importing contacts into lotus notes R5

[dskhs]

I'm trying to import a contact list into my address book, I choose structured text then it asks me what form to use when i choose personal address book it seems to work but then I cannot find the contacts anywhere I do not know what happened to it.

 

[pmonett]

That is because you first need to add some information to your import.
Notes needs specific information to know that the contact is a Person and treat it accordingly. You need to review your data file and include Form="Person" and another field FullName containing First Middle and Last Names all together (with spaces between).
Also, I would suggest using an Excel sheet to format all that in proper columns, with field headers on top. Then save the Excel sheet as a Lotus 1-2-3 workfile (wks, version 3 single file). You can then go into Notes and import it quite easily.
You will want to take a look at your personal Name & Address book, since the documents you did import are in there and will need either to be corrected with the above info, or erased and replaced by a proper import.

Pascal.

 

[dskhs]

Ok makes sense, so now I take my contacts and place them into excel from where I can save it as a wks3 file. I'm still a little fuzy on where to tell it Form="person". I then go to the import feature and start the import this is where i get confused I choose the wks file i created and the box is asking me to use form with a list of forms to choose from, also in that box is an import as section and column format section, I guess I just need more information if possible.

Thanks

 

[pmonett]

You are on the right track.
For the Form thing, you just need to add a column titled Form with the string Person for each contact. Add another column with title FullName and concatenate First, Middle and Last names with a formula for each contact.
Then, when you import, choose the Person (or Contact) form, and specify Use Column Header and you'll be done.

Pascal.

 

[salbzojo]

pmonette, can you please be even more specific regarding the instructions above about concatenating two or more fields in excel. how to make "CONCATENATE" a running forumla (how to "turn it on" once I've added it to the spreadsheet as a formula to combine two columns?) thanks! Please be as detailed as possible.

 

[pmonett]

Concatenate means add strings together (as opposed to adding numbers together).
Therefor, in Excel (when you have done the export), you need to add a column that adds First Name, Middle Initial and Last Name. You could also do that in Notes, but you have to modify the design, so its easier in Excel.
As for "turning on" a formula in Excel, I think F9 will refresh the sheet. Go to Tools/Options and open the Calculations tab to see if you are on automatic recalc or not.

Hope this helps.

Pascal.

 

[salbzojo]

Thanks! I figured out how to concatenate the three columns. I think the important thing is you must put an "=" sign in front of the word concatenate, e.g., =CONCATENATE (",E2," ",E3," ",E4,"). Doing so, turns on the forumla. Then you can copy the cell that has the formula, into the other cells in that same column. The last step is to change the formula in the cells in that column into values. I found a better and complete instructions on how to import contacts from Outlook into Lotus that really works. It's located at

http://www.notes.net/sandbox.nsf/85d5b6903071400e8525676d0

079b3ae/e56fec0e6fdacea785256a0f0077e2b5?OpenDocument.