Need help converting Microsoft Outlook calendar to Entourage....At wits' end here! Please advise...

[Michael Levin]

I have a Mac at work which runs Microsoft Outlook 2001 client on an Exchange
server. I have a calendar on this machine (stored locally, not on the
server) which has a ton of reminders programmed into it - very useful! Now,
at home I got a new Mac laptop with Entourage X. Is there any way to move
all of the reminders (appointments) from my calendar on Outlook to my
Entourage calendar? I've tried two things:

1) I exported the calendar info as a CSV text file, and then tried importing
it in Entourage. The problem is that Entourage import function seems to
think it's importing an Addressbook - all of the fields are like contacts,
and it doesn't recognize any of the fields in my schedule CSV file.

2) I next tried to copy my local calendar info onto the Exchange server
(which worked), and then set up an Exchange account on my laptop's
Entourage. I thought I could then connect to the Exchange server, and copy
the Calendar folder from the server to the local machine in Entourage (I saw
this suggested on the web somewhere). The problem is, contrary to what the
web advice says, when I connect to the exchange server from Entourage, it
seems the Inbox and the other folders, but it doesn't list calendar at all!

So, can this be done? It's making me crazy: how do I import the reminders
info into Entourage?? If it's not possible, is there any other program on
the Mac (running OS X Panther) which can use my Outlook reminders to warn me
of stuff? Please cc: any thoughts to (e-mail address removed). Thanks in advance
for any info!!

Mike

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

I have a Mac at work which runs Microsoft Outlook 2001 client on an Exchange
server. I have a calendar on this machine (stored locally, not on the
server) which has a ton of reminders programmed into it - very useful! Now,
at home I got a new Mac laptop with Entourage X. Is there any way to move
all of the reminders (appointments) from my calendar on Outlook to my
Entourage calendar? I've tried two things:

1) I exported the calendar info as a CSV text file, and then tried importing
it in Entourage. The problem is that Entourage import function seems to
think it's importing an Addressbook - all of the fields are like contacts,
and it doesn't recognize any of the fields in my schedule CSV file.

2) I next tried to copy my local calendar info onto the Exchange server
(which worked), and then set up an Exchange account on my laptop's
Entourage. I thought I could then connect to the Exchange server, and copy
the Calendar folder from the server to the local machine in Entourage (I saw
this suggested on the web somewhere). The problem is, contrary to what the
web advice says, when I connect to the exchange server from Entourage, it
seems the Inbox and the other folders, but it doesn't list calendar at all!

So, can this be done? It's making me crazy: how do I import the reminders
info into Entourage?? If it's not possible, is there any other program on
the Mac (running OS X Panther) which can use my Outlook reminders to warn me
of stuff? Please cc: any thoughts to (e-mail address removed). Thanks in advance
for any info!!

You can get my shareware script

Export-Import Entourage X

from

MacScripter.net <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>


It will import that .csv calendar export from Outlook into Entourage with
all fields, including categories. It can also do contacts (with categories),
tasks and notes. Make sure to read the Installation and Outlook sections of
the ReadMe.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP Entourage
Entourage FAQ Page: http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Entourage you are using - 2001 or X.
It's often impossible to answer your questions otherwise.

 

[Michael Levin]

I tried running Outlook Calendar to Evx, and it asked me to choose a type of
file; all of the choices were Windows (like "Outlook 2000 (Windows)"). I
chose the Outlook 2000 Windows one, and it then said that "You don't appear
to have exported even the 9 basic fields so no conversion can be attempted"
and then quit. My file looks like this:

"Alarm Date","Alarm Time","Creator","Description","End Date","End
Time","Notes","Private","Recurring","Start Date","Start
Time","Tentative","Where"
11/23/2001,12:00 AM,,"Stephanie K. Birthday",11/27/2001,12:00
AM,,0,1,11/26/2001,12:00 AM,0,
,,,"Check the water level on that gauge in basement!",11/28/2001,12:00
AM,,0,1,11/27/2001,12:00 AM,0,"At home:"

It looks like it has the basic fields, and certainly when I exported it, I
didn't choose special fields (I used default). What am I doing wrong here?

Thanks!!

Mike

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

Michael,

1) I'm not aware that you can export your calendar directly from Outlook
2001 as a .csv file. As far as I know, you can only export Contacts as .csv
or .txt, nothing else. I think you may have exported your contacts, not your
calendar, and that's why the fields are wrong for the Calendar Converter
script.

2) As the ReadMe says, to export calendar, tasks or notes (and contacts with
more fields than the simple direct export) from Outlook 2001, you need to
borrow access to someone's Outlook Windows. You can save these folders as
..pst files in Outlook 2001, and import them (open them) into a new Outlook
Profile on Outlook Windows. Then immediately export them as .csv files. This
will take only about 5 minutes, so perhaps a friend with a PC can make a
temporary profile for you, then delete it when done. It's these .csv files
that you use with my scripts.

3) The free demo version of the scripts lets you try out only 25 contacts.
No calendar or tasks, etc. Otherwise, you have to buy the scripts . I don't
see where you've bought them, have you? If or when you do, please write me
directly if you have any problems - these news messages of yours are
cross-posted to FIVE newsgroups! (Why?) I can help you if you hit any
difficulty, but you shouldn't.

4) Please read the ReadMe. That's what it's there for. You'd need to read
the Installation, Registration, and Outlook sections: there's a special
subsection on Outlook 2001 to Entourage. It has all the steps you need to do
this.

 

[Michael Levin]

Hi Paul -

1) I'm not aware that you can export your calendar directly from Outlook
2001 as a .csv file. As far as I know, you can only export Contacts as .csv
or .txt, nothing else. I think you may have exported your contacts, not your
calendar, and that's why the fields are wrong for the Calendar Converter
script.

nope - the Calendar has an export function of its own. I know the fields
are right because if I look directly at the .CSV file, I see this (which is
my calendar data, not contacts):

"Alarm Date","Alarm Time","Creator","Description","End Date","End
Time","Notes","Private","Recurring","Start Date","Start
Time","Tentative","Where"
11/23/2001,12:00 AM,,"Stephanie K. Birthday",11/27/2001,12:00
AM,,0,1,11/26/2001,12:00 AM,0,
,,,"Check the water level on that gauge in basement!",11/28/2001,12:00
AM,,0,1,11/27/2001,12:00 AM,0,"At home:"

2) As the ReadMe says, to export calendar, tasks or notes (and contacts with
more fields than the simple direct export) from Outlook 2001, you need to
borrow access to someone's Outlook Windows. You can save these folders as
.pst files in Outlook 2001, and import them (open them) into a new Outlook
Profile on Outlook Windows. Then immediately export them as .csv files. This
will take only about 5 minutes, so perhaps a friend with a PC can make a
temporary profile for you, then delete it when done. It's these .csv files
that you use with my scripts.

I saw that, but since I was able to make a .csv file myself directly on my
client machine, I thought this would work also.

3) The free demo version of the scripts lets you try out only 25 contacts.
No calendar or tasks, etc. Otherwise, you have to buy the scripts . I don't
see where you've bought them, have you? If or when you do, please write me
directly if you have any problems - these news messages of yours are
cross-posted to FIVE newsgroups! (Why?) I can help you if you hit any
difficulty, but you shouldn't.

I haven't bought them yet, but I would, if they are supposed to do what
I'm trying to do. Looking at the first part of the CSV file above, does it
seem right to you? Would your script be able to import that kind of file? If
so, I'll buy them and try again (via email). As for the crossposting, sorry
- I had no idea which of the many newsgroups with very similar names were
right for this sort of thing.

4) Please read the ReadMe. That's what it's there for. You'd need to read
the Installation, Registration, and Outlook sections: there's a special
subsection on Outlook 2001 to Entourage. It has all the steps you need to do
this.

I read it indeed, and did exactly what it said. I had problems as described
in my previous posting - it claimed the fields were wrong...

Mike

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Corentin_Cras-M=E9neur_?==?ISO-8859]

The problem is, contrary to what the
web advice says, when I connect to the exchange server from Entourage, it
seems the Inbox and the other folders, but it doesn't list calendar at all!

The Free/busy server is probably not setup properly. You need OWA
(webmail) to be enabled on the server for this function.

If the webmail server is something like this:
http://www.myexchangeserver.com/exchange/

then the free/busy server you need to put in your settings is:

www.myexchangeserver.com/public


Corentin

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

nope - the Calendar has an export function of its own.

I wasn't aware of that.

I know the fields
are right because if I look directly at the .CSV file, I see this (which is
my calendar data, not contacts):

"Alarm Date","Alarm Time","Creator","Description","End Date","End
Time","Notes","Private","Recurring","Start Date","Start
Time","Tentative","Where"
11/23/2001,12:00 AM,,"Stephanie K. Birthday",11/27/2001,12:00
AM,,0,1,11/26/2001,12:00 AM,0,
,,,"Check the water level on that gauge in basement!",11/28/2001,12:00
AM,,0,1,11/27/2001,12:00 AM,0,"At home:"

It's a very small subset of Outlook 2000's fields. I would be able to write
an update that could deal with this, plus all the quote marks, etc. if and
when I can gain access to an Exchange Server again. At the moment, I have no
access, so I can't run Outlook 2001, and therefore can't do this update just
yet.

I saw that, but since I was able to make a .csv file myself directly on my
client machine, I thought this would work also.
Nope.


I haven't bought them yet, but I would, if they are supposed to do what
I'm trying to do. Looking at the first part of the CSV file above, does it
seem right to you? Would your script be able to import that kind of file?

Not at the moment. I would have to do an update. It would certainly be
possible to import that style of .csv file. If you would send me the file
privately, plus any other .csv files Outlook 2001 can make - tasks and notes
- I could get a head start. Can it _import_ .csv calendar (and tasks and
notes) files too? It can possibly import Outlook 2000 .csv if it does, but I
could also make special 2001 variants if it doesn't.

If you need them immediately, follow the instructions and do it via Outlook
Windows.

If
so, I'll buy them and try again (via email). As for the crossposting, sorry
- I had no idea which of the many newsgroups with very similar names were
right for this sort of thing.


I read it indeed, and did exactly what it said.

No you didn't! What it said, exactly, was to export the Calendar from
Outlook 2001 as a .pst file, import it into Outlook Windows, and export
again from there as .csv. You said so yourself. You were improvising
hopefully, not following instructions "exactly".

I had problems as described
in my previous posting - it claimed the fields were wrong...

They _are_ wrong, for Outlook Windows. The option you chose in the script
was for Outlook Windows. Thanks for the information that Outlook 2001 can
export calendars as .csv - I never knew that.

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

nope - the Calendar has an export function of its own.

I wasn't aware of that.

I know the fields
are right because if I look directly at the .CSV file, I see this (which is
my calendar data, not contacts):

"Alarm Date","Alarm Time","Creator","Description","End Date","End
Time","Notes","Private","Recurring","Start Date","Start
Time","Tentative","Where"
11/23/2001,12:00 AM,,"Stephanie K. Birthday",11/27/2001,12:00
AM,,0,1,11/26/2001,12:00 AM,0,
,,,"Check the water level on that gauge in basement!",11/28/2001,12:00
AM,,0,1,11/27/2001,12:00 AM,0,"At home:"

It's a very small subset of Outlook 2000's fields. I would be able to write
an update that could deal with this, plus all the quote marks, etc. if and
when I can gain access to an Exchange Server again. At the moment, I have no
access, so I can't run Outlook 2001, and therefore can't do this update just
yet.

I saw that, but since I was able to make a .csv file myself directly on my
client machine, I thought this would work also.
Nope.


I haven't bought them yet, but I would, if they are supposed to do what
I'm trying to do. Looking at the first part of the CSV file above, does it
seem right to you? Would your script be able to import that kind of file?

Not at the moment. I would have to do an update. It would certainly be
possible to import that style of .csv file. If you would send me the file
privately, plus any other .csv files Outlook 2001 can make - tasks and notes
- I could get a head start. Can it _import_ .csv calendar (and tasks and
notes) files too? It can possibly import Outlook 2000 .csv if it does, but I
could also make special 2001 variants if it doesn't.

If you need them immediately, follow the instructions and do it via Outlook
Windows.

If
so, I'll buy them and try again (via email). As for the crossposting, sorry
- I had no idea which of the many newsgroups with very similar names were
right for this sort of thing.


I read it indeed, and did exactly what it said.

No you didn't! What it said, exactly, was to export the Calendar from
Outlook 2001 as a .pst file, import it into Outlook Windows, and export
again from there as .csv. You said so yourself. You were improvising
hopefully, not following instructions "exactly".

I had problems as described
in my previous posting - it claimed the fields were wrong...

They _are_ wrong, for Outlook Windows. And you chose "Outlook Windows" as
the option in the script. Thanks for the information that Outlook 2001 can
export calendars as .csv - I never saw that.

 

[Michael Natale]

I have a similar problem.

We use Https not just http for our OWA, does that matter?

Also, we have an internal dns name of foo.internalname.whatever and an
external DNS name of mail.ourcompany.com

So when I'm connected via local lan, what should the setting be so Entourage
will display calendar and contact items AS calendar/contact items rather
than email messages.

?

Thx
../MJN

 

[=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Corentin_Cras-M=E9neur_?==?ISO-8859]

I have a similar problem.

We use Https not just http for our OWA, does that matter?

I wonder :-\ I fear it might. Since the servers I use use plain http, I
never had a chance to test this over https.

Also, we have an internal dns name of foo.internalname.whatever and an
external DNS name of mail.ourcompany.com

So when I'm connected via local lan, what should the setting be so Entourage
will display calendar and contact items AS calendar/contact items rather
than email messages.

Through the local LAN, the setting should correspond to what the local
DNS gives you, like foo.internalname.whatever/public


Corentin

 

[Mickey Stevens]

I wonder :-\ I fear it might. Since the servers I use use plain http, I
never had a chance to test this over https.

You would need to remember to go to Tools -> Accounts, open the Exchange
account, click the "Advanced" tab, and check the "DAV service requires
secure connection" option. That will tell Entourage to connect to your
server on port 443 to collect Exchange Server data, rather than port 80
(used for regular HTTP). If you're OWA interface is really using HTTPS, you
must have that option turned on.

This was suggested earlier:

Tip: On the exchange server IIS interface. Make sure in properties of the
default web site, on the Web Site tab, "HTTP keep-alives enabled" is checked.
Once this is done, all Entourage clients free/busy info is updated and can
schedule appointments seeing user data on exchange.

Some more tips can be found on the Entourage Help Page:
<http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/exchange_server.html#Anchor-exup13>