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

• Exporting Contacts from ACT!
• Importing Contacts into ACT!

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>support@zynk.com</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	support@zynk.com	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>support@zynk.com</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	support@zynk.com	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>support@zynk.com</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>