linking contacts to tasks/appts within outlook and actionnames

[btrcp2000]

Is there any way to link a contact to tasks/appts within Actionnames and Outlook? In other words, I can set up a task/appt linked to a contact in outlook, but when i sync, the linked contact does not show up in actnames, and vice versa. This means that either the Actnames history or outlook journal will not reflect that link and i have no idea who my appointment is with. This is the missing link for me, and would truly enable me to leave my laptop at home. Any ideas?

BTW, using actnames 5.0, chapura pocketmirror, and outlook 2000. There is no outlook or pocketmirror option under preferences/storage format, only actnames, time matters, act palm link, companionlink, and intellisync

Thanks!

[james]

As far as I know PocketMirror does not have a format for reading and writing contact linked entries to and from the Palm as Intellisync, CompanionLink and other conduits can.

[Ldean1976]

hi i am using companion link as my conduit. and when i syc. i do not have any linked contacts in my appointment. if i create an appointment on my palm and have it linked to a contact then i sync it does not show up in outlook. the only thing i have is the contacts name in the subject field. if i create and appointment on my pc and link it id does not link in AN. this is a much needed feature. if i change my calendar over to goldmine will it then do this?

[btrcp2000]

i'm going thru the exact same thing, and I'm surprised there aren't more people complaining about it. I used to use Act 4.0 and companionlink, and it supported linked contacts to tasks/datebook stuff whether they were created on the palm or the PC. Hotsyncs crashed occasionally, though. Since then, my company switched to outlook, and I got to start all over.

Here's my workaround, using Outlook 2000, a Kyocera Palm phone, and actionnames 5.2:

First, under Actnames' contact preferences, set the storage format to Time Matters. Now, whenever you schedule an appt/task on the palm, it will synchronize to outlook with this in the subject field:

[smith, joe]have lunch at the ritz

Also, when you schedule an appt/task on outlook, simply type the name in brackets before the subject info. I have discovered that it can be in either order [smith, joe] or [joe smith].

If your main concern is getting all your tasks/appts organized by client name, you will now be able to do that on the palm, provided that you have Actnames 5.0 or higher. There is a new feature called "contact history" that will search both the task and datebook for an entries with that contacts name in brackets as shown above. For me, it's actually quicker than Outlook is at connecting the activities to the contact

There stil is no way to have a conduit use Outlook's "contacts" field to synchronize. From what I've seen, not even Pocket PC's outlook program does this. My solution is to periodically go to my datebook and task lists in Outlook, and just cut/paste the name info from the subject line into the contacts field, which isn't too difficult if you have it set to Time Matters, because the first thing in the subject line is the name. However, I have found it much easier to search lined activities on the palm, so i really dont' worry too much about what outlook has, as long as it's all backed up.

I have called chapura, and they did not seem too concerned about this issue, and I have found very few threads on the internet about it.
hope this helps more than it confuses!

[Roberto Metzler]

I use Intellisync to syncronyze Outlook to Action Names.

Contact synchronyzation work perfectly for tasks, but not for appointments. Intellisync offers a detailed field mapping, but the Contact field does not appear on the Outlook side.

I miss also a lot a synchronyzation for task's alarm.

[sarvish]

I too am using ActionNames 5.x, Intellisync and Outlook 2000. Using Itellisync allows tasks linked to a Contact to be synced to Outlook with the link intact but doesn't do so with appointments.

Has anyone contacted Intellisync about this? It would seem to me that Intellisync just needs to add contact in the field mapping for appointments.

If no one has contacted Intellisync, I will go ahead and do so.

Harry

[Roberto Metzler]

OK, you can take one point more to the behavior of Intellisync while using AN: Intellisync puts the "virtual fields" at the end of the notes field (Contact Name:, Contact Company: ), AN puts it at the beginning, and ignores unrecognized text before the #AN sign. This leads to loss of all notes entered (or changed) in Outlook, as soon as you change the contact information within AN.

Solution:
- Either Intellisync has to put the "virtual fields" at the beginning of the notes field
- or AN has to put the contact information at the end (Notes information, then "#AN", then the contact information).

Maybe the moderator of this forum can say something about Iambic's thoughts in regard to this.

RM

[gavinbuckley]

By changing the field mapping as follows I have the Agendus date-book contacts appearing as outlook Attendees. This is not as good as if thay would may to the meetings contacts but better than nothing. The To-Do link works perfictly with contacts.
Agendus on the palm must be set to Intellisync.

Intellisync Mapping
App Mapping Palm Outlook
To-Do Contact Name Contacts
Date book Contact Name Meeting Attendeees

[mpovolo]

When I try this, I cannot figure out how to enter notes in the notes field. In Outlook the task notes stay. Anything that I enter in AN gets lost. At least I have the contact link working now?

thanks
Mark

[gavinbuckley]

A note written on the palm appears thus in Outlook:
ICON: 128
#AN
Bla Bla Bla
this is a note

Basically you can add any text you want after the #AN.

[mpovolo]

My notes for the linked tasks do not seem to transfer. My setup is:

Intellisync
AN on the palm with contact storage set as Intellisync.

Any ideas?

thanks

[mpovolo]

Sort of have it working now. Seems like I can only add notes on the pc side after I have created the note on the palm. That is, if I create a new item on the PC, I need to first sync, then modify the note on the palm, then sync again. Edits from the PC are now synced. Any idea?

thanks

[gavinbuckley]

I seem to be able to write notes on thepc before or after a sync. Intellisync can get a bit confused, I can't seem to work out it's logic.

You could try writing #AN before starting to write a note in Outlook, net very handy though.

Agendus for Windows provides an easy workround to all these problems, but I have found it a bit buggy, v2.02 seems to be more stable.

Win 98
Outlook 2000
Agendus pro for win v2.02
Agendus pro palm 6.14
Intelesync