194095 - Import Address Book (from text file) dialog offers only the first 37 fields of the import CSV file for import

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(MailNews Core :: Address Book, defect)

Description

[dave b]

User-Agent:       Opera/7.01 (Windows NT 5.0; U)  [en]
Build Identifier: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.0; en-US; rv:1.3b) Gecko/20030210

When I do a address book import from a csv file with more than 36 fields, in 
this case created by Outlook export, the mapping of address book fields to 
import record fields only presents the 1st 36 fields of the import record. 
Making the remaining fields unavailable.


This would allow mapping fields that are not directly supported in Mozilla to be 
mapped to Mozilla Custom fields, overcoming some limitations such as the Oulook 
import, which drops unmatched fields, and has bugs such as not importing Notes 
(bug 157722)


Reproducible: Always

Steps to Reproduce:
1.Go to Address Book, Tools, Import, Address Book, next, text file, next


2.select a csv file with more than 36 fields or columns.


3.Import Address book mapping dialog appears



Actual Results:  
The mapping of address book fields to import record fields only presents the 1st 
36 fields of the import record. 


Expected Results:  
In this case where there are more fields in the import record than the Mozilla 
addressbook can store, I want to see all the import fields and all the 
Addressbook fields so I can map any 2 fields. 


There is some relationship to 117852

Comment 1

[GavinS]

I see the same thing on thunderbird 1.0 rc1 - is it the same code these days?

Comment 3

[Ronald Killmer]

In Tbird U2U support newsgroup, the workaround we have recommended is use of a spreadsheet application to adapt the export to better match the Tb fields.  What we seem to be lacking is user documentation of all 72 or so fields available in Abook.mab for use as a guide to re-structuring the *.csv in a spreadsheet environment.

Comment 5

[Dirk Schoettler]

At least, it would be nice to see an obvious information like "Only the first 36 fields supported"!

But how much work would it be to fill up the Thunderbird field list with dummy entries like "NO IMPORT"?
I mean, if I have a CSV file with 50 fields, then this dialogue could offer the first 36 entries with TB fields and the following 14 with "no import" dummy fields. So the user could at least see and rearrange them.

This would have some advantages:
- More obvious and intuitive handling.
- No need for a workaround in a spreadsheet application.

Especially if you want to appeal to appeal to Outlook users that could ease migration, because direct Outlook PST import suffers several flaws.
https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=271976

Comment 7

[Thomas D. (:thomas8)]

(In reply to Dirk Schoettler from comment #5)

But how much work would it be to fill up the Thunderbird field list with dummy entries like "NO IMPORT"?
I mean, if I have a CSV file with 50 fields, then this dialogue could offer the first 36 entries with TB fields and the following 14 with "no import" dummy fields. So the user could at least see and rearrange them.

Geoff, adding empty dummy fields in the left column of the import dialog might be a quick and dirty bandaid fix for this useless dialogue. What do you think? (@Dirk: thank you for suggesting this tweak!)

If we could actually make it so that the import data columns can be moved into the right TB target slots (with the advantage of keeping TB data field sequence stable), imo that would be much more logical and a significant UX improvement over the status quo.
For bonus points, bug 1392059...

This would have some advantages:

• More obvious and intuitive handling.
• No need for a workaround in a spreadsheet application.

Especially if you want to appeal to appeal to Outlook users that could ease
migration, because direct Outlook PST import suffers several flaws.
See: bug 271976...

Yes, would be good to fix this wrt migration in enterprise contexts, too!

Comment 8

[Geoff Lankow (:darktrojan)]

Geoff, adding empty dummy fields in the left column of the import dialog might be a quick and dirty bandaid fix for this useless dialogue. What do you think?

You might assume it would be quick, but you would be wrong! Dirty, sure.

Comment 9

[Geoff Lankow (:darktrojan)]

Attachment: Bug 194095 - Fix address book import from CSV files with more fields than Thunderbird has. r?mkmelin

Comment 10

[Pulsebot]

Pushed by [e-mail]:
https://hg.mozilla.org/comm-central/rev/e71240e4406f
Fix address book import from CSV files with more fields than Thunderbird has. r=mkmelin