Integrating with Outlook

[Kevin]

In my business, I use Quickbooks extensively for billing and accounting and
a custom built Access DB for project management. I recently began using MS
Outlooks contacts quite extensively as well (recently bought a PDA to bring
to job sites!). I have been able to get things set up so that I can
synchronize my Quickbooks customer and vendor lists with the Outlook
contacts, and thus with my PDA and this has been immensely helpful.

My DB has a contacts table where I keep all of my customer and vendor
information.Thi s was created long before I started using Outlook and
contains a plethora of contact info that was not possible in Quickbooks. I
did a bit of research and found that I can use MSAccess to link to the
Outlook contacts table and I'd like to explore the possibility of using that
in place of the current contacts table that I have created. A few
questions/issues have come up, however.

First off, I notice that the Outlook created table does not use a key field.
It seems that this will make referencing specific records very difficult.
This is especially troublesome in that the Outlook table does not contain
all of the fields that I would prefer to have, thus I would need to have a
second table for the remaining information and link the tables in a
one-to-one relationship (is it even possible to do this with the Outlook
table?) .

The second issue that I have noticed is that the linked Outlook table does
not include all of the fields that are available when using the Outlook
program. Primarily the notes field. I see in the linked table that it has a
yes/no field for Journal but I'm not sure what that is.

I'm also wondering (I haven't done any actual testing yet) if I can access
and change data in the Outlook file through MSAccess without the Outlook
program being open?

I am looking at making some major renovations to my DB this winter, so I'm
looking for some insight on this in the meantime. Any thoughts or ideas are
welcomed.

Thanks,
Kevin

[Kevin]

"Kevin" <no**@email.com wrote in message
news:qa******** *************@f e03.news.easyne ws.com...

In my business, I use Quickbooks extensively for billing and accounting
and a custom built Access DB for project management. I recently began
using MS Outlooks contacts quite extensively as well (recently bought a
PDA to bring to job sites!). I have been able to get things set up so that
I can synchronize my Quickbooks customer and vendor lists with the Outlook
contacts, and thus with my PDA and this has been immensely helpful.

My DB has a contacts table where I keep all of my customer and vendor
information.Thi s was created long before I started using Outlook and
contains a plethora of contact info that was not possible in Quickbooks.
I did a bit of research and found that I can use MSAccess to link to the
Outlook contacts table and I'd like to explore the possibility of using
that in place of the current contacts table that I have created. A few
questions/issues have come up, however.

First off, I notice that the Outlook created table does not use a key
field. It seems that this will make referencing specific records very
difficult. This is especially troublesome in that the Outlook table does
not contain all of the fields that I would prefer to have, thus I would
need to have a second table for the remaining information and link the
tables in a one-to-one relationship (is it even possible to do this with
the Outlook table?) .

The second issue that I have noticed is that the linked Outlook table does
not include all of the fields that are available when using the Outlook
program. Primarily the notes field. I see in the linked table that it has
a yes/no field for Journal but I'm not sure what that is.

I'm also wondering (I haven't done any actual testing yet) if I can access
and change data in the Outlook file through MSAccess without the Outlook
program being open?

I am looking at making some major renovations to my DB this winter, so I'm
looking for some insight on this in the meantime. Any thoughts or ideas
are welcomed.

Thanks,
Kevin

If it helps, I'm using MSAccess 2003, MSOutlook 2003 and Quickbooks Pro 2008

[Phil Stanton]

If it's any help, I have an AK2 program that theoretically will examine an
Access database and create an outlook address folder with whatever fields
Outlook provides. Probably very flaky, but it works for me

Phil
"Kevin" <no**@email.com wrote in message
news:9g******** ************@fe 08.news.easynew s.com...

>
"Kevin" <no**@email.com wrote in message
news:qa******** *************@f e03.news.easyne ws.com...

>In my business, I use Quickbooks extensively for billing and accounting
and a custom built Access DB for project management. I recently began
using MS Outlooks contacts quite extensively as well (recently bought a
PDA to bring to job sites!). I have been able to get things set up so
that I can synchronize my Quickbooks customer and vendor lists with the
Outlook contacts, and thus with my PDA and this has been immensely
helpful.

My DB has a contacts table where I keep all of my customer and vendor
information.Th is was created long before I started using Outlook and
contains a plethora of contact info that was not possible in Quickbooks.
I did a bit of research and found that I can use MSAccess to link to the
Outlook contacts table and I'd like to explore the possibility of using
that in place of the current contacts table that I have created. A few
questions/issues have come up, however.

First off, I notice that the Outlook created table does not use a key
field. It seems that this will make referencing specific records very
difficult. This is especially troublesome in that the Outlook table does
not contain all of the fields that I would prefer to have, thus I would
need to have a second table for the remaining information and link the
tables in a one-to-one relationship (is it even possible to do this with
the Outlook table?) .

The second issue that I have noticed is that the linked Outlook table
does not include all of the fields that are available when using the
Outlook program. Primarily the notes field. I see in the linked table
that it has a yes/no field for Journal but I'm not sure what that is.

I'm also wondering (I haven't done any actual testing yet) if I can
access and change data in the Outlook file through MSAccess without the
Outlook program being open?

I am looking at making some major renovations to my DB this winter, so
I'm looking for some insight on this in the meantime. Any thoughts or
ideas are welcomed.

Thanks,
Kevin

If it helps, I'm using MSAccess 2003, MSOutlook 2003 and Quickbooks Pro
2008

[Kevin]

"Kevin" <no**@email.com wrote in message
news:qa******** *************@f e03.news.easyne ws.com...

In my business, I use Quickbooks extensively for billing and accounting
and a custom built Access DB for project management. I recently began
using MS Outlooks contacts quite extensively as well (recently bought a
PDA to bring to job sites!). I have been able to get things set up so that
I can synchronize my Quickbooks customer and vendor lists with the Outlook
contacts, and thus with my PDA and this has been immensely helpful.

My DB has a contacts table where I keep all of my customer and vendor
information.Thi s was created long before I started using Outlook and
contains a plethora of contact info that was not possible in Quickbooks.
I did a bit of research and found that I can use MSAccess to link to the
Outlook contacts table and I'd like to explore the possibility of using
that in place of the current contacts table that I have created. A few
questions/issues have come up, however.

First off, I notice that the Outlook created table does not use a key
field. It seems that this will make referencing specific records very
difficult. This is especially troublesome in that the Outlook table does
not contain all of the fields that I would prefer to have, thus I would
need to have a second table for the remaining information and link the
tables in a one-to-one relationship (is it even possible to do this with
the Outlook table?) .

The second issue that I have noticed is that the linked Outlook table does
not include all of the fields that are available when using the Outlook
program. Primarily the notes field. I see in the linked table that it has
a yes/no field for Journal but I'm not sure what that is.

I'm also wondering (I haven't done any actual testing yet) if I can access
and change data in the Outlook file through MSAccess without the Outlook
program being open?

I am looking at making some major renovations to my DB this winter, so I'm
looking for some insight on this in the meantime. Any thoughts or ideas
are welcomed.

Thanks,
Kevin

Any other thoughts??

[lyle fairfield]

three thoughts:

1. PDAs often come with software that surpasses Outlook's contacts,
calendaring and tasks utilities. For example, the Palm Desktop allows
me to drag-n-drop a contact into a specific calendar time-slot. While
I can do this in Outlook for a day, I haven't learned to do it for a
time such as 09:30, Tuesday etc.
So why not use your PDA's software? I have found that the synching can
be simpler and surer.

2. Your needs seem not to require a relational model so why use
Access to manage Outlook contacts? Outlook is as fully programmable as
Access. And new forms can be designed and used in Outlook.

3. There are many synching programs out there. Some are free. Others
have a nominal cost. That may mean you have many other choices for
Contact sofware.

On Aug 9, 9:12*pm, "Kevin" <[e-mail] wrote:

"Kevin" <[e-mail] wrote in message

news:qa******** *************@f e03.news.easyne ws.com...

In my business, I use Quickbooks extensively for billing and accounting
and a custom built Access DB for project management. I recently began
using MS Outlooks contacts quite extensively as well (recently bought a
PDA to bring to job sites!). I have been able to get things set up so that
I can synchronize my Quickbooks customer and vendor lists with the Outlook
contacts, and thus with my PDA and this has been immensely helpful.

My DB has a contacts table where I keep all of my customer and vendor
information.Thi s was created long before I started using Outlook and
contains a plethora of contact info that was not possible in Quickbooks..
I did a bit of research and found that I can use MSAccess to link to the
Outlook contacts table and I'd like to explore the possibility of using
that in place of the current contacts table that I have created. A few
questions/issues have come up, however.

First off, I notice that the Outlook created table does not use a key
field. It seems that this will make referencing specific records very
difficult. This is especially troublesome in that the Outlook table does
not contain all of the fields that I would prefer to have, thus I would
need to have a second table for the remaining information and link the
tables in a one-to-one relationship (is it even possible to do this with
the Outlook table?) .

The second issue that I have noticed is that the linked Outlook table does
not include all of the fields that are available when using the Outlook
program. Primarily the notes field. I see in the linked table that it has
a yes/no field for Journal but I'm not sure what that is.

I'm also wondering (I haven't done any actual testing yet) if I can access
and change data in the Outlook file through MSAccess without the Outlook
program being open?

I am looking at making some major renovations to my DB this winter, so I'm
looking for some insight on this in the meantime. Any thoughts or ideas
are welcomed.

Thanks,
Kevin

Any other thoughts??

[The Frog]

Hi Kevin,

I am not entirely clear on what you are trying to achieve here. Are
you wanting to have the functionality of your database built in to
Outlook and synchronised with your PDA? If so, what type of data are
you keeping there, and what type of functionality are you looking for
on the PDA. Are you looking to be able to do everything on your PDA
that you would be able to do on your laptop for example?

I have been using and developing with windows mobile based PDA's for
about 7 years, and I have done this for my own purposes to make my
life easier. Lyle's idea about using Outlook as the programming
environment is a good one, and I can confirm that it has been a
successful one for me in the past.

If you are looking at building functionality in to your PDA to make
your life in the field easier then you have a little work cut out for
you. There are some programs that will allow you to make an Access
application / DB into a PDA version, complete with forms (I think one
is even called Pocket Access), but you need to develop for that
environment. My suggestion would be to try and get hold of the old
Visual Studio for mobile development, where you can get version of VB
or C++ for mobile development. The last version I saw was a few years
ago, and it was pre .net (and also free). This allows you to build and
test an application completely for a windows based PDA. You can make
it work off the local contacts database, add your own db with your own
data, and build your own forms and functionality etc..... It takes
some serious work though.

Have you thought about some of the commercial packages that are out
there. I think there is even a business contacts thingy from MS for
Outlook with a PDA module that allows you to handle a lot more info
than the standard, and I think it is free too.

Just some thoughts.

Cheers

The Frog

[Kevin]

Sorry for the long delay. I appreciate all the responses so far. I think I'd
like to start over, however. First off, lets get rid of the PDA idea. When
all is said and done, I would like to have a well functioning relationship
between Outlook and Access and if, later in the game, I can work in a
solution with the PDA, I'll deal with it then.

So, what I am looking for is a way to use both Outlook, and Access to access
one contacts database.

Lyle, you mentioned that it didn't seem as though I needed a relational
model. While this may have seemed true from the info I gave, I do in fact
need relationships. I use the contacts table that I have currently in
relationships with various other project tables. Thus I need to have a fully
functional table that Access can use. This is where my biggest question
comes from? The Outlook db does not have a key field, so I am unsure how
Access can find and utilize individual records.

Another option, if it is possible, would be to have Outlook get its
information directly from my Access table. Is that a feasable goal? And
would it be a complex task to create/maintain/use?
"Kevin" <no**@email.com wrote in message
news:qa******** *************@f e03.news.easyne ws.com...

In my business, I use Quickbooks extensively for billing and accounting
and a custom built Access DB for project management. I recently began
using MS Outlooks contacts quite extensively as well (recently bought a
PDA to bring to job sites!). I have been able to get things set up so that
I can synchronize my Quickbooks customer and vendor lists with the Outlook
contacts, and thus with my PDA and this has been immensely helpful.

My DB has a contacts table where I keep all of my customer and vendor
information.Thi s was created long before I started using Outlook and
contains a plethora of contact info that was not possible in Quickbooks.
I did a bit of research and found that I can use MSAccess to link to the
Outlook contacts table and I'd like to explore the possibility of using
that in place of the current contacts table that I have created. A few
questions/issues have come up, however.

First off, I notice that the Outlook created table does not use a key
field. It seems that this will make referencing specific records very
difficult. This is especially troublesome in that the Outlook table does
not contain all of the fields that I would prefer to have, thus I would
need to have a second table for the remaining information and link the
tables in a one-to-one relationship (is it even possible to do this with
the Outlook table?) .

The second issue that I have noticed is that the linked Outlook table does
not include all of the fields that are available when using the Outlook
program. Primarily the notes field. I see in the linked table that it has
a yes/no field for Journal but I'm not sure what that is.

I'm also wondering (I haven't done any actual testing yet) if I can access
and change data in the Outlook file through MSAccess without the Outlook
program being open?

I am looking at making some major renovations to my DB this winter, so I'm
looking for some insight on this in the meantime. Any thoughts or ideas
are welcomed.

Thanks,
Kevin