List Last names first?

L

Lida Verner

Is it possible to have last names listed first in the address book or at
least in the listing under address book?
 
M

Mickey Stevens

The Address Book should sort by Last Name if you click the "Name" column
header, even though it displays the names in the "First Last" format.

Below is a workaround for displaying Address Book contacts in "Last, First"
format by Paul Berkowitz.

----------------------
You can't [display in Last, First format]. 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 between 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 "--" in
front of the 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".
 
L

Lida Verner

Thank you. It's a basic database and it shouldn't be so difficult.
:::sigh:::

--
Lida
http://www.candlelightdreams.com
http://www.pbase.com/coffenut

Ignorance is the night of the mind, but a night without moon and star.
Confucius




The Address Book should sort by Last Name if you click the "Name" column
header, even though it displays the names in the "First Last" format.

Below is a workaround for displaying Address Book contacts in "Last, First"
format by Paul Berkowitz.

----------------------
You can't [display in Last, First format]. 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 between 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 "--" in
front of the 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".
----------------------

Be warned that Custom Fields are not indexed and as a result they do not
sort as speedily as other fields.

Is it possible to have last names listed first in the address book or at
least in the listing under address book?
Click to expand...
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