet as
> CSV and try importing again.
OK, I imported the TB CSV file into Excel like you said, then exported it as
a CSV with semi-colon separation, and it imported well into WLM!
Thanks a lot, have a great day!

RVG

My System SpecsSystem Spec
Old 01-19-2008   #8 (permalink)
Ildhund


 
 

Re: Problem importing CSV contact list

rv.gronoff wrote...
Quote:

> OK, I imported the TB CSV file into Excel like you said, then exported it
> as a CSV with semi-colon separation, and it imported well into WLM!
> Thanks a lot, have a great day!
Glad it worked out for you and thanks for the feedback.
--
Noel


My System SpecsSystem Spec
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