Synchronizing Contact Lists Between Fire, Yahoo, MSN, etc.

How to rationalize ³Fire² and various Messenger Lists:
 
I am a heavy duty Fire user.  But when I travel I must use a PC to access
Yahoo, MSN, etc. and my lists invariably get out of synch for whatever
reason.   I have just discovered that I have added names into Fire, that did
not make their way into my Yahoo list for whatever reason.  This has
happened before and requires me several times a year to go through a
many-hours long process to synchronize names.  I have just returned from a
two-month trip to China, and am looking with horror at the prospect of
synchronizing my contact lists yet again.
 
After trying many approaches I have found a way to do that requires Excel
and Mac Link Plus along with about half a day or evening of my time.
 
 
1.   Export Alias List from Fire
2.   Since it is not possible to open this list directly, purchase Mac Link
Plus.  
3.   Drag the Alias file into Mac Link Plus
4.   Fix the Type and Creator
5.   Click the View Button
6.   Select All
7.   Copy All
8.   Open new Excel Workbook
9.   Paste file into Excel Workbook
 
 
10 Replace <string> with null value
11 Replace </string? With null value
12 Replace <key> with null value
13 Replace ,</key> with null value
 
Now things get difficult:
 
Each record takes two rows in Excel.  One row has the email.  The other row
has the Alias (I use this field to keep the name, city and other information
about my contacts)
 
Manually move the second of each row to the right side of the first row.
 
I have 1,200 rows in my Excel spreadsheet.  This requires 600 manual cut and
pastes.  (perhaps some Excel genius knows how write a script to do this, but
after using Excel for 10 years I do not).
 
When I am really good I can cut and paste 8 or 10 per minute.  Sometimes I
make mistakes and it takes me awhile to discover, then I have to back up and
re-do.
 
This takes about 2 hours depending on how often I stop and stretch, etc.
 
Now I have a complete list of names in Fire.
 
Next ­ Separate the ICQ, Yahoo and MSN names into separate lists.
 
Next I build lists of my ICQ, Yahoo and MSN contacts in Excel.
I then compare row by row to see what differences exist.
Then I make corrections in Fire, ICQ, Yahoo and MSN as needed.
 
Isn¹t it possible that there is a better way to do this?
 
1.            Fire allows me to add a contact, even when that contact does
not go into Yahoo.  Is it not possible to flag such a condition, so that
when Fire starts up and tries to synchronize, it displays a flag in my list
that tells me something is wrong?
 
2.            Is it possible for Fire to export files in a format that can
be opened by Excel with one row per contact?  This would save me many hours.
It would be wonderful to have columns for :   Service (Yahoo, etc.), Group,
Name, Alias, Date Added.  That way I could easily sort for Yahoo Names, MSN
names, etc.  Date Added would allow me to examine more carefully the recent
names to make sure they are synchronized




-------------------------------------------------------
This SF.Net email is sponsored by the 'Do More With Dual!' webinar happening
July 14 at 8am PDT/11am EDT. We invite you to explore the latest in dual
core and dual graphics technology at this free one hour event hosted by HP, 
AMD, and NVIDIA.  To register visit http://www.hp.com/go/dualwebinar
_______________________________________________
Fire-talk mailing list
[email protected]
To unsubscribe or change your options use the web interface:
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/fire-talk
Have a question? Please read the Fire Frequently Asked Questions:
http://fire.sourceforge.net/faq.shtml