Computer gurus out there?

[ponyfool]

I have roughly 2400 contacts in my phone, with most of them provided by the City. I want to have those contacts on my desktop as well in a program where I can just start typing a first or last name and it will highlight all contacts that match what I'm typing.

I had this feature in my Palm Desktop, but I no longer use that. I have all the names/numbers currently stored in a .csv file.

We have Access, Excel, and Microsoft SQL to utilize for this purpose.

What's the easiest way for a novice to go about doing this? I just hate having to go to my phone to find an officer's phone number when I'm at my desk.

 

[johnny80s]

If you have the CSV open in excel you can type control-F and that will open up a dialog so you can search the document. Type in the name of the person you are looking for and the results will pop up.

 

[Leskid]

if you managed to import it into excel, then searching for a contact record can be done by ctrl+F (find) but it sounds like you need to import those records into some application that has an address book or contact mgmt. Any PC will have outlook express, which has an import wizard and once there, it's pretty user-friendly.

The 'challenge' is making sure you've massaged (re-arranged) the data so the import wizard knows what to do with it once you start importing.

examples of fields to get in order: last name, first name, business email address, personal email address, street address 1, address 2, home phone, business phone

if you know what you're doing, it takes 10 minutes. If you don't know what you're doing.... heh heh heh

if the file isn't too big and the data isn't critical / confidential, you could send me the CSV and I could massage it so it will be lined-up with outlook express so all you'll need to do is run the import contact wizard and hit enter+enter+enter until its' done

 

[ponyfool]

I know how to manipulate and find stuff in Excel. I just want a quick, easy, open program that I click into, start typing, and it displays the contact info. Be it in Access, or SQL, I don't care. Doing CTL+F works, sure, but then there's the potential for the others in the office to mistakenly start typing into the Excel field, etc.

I want this to be a very quick, read only format.

 

[johnny80s]

I know how to manipulate and find stuff in Excel. I just want a quick, easy, open program that I click into, start typing, and it displays the contact info. Be it in Access, or SQL, I don't care. Doing CTL+F works, sure, but then there's the potential for the others in the office to mistakenly start typing into the Excel field, etc.
I want this to be a very quick, read only format.

Make the document read only so they can't make changes.

 

[johnny80s]

Here is a link to some freeware Personal Information Managers.

PIMs

 

[LDRydr]

If you have the other MS Office components don't you have Outlook? The function you're asking for is built-in to Outlook, although most folks don't know how to use it. Up on the Outlook toolbar is a white box, right beside the address book button, and inside the box it says "search address books". If I type in SCO, mine brings up a list of 4 different folks whose name is Scott and I just double-click on the one I want to bring up the Outlook contact record. If I type in Pony and hit enter it brings up the same record since Pony is part of his email addy. If I type in PORT it also brings it up since PORT is in the business name for the contact.

You can import the contacts in your .csv file right into Outlook. FILE, IMPORT & EXPORT, IMPORT FROM ANOHTER PROGRAM OR FILE, COMMA SEPERATED VALUES (WINDOWS).

 

[twistedcricket]

Setting up something in Access or SQL could be a pain to support going forward. Were you thinking of making it like a simple web page people could hit up and search? I don't have a lot of experience with windows anymore but it's doable.

You could keep one copy out on a file share. If someone hoses that file you could copy your "master-file" over there from your desktop.

Hrm, I'm in town this week and I might have time Wednesday to mess with the idea. I have an aversion to MS products tho...

Or, anyone with Outlook could import the CSV (File, import, I think) and use the search feature described above. However, if there are changes and you want to import the new stuff.. it can be messy.

 

[Bounce]

If you have the other MS Office components don't you have Outlook?

we don't at work. it's specifically uninstalled if found on a machine. too many nefarious exploits out there in the wild.

 

[Lowcountry Joe]

If you have the other MS Office components don't you have Outlook? The function you're asking for is built-in to Outlook, although most folks don't know how to use it. Up on the Outlook toolbar is a white box, right beside the address book button, and inside the box it says "search address books". If I type in SCO, mine brings up a list of 4 different folks whose name is Scott and I just double-click on the one I want to bring up the Outlook contact record. If I type in Pony and hit enter it brings up the same record since Pony is part of his email addy. If I type in PORT it also brings it up since PORT is in the business name for the contact.
You can import the contacts in your .csv file right into Outlook. FILE, IMPORT & EXPORT, IMPORT FROM ANOHTER PROGRAM OR FILE, COMMA SEPERATED VALUES (WINDOWS).

This is the best solution offered that will fit your needs. If it aint good enuf, then u mite need to call Bill Gates for a better idea.