re-order names distribution list

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Guest

I use Outlook 2003. My Contacts are shown sorted by Last Name, First Name.
Distribution Lists created from Contacts, however, show their members sorted
mostly by First Name Last Name, but a few are shown Last Name, First Name.
How does one force the members of Distribution Lists to be shown sorted
entirely by Last Name, First Name?
 
Often you can't. It depends on how and in what version these entries were
created and what sort order you specified for the Outlook Address Book at
the time they were created, none of which you mentioned.
 
How could I anticipate the need to mention when the entries were created,
which version of Outlook was in use at the time or which sort order might
have been specified in the Outlook Address Book? I'm here to learn, not to be
upbraided for my ignorance. Perhaps you could explain how Outlook determines
the sort order for members in a Distribution List.
Microsoft might need to provide a way to change the sort order of members in
a Distribution List to suit the user's preference. We use Outlook to provide
order, yet the random sort order of members in a DL works against that end.

Russ Valentine said:
Often you can't. It depends on how and in what version these entries were
created and what sort order you specified for the Outlook Address Book at
the time they were created, none of which you mentioned.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
whirlyvinyl said:
I use Outlook 2003. My Contacts are shown sorted by Last Name, First Name.
Distribution Lists created from Contacts, however, show their members
sorted
mostly by First Name Last Name, but a few are shown Last Name, First Name.
How does one force the members of Distribution Lists to be shown sorted
entirely by Last Name, First Name?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
My goodness. I was hardly "upbraiding" you. I was merely explaining why it
would not be possible for us to determine why your DL's seemed to sort
erratically.
Nor may it ever be, for that matter. Microsoft has never documented how the
sort order for DL's is controlled and it appears to have changed in each
successive version of Outlook. In early versions it was based on the Subject
field (a completely hidden field). In later versions it seems to follow the
sort order specified for the Outlook Address Book, but only seems to work
consistently for Contacts created in that same version. Imported Contacts
and Contacts created in earlier versions still seem to behave erratically.
If you try the "Update Now" button, it will do nothing to correct the sort
order.
Tell us what you see as you play with these variables. It will contribute to
our knowledge on this subject. All we'll know is what we figure out on our
own. To my knowledge, Microsoft has never addressed this issue.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
whirlyvinyl said:
How could I anticipate the need to mention when the entries were created,
which version of Outlook was in use at the time or which sort order might
have been specified in the Outlook Address Book? I'm here to learn, not to
be
upbraided for my ignorance. Perhaps you could explain how Outlook
determines
the sort order for members in a Distribution List.
Microsoft might need to provide a way to change the sort order of members
in
a Distribution List to suit the user's preference. We use Outlook to
provide
order, yet the random sort order of members in a DL works against that
end.

Russ Valentine said:
Often you can't. It depends on how and in what version these entries were
created and what sort order you specified for the Outlook Address Book at
the time they were created, none of which you mentioned.
--
Russ Valentine
[MVP-Outlook]
whirlyvinyl said:
I use Outlook 2003. My Contacts are shown sorted by Last Name, First
Name.
Distribution Lists created from Contacts, however, show their members
sorted
mostly by First Name Last Name, but a few are shown Last Name, First
Name.
How does one force the members of Distribution Lists to be shown sorted
entirely by Last Name, First Name?
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
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