Any way to view Contacts differently?

K

Ken Ray

I have recently migrated from Outlook 2002 to Entourage 2004 and the
Contacts display only shows name in "FirstName LastName" order... Is there
any way to display them in "LastName, FirstName" order? Or to adjust how
they are listed?

Thanks,


Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software
Web site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/
Email: [email protected]
 
M

Mickey Stevens

This is what Paul Berkowitz posted a few days ago for another poster:

----------------------
You can't. Do note that the Name column nevertheless _sorts_ by Last Name,
not First Name.

You could copy LastName FirstName into the Nickname field or a custom field,
and then sort by that. You can also drag that column to the far left
(after making it visible in View/Columns) if you wish.

Transferring all the names in reverse order can be done easily by
AppleScript.

tell application "Microsoft Entourage"
set allContacts to every contact
repeat with aContact in my allContacts
tell aContact
set {fName, lName} to {first name, last name}
if fName ‚ "" and lName ‚ "" then
set reverseName to lName & " " & fName -- or:
--set reverseName to lName & ", " & fName -- with comma
else if fName ‚ "" or lName ‚ "" then
set reverseName to lName & fName
else if company ‚ "" then
set reverseName to company
else if (every email address) ‚ {} then
set reverseName to default email address
else
set reverseName to ""
end if
set its nickname to reverseName -- or:
-- set its custom field three to reverseName -- or whichever
end tell
end repeat
beep
activate
display dialog "All done!" buttons {"OK"} default button 1 with icon 1
end tell



You can run this from Script Editor if you wish (no need to save it.) If you
want a comma btween last name and first, remove the first "--" in front of
that line with comma and insert "--" before the preceding line. Similarly if
you want to use a custom field and not the nickname, remove the "--" infront
of teh custom view line and insert it before the nickname line (or just
remove that line). You can change the "three" to anything from "one" through
"eight".
 
K

Ken Ray

This is what Paul Berkowitz posted a few days ago for another poster:
Click to expand...

Yes, I noticed that. It actually makes it *harder* to find a name, IMHO.
You could copy LastName FirstName into the Nickname field or a custom field,
and then sort by that. You can also drag that column to the far left
(after making it visible in View/Columns) if you wish.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your AppleScript suggestion... I'll use that right away. I'm also
going to send a suggestion to Microsoft.

Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software
Web site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/
Email: [email protected]
 
D

Diane Ross

I have recently migrated from Outlook 2002 to Entourage 2004 and the
Contacts display only shows name in "FirstName LastName" order... Is there
any way to display them in "LastName, FirstName" order? Or to adjust how
they are listed?
Click to expand...

I like to view by category. Of course, you have to assign a category to them
first, but it's a great way to simplify viewing contacts and use in rules.

Add a category to each of your address entries. Examples: family, work,
buddies, talk lists, newsletters. Now when you create a rule, you can use
category rather than entering each address. For more information and
examples:

Rules: http://www.entourage.mvps.org/rules/index.html

Another option is to add additional columns. View-Columns. I like Nicknames
too. The name you assign is not seen and it's a great way to sort common
names like Bob, James etc.
 
K

Ken Ray

I like to view by category. Of course, you have to assign a category to them
first, but it's a great way to simplify viewing contacts and use in rules.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion, but my issue wasn't so much organization as being
able to find people quickly in a list. The "FirstName LastName" order
requires that the eye track and locate where the space is between the two
names to recognize where the last name is, which causes a lot of eye jumping
back and forth as you scan down a list of names. With the names in
"LastName, FirstName" order, your eye can just scan straight down the left
edge of the names until it recognizes the one you're looking for.

I ended up using the Nicknames column and using an AppleScript to populate
it with Last, First names. It's a hack, and it's slow and it makes all of my
emails show the hack (since it thinks it's really a nickname), but it works
for now. I have filed a suggestion through "Send Feedback" to hopefully have
it added as a new option in the next version of Entourage.

Ken Ray
Sons of Thunder Software
Web site: http://www.sonsothunder.com/
Email: [email protected]
 
P

Paul Berkowitz

Thanks for the suggestion, but my issue wasn't so much organization as being
able to find people quickly in a list. The "FirstName LastName" order
requires that the eye track and locate where the space is between the two
names to recognize where the last name is, which causes a lot of eye jumping
back and forth as you scan down a list of names. With the names in
"LastName, FirstName" order, your eye can just scan straight down the left
edge of the names until it recognizes the one you're looking for.

I ended up using the Nicknames column and using an AppleScript to populate
it with Last, First names. It's a hack, and it's slow and it makes all of my
emails show the hack (since it thinks it's really a nickname), but it works
for now. I have filed a suggestion through "Send Feedback" to hopefully have
it added as a new option in the next version of Entourage.
Click to expand...

Have you tried the little txt filter in the top RH corner. Type 3 or 4
letters of either the first name or the last name and the contact will
appear without your having to scroll at all.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.
 
K

Kenny F

Have you tried the little txt filter in the top RH corner. Type 3 or 4
letters of either the first name or the last name and the contact will
appear without your having to scroll at all.
Click to expand...


That's what I do. It's great. The cursor is focused there by default when
you open the address book (at least in EvX it is.)

I open the address book and immediately type the first 2, 3 or 4 letters in
the contact's first name, last name or e-mail user name and the contact gets
displayed by itself, or with any other Joes or Marys or whatever. Type more
letters and it will be by itself.

But if I was wanting to shift-click multiple names from the list, then the
sorting issue would rear it's head again.



=========================
Kenny F
 
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