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Import to Personal Address Book

This utility consists of a Microsoft Word macro that takes any data Word can use as a mail merge source (including Microsoft Access databases, Schedule+ contacts, text lists, etc.) and adds it to the Personal Address Book (PAB) in your Microsoft Exchange or Outlook profile. Two versions are available -- one for Word 97 and one for Word 7.0. The Word 97 version should work for Word 2000, but has not been tested with it. 

Word 97 version | Word 7.0 version | Notes | Netscape Import Utility

Word 97 version

Requires Microsoft Word 97. Version 97.2, 102kb, 10 Jan 98.

Download the Imppab97.zip file, unzip it and follow instructions in Readme.txt for placing the ImpPAB97.dot template in your Office templates folder. Complete instructions are included in the template, including details on how to extract fax and e-mail addresses from Outlook Contacts into the separate PAB entries. The latest version resolves a rare problem with a "Can't find data source" error.

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Word 7.0 version

Requires Microsoft Word 7.0. Version 1.1, 58kb, 1 Jan 97, updated 13 Mar 97 to remove the ToggleRTF macro, which is now available as a separate download.

Download the Imppab.zip file, unzip it and open the Imppab.dot file, a Word template. You'll find complete instructions there.

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Notes

It is strongly recommended that you import to an empty PAB, edit the entries as necessary (see note below on rich-text formatting), then merge that PAB into your main file.

To create an empty PAB:

  1. Choose Tools | Address Book.
  2. In the Show Names From box, select Personal Address Book.
  3. Right-click on the Show Names From box, and choose Properties. Make a note of the path your main PAB.
  4. In the Personal Address Book Properties dialog box, under Name, put "Import List." Under Path, enter the path to a new file, such as C:\Windows\Temp\Import.pab.
  5. Click OK to create an empty PAB and make it the default for the current profile.

After doing the ImpPAB import and editing the entries, repeat the above steps to point the Personal Address Book service back to your main PAB. Then use File | Import to import the Import.pab file containing the new entries into your main PAB.

All imported SMTP (Internet) entries have rich-text formatting turned on by default via a "Send to this recipient with rich text formatting" checkbox on the Properties dialog box. This is a problem causing non-Exchange recipients to receive extraneous attachments. Perhaps the best solution is to turn off RTF for all recipients, then add it back for those whom you know use Microsoft Exchange or Microsoft Outlook. A separate ToggleRTF macro (4kb) can be dowloaded for this purpose and requires Word 7.0. There is no Word 97 version.

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Netscape Import Utility

A related utility for importing Netscape nickname files into the Personal Address Book is Nscpabb3, another Word 7.0 template file. It does not work with Word 97 and will not be ported, so please don't ask. Another approach is to use Outlook Express (included with Internet Explorer and Outlook 98/2000) , which can import Netscape address books and then export them to a PAB.
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More Information

  • Converting Addresses
  • Importing to Microsoft Outlook
  • Updated Apr 10 2009

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