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If you have used Outlook for any length of time, then your folders are probably chock full of useful data: email messages, contacts, appointments, and so on. There may come a day

when you want to analyze this data in some way. For example, you may want to get a sense of how many messages you send or receive each day, find out how many of your contacts are based outside of the country, and so on. This kind of analysis is tough to do in Outlook itself, but it’s exactly the kind of thing for which Access was made. Even better, Access comes with an import feature that makes it easy to import data from any Outlook folder. You have three choices:

• Import a snapshot of an Outlook folder’s data into a new table. Here, “snapshot” means that the resulting Access data is static, so any changes you make to the folder in Outlook are not reflected in the Access table.
• Append a snapshot of an Outlook folder’s data into an existing table.
• Import an Outlook folder’s data into a new table and set up a link between Outlook and the new table. This means that any changes you make to the data in Outlook auto­matically get passed along to the Access table, and vice versa.

Here are the steps to follow to import a snapshot of an Outlook folder’s data into a new or existing table:

1. Choose External Data, More (in the Import tab), Outlook Folder. Access displays the Get External Data – Outlook Folder dialog box.

2. Activate one of the following options and then click OK:

• Import the Source Data into a New Table in the Current-Click this option to import the folder into a new table.
• Append a Copy of the Records to the Table-Click this option to add the folder items to the table that you select in the list.

3. Access launches the Import Exchange/Outlook Wizard, shown in Figure 1. Click the Outlook folder you want to import and then click Next. If you append the folder items to an existing table, skip to step 8.

4. The wizard displays a table of the folder’s columns, which is converted into fields in the Access table. For each column, click the column header and then adjust the following options for the corresponding field in the Access table:

• Field Name-The name of the field in the Access table.
• Data Type-The data type of the field in the Access table.
• Indexed-The index option for the field. Choose No, Yes (Duplicates OK), or Yes (No Duplicates). For an explanation of these index options, see “Ensuring That No Duplicate Values Appear in a Field,” earlier in this chapter.
• Do No Import Field (Skip)-Activate this check box if you do not want to include this field in the Access table.

5. Click Next.

Figure 1 Use the Import Exchange/Outlook Wizard to choose which Outlook folder you want to import.

6. The wizard displays the following primary key options:

• Let Access Add Primary Key-Leave this option active to have Access handle the primary key for you. Access adds an ID field to the table and populates it with AutoNumber values.
• Choose My Own Primary Key-Click this option if the folder already has a column of values that uniquely identify each item and then use the list to click the field that contains those values.
• No Primary Key-Click this option to bypass the primary key for this table. This is fine if you do not need to relate the new table to any other tables in the database.

7. Click Next. The final wizard dialog box displays.

8. Use the Import to Table text box to adjust the table name, if necessary, and then click Finish. Access prompts you to save the import steps.

9. If you do not need to repeat this import procedure, click Close and then skip the rest of these steps. Otherwise, if you think you will need to import this folder regularly, click to activate the Save Import Steps check box. Access adds the following controls to the dialog box:

• Save As-Access suggests a default name for the import steps such as Import-Contacts. Edit the name as desired.
• Description-Type an optional description for the import steps. This descrip­tion displays in the list of saved import operations.
• Create Outlook Task-Click to activate this check box to add a new Task item to Outlook.

10. Click Save Import. Access saves the import steps. If you activated the Create Outlook Task check box, Outlook displays the new Task window, as shown in Figure 2.

TIP

If you want Outlook to regularly remind you to run the import task, choose Task, Recurrence, and then use the Task Recurrence dialog box to set up a recurrence pattern (such as Daily or Weekly).

Figure 2 You can create an Outlook task that enables you to run the import from within Outlook.

11. Choose Task, Save & Close.

If you saved the import steps, two methods can run the import again:

• In Access, Choose External Data, Saved Imports to open the Manage Data Tasks dia­log box. Click the saved import you want to run and then click Run. When Access asks if you want to overwrite the existing table, click Yes.
• In Outlook, click Tasks, double-click the import task, and then choose Task, Run Import (pointed out in Figure 2). When Outlook asks you to confirm, click OK.

Here are the steps to follow to import an Outlook folder’s data into a new table and set up a link between Outlook and the new table:

1. Choose External Data, More (in the Import tab), Outlook Folder. Access displays the Get External Data – Outlook Folder dialog box.

2. Click to activate the Link to the Data Source by Creating a Linked Table option and then click OK. Access launches the Import Exchange/Outlook Wizard.

3. Click the Outlook folder you want to import and then click Next. The final wizard dialog box displays.

4. Use the Linked Table Name text box to adjust the table name, if necessary, and then click Finish. Access lets you know that it has set up the linked table.

5. Click OK.

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