ACT!2009 SDK
Nice thing about the recent version of ACT is that they provide a way to extend the functionality using either C# or VB.NET.
You can either create a plugin (dll) to extend the existing functionality of ACT, or create a separate stand alone application that uses the ACT Framework.
I haven't done much with the SDK, still trying to get a feel with the whole Framework thing. Besides, I am also not so sure it's a good idea to create many plugins and applications, since there are some nasty bugs in ACT!2009, like I mentioned in my earlier post.
In order to use the SDK, you need to have the original Installer CD. Go to the following folder to find all necessary dll's ACT!2009\PremiumEX\ACTWG\GlobalAssemblyCache. This the case where you don't have the ACT!2009 installed in your system.
If you have ACT installed in your system, you can go to C:\WINDOWS\assembly\GAC_MSIL and find all the required dll's. Notice that you can not see GAC_MSIL folder from explorer, but instead you can see it from CLI.
Showing posts with label act2009. Show all posts
Showing posts with label act2009. Show all posts
Saturday, February 21, 2009
ACT!2009 Backup
ACT!2009 Backup
Do you backup your ACT!2009 DB regularly? If not, you should configure automatic backup.
Use ACT Scheduler to schedule automatic backup. Refer to this link on how to set it up.
I really suggest to store the backup in different place then where the ACT!2009 data is located. You might face some problems if you put in the default backup folder. Refer to this link for more information about this.
If somehow you decided to store the backup in other computer/server that needed login validation, you need to configure the ACT Scheduler Service to use proper login account. Click here to see how to do it.
Do you backup your ACT!2009 DB regularly? If not, you should configure automatic backup.
Use ACT Scheduler to schedule automatic backup. Refer to this link on how to set it up.
I really suggest to store the backup in different place then where the ACT!2009 data is located. You might face some problems if you put in the default backup folder. Refer to this link for more information about this.
If somehow you decided to store the backup in other computer/server that needed login validation, you need to configure the ACT Scheduler Service to use proper login account. Click here to see how to do it.
List of problem with ACT!2009 + Outlook 2007
List of problem with ACT!2009 + Outlook 2007
List of ACT!2009 and Outlook 2007 known problem (so far) as per 20090221
1. After performing lookup by example in ACT, the information shown in the fields are from the previous contact. This can be quite confusing for user. Until now, there is no solution for this issue. The only thing we can do is, pressing "F5", to refresh the page, after performing any lookup.
2. Several fields are not shown in import/export wizard in ACT. I consider this issue as the worst one. I was facing a lot of trouble when trying to import some contacts from other database. Too many missing data, which really makes the import/export process is useless. True, we can always use the quick export to excel, but the number of the fields is then limited to what is supported by excel. No good.
Click here to get more information about the problem (but not the solution).
3. Again in ACT. If you happened to have date or annual event field type in your layout, be very careful. Usually, after I make any change to the date field, I click outside, such as the layout background, so when I use the scroll wheel in my mouse, the date will not get changed. Surprisingly, the date still get changed. So, either use the scroll bar, or click on text field then use the scroll wheel.
4. When performing mail merge to a lot of contacts, for example a thousand, outlook crashes. Not good. Solution? Use different email client that can handle big number of emails.
5. I created a simple vba script to perform mail merge from outlook. I was hoping that using vba script, I could perform the mail merge without outlook crashing, and the email would be attached in history. Emails went through just fine, but this time ACT.Outlook.Service.exe crashed.
List of ACT!2009 and Outlook 2007 known problem (so far) as per 20090221
1. After performing lookup by example in ACT, the information shown in the fields are from the previous contact. This can be quite confusing for user. Until now, there is no solution for this issue. The only thing we can do is, pressing "F5", to refresh the page, after performing any lookup.
2. Several fields are not shown in import/export wizard in ACT. I consider this issue as the worst one. I was facing a lot of trouble when trying to import some contacts from other database. Too many missing data, which really makes the import/export process is useless. True, we can always use the quick export to excel, but the number of the fields is then limited to what is supported by excel. No good.
Click here to get more information about the problem (but not the solution).
3. Again in ACT. If you happened to have date or annual event field type in your layout, be very careful. Usually, after I make any change to the date field, I click outside, such as the layout background, so when I use the scroll wheel in my mouse, the date will not get changed. Surprisingly, the date still get changed. So, either use the scroll bar, or click on text field then use the scroll wheel.
4. When performing mail merge to a lot of contacts, for example a thousand, outlook crashes. Not good. Solution? Use different email client that can handle big number of emails.
5. I created a simple vba script to perform mail merge from outlook. I was hoping that using vba script, I could perform the mail merge without outlook crashing, and the email would be attached in history. Emails went through just fine, but this time ACT.Outlook.Service.exe crashed.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
ACT + Outlook 2007 + PST over the LAN = Huge Mess
ACT + Outlook 2007 + PST over the LAN = Huge Mess
I had some problems with ACT!2009 and Outlook 2007. From Outlook, I kept getting pop-up error message saying that the pst file was locked, probably used in some other terminal. ACT!2009 kept giving me pop-up error message saying something like Act! Value cannot be null. Parameter name:pUnk. What an error message, and who is this pUnk guy, anyway.
So, initially the pst file was stored in the server, so different user can take care the incoming file at a time. True, that Exchange server should be used in this particular case, but somehow they don't want to use it, with many different reason, which I don't agree. The user insisted that they want to have convenience of not having to switch back and forth using different computer. Therefore, pst file stored in server.
When outlook showed error saying that the pst file was locked and being used in other terminal, one thing I had in my mind was, probably that's true. So, I made sure no one else is using it. Still, the error occurred many times.
The error message from ACT was really gave me no clue on what's going on.
After spending a lot of time searching here and there, I came across the following information: Personal folder files are unsupported over a LAN or over a WAN link, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297019
My intuition told me that this must have something to do with the problems we were having. Well, it turned out to be that storing pst file in the server and accessed over the network is a terrible idea.
Once I convinced users that since they don't have Exchange server and pst file is not designed to be used over network, they agree to move the pst files locally. Problem solved.
I had some problems with ACT!2009 and Outlook 2007. From Outlook, I kept getting pop-up error message saying that the pst file was locked, probably used in some other terminal. ACT!2009 kept giving me pop-up error message saying something like Act! Value cannot be null. Parameter name:pUnk. What an error message, and who is this pUnk guy, anyway.
So, initially the pst file was stored in the server, so different user can take care the incoming file at a time. True, that Exchange server should be used in this particular case, but somehow they don't want to use it, with many different reason, which I don't agree. The user insisted that they want to have convenience of not having to switch back and forth using different computer. Therefore, pst file stored in server.
When outlook showed error saying that the pst file was locked and being used in other terminal, one thing I had in my mind was, probably that's true. So, I made sure no one else is using it. Still, the error occurred many times.
The error message from ACT was really gave me no clue on what's going on.
After spending a lot of time searching here and there, I came across the following information: Personal folder files are unsupported over a LAN or over a WAN link, http://support.microsoft.com/kb/297019
My intuition told me that this must have something to do with the problems we were having. Well, it turned out to be that storing pst file in the server and accessed over the network is a terrible idea.
Once I convinced users that since they don't have Exchange server and pst file is not designed to be used over network, they agree to move the pst files locally. Problem solved.
ACT!2000 to ACT!2009 Migration
ACT!2000 to ACT!2009 Migration
Currently, I work a lot with ACT!2009, Contact and Customer Relationship Management Software. This is pretty new thing for me. Interesting and troublesome at the same time.
I had to migrate all data from ACT!2000 to ACT!2009. According to the ACT Knowledge Base, the procedure should be simple, and straight forward. The only problem is, the database in ACT!2000 was corrupted, quite badly. ACT diagnostic tool could not fix the problem, and the only way to fix this is by using import/export features. Please go here to get detailed information on how to use import and export to repair ACT!2000 database.
The process was time consuming and when there were duplicate contact records found during import, user interaction was needed. Apparently the there were a lot of duplicate contact found in the database.
One lesson learned here, which suppose to be done by previous user, is to resolve duplicate contact record.
Once the repair process done, I simply opened the previous version of ACT database in the new ACT, and the conversion process begins.
After the conversion done, there are many fields that are not converted to the properly type. For example, date field become annual event. Memo files become regular text fields. No good.
ACT Knowledge Base is a place to go for ACT users.
Currently, I work a lot with ACT!2009, Contact and Customer Relationship Management Software. This is pretty new thing for me. Interesting and troublesome at the same time.
I had to migrate all data from ACT!2000 to ACT!2009. According to the ACT Knowledge Base, the procedure should be simple, and straight forward. The only problem is, the database in ACT!2000 was corrupted, quite badly. ACT diagnostic tool could not fix the problem, and the only way to fix this is by using import/export features. Please go here to get detailed information on how to use import and export to repair ACT!2000 database.
The process was time consuming and when there were duplicate contact records found during import, user interaction was needed. Apparently the there were a lot of duplicate contact found in the database.
One lesson learned here, which suppose to be done by previous user, is to resolve duplicate contact record.
Once the repair process done, I simply opened the previous version of ACT database in the new ACT, and the conversion process begins.
After the conversion done, there are many fields that are not converted to the properly type. For example, date field become annual event. Memo files become regular text fields. No good.
ACT Knowledge Base is a place to go for ACT users.
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