Let me post this primer for you on the difference between Automatic Name
Checking (Autoresolution) and Autocompletion. Post back with any remaining
questions after you read it.
Autoresolution has been a feature in all versions of Outlook. Its purpose is
to resolve any name typed in the To: field of a new message to a valid
e-mail address. It searches all Outlook Contacts Folders that have been
enabled as email address books for potential matches and presents any
matches as potential recipients for the message. In the past, many users
have used autoresolution as a substitute for the autocompletion feature seen
in Outlook Express and other e-mail programs.
Outlook 2002 and 2003 added a true autocompletion feature to Outlook but
have also retained this earlier autoresolution feature. The combination of
these two features is awkward and can be confusing to novice users. Users
need to understand the differences between autoresolution and
autocompletion.
Autoresolution resolves the name you are typing in the To: field by
searching through your Contacts Folders to provide you with the correct
e-mail address. It is enabled by checking the box for "Automatic Name
checking" in "Advanced e-mail options." To use this feature, follow these
steps:
1.. Open a new message.
2.. In the To: field, type the first three letters of an e-mail address
that is stored in one of your contacts.
3.. Tab or click out of the field or on the "Tools" menu, click "Check
Name." You can also use the "Check Name" toolbar button (the one that has a
red check mark and a picture of a person) or press CTRL+K.
4.. If you have more than one listing matching the name you have typed,
the name you type will have a red wavy line below it. You can now
right-click the name and select the correct name from among the
possibilities presented. That choice will then be stored so that the next
time you compose a message using that name, the name will resolve
automatically. You will notice, however, that the name will now have a
dashed green underline instead of a solid underline just to let you know
that other possible matches exist in case you want to select another of the
possible matches.
When you resolve a name in Outlook 97-2000, that information is stored in a
file with a "nick" extension so that name resolutions will be remembered
from one session to the next.
Autocompletion is a feature that is new in Outlook 2002 and 2003. As you
begin to type a name in the To: field , Outlook offers to complete the entry
based on addresses, aliases, or names from e-mail messages that you have
previously sent. Note that this feature starts functioning immediately after
you have typed the first three letters in the To: field and does not require
that you Tab out of the field or hit CTRK+K. Also note that it does not use
your Contacts Folder as its data source but rather a cache of information
Outlook creates as you actually send messages. At first, the feature may
appear not to be working since it takes a while for Outlook to build its
cache. The autocompletion feature is enabled by default when you install
Outlook 2002 or 2003, but you can disable it by clicking "Options" on the
"Tools" menu, clicking "E-mail Options" on the "Preferences" tab, and then
clicking "Advanced E-mail Options," then uncheck "Suggest names while
completing."
In Outlook 2002 and 2003, both autoresolution and autocompletion features
function side by side. Curiously, both features store their data in the same
file. The file now has an "NK2" extension. Because both features are usually
in play, it is easy to get confused as to whether you are using
autocompletion or autoresolution. Just remember that autocompletion is in
play as soon as you have typed 3 or more letters (or just 1 letter in
Outlook 2003) in the To: field and remains in play until you click out of
the field or expressly invoke autoresolution by one of the methods listed
above. As long as one of the names suggested by the autocompletion feature
remains highlighted in the To: field dropdown, tabbing or clicking out of
the field will select that name as the sending address. If autocompletion
finds no matches in its cache (and therefore suggests no names) or if your
typing restricts the list so that no entries remain, then autocompletion is
no longer in play and autoresolution will take over once you tab or click
out of the field. In Outlook 2003, you can also invoke autoresolution at any
time by hitting "Escape" while typing in the To: field. Once autocompletion
is no longer in play, then Outlook will try to resolve the name you enter
against your various Contacts Folders, but not against the autocompletion
cache.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
Hill said:
Okay, so I'm confused and frustrated. Can't you see that this is a bad
combination for me? Okay, here's my "go" at a clear description. Let me
make is as elemental as I possibly can, since I seem to be using incorrect
terminology:
1) When my user is typing in a name that he has sent an email to before,
one of three things happen (or don't happen):
A) Outlook is NOT providing any kind of list to choose the
correct email address from
B) Outlook will sometimes recognize the name that is typed in,
but not until the "to" button is clicked on.
C) Outlook will NOT recognize the name at all, even though my
user has emailed the person before.
From reading your response, it seems as though this is a problem with
Autocomplete. Can you shed any light for me?
Thanks.
Russ Valentine said:
You're not only frustrated, you're confused. Autocomplete and Automatic
Name checking are completely different functions. Only the former works
while you are typing. Only the latter uses your Contacts data. If you
want to take the time to post a clear description of which you are having
problems with and what those problems are, I'm sure we can figure it out.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
When typing in a name that Outlook 2003 should recognize (name IS in
contacts), Outlook 2003 takes a LONG time to recognize the name, if it
recognizes it at all. These functions (auto complete and name
recognition) of Outlook are not working correctly for one of my users,
however, the rest of my users (including me) aren't having issues. I
have referenced two articles from microsoft.com (287623 and 287854) and
that worked the first few times this happened, but not anymore. (These
articles contained information about .NK2 to .bak and .nick to OLD). I
am extremely frustrated and if anyone out there wants to start a support
group, I'm game. If you can help me fix this issue, that would be even
better! Thanks!
