Contact First & Last names the wrong way around

[PJay]

In Outlook 2003 when creating a new contact I typed their name into the
name field in the order Firstname Middlename Lastname and Outlook placed them
in the correct order. I've recently upgraded to Outlook 2007 and now when I
type in a name, for example John Smith Outlook takes John as the lastname and
Smith as the Firstname and displays John, Smith (it's set to file as
Lastname, Firstname).

Options > Preferences > Contact Options > Default Fullname Order is set to
Firstname Middlename Lastname (as I want it).

To confuse things further I have a number of contacts that worked correctly
in Outlook 2007 and display correct in Outlook 2007 in that John Smith would
display correctly in the Fullname field, when I click the Fullname button
which opens the Check Fullname dialoge I see the First and Last names in
their correct fields but the minute I close it the First and Last names are
reversed in the Fullname field and Outlook registers the contact as having
been changed.

Any thoughts on how I can get this working.

 

[Russ Valentine]

Parse the name elements yourself. Do not use the Full Name field.

 

[Karl Timmermans]

Any time you change those settings would suggest that you close and restart
Outlook. Think you'll find that Outlook will behave the way you want it to
after it's restarted.

In addition, to ensure maximum pain with <FullName> inconsistencies, enter
the name in the FullName field instead of entering each part separately.
Even entering the component parts individually, if you don't follow the
suggestion above, you're still going to encounter some issues.

A simple series of tests anyone can do to see some of the variants first
hand:

Test 1

1) Set FullName format option to Last, First
2) Create a new contact - enter the value of <FName LName> (without the
brackets) directly into the FullName field
3) Check the individual field values and you'll find FirstName = <LName>
and LastName = <FName>
*** you can save the contact but makes no difference

Test 2
1) Set FullName to First Middle Last *** without restarting Outlook
2) Create a new contact - enter the value of <FName MName LName> into the
FullName field
3) Check individual values and you'll find - FirstName = MName LName and
LastName= FName

close/restart Outlook and repeat test #2 (items#2 & 3)
view the results - you'll find the name is parsed correctly

FileAs will be populated based on the actual values found in the FirstName,
LastName fields so if these are parsed wrong the FileAs and Email DisplayAs
fields will also be incorrect. There are all kinds of combinations and
permutations anyone can have fun with if so inclined. This of course does
not include the differences between creating a new contact or updating a
particular field for an existing contact or using the Outlook import wizard
which does not follow Outlook UI settings in all cases.

In short - to eliminate (or at the very least, minimize) issues related to
a contact's name field (as well as anything that depends on that field) -
just need to do the following:

#1 - Establish your desired settings for the various fields (FullName,
FileAs)
#2 - Close and restart Outlook
#3 - Enter a contact's name using the individual name parts
#4 - Enter the name before entering an email address

The above is for Outlook '2007 and may or may not be completely indentical
for other versions of Outlook. ContactGenie products work the same in
terms of setting values for all versions of Outlook so have lost track of
any differences between versions for specific fields.

Karl
--
____________________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - QuickPort/DataPort/Exporter/Toolkit/Duplicate Contact Mgr
"Contact import/export/data management tools for Outlook '2000/2010"
http://www.contactgenie.com

 

[Russ Valentine]

Actually Outlook 2007 is a lot worse than Outlook 2003 at parsing name
elements correctly when users use the Full Name field to enter name
elements. In all versions, of course, it is best practice to parse name
elements directly rather than trusting Outlook to do it from the Full Name
field.

 

[Matt Bates]

Thanks Karl for the detailed steps. I am having the same problem as PJ and many others with Outlook 2007 contacts being displayed incorrectly. I have been searching for an answer though have been unsuccessful todate, any help that someone could share would be greatly appreciated.

Problem: Outlook 207 contacts, Full name elements are not parsed correctly. e.g. If I enter "Test User" as a new contacts name then click Full Name is parses Firstname=user & Lastname=test. It will also then change the display name to "test user" note the spaces in the middle.

Name and Filing options for contacts have been set to Full Name order: First (Middle) last and Default File As order: First Last

Address Book settings are set to First Last (John Smith)

Have tried all the different options within contacts options to change the name display, though it will always display as Lastname Middle First. Have restarted outlook after each change though display never changes.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

PS - Under a different user on the same computer all works fine. Changing the preferances takes affect.



Karl Timmermans wrote:

Any time you change those settings would suggest that you close and
17-Apr-10

Any time you change those settings would suggest that you close and restar
Outlook. Think you will find that Outlook will behave the way you want it t
after it is restarted

In addition, to ensure maximum pain with <FullName> inconsistencies, ente
the name in the FullName field instead of entering each part separately
Even entering the component parts individually, if you do not follow th
suggestion above, you are still going to encounter some issues

A simple series of tests anyone can do to see some of the variants firs
hand

Test

1) Set FullName format option to Last, Firs
2) Create a new contact - enter the value of <FName LName> (without th
brackets) directly into the FullName fiel
3) Check the individual field values and you will find FirstName = <LName
and LastName = <FName
*** you can save the contact but makes no differenc

Test
1) Set FullName to First Middle Last *** without restarting Outloo
2) Create a new contact - enter the value of <FName MName LName> into th
FullName fiel
3) Check individual values and you will find - FirstName = MName LName an
LastName= FNam

close/restart Outlook and repeat test #2 (items#2 & 3
view the results - you will find the name is parsed correctl

FileAs will be populated based on the actual values found in the FirstName
LastName fields so if these are parsed wrong the FileAs and Email DisplayA
fields will also be incorrect. There are all kinds of combinations an
permutations anyone can have fun with if so inclined. This of course doe
not include the differences between creating a new contact or updating
particular field for an existing contact or using the Outlook import wizar
which does not follow Outlook UI settings in all cases

In short - to eliminate (or at the very least, minimize) issues related t
a contact's name field (as well as anything that depends on that field)
just need to do the following

FileAs

The above is for Outlook '2007 and may or may not be completely indentica
for other versions of Outlook. ContactGenie products work the same i
terms of setting values for all versions of Outlook so have lost track o
any differences between versions for specific fields

Kar
-
___________________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Grou
ContactGenie - QuickPort/DataPort/Exporter/Toolkit/Duplicate Contact Mg
"Contact import/export/data management tools for Outlook '2000/2010
http://www.contactgenie.com

Previous Posts In This Thread:

Contact First & Last names the wrong way around
In Outlook 2003 when creating a new contact I typed their name into th
name field in the order Firstname Middlename Lastname and Outlook placed the
in the correct order. I have recently upgraded to Outlook 2007 and now when
type in a name, for example John Smith Outlook takes John as the lastname an
Smith as the Firstname and displays John, Smith (it is set to file as
Lastname, Firstname).

Options > Preferences > Contact Options > Default Fullname Order is set to
Firstname Middlename Lastname (as I want it).

To confuse things further I have a number of contacts that worked correctly
in Outlook 2007 and display correct in Outlook 2007 in that John Smith would
display correctly in the Fullname field, when I click the Fullname button
which opens the Check Fullname dialoge I see the First and Last names in
their correct fields but the minute I close it the First and Last names are
reversed in the Fullname field and Outlook registers the contact as having
been changed.

Any thoughts on how I can get this working.

Parse the name elements yourself. Do not use the Full Name field.
Parse the name elements yourself. Do not use the Full Name field.
--
Russ Valentine

Any time you change those settings would suggest that you close and
Any time you change those settings would suggest that you close and restart
Outlook. Think you will find that Outlook will behave the way you want it to
after it is restarted.

In addition, to ensure maximum pain with <FullName> inconsistencies, enter
the name in the FullName field instead of entering each part separately.
Even entering the component parts individually, if you do not follow the
suggestion above, you are still going to encounter some issues.

A simple series of tests anyone can do to see some of the variants first
hand:

Test 1

1) Set FullName format option to Last, First
2) Create a new contact - enter the value of <FName LName> (without the
brackets) directly into the FullName field
3) Check the individual field values and you will find FirstName = <LName>
and LastName = <FName>
*** you can save the contact but makes no difference

Test 2
1) Set FullName to First Middle Last *** without restarting Outlook
2) Create a new contact - enter the value of <FName MName LName> into the
FullName field
3) Check individual values and you will find - FirstName = MName LName and
LastName= FName

close/restart Outlook and repeat test #2 (items#2 & 3)
view the results - you will find the name is parsed correctly

FileAs will be populated based on the actual values found in the FirstName,
LastName fields so if these are parsed wrong the FileAs and Email DisplayAs
fields will also be incorrect. There are all kinds of combinations and
permutations anyone can have fun with if so inclined. This of course does
not include the differences between creating a new contact or updating a
particular field for an existing contact or using the Outlook import wizard
which does not follow Outlook UI settings in all cases.

In short - to eliminate (or at the very least, minimize) issues related to
a contact's name field (as well as anything that depends on that field) -
just need to do the following:

FileAs)

The above is for Outlook '2007 and may or may not be completely indentical
for other versions of Outlook. ContactGenie products work the same in
terms of setting values for all versions of Outlook so have lost track of
any differences between versions for specific fields.

Karl
--
____________________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - QuickPort/DataPort/Exporter/Toolkit/Duplicate Contact Mgr
"Contact import/export/data management tools for Outlook '2000/2010"
http://www.contactgenie.com

Actually Outlook 2007 is a lot worse than Outlook 2003 at parsing nameelements
Actually Outlook 2007 is a lot worse than Outlook 2003 at parsing name
elements correctly when users use the Full Name field to enter name
elements. In all versions, of course, it is best practice to parse name
elements directly rather than trusting Outlook to do it from the Full Name
field.
--
Russ Valentine


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[Karl Timmermans]

First off, if you are entering the name in the FullName field, you are depending on the "parsing" routine to figure out what it is that you've entered which is not a good idea and there is no way that any routine can be 100% accurate. ContactGenie programs also have a "name" parsing routine which for the "most part" is accurate but there are scenarios where it is absolutely impossible to be 100% accurate based on what is entered. The "creativity" of things that we have seen in terms of names that are expected to be parsed seems to be endless especially when processing large amounts of contacts which have no consistency in how things are entered (i.e. missing name parts, extra punctuation, misplaced suffixes, titles and any combination thereof)

Moral of story, when entering "name" information, take the extra second or two and enter the individual name parts in the correct fields and don't depend on any parsing routine to interpret the information.

In terms of changing options, options should be changed to whatever is desired, Outlook closed and then restarted so that the new options take affect for any new contact created and any name changes to existing contacts. Any changes to the FullName or FileAs options do not affect (change) existing contacts - those will have to be done on an individual basis (or using a 3rd party tool like ContactGenie Toolkit - http://www.contactgenie.com/toolkit_4_outlook.htm).

If things are working the way you expect on an existing contact folder, create a new PST file, new contact folder and then create a new contact just to confirm that in a completely virgin setting, that the existing options are working (again stressing, close Outlook after you changed and options and then restart to exusre that the selected options are in effect)

Karl

_______________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - "Contact import/export/data management tools for Outlook '2000/2010"
http://www.contactgenie.com





Matt Bates wrote:

Outlook contacts First & Last reversed
30-Jul-10

Thanks Karl for the detailed steps. I am having the same problem as PJ and many others with Outlook 2007 contacts being displayed incorrectly. I have been searching for an answer though have been unsuccessful todate, any help that someone could share would be greatly appreciated.

Problem: Outlook 207 contacts, Full name elements are not parsed correctly. e.g. If I enter "Test User" as a new contacts name then click Full Name is parses Firstname=user & Lastname=test. It will also then change the display name to "test user" note the spaces in the middle.

Name and Filing options for contacts have been set to Full Name order: First (Middle) last and Default File As order: First Last

Address Book settings are set to First Last (John Smith)

Have tried all the different options within contacts options to change the name display, though it will always display as Lastname Middle First. Have restarted outlook after each change though display never changes.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

PS - Under a different user on the same computer all works fine. Changing the preferances takes affect.

Previous Posts In This Thread:


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[Matt Bates]

Thanks Karl for the reply. We have created a new Outlook profile and new pst file, though the problem still exists.
We change the Outlook contact settings with "Full Name" order to First (Middle) Last. All is OK when you first create a contact, though if you access the contact and change any detail (e.g add web address, postal address etc) then save and close the Display name changes to LName Middle FName.
As mentioned in my last post, on the same computer logged on as a different user all is OK. I imagine it must be something has gone amiss with this users registry or Outlook Address Book??
I will be onsite again tomorrow, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers
Matt



Karl Timmermans wrote:

Outlook contacts First & Last reversed
31-Jul-10

First off, if you are entering the name in the FullName field, you are depending on the "parsing" routine to figure out what it is that you've entered which is not a good idea and there is no way that any routine can be 100% accurate. ContactGenie programs also have a "name" parsing routine which for the "most part" is accurate but there are scenarios where it is absolutely impossible to be 100% accurate based on what is entered. The "creativity" of things that we have seen in terms of names that are expected to be parsed seems to be endless especially when processing large amounts of contacts which have no consistency in how things are entered (i.e. missing name parts, extra punctuation, misplaced suffixes, titles and any combination thereof)

Moral of story, when entering "name" information, take the extra second or two and enter the individual name parts in the correct fields and don't depend on any parsing routine to interpret the information.

In terms of changing options, options should be changed to whatever is desired, Outlook closed and then restarted so that the new options take affect for any new contact created and any name changes to existing contacts. Any changes to the FullName or FileAs options do not affect (change) existing contacts - those will have to be done on an individual basis (or using a 3rd party tool like ContactGenie Toolkit - http://www.contactgenie.com/toolkit_4_outlook.htm).

If things are working the way you expect on an existing contact folder, create a new PST file, new contact folder and then create a new contact just to confirm that in a completely virgin setting, that the existing options are working (again stressing, close Outlook after you changed and options and then restart to exusre that the selected options are in effect)

Karl

_______________________________________________________
Karl Timmermans - The Claxton Group
ContactGenie - "Contact import/export/data management tools for Outlook '2000/2010"
http://www.contactgenie.com

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