Q148500: XADM: Creating First/Last Names for MS Mail Custom Recipients

Article: Q148500
Product(s): Microsoft Exchange
Version(s): winnt:4.0
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbusage
Last Modified: 22-MAR-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Exchange Server, version 4.0 
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SUMMARY
=======

When you use Directory Synchronization between Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft
Mail, custom recipients are created on the Microsoft Exchange side for each
Microsoft Mail user.

When you look at the properties of the created custom recipients, the Firstname
and Lastname fields are empty. This is because, on the Microsoft Mail side, each
account has only a Display Name and there are no separate fields for the first
and the last names. As a result of this, when the custom recipients are created
on the Microsoft Exchange side, there is no information available to fill the
Firstname and Lastname fields of the custom recipients.

Empty Firstname and Lastname fields can cause address resolution from the client
to behave differently than that for Microsoft Exchange mailboxes. This might be
noticed in the client, when the Check Names command does not bring up a list of
all possible matches and does not find Microsoft Mail custom recipients created
during Directory Synchronization. The reason for this is that the Check Names
command uses the Lastname and Firstname fields for Address Resolution. For more
information on how the Check Names command works, please refer to the following
article:

  Q147400 XCLN: How the Check Names Command Works

This article describes a way to automatically parse the Display Name and then
populate the Firstname and Lastname fields of all Microsoft Mail custom
recipients.

MORE INFORMATION
================

The process of modifying the custom recipient information involves exporting the
custom recipient data to a text file, modifying this text file, and then
re-importing this data back into the Microsoft Exchange directory. The steps
below indicate how this is done.

The following steps refer to Microsoft Excel 7.0. Most other spreadsheet programs
can also be used. We assume that Directory Synchronization has been used to
create the Microsoft Mail custom recipients and that these recipients are
created in a recipient container called MS Mail Users. The Display name of the
custom recipients is assumed to have the format: <FirstName>
<LastName>

1. From the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program, select the Directory
  Export command from the Tools menu.

2. Select the container that holds the MS Mail custom recipients (MS Mail
  Users).

3. Select a file to export the information to (Msmail.csv).

4. In the Export Objects section, select only Custom Recipient.

5. Click the Export button. This should export all the user information to the
  file selected (Msmail.csv).

6. Open the file Msmail.csv in Microsoft Excel, or any other spreadsheet that
  can read delimited text files.

7. The first line in this file should contain the object field names.

  For the rest of the steps we assume that the rows are labeled numerically and
  the columns alphabetically. In other words, the rows start from 1, and the
  columns from A.

8. Search for the field, First Name. Normally this field should be in Column B.
  Search for the field, Last name. Normally this field should be in Column C.
  Search for the field, Display Name. Normally this field should be in Column
  D.

9. Click on cell B2. This cell is for the First name of the first record and
  should be empty. Type in =LEFT(D2,FIND(" ",D2)-1). Hit the Enter key. Cell B2
  should now have the first word of the contents of Cell D2. Assuming that
  Display Name has the format: <FirstName> <Last Name>, cell B2
  should contain the first name of the custom recipient.

10. Click on cell C2. This cell is for the Last name of the first record and
  should be empty. Type in =RIGHT(D2,LEN(D2)-LEN(B2)-1). Hit the Enter key.
  Assuming that Display Name has the format: <FirstName> <Last
  Name>, cell C2 should contain the last name of the custom recipient.

11. Select the cell B2. Move the mouse cursor to the bottom right corner of this
  cell. The cursor should now change to a + (plus) sign.

12. While the cursor is a + sign, hold down the left mouse button and drag the
  cursor to the last row. Now release the left mouse button. For each row,
  Column B should now be filled with the first name of the custom recipient
  specified in that row.

13. Select the cell C2. Move the mouse cursor to the bottom right corner of this
  cell. The cursor should now change to a + (plus) sign.

14. While the cursor is a + sign, hold down the left mouse button and drag the
  cursor to the last row. Now release the left mouse button. For each row,
  Column C should now be filled with the last name of the custom recipient
  specified in that row.

15. Save the file and exit out of Microsoft Excel.

16. From the Microsoft Exchange Administrator program, select the Directory
  Import command from the Tools menu.

17. Select the file we just modified (Msmail.csv).

18. Click the Import button.

19. After the Import has completed, check the properties of the Microsoft Mail
  custom recipients we just modified. Each custom recipient should now have
  the First and Last name fields populated.

If the Display Name is in a different format than the one assumed above
(<FirstName> <Lastname), the formula specified in steps 9 and 10 will
need to be modified depending on the format of the display name. The rest of the
steps will remain the same.

Additional query words:

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Keywords          : kbusage 
Technology        : kbExchangeSearch kbExchange400 kbZNotKeyword2
Version           : winnt:4.0
Issue type        : kbhowto

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