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ACT! Contact XML

Import Contacts allows you to create new and update existing Contacts in ACT!.

Any ACT! fields not documented below are not explicitly supported with our imports, however, due to ACT! records being highly customisable, we do allow for a custom field collection to be imported with each record, this technique can technically be used to import standard ACT! fields that are not supported by our standard import. (See the 'Custom Fields' section below)

Tasks

XML

Sample file for importing/updating a Contact:

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Company
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <Customers>
    <Customer>
      <Id>1</Id>
      <CompanyName>Zynk Software Limited</CompanyName>
      <CustomerInvoiceAddress>
        <Title>Mr</Title>
        <Forename>Chris</Forename>
        <Middlename>Michael</Middlename>
        <Surname>Hotchkiss</Surname>
        <Suffix>Jr.</Suffix>
        <Address1>Nelson House, Fleming Business Centre</Address1>
        <Address2>Jesmond</Address2>
        <Address3 />
        <Town>Newcastle upon Tyne</Town>
        <Postcode>NE2 3AE</Postcode>
        <County>Tyne and Wear</County>
        <Country>GB</Country>
        <Telephone>0845 123 2920</Telephone>
        <Mobile>0778 479 2376</Mobile>
        <Email>[email protected]</Email>
        <LastResults>Followed up</LastResults>
      </CustomerInvoiceAddress>
      <CustomerDeliveryAddress>
        <Address1>Newcastle Enterprise Centres</Address1>
        <Address2>6 Charlotte Square</Address2>
        <Town>Newcastle upon Tyne</Town>
        <Postcode>NE1 4XF</Postcode>
        <County>Tyne and Wear</County>
        <Country>GB</Country>
        <Notes />
        <CustomFields />
        <Activities />
        <Groups />
      </CustomerDeliveryAddress>
      <CustomFields />
    </Customer>
  </Customers>
</Company>

In each of the following sections, most of the XML has been omitted to make the samples easier to read. The whole structure of the Zynk XML Company schema is used below, as a reference of where fields should be in the object model.

Identifying Fields

The Id field should be populated by the unique id of the customer/contact from the external system (actual type depends on the system being integrated), Zynk uses this field to track Contacts already imported into ACT!. The UniqueId (actual ACT! ID) of the record can be specified if this is known. We would typically advise to always populate the Id. If it is possible to customise the external system to support storing the ACT! ID, then the integration could be structured to always download the Id, the UniqueId (if populated on the website) and then to notify the external system of any successfully imported ACT! Contacts so that their ID's can be stored.

ACT! Field XML Field Example Field Type Field Length Input Notes
N/A Id 1 string 100 Optional Required if UniqueId not specified.
ID UniqueId 43a40019-ba07-427f-a7b0-13901c416f5e Guid 36 Optional Required if Id not specified.  Must be a valid GUID.  Will fail if specified UniqueId cannot be found in ACT! ACT! field not visible from the ACT! UI by default. 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Company
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <Customers>
    <Customer>
      <Id>1</Id>
      <UniqueId>43a40019-ba07-427f-a7b0-13901c416f5e</UniqueId>
    </Customer>
  </Customers>
</Company>

Business Card

ACT! Field XML Field Example Field Type Field Length Input Notes
Contact Title Mr string 128 Optional Concatenated with the Forename, Middlename, Surname and Suffix fields if populated  
Contact Forename Chris string 128 Optional Concatenated with the Title, Middlename, Surname and Suffix fields if populated  
Contact Middlename Michael string 128 Optional Concatenated with the Title, Forename, Surname and Suffix fields if populated  
Contact Surname Hotchkiss string 128 Optional Concatenated with the Title, Forename, Middlename and Suffix fields if populated  
Contact Suffix Jnr. string 128 Optional Concatenated with the Title, Forename, Middlename and Surname fields if populated  
Phone Telephone 0845 123 2920 string 32 Optional
Mobile Mobile 0778 479 2376 string 32 Optional
Email Email [email protected] string 256 Optional
Last Results LastResults Followed up string 128 Optional These are set up as list values in ACT!. Values are matched based on a case insensitive search. If a value is not present in the list, the value will be set on the record in ACT! but will not be added to the 'List Values'. 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Company
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <Customers>
    <Customer>
      <CustomerInvoiceAddress>
        <Title>Mr</Title>
        <Forename>Chris</Forename>
        <Middlename>Michael</Middlename>
        <Surname>Hotchkiss</Surname>
        <Suffix>Jr.</Suffix>
        <Telephone>0845 123 2920</Telephone>
        <Mobile>0778 479 2376</Mobile>
        <Email>[email protected]</Email>
        <LastResults>Followed up</LastResults>
      </CustomerInvoiceAddress>
    </Customer>
  </Customers>
</Company>

Address

ACT! Field XML Field Example Field Type Field Length Input Notes
Address 1 Address1 Nelson House, Fleming Business Centre string 256 Optional
Address 2 Address2 Jesmond string 256 Optional
City Town Newcastle upon Tyne string 256 Optional
County County Tyne and Wear string 256 Optional These are set up as list values in ACT!. Values are matched based on a case insensitive search. If a value is not present in the list, the value will be set on the record in ACT! but will not be added to the 'List Values'.
Post Postcode NE2 3AE string 256 Optional
Country Country GB string 256 Optional The ISO2 Country code should be used as opposed to the Country name.
Fax Fax 0845 123 2921 string 32 Optional
Personal E-mail Email [email protected] string 256 Optional
Web Site Website http://www.zynk.com string 128 Optional 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Company
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <Customers>
    <Customer>
      <CustomerInvoiceAddress>
        <Address1>Nelson House, Fleming Business Centre</Address1>
        <Address2>Jesmond</Address2>
        <Town>Newcastle upon Tyne</Town>
        <County>Tyne and Wear</County>
        <Postcode>NE2 3AE</Postcode>
        <Country>GB</Country>
        <Fax>0845 123 2921</Fax>
        <Website>http://www.zynk.com</Website>
      </CustomerInvoiceAddress>
      <CustomerDeliveryAddress>
        <Email>[email protected]</Email>
      </CustomerDeliveryAddress>
    </Customer>
  </Customers>
</Company>

Status

ACT! Field XML Field Example Field Type Field Length Input Notes
ID/Status Status Contractor;Customer string 256 Optional This field supports multiple values (represented as check boxes via the ACT! interface), separate values in the XML should be separated by a semicolon (;). These are set up as list values in ACT!. Values are matched based on a case insensitive search. If a value is not present in the list, the value will be set on the record in ACT! but will not be added to the 'List Values'.
Referred By ReferredBy Word of Mouth string 64 Optional These are set up as list values in ACT!. Values are matched based on a case insensitive search. If a value is not present in the list, the value will be set on the record in ACT! but will not be added to the 'List Values'. 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Company
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <Customers>
    <Customer>
      <CustomerInvoiceAddress>
        <Status>Contractor;Customer</Status>
        <ReferredBy>Word of Mouth</ReferredBy>
      </CustomerInvoiceAddress>
    </Customer>
  </Customers>
</Company>

Home Address

ACT! Field XML Field Example Field Type Field Length Input Notes
Address 1 Address1 Newcastle Enterprise Centres string 256 Optional
Address 2 Address2 6 Charlotte Square string 256 Optional
Address 3 Address3 string 256 Optional Not visible in the default contact layout.
City Town Newcastle upon Tyne string 256 Optional
County County Tyne and Wear string 256 Optional These are set up as list values in ACT!. Values are matched based on a case insensitive search. If a value is not present in the list, the value will be set on the record in ACT! but will not be added to the 'List Values'.
Post Postcode NE1 4XF string 256 Optional
Country Country GB string 256 Optional The ISO2 Country code should be used as opposed to the Country name.
Home Phone Telephone 0845 123 2920 string 32 Optional 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Company
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <Customers>
        <Customer>
            <CustomerDeliveryAddress>
                <Address1>Newcastle Enterprise Centres</Address1>
                <Address2>6 Charlotte Square</Address2>
                <Address3></Address3>
                <Town>Newcastle upon Tyne</Town>
                <County>Tyne and Wear</County>
                <Postcode>NE1 4XF</Postcode>
                <Country>GB</Country>
                <Telephone>0845 123 2920</Telephone>
            </CustomerDeliveryAddress>
        </Customer>
    </Customers>
</Company>

Activities

Will import Activities against the Contact. If an Activity cannot be imported, a warning will be logged in Zynk and against the Activity within the Success file of the import.

ACT! Field XML Field Example Field Type Field Length Input Notes
Regarding Name Activity Name string 256 Optional These are set up as list values in ACT!. Values are matched based on a case insensitive search. If a value is not present in the list, the value will be set on the record in ACT! but will not be added to the 'List Values'.
Details Details Activity Details string N/A Optional
Start Date DueDate 2014-08-26T00:00:00 date - Required Must fall on or after 01/01/1900. Will be set to the same date as End Date.
End Date DueDate 2014-08-26T00:00:00 date - Required Must fall on or after 01/01/1900. Will be set to the same date as Start Date.
Activity Type Type ToDo enum - Optional The Activity Type will default to Call if not provided. Valid values are: Call, Meeting and ToDo 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Company
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <Customers>
    <Customer>
      <Activities>
        <Activity>
          <Name>Activity Name</Name>
          <Details>Activity Details</Details>
          <DueDate>2014-08-26T00:00:00</DueDate>
          <Type>ToDo</Type>
        </Activity>
      </Activities>
    </Customer>
  </Customers>
</Company>

Groups

Will assign the Contact to the specified Groups. If the Contact cannot be assigned to a Group, a warning will be logged in Zynk and against the Contact within the Success file of the import.

ACT! Field XML Field Example Field Type Field Length Input Notes
Group Name Name Prospects string 256 Required Group names are matched based on a case insensitive search. Groups must already be set up in ACT!. 
<?xml version="1.0"?>
<Company
  xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
  xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
  <Customers>
    <Customer>
      <Groups>
        <Group>
          <Name>Prospects</Name>
        </Group>
      </Groups>
    </Customer>
  </Customers>
</Company>