Importing a .csv address book will not work
I have just changed from XP to Ubuntu and have saved my Outlook Express address book to a .csv file on a USB flash drive. I opened Thunderbird and imported the file as per the various screens and although Thunderbird said it was successful, when I select the address book it is empty along with the default Personal Address Book. Can anybody help please.
Chosen solution
The choices under View/Show Name As are First Last, Last First and Display Name. If the imported address book has content only in the Display field (which is usually First + Last), then the address book will appear empty if View/Show Name As is not set to Display Name.
If the Menu Bar is hidden, you can also right-click the existing toolbar and enable Menu Bar.
The easy way to transfer from OE/XP to TB/Ubuntu would have been to install TB on the XP computer, do the auto-import from OE, then copy the TB profile from XP to Ubuntu. But if you still have the XP computer or partition, you still might find it easier to export the OE messages to eml files and import those to TB, rather than convert dbx files to a TB-compatible format.
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Sometimes after importing you have to close and re-open Address Book for the addresses to appear, and also choose a different option under View/Show Name As, if the importation didn't fill all the contact name fields.
I've opened and closed the address book a number of times but it makes no difference. Also, I do not know where I can choose a different option under View/Show Name As. Perhaps you can be a little clearer for a Ubuntu newbie. Many thanks.
In Address Book, if you can't see the Menu Bar, press Alt or F10 (works in Windows).
In Ubuntu I get a command line up after pressing Alt. By typing View it shows a few options including "Show first "View/Show Name as" but I'm afraid it does nothing. I can't believe such a simple operation that says it has installed correctly can produce nothing and I haven't got round to importing my emails in the .dbx files yet!
Chosen Solution
The choices under View/Show Name As are First Last, Last First and Display Name. If the imported address book has content only in the Display field (which is usually First + Last), then the address book will appear empty if View/Show Name As is not set to Display Name.
If the Menu Bar is hidden, you can also right-click the existing toolbar and enable Menu Bar.
The easy way to transfer from OE/XP to TB/Ubuntu would have been to install TB on the XP computer, do the auto-import from OE, then copy the TB profile from XP to Ubuntu. But if you still have the XP computer or partition, you still might find it easier to export the OE messages to eml files and import those to TB, rather than convert dbx files to a TB-compatible format.
After displaying the menu bar and moving "Name" and "Address" to the top of the selected fields to the top of the list everything worked OK. I didn't realise I had to move the selected fields in the menu. So, many thanks for your assistence.