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A client is asking that I write a script to periodically pull his contacts from Google into ACT on his local computer. Is there a library that would allow me to interact with something as old as ACT?

Naftuli Kay
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  • Could you please post an URL where one can get that "ACT" application or provide more info on that? It also depends on what kind of database ACT is keeping the contacts in. If that's something which were used widely in the past, then there's more chance to complete your task. – fviktor Aug 05 '11 at 09:58
  • About 10 years ago, I was playing with importing into ACT - as a one-off operation. As I recall, it could be done with CSV files. If you need a programmatic interface, sorry, I can't help. – Oddthinking Aug 07 '11 at 15:55
  • @fviktor, http://www.act.com/ – Oddthinking Aug 07 '11 at 15:56
  • IIRC, "ACT!" used [FoxPro](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visual_FoxPro) databases underneath. So take a look at this SO question [about foxpro](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/37535/whats-the-easiest-way-to-read-a-foxpro-dbf-file-from-python). – Brian Cain Nov 29 '11 at 04:22

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Looks like you might be able to simply use an ODBC connection as outlined in this article: How To Create An ODBC Connection For Use With The ACT! Reader Utility

Alternatively if you need to bare-metal it, you could try ctypes, or leverage IronPython.

synthesizerpatel
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Just came across this while looking for something else and thought I'd add a more conclusive and update answer.

With versions since v11 in 2013, it's now got the ability to sync contacts/activities with Google out of the box. http://kb.act.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27988

Even more power over the past year - http://kb.act.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/38991

Exporting from Act! versions 7/8 or later can be done via a number of methods: OLEDB, ODBC (or direct access to SQL with the later versions), SDK, WebAPI, or a number of third-party tools that already pull everything to Excel (or other formats).

I did a presentation of the various options some time ago, posted here: https://blog.glcomputing.com.au/2009/07/connecting-to-act-by-sage-data.html

Mike Lazarus
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