Sort order still a problem for e-mail

[Bluebonnet]

I am using Outlook 2007. My sort order is set to First Last, and I have
changed it to Last First, restarted Outlook, and changed it back to First
Last and restarted again. Still, when I go to send an e-mail, about 90% of
my contacts are in correct First Last order, but the other 10% is in Last
First. The erroneous info appears to be quite random, as I've looked at the
actual contact records and there is nothing unusual about them. Is there any
way to correct this, besides completely deleting those contacts and
re-entering them?

 

[Russ Valentine]

Sort order for what view?
The address book view has no "Last, First" option.

 

[Bluebonnet]

Tools>Account Settings>Address Books>Outlook Address Book>

The choices are First Last (John Smith) or File As (Smith, John)

So I guess I would have been more correct to say some of them are showing up
in File As format.

 

[Russ Valentine]

So explain what isn't happening that you think should.
Outlook obeys your settings. Provide an example where it does not. Pay
attention to your File As field if that is the field by which you are
sorting.

 

[Bluebonnet]

Okay, here's a specific example...

First, one that is showing up the way I'd like (First Last):
In Contacts, the record for Sue Young has File As: Young, Sue and Display
As: Sue.
When I compose an e-mail and click To: (opening the address list), Sue shows
up as "Sue Young".

Second, Karen Young is entered exactly the same way. File As: Young, Karen
and Display As: Karen.

When I compose an e-mail and click To:, Karen shows up as "Young, Karen".

Since their records appear to be set up identically, I don't understand why
one shows up First Last and the other one shows up Last First. I can't find
anything different between the two records.

I hope this helps clarify what's puzzling me...

 

[Russ Valentine]

Not really. You failed to mention the sort order you specified. Whenever you
change the sort order, you must restart Outlook.
Your "Display As" field is confusing. Did you manually reset it from
Outlook's default?

 

[Bluebonnet]

As I stated in my original post, sort order is First Last. And as I also
stated, I tried chainging it to Last First, restarted Outlook, then changed
it to First Last and restarted Outlook again. (I had already read previous
postings mentiioning the restarts.) And yes, I do manually change the
Display if I don't like Outlook's default. That shouldn't affect the sort
order of the list that pops up when I'm sending an e-mail. Most of the items
in the list are First Last; it's only about 10% that keep coming up Last
First. If I have to delete those and re-enter them, I will, but I was hoping
to isolate the cause.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]]

Tools>Account Settings>Address Books>Outlook Address Book>

The choices are First Last (John Smith) or File As (Smith, John)

So I guess I would have been more correct to say some of them are showing up
in File As format.

Did you import any of these contacts? That tends to mess up the Address Book
display.

 

[Russ Valentine]

If you told Outlook to sort by First, Last, then it is.
My suspicion is that you created your Contacts incorrectly and failed to
parse the name elements to their appropriate field. If you enter names into
the Full Name field, for example, there is a very good chance the name
elements didn't parse correctly. Parse them yourself.

 

[Bluebonnet]

Thanks, Brian--That may be the problem. Is there any way to correct it,
short of deleting and re-entering?? That's beginning to look like the most
viable solution... Russ, The parsing is correct--that was one of the first
things I checked.

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]]

Thanks, Brian--That may be the problem. Is there any way to correct it,
short of deleting and re-entering?? That's beginning to look like the most
viable solution... Russ, The parsing is correct--that was one of the
first
things I checked.

The only way I know is manual and it involved modifying the Subject field of
each contact. There may be a tool you can use to change them en masse. Start
here: http://www.slipstick.com/addins/contacts.asp

 

[Russ Valentine]

Unfortunately importing often creates Contacts that may seem correct, but
aren't actually populated correctly until you open and save the actual
Contact Record. So if the name elements seem parsed correctly to you, simply
opening and saving the Contact may correct the sort order.

 

[Russ Valentine]

My understanding was that they stopped using the Subject field a couple of
versions ago. Do you think it is still in play?

 

[Brian Tillman [MVP-Outlook]]

My understanding was that they stopped using the Subject field a couple of
versions ago. Do you think it is still in play?

I'm going by what I had done in the past. You're probably correct because I
now see Subject fields that don't correspond to the Name field on the OAB
view. Sorry for the bad advice.

 

[Russ Valentine]

I was just checking whether I was remembering correctly. My recollection was
that Subject field was what the PAB used, but AFAIK the OAB has only used
the File As... field or the First, Last fields.
Microsoft has created a labyrinth of address books over the years no one can
unravel.