Contact Manager Buggy or lack of intuitiveness

[Guest]

I am a little surprised at the problems I see in the Contact Manager and
Outlook in Office 2003. On each contact History, I have this list of emails
that include junk mail and all sorts of unrelated items from anyone and
everyone. I'm not sure the intent, but I doubt the history is supposed to
work in this fashion.

I also find it irritating that the autocomplete will show me a correct name
with email, but if I select it, Outlook *forgets* who it is and I get email
delivery errors.

Now, I can't find a *logical* way to add email information to ANY other
contact (including my business contacts) besides the default.

Complicated Workarounds are just not acceptable...one should not have to
unload the cart to find the horse.

At present, I am spending more time trying to correct the issues than using
the tool. I would re-check the QA staff and the testing plan for this
software VERY carefully.

I hope that we see an update RATHER soon, as this is currently unacceptable
and I am debating on uninstalling it.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

BCM sometimes has what's known as a "forms cache" problem. Clearing the
cache usually fixes the problem you're seeing with the history. Choose Tools
| Options | Other | Advanced Options | Custom Forms, then click Manage
Forms, then Clear Cache. If simply clearing the cache doesn't fix the issue,
try the other steps detailed at
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;836558

The bulk of the forms cache issues in Outlook 2003 are fixed in Service Pack
1, so you should also install Office 2003 Service Pack 1 as well as BCM SP1.

 

[Guest]

I neglected to include the state of my install.
* I do have the service pack for Office and and Contact Manager. I have
rebooted numerous times since the manual installation.
* I rechecked the updates and everything appears to be installed. There were
no apparent errors during either installation.
* I checked my virus program to make sure it is updating every night. It is.
I did see a difference from the original release and the SP1, but I was
still surprised that some key problems were not addressed. The cache issue
should not exist IMO (this is basically a refresh issue). I am a software
engineer so I am probably a little more critical, however, I am putting
together a list of issues that are either NOT intuitive or a BUG. I have even
double checked my virus updates because I couldn't believe they would exist
after SP1. Here is what I have:

1 - The occassional corrupted history (listing everything/listing nothing).
This is still there. I should not have to empty cache.
2 - Email links disappear from time to time (I have not identified the
pattern) The emails may be moved to another folder, but the link should
remain. That does not seem to be consistent.
3 - When you try to manually link several emails, it may work - it may not
work. I originally thought this was a refresh issue, but the links are not
there.
4 - On linking files, I DO think there is a refresh issue as well (some
things seem to appear after closing and reopening).
5 - If you select multiple emails through linking, only one is added.
6 - Often, I enter my contact into the Business Manager AFTER the person has
contacted me. I would like an unobtrusive way to add them to my business
Manager Contacts from the email section. I would also like the ability to
auto-search and add the emails to the history.
7 - If there is a restriction on where the emails linked should be, there
should NOT be.
8 - It is great that you can email from the Contact, but I need to do some
reverse linking. This seems to be a bit hidden.
9 - Flexibility (configuration) is pretty limited. Not everyone has the same
sort of products. I have been searching for ways to configure, but nothing
yet. If there is a way, there should also be a wizard.

I have no problem with contributing to the Bug and Issue list. In fact, I am
pleased that Microsoft is doing the Contact Manager. But I also need
stability and right now, I do not consider this stable.

 

[Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]]

Did you empty the cache after installing Office 2003 SP1? If so, try
deleting not just the frmcache.dat file, but also all the subfolders. We've
heard reports of occasional forms cache issues after installing SP1, but
nothing like the constant problems pre-SP1.

Other comments inline.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of
Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers

I neglected to include the state of my install.
* I do have the service pack for Office and and Contact Manager. I have
rebooted numerous times since the manual installation.
* I rechecked the updates and everything appears to be installed. There
were
no apparent errors during either installation.

1 - The occassional corrupted history (listing everything/listing
nothing).
This is still there. I should not have to empty cache.
2 - Email links disappear from time to time (I have not identified the
pattern) The emails may be moved to another folder, but the link should
remain. That does not seem to be consistent.

Could you be more description on what you mean by email links?

3 - When you try to manually link several emails, it may work - it may not
work. I originally thought this was a refresh issue, but the links are not
there.
4 - On linking files, I DO think there is a refresh issue as well (some
things seem to appear after closing and reopening).
5 - If you select multiple emails through linking, only one is added.

I think that's be design. The UI should be clearer that only one item can be
linked at a time.

6 - Often, I enter my contact into the Business Manager AFTER the person
has
contacted me. I would like an unobtrusive way to add them to my business
Manager Contacts from the email section. I would also like the ability to
auto-search and add the emails to the history.

Method #1: Right-click the message, choose Add to Contacts, then instead of
Save and Close, choose File | MOve to Folder. You'll still need to go set
the account later, but the contact iwll be in the right place.

Method #2: Drag the email from the Inbox or other folder to the Business
Accounts folder.

You can send feature suggestions to (e-mail address removed)

7 - If there is a restriction on where the emails linked should be, there
should NOT be.

There is no such restriction that I know of.

8 - It is great that you can email from the Contact, but I need to do some
reverse linking. This seems to be a bit hidden.
9 - Flexibility (configuration) is pretty limited. Not everyone has the
same
sort of products. I have been searching for ways to configure, but nothing
yet. If there is a way, there should also be a wizard.

Microsoft is well aware of this issue and I think we can expect changes in
this area in future versions.

 

[Guest]

Sue - I appreciate the time you have taken to respond. I'll try getting rid
of the frmcache.dat (another note that may make a difference is that I
upgraded from Office XP and am running on XP Pro)

I am going to do my own version of the stress-test on the email linking (I
am just trying to link the email back to the Contact). It does have a
multi-select which should be removed if only one can be linked.

But first I want to get rid of that file and see if it makes a difference
(Yes, I had emptied the cache after the installation of SP1). I'll respond
back if I still have the problem...my gut says that if the corrupted history
disappears when I get rid of the file, then the disappearing-reappearing
links (when the history looks right) may also disappear.

I'll use the wishlist address and try to write up the other stuff in more
detail since most of what I am whining about is intuitiveness.

Again, thanks. I am excited that MS may address the product configuration
(or service, in my case) configuration. My next dream is to link my own
little program to the contact list. But this has helped a great deal....