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Export to MS Outlook CSV

XMLToOutlookCSV.xsl

This file can be used for exporting contact info stored Open Contacts into MS Outlook CSV. You are welcome to modify this file for your own needs if you have skills of writing XSLT, or you may ask local IT professionals to modify the file.

Please be aware of the following factors:

This file assumes the default mapping of exporting CSV in MS Outlook. If you change the default mapping of MS Outlook, you might need to modify this file as well.
Some legacy fields such as Telex are not used.
The date format of Open Contacts is yyyy-mm-dd, and MS Outlook should be able to import date fields of such format regardless of the default date format of Windows (e.g. dd-mm-yyyy). However, some services like Yahoo Mail Address Book might not be so smart when importing date fields in ISO format. You might need to call the FormatDate template to transform the date field for ISO date format to desired format.
The exported CSV file with XSLT is encoded in UTF8. However, the import function of MS Outlook and other services may not be able to take the advantage of UTF8 in order to support non-English characters in multiple languages. For example, German names may not be properly imported in English Windows.
The mapping is based on the default configuration of Open Contacts. If you changed the Section/Field combinations, you might need to modify this file.
Open Contacts can support all fields of MS Outlook Contacts, but not vice versa. For example, you may have multiple Web fields for one contact in Open Contacts, but MS Outlook allows only one which is Business Homepage. Thus some Web fields in Open Contacts might be missed out.

Notes:

CSV files in MS Outlook schema are widely accepted by many desktop programs and Web services like Yahoo Address Book, though the schema of MS Outlook CSV contains many legacy and obsolete fields like Telex and is lack of fields supporting new ways of communication such as IDs of instant messengers.