We run MS Outlook 2003 on an Small Business Server 2003 network. We use
Outlook to store circa 8,000 contacts, defined under 14 categories. The
problem we're encountering is, when entering new contacts, the categorisation
is being handled differently by Outlook - i.e. we used to have categories
separated by a comma, now it's a changed to a semi-colon. New contacts will
not recognise two categories, i.e. categorisation such as 'Prospect' and
'Newsletter' will only be recognised as 'Newsletter'.

Before this drives me to distraction, can anyone suggest a fix?

Did users recently change their regional settings in Control Panel? That's where the text delimiter is defined.

You should still be able to set multiple categories on an item, though.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
We run MS Outlook 2003 on an Small Business Server 2003 network. We use
Outlook to store circa 8,000 contacts, defined under 14 categories. The
problem we're encountering is, when entering new contacts, the categorisation
is being handled differently by Outlook - i.e. we used to have categories
separated by a comma, now it's a changed to a semi-colon. New contacts will
not recognise two categories, i.e. categorisation such as 'Prospect' and
'Newsletter' will only be recognised as 'Newsletter'.

Before this drives me to distraction, can anyone suggest a fix?

Hi Sue,

Thanks for the quick response. There's been no (conscious) changes to
regional settings.

Our problems occur when we use a second category (we use this to designate
our newsletter is required). It now seems as though Outlook's reached a limit
and insists on using a semi-colon separator. It also ignores the original
categorisation.

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Did users recently change their regional settings in Control Panel? That's where the text delimiter is defined.

You should still be able to set multiple categories on an item, though.

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
We run MS Outlook 2003 on an Small Business Server 2003 network. We use
Outlook to store circa 8,000 contacts, defined under 14 categories. The
problem we're encountering is, when entering new contacts, the categorisation
is being handled differently by Outlook - i.e. we used to have categories
separated by a comma, now it's a changed to a semi-colon. New contacts will
not recognise two categories, i.e. categorisation such as 'Prospect' and
'Newsletter' will only be recognised as 'Newsletter'.

Before this drives me to distraction, can anyone suggest a fix?

Details? Number of categories per item? Number of characters? What steps are you following to set categories on items?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the quick response. There's been no (conscious) changes to
regional settings.

Our problems occur when we use a second category (we use this to designate
our newsletter is required). It now seems as though Outlook's reached a limit
and insists on using a semi-colon separator. It also ignores the original
categorisation.

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Did users recently change their regional settings in Control Panel? That's where the text delimiter is defined.

You should still be able to set multiple categories on an item, though.

"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
We run MS Outlook 2003 on an Small Business Server 2003 network. We use
Outlook to store circa 8,000 contacts, defined under 14 categories. The
problem we're encountering is, when entering new contacts, the categorisation
is being handled differently by Outlook - i.e. we used to have categories
separated by a comma, now it's a changed to a semi-colon. New contacts will
not recognise two categories, i.e. categorisation such as 'Prospect' and
'Newsletter' will only be recognised as 'Newsletter'.

Before this drives me to distraction, can anyone suggest a fix?

Number of categories per item? For circa 50% of our contacts, it's two. For
the remainder it's one.

Number of characters? The longest category is 12 characters (Public Sector)
or 11 (Competition). When using two categories, its 23 characters (Public
Sector, Newsletter).

What steps are you following to set categories on items? Categories are
defined in the Master Category list, and then assigned using Categories
dialog box in the bottom right corner of the Contacts pop-up box.


"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Details? Number of categories per item? Number of characters? What steps are you following to set categories on items?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the quick response. There's been no (conscious) changes to
regional settings.

Our problems occur when we use a second category (we use this to designate
our newsletter is required). It now seems as though Outlook's reached a limit
and insists on using a semi-colon separator. It also ignores the original
categorisation.

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Did users recently change their regional settings in Control Panel? That's where the text delimiter is defined.

You should still be able to set multiple categories on an item, though.

"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
We run MS Outlook 2003 on an Small Business Server 2003 network. We use
Outlook to store circa 8,000 contacts, defined under 14 categories. The
problem we're encountering is, when entering new contacts, the categorisation
is being handled differently by Outlook - i.e. we used to have categories
separated by a comma, now it's a changed to a semi-colon. New contacts will
not recognise two categories, i.e. categorisation such as 'Prospect' and
'Newsletter' will only be recognised as 'Newsletter'.

Before this drives me to distraction, can anyone suggest a fix?

I'd try running Help | Delete and Repair. Nothing about your configuration or usage suggests a possible cause of the problem.

What exactly happens when you select two categories in the Categories dialog?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
Number of categories per item? For circa 50% of our contacts, it's two. For
the remainder it's one.

Number of characters? The longest category is 12 characters (Public Sector)
or 11 (Competition). When using two categories, its 23 characters (Public
Sector, Newsletter).

What steps are you following to set categories on items? Categories are
defined in the Master Category list, and then assigned using Categories
dialog box in the bottom right corner of the Contacts pop-up box.


"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Details? Number of categories per item? Number of characters? What steps are you following to set categories on items?


"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the quick response. There's been no (conscious) changes to
regional settings.

Our problems occur when we use a second category (we use this to designate
our newsletter is required). It now seems as though Outlook's reached a limit
and insists on using a semi-colon separator. It also ignores the original
categorisation.

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Did users recently change their regional settings in Control Panel? That's where the text delimiter is defined.

You should still be able to set multiple categories on an item, though.

"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
We run MS Outlook 2003 on an Small Business Server 2003 network. We use
Outlook to store circa 8,000 contacts, defined under 14 categories. The
problem we're encountering is, when entering new contacts, the categorisation
is being handled differently by Outlook - i.e. we used to have categories
separated by a comma, now it's a changed to a semi-colon. New contacts will
not recognise two categories, i.e. categorisation such as 'Prospect' and
'Newsletter' will only be recognised as 'Newsletter'.

Before this drives me to distraction, can anyone suggest a fix?

I hope Sue gets this fixed for you....

In the meantime - you could make a new Field called Newsletter as a YES/NO
field and check it for people wo are supposed to be sent it.

This would unclutter your category field too and show that there are lots
of separate pieces of data you can hold about clients.

Judy Gleeson [MVP Outlook]
Acorn Training and Consulting
www.acorntraining.com.au

Everyone - turn on your Advanced Toolbars and learn how to use the Field
Chooser and Group by Box!!


"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote in message
...
I'd try running Help | Delete and Repair. Nothing about your configuration
or usage suggests a possible cause of the problem.

What exactly happens when you select two categories in the Categories
dialog?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"John Blackwell" wrote in
message ...
Number of categories per item? For circa 50% of our contacts, it's two.
For
the remainder it's one.

Number of characters? The longest category is 12 characters (Public
Sector)
or 11 (Competition). When using two categories, its 23 characters
(Public
Sector, Newsletter).

What steps are you following to set categories on items? Categories are
defined in the Master Category list, and then assigned using Categories
dialog box in the bottom right corner of the Contacts pop-up box.


"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Details? Number of categories per item? Number of characters? What
steps are you following to set categories on items?


"John Blackwell" wrote in
message ...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the quick response. There's been no (conscious) changes to
regional settings.

Our problems occur when we use a second category (we use this to
designate
our newsletter is required). It now seems as though Outlook's reached
a limit
and insists on using a semi-colon separator. It also ignores the
original
categorisation.

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Did users recently change their regional settings in Control Panel?
That's where the text delimiter is defined.

You should still be able to set multiple categories on an item,
though.

"John Blackwell" wrote in
message ...
We run MS Outlook 2003 on an Small Business Server 2003 network.
We use
Outlook to store circa 8,000 contacts, defined under 14
categories. The
problem we're encountering is, when entering new contacts, the
categorisation
is being handled differently by Outlook - i.e. we used to have
categories
separated by a comma, now it's a changed to a semi-colon. New
contacts will
not recognise two categories, i.e. categorisation such as
'Prospect' and
'Newsletter' will only be recognised as 'Newsletter'.

Before this drives me to distraction, can anyone suggest a fix?

Hi Sue,

I've run Delete & Repair and still get the same issue.

When I select two categories, Outlook now decides to assign a semi-colon
separator rather than a comma as it previously used. It also swaps the order
of new categorisation, placing 'Newsletter' before any other category.
Finally, it decides to only display one category rather than both. It's all
very puzzling.

The net result is that I have to export the entire contact db on a regular
basis, clean it, and reimport it. Not a satisfactory process.



"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

I'd try running Help | Delete and Repair. Nothing about your configuration or usage suggests a possible cause of the problem.

What exactly happens when you select two categories in the Categories dialog?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
Number of categories per item? For circa 50% of our contacts, it's two. For
the remainder it's one.

Number of characters? The longest category is 12 characters (Public Sector)
or 11 (Competition). When using two categories, its 23 characters (Public
Sector, Newsletter).

What steps are you following to set categories on items? Categories are
defined in the Master Category list, and then assigned using Categories
dialog box in the bottom right corner of the Contacts pop-up box.


"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Details? Number of categories per item? Number of characters? What steps are you following to set categories on items?


"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the quick response. There's been no (conscious) changes to
regional settings.

Our problems occur when we use a second category (we use this to designate
our newsletter is required). It now seems as though Outlook's reached a limit
and insists on using a semi-colon separator. It also ignores the original
categorisation.

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Did users recently change their regional settings in Control Panel? That's where the text delimiter is defined.

You should still be able to set multiple categories on an item, though.

"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
We run MS Outlook 2003 on an Small Business Server 2003 network. We use
Outlook to store circa 8,000 contacts, defined under 14 categories. The
problem we're encountering is, when entering new contacts, the categorisation
is being handled differently by Outlook - i.e. we used to have categories
separated by a comma, now it's a changed to a semi-colon. New contacts will
not recognise two categories, i.e. categorisation such as 'Prospect' and
'Newsletter' will only be recognised as 'Newsletter'.

Before this drives me to distraction, can anyone suggest a fix?

Hi Judy,

I'm not sure I fully understand your suggestion. Where would I create the
new field?

"Judy Gleeson MVP Outlook" wrote:


I hope Sue gets this fixed for you....

In the meantime - you could make a new Field called Newsletter as a YES/NO
field and check it for people wo are supposed to be sent it.

This would unclutter your category field too and show that there are lots
of separate pieces of data you can hold about clients.

Judy Gleeson [MVP Outlook]
Acorn Training and Consulting
www.acorntraining.com.au

Everyone - turn on your Advanced Toolbars and learn how to use the Field
Chooser and Group by Box!!


"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote in message
...
I'd try running Help | Delete and Repair. Nothing about your configuration
or usage suggests a possible cause of the problem.

What exactly happens when you select two categories in the Categories
dialog?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"John Blackwell" wrote in
message ...
Number of categories per item? For circa 50% of our contacts, it's two.
For
the remainder it's one.

Number of characters? The longest category is 12 characters (Public
Sector)
or 11 (Competition). When using two categories, its 23 characters
(Public
Sector, Newsletter).

What steps are you following to set categories on items? Categories are
defined in the Master Category list, and then assigned using Categories
dialog box in the bottom right corner of the Contacts pop-up box.


"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Details? Number of categories per item? Number of characters? What
steps are you following to set categories on items?


"John Blackwell" wrote in
message ...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the quick response. There's been no (conscious) changes to
regional settings.

Our problems occur when we use a second category (we use this to
designate
our newsletter is required). It now seems as though Outlook's reached
a limit
and insists on using a semi-colon separator. It also ignores the
original
categorisation.

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Did users recently change their regional settings in Control Panel?
That's where the text delimiter is defined.

You should still be able to set multiple categories on an item,
though.

"John Blackwell" wrote in
message ...
We run MS Outlook 2003 on an Small Business Server 2003 network.
We use
Outlook to store circa 8,000 contacts, defined under 14
categories. The
problem we're encountering is, when entering new contacts, the
categorisation
is being handled differently by Outlook - i.e. we used to have
categories
separated by a comma, now it's a changed to a semi-colon. New
contacts will
not recognise two categories, i.e. categorisation such as
'Prospect' and
'Newsletter' will only be recognised as 'Newsletter'.

Before this drives me to distraction, can anyone suggest a fix?

Did you ever check Regional Settings in Control Panel to see what the list separator is?

When you say it displays only one category rather than both, where are you seeing that behavior?

--
Sue Mosher, Outlook MVP
Author of Configuring Microsoft Outlook 2003
http://www.turtleflock.com/olconfig/index.htm
and Microsoft Outlook Programming - Jumpstart for
Administrators, Power Users, and Developers
http://www.outlookcode.com/jumpstart.aspx


"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
Hi Sue,

I've run Delete & Repair and still get the same issue.

When I select two categories, Outlook now decides to assign a semi-colon
separator rather than a comma as it previously used. It also swaps the order
of new categorisation, placing 'Newsletter' before any other category.
Finally, it decides to only display one category rather than both. It's all
very puzzling.

The net result is that I have to export the entire contact db on a regular
basis, clean it, and reimport it. Not a satisfactory process.



"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

I'd try running Help | Delete and Repair. Nothing about your configuration or usage suggests a possible cause of the problem.

What exactly happens when you select two categories in the Categories dialog?


"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
Number of categories per item? For circa 50% of our contacts, it's two. For
the remainder it's one.

Number of characters? The longest category is 12 characters (Public Sector)
or 11 (Competition). When using two categories, its 23 characters (Public
Sector, Newsletter).

What steps are you following to set categories on items? Categories are
defined in the Master Category list, and then assigned using Categories
dialog box in the bottom right corner of the Contacts pop-up box.


"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Details? Number of categories per item? Number of characters? What steps are you following to set categories on items?


"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
Hi Sue,

Thanks for the quick response. There's been no (conscious) changes to
regional settings.

Our problems occur when we use a second category (we use this to designate
our newsletter is required). It now seems as though Outlook's reached a limit
and insists on using a semi-colon separator. It also ignores the original
categorisation.

"Sue Mosher [MVP-Outlook]" wrote:

Did users recently change their regional settings in Control Panel? That's where the text delimiter is defined.

You should still be able to set multiple categories on an item, though.

"John Blackwell" wrote in message ...
We run MS Outlook 2003 on an Small Business Server 2003 network. We use
Outlook to store circa 8,000 contacts, defined under 14 categories. The
problem we're encountering is, when entering new contacts, the categorisation
is being handled differently by Outlook - i.e. we used to have categories
separated by a comma, now it's a changed to a semi-colon. New contacts will
not recognise two categories, i.e. categorisation such as 'Prospect' and
'Newsletter' will only be recognised as 'Newsletter'.

Before this drives me to distraction, can anyone suggest a fix?