Little Machines — O2M User Guide: Importing

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Importing

After you have exported your email, contacts, and/or calendar appointments on your PC, the next step is to move the exported files to your Macintosh machine so they can be imported into your Apple programs.

O2M can create different kinds of files while performing an export. It all depends on what you export, and the kind of Macintosh programs you use.

File Type

Contains

Sample
Filename

How Many Files Are Created?

mbox file

myfolder.mbox

One mbox file is created for each email folder you export

vcf (vCard) file

Contacts

JaneSmith.vcf

•	If you use Apple Address Book for Jaguar (OS 10.2.x) and later, all your contacts are stored in a single vcf file

•	For all other programs, each contact is stored in its own vcf file; if you export 10 contacts, you'll get 10 vcf files

ics (iCal) file

Calendar
Appointments

2002-10-06.ics

•	If you use Apple iCal for Jaguar (OS 10.2.x) and later, all your appointments are stored in a single ics file

•	For all other programs, each appointment is stored in its own ics file

Finding the Exported Outlook Files on Your PC

When O2M begins saving your Outlook data, it creates three subfolders inside your Save Folder. The three subfolders are:

   • mail to hold exported email
   • contacts to hold exported contacts
   • calendar to hold exported calendar appointments

For example, if you choose a Save Folder called c:\My_Outlook_Data, you'll find all of your exported contacts inside c:\My_Outlook_Data\contacts.

Dealing with Duplicate Files

When O2M saves a mbox, vcf, or ics file, it checks first to see if a file with the same name already exists on your hard drive. If so, the new file is saved with a number at the end, indicating it is different and newer than the previous one.

For example, say you export a contact named John Doe. O2M saves the information in a file called JohnDoe.vcf. If you export John Doe again, O2M will detect the first JohnDoe.vcf, and name the second one JohnDoe-1.vcf. If you export again, the new John Doe would be JohnDoe-2.vcf, and so on. By looking at these numbers, you can tell which file is newest.

If you want to stop O2M from making incremental files like these, just clean out your mail, contacts, and calendar subfolders after each export. This is optional, but if you do, it'll make it easy to identify which exported files are freshest.

Moving Exported Outlook Files to Your Macintosh Machine

Before you move your files to your Macintosh, we recommend creating temporary mail, contacts, and calendar folders on your Apple computer's desktop to hold the mbox, vcf, or ics files you'll be transferring to your Mac.

When you're ready to transfer your files, how you move actually move them from your PC to your Macintosh computer is up to you — it depends on the kinds of tools you have available for transporting files.

Here are some ways people transport files to their Macintosh machines:

•	portable media like floppy disks, CD-ROMs, USB memory disks, and Zip disks
•	a network for moving files quickly over cables between PCs and Macintosh machines
•	the Internet where files can be moved via FTP, HTTP, or other protocols
•	iDisk — Apple's new online service lets you move files between machines via the Internet
•	email — you can email files to yourself, provided they aren't too large. We recommend this as a last resort, as some of our customers have reported their files have been corrupted this way.

If you're going to transfer your files by portable media, the Internet, email, or iDisk, you might consider compressing your files to make them move faster and consume less space while in transit. You can find Macintosh compression programs like this one all over the Internet — search at Apple or Google to find more.

Network Tip: If you have a network, you don't necessarily need to copy your mbox, vcf, and ics files to your Macintosh machine. As long as you can see them from your Apple, you can import them directly into your Macintosh programs over the network from a remote drive or other shared resource.

Importing Outlook Files into Your Macintosh Programs

After moving your exported mbox, vcf (vCard), and ics (iCal) files to your Macintosh computer, you should be able to import them into any Apple or third-party program that supports these file types.

If you're using a non-standard email, contact, or calendar program, you might find that importing files takes a little practice to make it work smoothly. Although many software makers claim to support mbox, vcf, and ics files, not all of them strictly adhere to the industry standards behind these file formats.

To make things easier, we've included importing instructions below for popular Apple and other programs. If you don't see your mail, contact, or calendar program listed, refer to the instructions that came with it to learn how to perform an import.

Note: Some contact and calendar programs may create duplicate entries if you import information into them that already exists. If you plan to routinely import all your contacts from a PC, you might need to figure out a way to deal with this, depending on which program you're using.

Importing Mail

Apple Mail 3.x for Leopard (OS 10.5.x)

This is the default mail program that comes installed with Leopard (OS 10.5 and higher). You can import mbox mail files directly into it. Here's how:

	1.	Start up Apple's Mail program. Once it starts, you should be able to see all of your mailboxes, which look like folders, on the left side of the application, in a blue box. If you can't see the mailboxes, click on View, then Show Mailboxes to display your mailboxes.
	2.	Next, click on File, then Import Mailboxes.... The Import window opens. Choose mbox files, and then click the Continue button.
	3.	Navigate to the folder on your Macintosh where the mbox file(s) you want to import are located. Now select the folder containing the MBOX file (not the MBOX file itself — the MBOX file will not be selectable), then select the Choose button.
	4.	Mail will scan the folder you chose and show you a list of importable mbox files. Choose the files you want to import and click the >> button to start the import. When you're done, click >> to exit.
	5.	Find the folder in Mail called Import and open it. You'll find your imported mbox folders inside. You can rename the folders, or move the mail from them to other folders just by dragging.

Apple Mail for Tiger (OS 10.4.x)

This is the default mail program that comes installed with Tiger (OS 10.4 and higher). You can import mbox mail files directly into it. Here's how:

	1.	Start up Apple's Mail program. Once it starts, you should be able to see all of your mailboxes, which look like folders, on the left side of the application, in a blue box. If you can't see the mailboxes, click on View, then Show Mailboxes to display your mailboxes.
	2.	Next, click on File, then Import Mailboxes.... The Import window opens. Choose Other, and then click the Continue button.
	3.	Navigate to the folder on your Macintosh where the mbox file(s) you want to import are located. Now select the folder containing the MBOX file (not the MBOX file itself — the MBOX file will not be selectable), then select the Choose button.
	4.	Mail will scan the folder you chose and show you a list of importable mbox files. Choose the files you want to import and click the >> button to start the import. When you're done, click >> to exit.
	5.	Find the folder in Mail called Import and open it. You'll find your imported mbox folders inside. You can rename the folders, or move the mail from them to other folders just by dragging.

Apple Mail for Panther (OS 10.3.x)

This is the default mail program that comes installed with Panther (OS 10.3 and higher). You can import mbox mail files directly into it. Here's how:

	1.	Start up Apple's Mail program. Once it starts, you should be able to see Mail's pop-out drawer that contains all of your mail folders. If you can't see the drawer, click on View, then Show Drawer to pop the drawer open.
	2.	Next, click on File, then Import Mailboxes.... The Import window opens. Choose Other then Mailboxes (MBOX format) from the list and click the >> button twice.
	3.	Navigate to the folder where the mbox file(s) you want to import are located, then double-click on the folder to select the folder (not the MBOX file itself — the file will not be selectable). (If your mbox file(s) are on your Macintosh computer's desktop, choose Desktop as your folder and hit the Choose) button.
	4.	Mail will scan the folder you chose and show you a list of importable mbox files. Choose the files you want to import and click the >> button to start the import. When you're done, click >> to exit.
	5.	Find the folder in Mail called Import and open it. You'll find your imported mbox folders inside. You can rename the folders, or move the mail from them to other folders just by dragging.

Apple Mail for Jaguar (OS 10.2.X)

This is the default mail program that comes installed with Jaguar (OS 10.2 and higher). You can import mbox mail files directly into it. Here's how:

	1.	Start up Apple's Mail program. Once it starts, you should be able to see Mail's pop-out drawer that contains all of your mail folders. If you can't see the drawer, click on View, then Show Drawer to pop the drawer open.
	2.	Next, click on File, then Import Mailboxes.... The Import window opens. Choose Standard mbox files from the list and click the >> button twice.
	3.	Navigate to the folder where the mbox file(s) you want to import are located, then double-click on the folder to select it. (If your mbox file(s) are on your Macintosh computer's desktop, choose Desktop as your folder and hit the Choose button).
	4.	Mail will scan the folder you chose and show you a list of importable mbox files. Choose the files you want to import and click the >> button to start the import. When you're done, click >> to exit.
	5.	Find the folder in Mail called Import and open it. You'll find your imported mbox folders inside. You can rename the folders, or move the mail from them to other folders just by dragging.

Apple Mail 1.1 for OS X (10.0-10.1x)

This is the default mail program that comes installed with OS X (10.0-10.1x). To import an mbox file into Mail 1.1, you'll need to create a folder for your mbox, drop the mbox file into it, and adjust the names of the folder and mbox file. Here's how:

	1.	Close down Mail 1.1 if it is running.
	2.	Open the folder where your Mail 1.1 Mailboxes are stored. This folder is usually in the Library folder in your OS X Home folder. To open this folder, open Finder, click on the Home button, and from there, navigate into the Library/Mail/Mailboxes folder.
	3.	In the Mailboxes folder, create a new folder with the same name as the mbox file you want to import from O2M. For example, if your mbox file is called 'mymail.mbox', create a folder called 'mymail'.
	4.	Open the new folder you created. Drag the mbox file you want imported into the new folder. The mbox file now needs to be renamed to 'mbox'. To do this, hold down the Control key while clicking the file to bring up the file's pop-up menu. Choose Get Info from the menu. When Get Info opens, open the Name & Extension option and change the name of the file to mbox with no extension. If the file is named 'mymail.mbox', for example, you'll change it to 'mbox'. Close the File Info window when you're done.
	5.	Click the Back button in the Finder window to back out of your new folder. Now rename the folder, putting an .mbox extension on the end of the folder name. To rename it, Control-click it, choose Get Info, then Name & Extension. If the folder's name is 'mymailfolder', you'll rename it to 'mymailfolder.mbox'. Close the File Info window.
	6.	Start up Mail 1.1. Mail will find the new mbox folder and the mail file inside it. You'll see your mailbox in the list of available Mail 1.1 mailboxes, and when you open it, all the mail you imported.

Microsoft Entourage for OS X (All Versions, including 2008)

Here's how to import mbox mail files into Microsoft's Entourage program:

	1.	Make sure your mbox files open with Entourage by default. To do this, right-click on a calendar file and select the "open with" menu item and select "other," so that it allows you to find the application that you want to open with (Entourage) and also select the checkbox that says "always open with."
	2.	Start up Entourage. If this is your first time using it, you might want to create one or more folders where your imported emails can be dragged and stored.
	3.	Drag the mbox file you want to import into Entourage's folder list and drop it. Entourage will turn the mbox file into a new mail folder.
	4.	Open the new folder, and you'll find all of your imported emails inside it. If you like, you can move one or more emails from the new folder to other folders to organize them.

Mailsmith

Here's how to import mbox mail files into Mailsmith:

	1.	Open Mailsmith. You will know the program is open because Mailsmith will show in the upper left corner of your monitor screen.
	2.	View your list of existing Mailsmith mailboxes by choosing Window from the menu then selecting Mailbox List. A window will open up containing a list of all of your current mailboxes.
	3.	Drag your mbox file(s) into the Mailbox List window. Be sure to drag your mbox file into the window and not into another mailbox.
	4.	Highlight your newly imported mailbox in the Mailsmith mailbox window to verify that your mailbox and all of its emails have been imported successfully.

PowerMail

Here's how to import mbox mail files into PowerMail:

	1.	Move all of the mbox mail files to your Macintosh that you want imported.
	2.	Start up PowerMail if it's not already running.
	3.	Select all of the mbox files so they are highlighted. (To do this, click on the first one in the folder where they are located, hold down the shift key, then click on the last one to select them all).
	4.	Drag the mbox files into PowerMail's list of mailboxes. (Drag them into PowerMail's mailbox window, but don't drag them directly onto any of the mailboxes unless you want the emails imported to that mailbox). Powermail will import the files.

Importing Contacts

Apple Address Book 4.x for Tiger (OS 10.4.x) and Leopard (0S 10.5.x)

Address Book is the default contact program installed with Tiger. You can import vcf (vCard) files directly into it.

Open Apple's Address Book. You will see three columns, the middle entitled "Name," which will contain a list of addresses, if you currently have any stored in Address book. Open the folder on your Macintosh that contains your vcard (.vcf) files you exported using O2M. Select all of these files simultaneously and drag them into the "Name" column in your Address Book program. You may be asked if you want to keep any duplicate entries, if you already have addresses with duplicate names. If you decide to import even the addresses with duplicate names, you will see both addresses in your Address Book program.

You may want to go through each contact in Address Book and adjust the fields to your liking. For example, by double-clicking on the Home or Work label next to an email address, you can change the label to the desired setting.

Apple Address Book 3.x for Panther (OS 10.3.x)

Address Book is the default contact program installed with Panther. You can import vcf (vCard) files directly into it.

Apple Address Book 3.x for Jaguar (OS 10.2.x)

Address Book is the default contact program installed with Jaguar (OS 10.2.x) and later. You can import vcf (vCard) files directly into it.

In Apple's Address Book, click File, Import, then vCards. Address Book asks you where the vcf file you want to import is located. Navigate until you find the vcf file, then double-click on it. The vcf file is imported and you're done!

Shortcut: If Address Book is the default contacts program on your Macintosh machine, simply double-click on any vcf files to instantly import them into Address Book.

Apple Address Book 1.1 for OS X (10.0-10.1x)

Address Book is the default contact program installed with OS X (10.0-10.1x). You can import vcf (vCard) files directly into it.

	1.	Move all of the vcf contact files to your Macintosh that you want imported.
	2.	Start up Address Book if it's not already running.
	3.	Select all of the vcf files so they are highlighted. (To do this, click on the first one in the folder where they are located, hold down the shift key, then click on the last one to select them all).
	4.	Click on the highlighted vcf files while holding down the Control key. When the pop-up menu appears, click Get Info.
	5.	In the Info window, choose the Open with option, then browse to the location on your hard drive where the Address Book program is located. When you find the program, double-click on it to select it. (The program is probably located in your hard drive's Applications folder).
	6.	Before closing the Info window, select the Change All option if you'd like to associate future vcf files with the Address Book program.
	7.	Close the Info window.
	8.	Drag the highlighted vcf files into Address Book's main program window. Address Book will import them.

Microsoft Entourage for OS X (All Versions, including 2008)

Here's how to import vcf (vCard) files into Microsoft's Entourage:

	1.	Move all of the vcf contact files to your Macintosh that you want imported.
	2.	Start up Entourage if it's not already running.
	3.	Select all of the vcf files so they are highlighted. (To do this, click on the first one in the folder where they are located, hold down the shift key, then click on the last one to select them all).
	4.	Click on the highlighted vcf files while holding down the Control key. When the pop-up menu appears, click Get Info.
	5.	In the Info window, choose the Open with option, then browse to the location on your hard drive where the Entourage program is located. When you find the program, double-click on it to select it. (The program is probably located in your hard drive's Applications folder).
	6.	Before closing the Info window, select the Change All option if you'd like to associate future vcf files with Entourage.
	7.	Close the Info window.
	8.	Select the Address Book icon in the Entourage program.
	9.	Drag the highlighted vcf files into Entourage's Address Book window. Entourage will import them.

Mailsmith

Import your vcf (vCard) files into Mailsmith:

	1.	Move all of the vcf contact files to your Macintosh that you want imported.
	2.	Drag the vcf files into Mailsmith's Address Book window. Your contacts will be imported into Mailsmith.

Importing Calendar Appointments

Apple iCal for Jaguar, Panther, Tiger, and Leopard (OS X 10.2 and higher)

This is Apple's calendar program, which was available for free from Apple's web site at the time of this writing. It can import ics (iCal) calendar files:

	1.	Start up iCal on your Macintosh computer, then drag the ics file into iCal that you want to import. (If ics files are associated with iCal on your Macintosh by default, you can simply double-click on the ics file and iCal will import it).
	2.	After iCalendar asks whether you want the new calendar appointments to be categorized as Work or Home appointments, it will automatically import the appointments into the main iCalendar window.
	3.	To edit one of the imported calendar items, click on it once, then click the i button at the bottom of the iCalendar screen.

Microsoft Entourage for OS X (All Versions, including 2008)

Here's how to import ics (iCal) calendar files into Microsoft's Entourage:

	1.	Move all of the ics calendar files to your Macintosh that you want imported.
	2.	Start up Entourage if it's not already running.
	3.	Select all of the ics files so they are highlighted. (To do this, click on the first one in the folder where they are located, hold down the shift key, then click on the last one to select them all).
	4.	Click on the highlighted ics files while holding down the Control key. When the pop-up menu appears, click Get Info.
	5.	In the Info window, choose the Open with option, then browse to the location on your hard drive where the Entourage program is located. When you find the program, double-click on it to select it. (The program is probably located in your hard drive's Applications folder).
	6.	Before closing the Info window, select the Change All option if you'd like to associate future ics files with Entourage.
	7.	Close the Info window.
	8.	Double-click on one or more highlighted ics files you wish to import into Entourage. Entourage will first open the calendar items, and then import them. If you have a large quantity of calendar items, you may want to select smaller groups at a time to ensure the operation completes successfully.
	9.	You do not have to save your calendar items — after Entourage has opened all of your calendar items, choose Entourage > Quit (command-Q) to close all of your calendar windows and quit out of the Entourage program. Entourage will contain all of your calendar items the next time you open it.

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Revised 1/27/2006. Information is subject to change without notice.

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