quovadis7

I know that 3rd party Pocket PC apps and the new WM5 OS can do this a lot more powerfully/easily, but this tip can be quite helpful for those of us who want free maps that we can add as part of our Contacts entries in PPC2002/WM2003/WM2003SE....

Basically, I figured out how to put file links for maps into my Contacts entries.

I know this isn't rocket science, but I searched the posts here on Aximsite and found nothing remotely related. I was kinda excited about my success, so I thought I'd post how to do this just in case someone else wants to do it also. Here's the protocol:

1) On your desktop or laptop PC, generate a map of the place you want to save for your Contact (i.e. use Mapquest, Yahoo! Maps, etc.).

2) Save the map image on your PC by right mouse clicking on the map and then save it to your HDD with the Save As... option.

3) Copy the map image file over to your Pocket PC via ActiveSync (save it wherever you wish - > SD, CF, Built-In Storage, or Main Memory).

4) Once the file is on your PPC, start up your PPC File Explorer (Start -> Programs -> File Explorer) and the go to the place where you saved the map image file onto your PPC.

5) Once you find the image, tap on it with your stylus and it should automatically start up Pocket Internet Explorer and display your map.

6) Once the map is displayed on Pocket IE, tap on the long gibberish-looking file path name listed by Pocket IE (often, lots of \'s and %20's), then tap on Tools -> Copy

7) Now, open up the Contact where you want to place this file link for your map, then click on the Notes tab, then tap on Edit -> Paste

Once you've done all this, you'll have a file link to your map included in your Contact information entry! Whenever you need to look at a map for that particular Contact, just tap on its Notes tab and then on the file link, and then Voila! you'll be able to display a map for that specific Contact entry. Multiple file links can be used for different maps too (e.g. State view, City view, Street view, etc.)

One caveat though.... :realmad: - the 1st time you sync the Contact above to Outlook on your desktop/laptop PC, the link(s) to the map files get messed up in Outlook on your PC (Outlook drops some of the text in the link name). Additional syncs eventually put the messed up link text back into the Contacts entry on your PPC, which just compounds the problem. This problem must be a bug in either Outlook or ActiveSync (I'm using A/S ver. 3.8.0 and Outlook 2003), probably due to the former....

Here's how I fixed the messed up file link(s) problem after syncing (only sync ONCE until you do this fix!) -> open up your Contact in Outlook on your PC and manually retype the link text to exactly match that on your PPC Contacts entry. Once you've finished that, re-sync. After that 2nd sync, if the file link(s) on your PPC "look right" but don't work when you tap on them (they didn't for me), just type a Carriage Return at the end of the line for each link. Once you do that and re-sync a 3rd time, all should be well from that point onward both for your Contacts in Outlook and on your PPC. UPDATE! -> This "fix" DOES NOT work!

The neat thing with the above method for linking files into your Contacts entries (besides it being 100% free!) is that you can do this file linking approach to put maps (or even pictures!) into other application entries too -> like your Calendar, Notes, Tasks, etc.

Cool huh?!?! :approve:

Let me know whatcha think..... Thanks!

Best regards,

Steve B
quovadis7

stevenator65

Nice job, dude! I use Streets and Trips for this, but your way is awesome as well.

Tblove

Another pat on the back.That could come in handy.

quovadis7

First of all, I appreciate the kudos stevenator65 & Tblove! :)

Unfortunately, since my original post I've found that my supposed "fix" for this file linking bug in Outlook 2003 doesn't really correct the problem at all....

The issue isn't so much that the file links get fouled up in Outlook 2003 on your PC (the PC has no idea what Built-In Storage, Main Memory, nor what the SD & CF path names are, so the file links can't possibly work on your PC anyway). The problem is that the trashed file links in Outlook on your PC CAN later on foul up the links on the PPC, e.g. when you make a seemingly innocuous change in Outlook 2003 on your PC to an entry with a file link and then re-sync to your PPC.

It turns out that the exact same file link syncing problem for Contacts in Outlook 2003 also occurs in Tasks and Calendar. Surprisingly, the problem doesn't occur at all when syncing Notes that have file links, but yet another totally different kind of Outlook 2003 bug is that you can't even effectively edit the file links in Notes from Outlook 2003 on your PC! :rolling:

The main requirement for preventing this Outlook 2003 bug from trashing your PPC file links is that before syncing you MUST 1st make any needed changes/updates on your PPC for the Contacts, Calendar, and/or Tasks entries that have file links. If you do that, the file links in Outlook on your PC will still be a mess, but at least they'll be fine on your PPC. Using a Client/Server analogy, be certain during a sync that your PPC will be the Server and your PC will be the Client when updating information for the Contacts, Calendar, and Tasks entries that have file links....

Just in case one forgets to do this and your links get trashed by Outlook 2003 (I'm sure that I will!), there is a very easy way to quickly fix the file link text -> before your sync just place a "spare" copy of the file link text inside each PPC entry to make them easy to repair. The only requirement is that the "spare" file link text needs to be inactivated from being an actual working file link by putting a $ (or some other kind of non-standard character) in the front of the text string, so that Outlook doesn't think that it's a working link and then mess it up during a sync. This way, even if the actual file links on the PPC do get trashed, all one has to do is delete the trashed link, and then select and copy the "spare" file link text (the stuff with the $ in front of it) and finally reactivate it to be a working link by deleting the leading $ character.

I know, I know - a kludgy fix for a stinking M$ application bug!!! But it won't be the last one!!!

However, unless you shell out some decent cash and either install a 3rd party app (M$ Streets & Trips, or other more advanced PIM software) or else upgrade to a new PPC with WM5, this file link method seems to be the only game in town to link maps and photos directly into your Contacts, Calendar, Tasks, and Notes entries in PPC2002, WM2003, and WM2003SE.

Happy file linking! :approve:

Steve B
quovadis7

quovadis7

Just a quick couple of updates....

First, I figured out that the root cause of the problem with Outlook trashing PPC file links is to make sure that your PPC file links have NO backslashes "\".

If you manually replace each backslash with a forward slash "/", the links will still work on your PPC AND Outlook won't trash them. Go figure.... :rolling:

However, when you make changes to a Contact, Calendar entry, or Task in Outlook on your PC, the only limitation to this "fix" is that during a resync the links for that entry will become inactivated on your handheld. To re-activate the links, you'll just need to enter a Carriage Return at the end of the each file link on your PPC.

Lastly, I also noticed that the file link text for JPG images must be manually entered. Since the default PPC program for displaying JPGs is the Pictures application, there is no default application on the PPC which can display the file path names for JPG images from which you could easily cut and paste them to create file links in your Contact, Calendar, Notes, or Tasks entries. However, once you know the text format of file links on the PPC, you should be able to manually enter them for JPG images too....

Happy file linking! :approve:

Best regards,

Steve B
quovadis7

DoDoubleGeo

Why not put the file link path in the "Web Page" entry for the contact? I haven't tried this myself but it might help w/ the problem of paths becoming corrupt. You can then also open the link/image from the main Contacts page with a long-tap, without having to open the contact.

quovadis7

Originally Posted by DoDoubleGeo

Why not put the file link path in the "Web Page" entry for the contact? I haven't tried this myself but it might help w/ the problem of paths becoming corrupt. You can then also open the link/image from the main Contacts page with a long-tap, without having to open the contact.

DoDoubleGeo,

GREAT suggestion! :approve: I'll probably use your idea for links to photos in my Contacts. I also confirmed that Outlook DOES NOT foul up the link text for the "Web Page" entry. :)

The only limitation I see with your "Web Page" suggestion, however, is that practically speaking it looks like it is limited to a single file link. Thus, if you wanted multiple file links for a variety of maps (e.g. State view, City view, Street view, etc.), then the "Web Page" approach probably won't work very well.

Even if you can enter multiple file links for the "Web Page" entry (I haven't tried it myself), the link text might be hard to easily decipher which one went with which map, or it might be a pain to scroll over to the particular file link that you really wanted to tap....

Nonetheless, thanks for your great contribution toward making PPC file links that much MORE useful! :approve:

Best regards,

Steve B
quovadis7