Connecting toACT! By Sage

GL Computing – www.GLComputing.com.au

Copyright (c) 2009

Connecting to ACT! By Sage

•ACT! File Export

•ACT! Export to Excel

•OLEDB•ODBC -

ActReader•3rd Party

Export

Reading or

Exporting ACT! Data

•ACT! File Import Options

•3rd Party Import

•ACT! SDKImporting or

Writing ACT! Data

ACT!’s File Export – to ACT! dbCan export a lookup of one record type or All

Contacts if multiple record types selected - Contacts, Groups, Companies

Can export all Extended Data - Notes, Histories, Sales Ops, Activities, Secondary Contacts, Attachments

Can check for duplicates and merge records in target database. But only entire records, not on a field basis

Fields must be matching data types

ACT!’s File Export – to TextCan only export one record type in an export

(Contacts, Groups or Company)No keys to link Contacts to the other recordsCannot export any extended dataSupports Comma or Tab delimiterCan export field names (recommended)

ACT!’s Export to ExcelAvailable from various list views: Contacts,

Companies, Groups, Tasks, OpportunitiesOpportunities also creates Pivot Chart and Table

tabsIcon on bar or via menu - Tools | Export to ExcelFiltered by what is shown on the List ViewFields selected by Options | Customise ColumnsOnly information shown in the list view is exported

– only one contact per item and no details with Activities

No keys to link exported data

OLEDBObject Linking and Embedding, DatabaseUsed for reporting via Excel, Crystal Reports,

etcViews of most ACT! tablesStarted as per this ACT! Knowledge Base

article:http://kb.sagesoftwareonline.com/cgi-bin/sagesoftwareonline.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=14023

Can be disabled for security or performance as per:http://kb.sagesoftwareonline.com/cgi-bin/sagesoftwareonline.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_faqid=17575

ODBC – ActReaderOpen Database ConnectivityDirect read-only access to all SQL tablesWorks with Premium versions of ACT! 2005 or laterActReader is included on ACT! Premium 2009 11.1 CD

or can be downloaded from this ACT! KB: 22989ACTDataDictionaryDocument.rtf in ACT! 11.1 folder

more documentation can be found at this KB: 22924A visual view of the links between the tables can be

created in Visio (free 60-day trial) as per this article:http://blog.glcomputing.com.au/2009/04/getting-table-structure-and-links-from.html

3rd Party ExportitExport

Easy to use tool to export data from ACT!Exports all ACT! records and extended data

Including Custom Tables and Linked Documents

Includes Unique ID to re-link exported data externally

Can filter export data based on a date range and types

Can export in formatted (RTF) or unformattedCan run as a service with (optional) itService

to enable automated exports of data to integrate with another system.

Importing in ACT! – ACT! Database File | Import | ACT! Database

Must be same version of ACT!Entire set of selected records:

Contacts, Groups CompaniesField mapping (data types must match)Record level duplicates and mergingExtended data is included (attachments

optional)Activities only if user names match in both

databases

Importing in ACT! - OutlookFile | Import | Outlook

Contacts – with Activities and NotesOutlook or Exchange ContactsAppointments/Tasks can import to My Record

or selected Contact as Outlook doesn’t assign then to specific contacts

Field mapping and contact Record level duplicate checking and merging

Importing in ACT! – dBaseFile | Import | dBase

dBase III-IV dbfImport to ACT! Contacts onlydBase memo field to ACT! Memo or notesField mapping and contact Record level

duplicate checking and merging

Importing in ACT! – Palm DesktopFile | Import | Palm Desktop

Palm Desktop 4.0 and earlier only.V4.1 and later only via txtMust have Palm Desktop installed

ACT! Contacts – some Notes and Activities

Importing in ACT! – Text DelimitedFile | Import | Text Delimited

Comma (CSV) or Tab delimitersContact Group or Company recordsNo extended data – Notes, Histories, Activities,

OpsField mapping and Record level duplicate

checking and merging.No linking Contacts to Companies/Groups

3rd Party ImportitImport

Editions include: Basic, Standard, Advanced, Pro*Basic and Standard only ACT! 2007 (9.0) and later

Sources from TXT, CSV, XLS, XLSX, MDB, SQL, ODBCEditions define Source and ACT! table options (see web for list)All ACT! Records – Contacts, Companies, GroupsAll Extended Data – Notes, Histories, Activities, Opportunities,

Secondary Contacts, Custom Tables (10.02 or later), Picture Fields and Attachments.

Record AND Field level merges to update new dataAuto link Contacts to Groups/Companies (create if needed)Can run as a service with (optional) itService to enable

automated imports of data to integrate with another systemMail to ACT! allows automated import of email forms

3rd Party ImportMigrateAdmin – Goldmine

Supports Goldmine versions 5.7-6.7SQL versions of Goldmine are not supported

Supports ACT! 2007 (9.0) and laterImports – Contacts, Companies, Groups,

Custom Fields, E-mails, Activities, Histories, Notes, Opportunities, attachments and more

ACT! SDK - read, write, eventsCan read and write the ACT! DataCan access Events for live transactionsUsed in Customised solutions by PluginsCan be used to Sync ACT! data to other

systemsRequires programming in .Net

Contact informationGL Computing:

www.GLComputing.com.aublog.GLComputing.com.autwitter.com/GLComputing

LinkedIN ACT! Fanatics Group:www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=49896