I spent some time playing with iSync last night, and found it a very useful application. I have a number of computers that I would like to keep synchronized, and this did the job quite nicely. However, in playing with the synchronization of the Address Book, I realized that my previous request for an integration of iSync and Entourage was not the best way to accomplish what I need, and there is a better way. Instead of synchronizing via iSync, I would prefer to see Entourage make use of the Address Book in one of two ways:
- Adopt the Address Book as the repository of contact information. The Address Book is extensible, so all of the information currently maintained in the Entourage contact database can be placed into the Address Book.
- Build a direct synchronization into Entourage to synchronize the Entourage Contacts with Address book entries (that is, make use of the existing Address Book API). In this case also, Entourage should synchronize all fields via the extensibility features of the Address Book. This could be selected in a preferences option (e.g., Synchronize contacts with Address Book). In this case, contacts could be synchronized directly by Entourage, or by a daemon process.
In both cases, editing a contact in either database should automatically propagate to the other database.
I considered an Applescript solution, but since there are so many fields in Entourage contacts that are not scriptable, this does not really solve the problem.
There are? I sync 58 Entourage fields, including the scriptable Japanese fields, with
Sync Entourage-Address Book
plus unlimited email addresses and Address Book's IM fields to Entourage's custom fields of choice. It's available (shareware) at
AppleScript Central <http://www.applescriptcentral.com/>
Email labels aren't scriptable (although a request has been made). I vaguely recall you had some very obscure Japanese field that isn't scriptable, is that right? That's "so many fields" that it makes it useless? Jeez. The script, and various extra features, took me about 4-5 months to write and test. So I'm not surprised you didn't get a quick solution.
Apparently iSync messes up Address Book (puts email addresses into phone fields, etc.) So I'm working on an update that will allow one-way syncing (Entourage Overwrites Address Book) to deal with this problem. Should be available in a few days.
--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP Entourage
PLEASE always state which version of Entourage you are using - 2001 or X. It's often impossible to answer your questions otherwise.
