OL98: Converting Windows Cardfile Files to Outlook

ID: Q180479

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

Microsoft does not provide a converter to import Windows Cardfile files into Microsoft Outlook 98. This article describes two workarounds for importing these files.


MORE INFORMATION

There are two methods to import these files into Outlook, use either of these methods.

METHOD 1

Import the Cardfile into Schedule+ and then into Outlook

Use the Import/Export Add-on Pack for Schedule+ Version 7.0, to import the Windows Cardfile file into Schedule+ and then into Outlook. This workaround is composed of several steps.

Install the Import/Export Add-on Pack for Schedule+ 7.0

  1. Download the Import/Export Pack, from the Microsoft web site at:
    http://www.microsoft.com/scheduleplus/freestuff/impconv/default.htm


  2. Save the file to:
    c:\Program files\Microsoft Office\Office


Expand and Run the Converter Program

  1. Expand the downloaded converter programs by double-clicking, Sch_suplfilt.exe.


  2. Run the converter by double-clicking the file, Ilxlate.exe


  3. On the Transfer menu, click Import.


  4. On the Available Systems list, click Windows Cardfile/Calendar and click OK.


  5. In the Section list, click Cardfile.


  6. Type the name or browse to the Cardfile file to be converted.


  7. On the Fields tab, map the Cardfile fields to the appropriate Schedule+ Contact fields, and click Import.


This will generate a Schedule+ default.scd file.

Import the Default.scd File into Outlook

  1. On the File menu, click Import and Export.


  2. Click "Import from another program or file" and click Next.


  3. Click Schedule+ 7.0 and click Next.


  4. Type the name or browse to the Default.scd file and click Next.


  5. Click to select Import "default.scd(Contacts)" into "Contacts" and click Finish.


The default.scd file is imported into Outlook.

METHOD 2

Import the Cardfile into Outlook

You can import Windows Cardfile files into Outlook using a three step process. This workaround is composed of the following steps.

Print the Cardfile Records to a Text File

  1. In Windows 3.x, click the Printers icon in Control Panel.


  2. Configure the Generic/Text Only printer driver to the FILE port.


  3. Open Cardfile and load the .crd file you want to import.


  4. On the File menu, click Print Setup.


  5. In the Print Setup dialog box, click to select Specific Printer, click the Generic/Text Only driver and then click OK.


  6. On the File menu, click Page Setup, click to clear the Header and Footer check boxes, set the Left Margin to zero, and click OK.


  7. On the File menu, click Print All.


  8. Type a name for the file including the path and a .txt extension, and click OK.


NOTE: Cardfile will run in a 32-bit environment such as Windows 95. If you are able to obtain Cardfile.exe from a Windows 3.1x installation, you may prefer to run it on the computer which uses Outlook.

Change the File to a Tab-delimited File in Microsoft Word

To convert the text file to a table, follow these steps:
  1. In Word, open the .txt print file from step 8 above.


  2. On the Edit menu, click Select All.


  3. On the Table menu, click "Convert Text to Table."


  4. In Number Of Columns, type 18, click to select "Separate text at Paragraphs", and click OK.


  5. Click to select any completely empty columns, and on the Table menu, click Delete Columns.


  6. Verify that the fields of each record are in the correct column. Those that are not must be manually adjusted.


  7. Place the cursor in the first row of the table and on the Table menu, click Insert Rows.


  8. In the newly inserted row, type a field name for each column.


To convert the table to tab-delimited text, follow these steps:
  1. On the Table menu, click Select Table.


  2. On the Table menu, click "Convert Table to Text" and click to select "Separate text with Tabs" and then click OK.


To replace tabs with commas as the delimiter, follow these steps:
  1. Type a double quotation mark in front of the first character in the file and on the Edit menu, click Replace.


  2. In Find What, type "^p" (without quotation marks.) In Replace With type ("^p") (without the parentheses) and click Replace All.


  3. In the Find What type "^t" (without quotation marks.) In Replace With, type (",") (without the parentheses), click Replace All and click Close.


  4. On the File menu, click Save As.


  5. Type a name for the file and in Save As Type, click Text Only and click Save.


Import the Tab-delimited File into Outlook

Before attempting to import the text file, it will be necessary to ensure that the field labels match those that Outlook uses for its internal names. If a field does not match exactly that of the Outlook name, no data will be imported for that field
  1. On the File menu, click Import and Export.


  2. Click "Import from another program or file" and click Next.


  3. Click "Comma Separated Values" and click Next.


  4. Browse to the comma-delimited file and click Next.


  5. Click the folder into which you want to import the records and click Next.


  6. Click to select, Import "<filename.txt>" into "<foldername>" folder and then click Finish.



REFERENCES

For more information on field mapping in Outlook 98, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q182728 OL98: Options For Custom Field Mapping When Importing Items
For more information on importing Schedule+ files, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q181405 OL98: Converting Schedule+ Files
A freeware utility to convert Cardfile databases into tab-delimited text files is available on some Bulletin boards. This utility, TRANSFIL.EXE, is in an archived file named CARDXLT2.ZIP. It is also available directly from the author:
Peter Horn
43 Trevor Road
Lansdowne 7764
Republic of South Africa

Tel. and Fax: +27 +21 696-1983
EMail: HORNPETE@UCTVAX.UCT.AC.ZA

Additional query words: OL98 


Keywords          : IntpImEx 
Version           : WINDOWS:
Platform          : WINDOWS 
Issue type        : kbhowto

Last Reviewed: July 30, 1999