Help, please -- Area Code Changes

[JodyMac]

I searched the Palm Knowledge Base for help on this, with no luck. Therefore, I turn to this forum where I have been helped many times before

I live in the part of New Mexico that is going through an area code change during the next year. I would like to change my A/Cs now and get it over with. Is there a way to globally search and replace the area codes? I have both a Tungsten E and a Tungsten E2.

TIA,
Jody

[RickAgresta]

on the PDA, probably not (at least, nothing easy); however, if at Palm Desktop you export your Contacts as a file (.CSV might be problematic) which can be manipulated by, for example, Excel, then you can make the global search/replace change in Excel, save the updated file in the same format, reload (import) into Palm Desktop then Hotsync your PDAs. The theory is sound, but its not something I've done myself, so I can't vouch for how smooth it'll go. Let us know how it works out. Luck!

[Josser]

EZMaintain from the makers of Contacts5 can do global search and replace of info in specific fields of the Palm Contacts database.

[RickAgresta]

great find Josser! and there's a 30 Day fully functioning demo to download, too

[JodyMac]

Thank you both for your time and assistance . I started to do it manually, as I have nothing to export my phone book to; however, I will look into EZMaintain.

Again, thanx

[BAB2000]

Josser that is a good link, and I recall a software solution similar if not the same being suggested previously for a company name change, mass select. Same could be done for the company telephone or address if a common change.

The addressbook stores the telephone number as a single field. Does not separate the area code when stored, it is one field of the record.

Northern Indiana and Western Michigan went through the area code reassigns a few years ago, and the only solution that worked the best for me was to do it manually as numbers were searched.

A procedure I considered was to export my datebook database to a spreadsheet, and then sort the list by state, city, then edit each number within the spread sheet.

Then clear my present datebook database on the Palm desktop, then import my modified version, and then set hotsync conduit for desktop to overwrite handheld.

[Josser]

EZMaintain can do global search/change on just part of the text string.
i.e. change 612- to 685- from what I read, but I don't have time to test it.

A very good program for manual edit of exported data would be CSVEd, it is small, simple, fast and free. Edits tab and csv text file in columns like a spreadsheet, can mod the beginning/end of a single column. It is a great little editor and portable.