Database Users

Contact categories in SMS ?

Hi all,
I just got an I-Mate K-JAM and I was little surprised that when I try to send an SMS to multiple contacts there's no option to filter out contacts or view them by category. Am I missing something here? I could've sworn I had this option with my previous Pocket PCs (PDA2k and HP iPAQs). Is this is by (poor) design? And if so, does anyone know of a 3rd party app that's compatible with WM5 that has this feature ?
Thanks.

Just left Symbian and the P910 and even that has group SMS
Cannot believe that such a basic item would be missed out under WM5.
I have pocketinformant, all my contacts are grouped and I have to go into the contacts folder time and again to send a 'group' message.
Surely they cannot have missed out on something this basic. It really lets down the wizard. :roll:

Is there an application that restores this functionality ?

haven't found anything yet ?
:x

no luck yet

Hope my pain can help
Hi folks, this is the 1st time I have tried this sites forum to help with my I-mate issues. I have had a Jam, K-Jam and Jas Jar in my possession for the last month trying to resolve the issue of filtering my contacts and sending a group sms to the selected category. U cannot select all the contacts on the K-jam & the Jas Jar in a selected category whilst in new
sms mode. I have found that u can filter the categories on the Jam in contacts then drag the stylus across all the names or use the keyboard and select ctrl a , press and hold until drop down menu appears then select text message option and all the names appear in the recipient "to" section of the new sms( happy days). I wish to use the K-Jam as my phone but it will not allow me to select a specific category and then select all contacts and sms them all at once. The fact that the Jam is running WM4.2 and the others are running WM5 can only suggest that they have made a wee mistake in leaving out the select all function, can u install WM4.2 OS onto the K-Jam?? Any help will be greatly appreciated as I have had little or no help anywhere else on the web or with my dealer

Hey Virgel. Does the JasJar have the option to filter by categories in the SMS application, and does it allow you to select all ?

It allows you to filter contacts but you must then select them one by one which in my case would be a very long process. It seems to be an issue with win mob 2005 as it will not allow you to use the keyboard and ctrl A either :? If you know of any other 3rd part apps for sending grouped sms using filtered catagories i would be most greatfull

Select multiple contacts

This is driving me up the wall - I got my O2 XDA Mini S yesterday, and I love it, bar 1 (major) fault - I can't (easily) send an SMS to multiple contacts.
Every day I send out 10 texts (sometimes more) to different people (to see who can play football that night). It's not always the same 10, so I can't just set up a Dist List or Group.
At the minute I have to click where it says To:, choose a contact, click where it says To:, choose another contact, etc, etc.
How on Earth can I just click To:, select as many contacts as I need, then send?
I realise after searching these forums that I don't think it can be done with the standard software, but is there any 3rd party software that will let me do this? (I'm only bothered about SMS, not e-mail, if that matters)
Thank you so much!

FlexMail 2007 seems to do what I need.

hey mate, on my mda vario when I start a new sms the cursor is in the 'To' field.
All I do is start typing the name of who I want to send to and the vario brings up a list of possibilites, like it does when it's guessing what words you're typing during a text. Once I pick a name the cursor then moves across so I can type in another name and so on and so on.
does your Mini S not do this?

I just noticed today that it does!!!

It's a shame really that people say "It doesn't do <insert action here>" but actually it does...
It's not their fault they havn't noticed it, it's that it's so well hidden, you don't see it...

i send similar SMS's to a group of friends. what i did was create a new "Contact" for each person and i put a prefix before each name (ie) 1carlos....etc 2mark.....etc this way they are the very first contacts on the list so when i hit the "To" button all the names are right in order at the top of the list
hope this helps

Same here. I send a list of emails or SMS messages to a group of friends. I never found a way to create a distribution list like you can do on the desktop version of Outlook.
I created a notepad file with all the groups. I cut and paste them in the To: box to send to those groups.
Sean

SeanH said:
Same here. I send a list of emails or SMS messages to a group of friends. I never found a way to create a distribution list like you can do on the desktop version of Outlook.
I created a notepad file with all the groups. I cut and paste them in the To: box to send to those groups.
Sean
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I also tried doing this, but I also discovered not all the addresse received the message at the end...
It seems there is a limit on the number of characters the "To:" field accepts...
And also, if it is faster to send a pigeon, why do I need a PocketPC ???
Ciao
Mix

Contacts Arrangement

When i save a contact with name and surname it appears on my contact list like this: Surname, Name (ex: Gates, Bill), can i change this so that the name is displayed first?(ex: Bill Gates).
Furthermore, can i disable the default format by which phone numbers are saved? By default when i add a phone number to a contact it appears like this (xxx) xxx-xxxx. Not that i have a problem with this BUT when i transfered some contacts from my p910 i found out that they were saved like xxxxxxxxxx. So what, you may think...well actually when a message delivery report arrives (and the contact is not saved with the "default phone format"), next to the phone number(in the delivery report) shows the name of the contact, something that is very usefull when -for example- multiple messages are sent or when a message is delivered 2-3 days later.
ps: actually, what i really need is not neccesarily to change the default phone format but to find out a way to see in the message delivery report the name of the contact that the message was delivered to.
ps2:sorry for the huge post!
thanx in advance

I had the same problem 2 years ago, and found out that it is impossible to let the PPC display the name as "Firstname Surname". So I "solved" it by saving the full name of the contact under Firstname. I know it isn't a solution but I couldn't get it to display it how I wanted it.

yeah, i did the same thing, but as you said it isn't a solution

Your problem here then is to hack the deilvery report, not Poutlook.
V

vijay555 said:
Your problem here then is to hack the deilvery report, not Poutlook.
V
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what matters is to achieve the goal and not how it will be achieved

True, but "Every Journey Begins With a Single Step, Minus Your Shoes".
Knowing what to hack and what not to hack is your first step. Poutlook, I believe, stores the contact data in whatever format it is happy with. You can't change that - you can change the external display of that data through the File As field, but that's subject to the app you are using using that field and not the underlying data stored in Poutlook.
So, if you wish to force the message delivery report into using the fields as you want them, hack that. Poutlook can't be easily hacked and is not your problem. So research hacking the delivery report, and/or learn to hack it yourself to force custom output.
V

thanx vijay555, i found this Name of recipient in SMS delivery receipt on WM5 and i guess this is what i was looking for

this really is very simple (assuming you sync with outlook on your pc).
In your contacts in outlook, double click a contact and in the "file as" drop down change it to "firstname lastname". then sync with your device and hey presto, all will be as you want!
bit of a pain in the arse if you've got 5billion contacts, but hey!

yeah, i discovered it yesterday, thanx anyway, but as you said its a pain...

I don't get it. If you're going to use File As, just use FileasFL to do the conversion automatically on your PPC.
V

How do I create lnk shortcuts?

Hi all,
First post! Just got very interested in customising my HTC Touch WM6...been playing with spb pocketplus. Like the idea of putting shortcuts where I want them to what I want. But wanted to take it further...
For example I found this:
Create a shorcut, ex: NewSMS.lnk, then put this line in:
30#windows\tmail.exe -service "SMS" -to "" -body ""
writting by Cloudyfa in http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=320448
I renamed the .txt to .lnk and stuck it on my phone and it worked perfectly! What i would like to learn is how to create my own shortcuts, i.e. what does all the text mean in the lnk? the 30# and -service etc...
Hope its not a stupid question or maybe its one that cant really be answered simply..?
Cheers in advance,
Jon

The example you gave in your post can be broken down as follows:
Code:
30# - total length of the string following the "#"
(it's not strictly enforced - you could put "0#" and it would still work!!)
windows\tmail.exe - the path to the application followed by any parameters...
-service "SMS" - the mail service; in this case, text messages
-to "" - set the recipient to blank
-body "" - set the body of the message to blank
The "-service" parameter could also be set to "MMS" or to the name of another mail type account you may have set up on your phone; e.g. "Google" or "Yahoo" etc... You could also set the "To" parameter to someone's name if you wanted to create a shortcut for sending a message to a particular person.
Creating shortcuts is fun - the difficult bit is working out what parameters are available and what format they take! There is a post on creating shortcuts to the "control panel applets" - i.e. the stuff in Start | Settings - you can find it at this page. Good for more examples
Hope this helps,
Mark.

Hi Mark,
Thanks for that, it kind of looked like that was how it was working... like you say though, the question is knowin what format the parameters are to be put in.
For example, on my phone I have a program called "Patiences" when opened, within the program i could choose from 3 different variations of game. How would I go about finding out the right parameters to create a shortcut that would start the program and choose the right game?
Also, modifiying the SMS one, if it was to go to a specific person, should i enter the number in the "to" bit or can it refer by say name to an entry in my address book?
Cheers!!
Jon

jcr1 said:
For example, on my phone I have a program called "Patiences" when opened, within the program i could choose from 3 different variations of game. How would I go about finding out the right parameters to create a shortcut that would start the program and choose the right game?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Now you're starting to get technical .....there may be an easy way to get a list of available parameters, probably using the debugger in Visual Studio or something - not something I've ever used! My own method would involve opening the .EXE file with a text editor and searching for recognisable strings; then I would employ a great deal of trial and error to see if I could get it to work
jcr1 said:
Also, modifiying the SMS one, if it was to go to a specific person, should i enter the number in the "to" bit or can it refer by say name to an entry in my address book?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The SMS application will resolve whatever name you enter before the message is sent; as long as the name you enter in your .lnk file contains enough characters to make it unique (e.g "John How" would match "John Howard" and "John Howlett", but "John Howl" would get the one you want!!).
Hope this helps - at the end of the day, there's nothing more satisfying than figuring something out yourself (and sharing it with the community if it's worth sharing )....there's so much crap on the TV, I'd much rather spend an hour or two (or six!) messing about with something on my phone, getting it just the way I want it
Enjoy!
Mark.

Hi Mark,
Thanks for the help! Great advice and I shall definately be taking a look at what you suggested. Thats all I needed was some prompting as to where to start looking, as you say, it is much more satisfying working things out for yourself than just getting someone else to do it.
Cheers again!

OK next question, how do I get the tmail.exe from my phone onto my pc so I can have a look at it in notepad? I can find it by browsing through my phone from my laptop but I cannot copy it over? Access denied!
On the phone can't change the properties so it isn't read only or anything?
please help.
Cheers

Now there's a question!!
I've just tried to copy the file myself (using Total Commander V3 Beta - from this page) and it fails for me.....
I used to be able to do it on my Hermes/TyTn, which was unlocked/SuperCID - but now that I have a stock ROM on my Kaiser/TyTn II, it seems that it's no longer possible. I've yet to SuperCID my Kaiser as I've been too busy with work to get involved in flashing/trashing it but after this weekend I may well have a go.
Not sure who else is reading this topic, but if a ROM cook or a more worldly wise user is able to verify my thinking, then that should help you/me/us in our quest to get Tmail.exe off the damn phone and onto the PC!!!
I'll check back/post back if I come across the answer in the meantime. BTW, what device are you using - you don't have a signature that tells me
Cheers,
Mark.

Hopefully now my sig is working... I have a HTC Touch with Windows Mobile.
I'm new to this so I've no idea what you mean by locked ROMs etc.
Either way, thanks very much for your help.

Default "file as" method?

I find it extremely annoying that any alterations to any contact cause the phone to save the contact in a "Last, First" format. I don't like that, and I prefer a more standard "First Last".
The only way I found I can do this is through an old WinMo app called contact fix... but I need to fire it up manually after every small edit I make to any contact (let alone actually adding a new one).
Is there a way to change the default saving mode? Perhaps a registry entry of sorts?

no you cant change the default behavour.
If you sync with outlook, you CAN change this same behavour in that, which helps some.
Look for 'contact changer first/last' which will switch all your current contacts (as you may have already done) and from now on, when you are creating a new contact, be sure and scroll to the bottom - more - then where the name shows, top left, tap it, and the third option down is 'file as'
Bit of a pain, really.
Personally i put the whole name in the first name (or last name, doesnt matter) field how i want it to show, no problem.

samsamuel said:
no you cant change the default behavour.
If you sync with outlook, you CAN change this same behavour in that, which helps some.
Look for 'contact changer first/last' which will switch all your current contacts (as you may have already done) and from now on, when you are creating a new contact, be sure and scroll to the bottom - more - then where the name shows, top left, tap it, and the third option down is 'file as'
Bit of a pain, really.
Personally i put the whole name in the first name (or last name, doesnt matter) field how i want it to show, no problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, that's definitely something that should get fixed at some point in WinMo...
Alternatively, perhaps it's a good idea for a background application to automatically set the "file as" parameter on any new or recently edited contacts...

Hi,
I also find it extremely annoying that each time you add or EVEN edit a contact it saves it as "Last, First". Can anybody help with this since there must be a setting for this (in the registry I would think).
Thx in advance.

gaeao said:
Hi,
I also find it extremely annoying that each time you add or EVEN edit a contact it saves it as "Last, First". Can anybody help with this since there must be a setting for this (in the registry I would think).
Thx in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could always use Microsoft Contacts rather than Sense Contacts.
Start -> Outlook -> Contacts.
Personally I edit any contacts in my computer's Outlook and sync them to my phone.