import contacts from excel problem

[Gerard Verhoef]

Hi;

It must be simple, but it's bothering me now for a couple of hours and I
cannot find a solution. I must be doing very obviously wrong. Hope someone
can help me out.
I use Office 2003, with all latest updates (US version) in a stand alone
environment, so no exchange server or something

I have a (big) name - address- email - telephone etc list in Excel and I
like to import that list in a new contacts folder in my personal folders

For testing purposes I made a very simple excel worksheet with:

A1: VNaam (meaning first name in Dutch)
A2: Jan (a specific first name)
A3: Jet (another First name)

and

B1: ANaam (meaning Last Name)
B2: Jansen
B3: Smit

Than I define a range names as follows:
A1:A3 is defined as vnaam
B1:B3 is defined as anaam

I save and close the worksheet

I open Outlook, chose the folders view and select the new folder colcontacts
(for colleagues) of type contacts
I start the import wizard (from file menu)
I select import from excel and chose the simple sheet I just prepared.

The wizard says I am about to perform two tasks:
import anaam into folder colcontacts, and
import vnaam into folder colcontacts

I check the first box and "map custom fields" opens automatically.
I drag anaam from the left window into the right, just behind Last Name

clicking "next" shows Jansen and Smit resp. in the left pane and on the
right place (after last name) in the right pane)
I click OK

Than I do the same with import vnaam into folder colcontacts
No automatic "map custom fields" this time, so I check manually. Indeed the
mapping seems to be alright.

Than OL performs the import and at the end I have four new contacts
The contact Jan (indeed firstname is Jan)
The contact Janssen (last name is Janssen)
The contact Jet (first name correct again) and
The contact Smit (as expected... last name indeed Smit)

I needed two contacts of course: Jan Janssen is one, and Jet Smit is
another.

I tried to define the range names in Excel differently. Removing the column
headers from the actual rangenames. So the range anaam is now simple B2:B3,
same for vnaam.

If I do that, I get two imported contacts, but one is Jet (without the Smit
part) and the other is Smit (without the Jet part)
I also tried defining the rangenames for the excel headers only, so for A1
and B1 only, but then the wizard tells me there are no range names defined
in excel, so it cannot go on.

I'm beginning to get a little desperate. Sorry for this long post. Hope
someone is kind enough to let me know what must right in front of my eyes,
but seem to be blinded for.

Thanks,

Gerard Verhoef

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

You need one named range covering A1:B3.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003

and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

 

[Gerard Verhoef]

You need one named range covering A1:B3.

-Thanks so much!

Indeed... that must be the one and only logical solution, no doubles and
first and lastnames combined. I should have found that out myself,

Thanks again

Gerard