Users who have their phone contacts in Gmail have the advantage that these contacts can be synchronized with their phone with OS Android, and also with the tablet of the same OS. Then it is user-friendly to maintain contacts in Gmail, but the problem occurs with a larger number of contacts, for example 70.
GMAIL does not provide a usable option for printing all contacts on paper. The only option that Gmail offers is export contacts as .csv file.
.csv (Comma Separated Values) is complete because includes all the contact items , such as a postall address . This property interferes with the requirement to have a single telephone contact list on paper in A4 format .
The exported contact list can also be handled by MS Excel, but it is too lengthy.
Program GoogleTel can generate a simple list in .html format from the exported .csv . This list can then be printed by Internet Explorer, Firefox or another browser . Working with the GoogleTel is manageable even for a complete layman.
The program is portable; there is no need to install it. . Can be even stored on a USB stick. The user must create a folder on the disc and must not be on the C: drive . Directory name is optional for clearly laid select GoogleTel .
There must be copyed files from the package GoogleTel.zip . Two important files are:
GoogleTel.exe is the program which was tested in Windows 7 and Windows XP. If you want to run it in other OS, please write to the author.
GoogleTel.css is file for defining the style of the resulting list. If you want the resulting list GoogleTel.html file to send somewhere , you must attch must the file GoogleTel.css too.
The remaining files are guides in different languages.
In Gmail select Contacts , and on the upper left you will find More.
Select Export.
It is also important to set sorting by last name , see picture .
You can choose which contacts to export.
My choice was All contacts.
Always leave Google CSV .
After clicking on the Export button the Gmail ask you where to save it.
You need google.csv file to save (Save File) , not open.
Depending on how you set Internet Explorer , Firefox or another browser the files downloaded from the Internet are saved either at the same place you know , or even Windows asks you everytime where to save it.
The right choice is to save the file google.csv to the place with the program GoogleTel.exe
If you can't save the file google.csv there , you must must copy the downloaded file there.
Program GoogleTel.exe has the icon with a phone. If you click on this file the program creates a file GoogleTel.html . This file is small and visually empty if the file google.csv was not found. Otherwise, in the directory will appear a larger file , which can be opened by browser.
In the file google.csv are all contacts, eventually without a phone number. Program GoogleTel.exe skip over incomplete contacts.
GMAIL allows you to assign two phone numbers to one contact. I do not use it;
I need to keep track of what's to contact.
Then I got in Gmail and the phone:
Where TM is the T-Mobile and FX is a fixed line. Any second and subsequent number will be skipped by GoogleTel.exe !!!
When you have opened the file GoogleTel.html in your browser , use the Print or better Print Preview . In the second case, you can still set a header, footer or page number.
List looks as follows :
If you want send to someone GoogleTel.html you must attach the GoogleTel.css . Both files must be on receiver side stored in the same directory . Without that the phonebook would look little uncultured.
The program was originally designed only for my need . Later I thought about its wider use. The first version had a few drawbacks which I personally do not obstruct :
The new version allows the user to change the behaviour of program. The basic version works according to the original concept and it is conceivable that many will be following the suit .
Advanced user who can work with a simple editor Notepad can set individual parameters in an external file .
The file Fields.txt file created in Notepad then contains one line , which includes the names of fields in which the program look for data in the file google.csv separated by commas. If is the file Fields.txt not found in the directory where GoogleTel.exe resides, program operates as if it found the following definition :
Family Name,Given Name,!Phone 1 - Value,E-mail 1 - Value
It is clear that even if you create a file fields.txt with the above content does not change anything. But advanced users understand that now you can edit the resulting list of phone numbers as needed .
Let´s assume that you have a Gmail group “Family“who have their birthdays. Since GMAIL always sends output to the same file name and program, GoogleTel.exe is small, about 10 kB, it is also possible for this purpose to create a unique directory. There drag the files google.csv, GoogleTel.exe and GoogleTel.css.
To show the date of birth of family members , create in this directory the file fields.txt with the following contents :
Family Name,Given Name,Phone 1 - Value,E-mail 1 - Value,Birthday
Now, notice that in my first proposal there is the exclamation mark "!" before the column name for a phone number. It so far, provided extract only contacts with a phone number. In the list of family members I canceled this duty.
If you can handle edit file fields.txt , we can move on . The initial list of simple shape can be improved defining your own column names . It's simple again . Beneath the line where you define which columns you need even write their required names .
Family Name,Given Name,!Phone 1 - Value,E-mail 1 - Value
Surname,Given Name,Phone,E-mail
The program is language independent , therefore, column names can be in any language , and the result looks like this (the names are usual in Slovakia) :
If you have only 50 or fewer contacts , at this point we could stop. But if you have more contacts , it ist better to use the pagination , so that the column headings will be repeated on each sheet of paper . To make this simply write the third line in the file fields.txt :
Family Name,Given Name,!Phone 1 - Value,E-mail 1 - Value
Surname,Given Name,Phone,E-mail
My Google phonebook
Paging is provided at the print time so that each sheet of paper A4 has 50 contacts . It is eventually sometimes necessary to turn off the header and footer for fit the 50 contacts . Printing was successful in Firefox, Opera, Chrome , and Microsoft Internet Explorer :
Although it seems that all possibilities have been exhausted, there remained the possibility to generate a list in a format suitable for MS Excel . To do this, change the third line in the file fields.txt follows :
Family Name,Given Name,!Phone 1 - Value,E-mail 1 - Value
Surname,Given Name,Phone,E-mail
EXCEL
Word EXCEL must be at the line beginning with capital letters. Then it accepts as a parameter and not as a header. Third line I like EXCEL is a not good choice for this reason.
The resulting file GoogleTel.xls is not native file like any other with extension .xls . When you open it, you must still adjust the column width. Then you can work with it as if such a file is created from scratch. When you save it, it will be saved as a native file MS Excel . Such file then you can send your boss with a comment that you've worked on it an hour :-)
It may be that MS Excel will protest with a warning that can be ignored :
The program itself does not provide a nice editing your contacts. On the contrary, it will force you to write contacts in some standard way . Then you add some more contacts , your list will effortlessly in a neat format.
The program is freeware. But the author reserves the right to decide where the program will be stored for download. If you intend to store the program for download on another server, please inform the author.
Mailto:Ing. Branislav Štofko
The Czech and Slovak version.
The same version but with the manual in English.
The same version but with the manual in German.
