Synch FMP with Mac's Mail Client?

[Kaptain Karl]

I searched first ... no luck. If this is the wrong forum, please move this, Mods.

I recently upgraded FMP 3 to FMP 6 and I received FMP 8.5 in the mail ... but haven't installed it yet. It would be very cool if I could somehow tell my Mail to grab its e-mail addresses from FMP 8.5 ... instead of (essentially) having Address Book just sit there as a e-mail address repository which *does* talk to Mail.

(FMP is what I use for my Contact Manager ... a layout of my own design because ACT! and other packages had more of what I did NOT want and not enough of what I did want.) BUT ... on a "Geek Scale" of 10, I'm sure I don't even rate a "1". (So be gentle, please.)

Ideas? Thanks.

- KK

[Reed]

There are ways to do it yourself using xslt, but the easy way is to get a plugin like the one from productive computing:

http://www.addressbookmanipulator.com

Using this, you can move data back and forth between FMP and address book, then Mail will essentially see what was in FMP as long as you set up a script that runs whenever you update your FMP database and syncs it to address book.

[Art]

I've been looking at the Addressbookmanipulator and while it looks good I'm having trouble really getting my head around it. I've been exploring the demo file and the scripts associated with it but I'm still very much confused and unless there's some way to get some help (other than shelling out $150/hour for the company's support) then I won't be shelling out the $60 for the license and will just have to go on waiting for something to sync two apple products (that should have been dealt with ages ago - similar to Apple's incredible lack of wysiwyg on the font menu, but I digress).

I've been trying to modify the demo file so it will include two additional phone numbers that my Address Book file contains (one for mobile and one for pager, as well as one for home and one for work). I modified the script that populates the pulled file but every time I try to run it the program will quit (without even an "unexpected quit" dialog). I want to make certain that I have a good understanding before I try doing anything to my actual FM address file. But the lack of good "how to" instruction just keeps me guessing. I've tried to find a user forum that would deal with it and the closest I've come is FMForums but even this may be a dead end, since there just doesn't seem to be a whole lot of chatter "out there" about this plugin.

My 12 day demo is about half done and I don't feel much closer to understanding this than when I began.

So... any help is great appreciated.

Art

Edited September 13, 2007 by Guest

[HALBURN]

The Address Book Manipulator documentation talks a about pushing and pulling data. Does this translates into redundant data on your computer or are they actually sharing the same data between FileMaker and the Address Book?

I am currently using Entourage 2008 for my contacts and it syncs to the Address Book. If I make a change in the Address Book it updates my Entourage contact in real time. Does Address Book Manipulator do this?

[Art]

The Address Book Manipulator documentation talks a about pushing and pulling data. Does this translates into redundant data on your computer or are they actually sharing the same data between FileMaker and the Address Book?

I am currently using Entourage 2008 for my contacts and it syncs to the Address Book. If I make a change in the Address Book it updates my Entourage contact in real time. Does Address Book Manipulator do this?

Wow! Such is the internet! My original post back in 07 was filled with frustration because of the lack of FM to integrate with Apple's Address Book. I can't say I've received much help since that time. I do know that Manipulator is not an automatic process and that it does not simply share data with the Address Book. It does use the unique ID that is created when a record is made in Address Book. I wouldn't necessarily speak with finality on this but I think it very well could result in some "redundant data" depending on how you push and pull. It definitely isn't done in "real time." You need to initiate the process each time there is a change made.

Since my first post, Bento has made an appearance and it does indeed share the address book. I watched the demo of the program and tried the demo myself. It has certain advantages for someone who is content to work with a quite limited FileMaker program. The whole approach is so different from FileMaker, however. If you're willing to work within its confines, it will give you satisfaction. I wasn't. I had too many FM databases that I had already custom created and so I quickly abandoned Bento after trying to bring over similar functionality to a Bento database from a FileMaker file. Also, Bento doesn't allow you to have individual files.... Everything is all contained in one gigantic file.... which satisfies some folks, but not me.

Having said all that, I am still unresolved in integrating Address Book with FileMaker Pro 8.5. I think I've just consoled myself that it isn't going to happen anytime soon and for some reason there aren't any good simple solutions available third party to do it. There are really only two options out there and are quite pricey for the end results.

So for now.... I'm back to square one and will keep doing what you shouldn't have to do if you're using a computer.... entering data twice and trying to keep it synched.

Art

[Fenton]

There is a 3rd option, which is free, other than your (considerable) time. Which is AppleScript. It would be interesting to compare the speed of AppleScript as opposed to a plug-in; though I am sure the plug-in is faster, likely much faster.

Address Book has a decent AppleScript implementation. But it can be frustrating, as many of Apple's later applications are, being basically Unix apps.

I don't know how Bento accesses this information. From the applications themselves? Via "core data" and SQLite? It would be nice if sometime in the future we have some way to do this with FileMaker. But I'm not holding my breath. FileMaker is very much cross-platform, and these things are very much Mac-only, not only because of the applications, but possibly at a deep level in the OS itself.

[Art]

There is a 3rd option, which is free, other than your (considerable) time. Which is AppleScript.

There has been an AppleScript written that would sync AB and FM but from what I understand, there have been some difficulties injected with the introduction of Leopard OS (10.5). I'm not sure now the exact glitches but I seem to recall that the guy who wrote the AppleScript for previous versions of the OS said that there would have to be some changes made by Apple in order to make a working version of the script that works in OSX 10.5

[Productive Computing, Inc.]

Hi Gang!

I just came across this forum. Considering the amount of time spent on this subject, I'm surprised you simply haven't called our tech support to get the answers you are looking for.

We don't have any minimum bill rates and I bet we could get you up and running within 15-20 minutes as your questions seemed pretty basic.

After all - what is your time worth?