Number 262 - March 2005

Export and Print Your Address Book
from the February 2005 Blue Chip News, Saginaw Valley Computer Association
Did you know that you can export your Address Book so it can be used by database programs, label making software, and more? Of course you do, I mentioned it a few seconds ago.    OK, first let me tell you about .csv files. These are simple text ftles that show data as "comma separated values". If you bring a .csv ftle up in Notepad you'll see data separated by commas. So, what does that have to do with our current discussion?    Well, if you export your Address Book as a .csv file, it can be used in any program that imports .csv files.    With Oudook Express, open your Address Book and go to File/Export/Other Address Book then select "Text File (Comma Separated Values)" and click the "Export" button. In the next window, give the file a name (if you don't want it in "My Documents", click "Browse" and select another folder). You are then given a window where you can check off what fields in the address book get exported--allowing you to get as basic or detailed as you want.	In Netscape Mail, go to Tools/Export, give the file a name then change "Save as type" to "Comma Separated (.csv)". Click Save and there you go.    For Thunderbird, head over to Tools/Address Book, then under "Tools" look for "Export".    If you keep an address book online in Yahoo Mail ftnd the "Mail Options" button in the upper righthand corner. Select " Address Book" from the left-hand column, then Import/Export under "Management". On the next screen under Export, click the button next to "Microsoft Outlook" to save it on your hard drive as a .csv file.    AOL users can print labels from their address book, but I don't think there is a way to export.    Anyway, now that you have a .csv file, it can be imported into mailing list programs. MS Word has a Mail Merge feature that allows you to use that file for form letters, mailing labels, and envelopes. With a database program, you can use the .csv file data in all kind of ways.
Number 262 - March 2005