I have decided to import in DTPO some 4,500 messages stored in one folder in Entourage. (Not IMAP but POP, not in the incoming box - all messages moved over time to their specific folder.)
I have followed the steps: DT opens the mail import window, takes a long time to load all the messages from that folder. Normal, considering the huge number of messages. Then I check and… there are only some 280 messages: all the most recent, plus a handful of isolated, older ones.
I decide to import nevertheless, hoping that the other ones would be imported with the 280. No: only the 280 are imported.
I try to run the import tool again: the folder remains empty. I close down DT Pro Office and Entourage, I launch them again, I start again running the import tool: no way, the folder remains empty. However, all the 4,500 messages are still found in that very folder in Entourage.
I do not understand. Why do most messages in that folder not show? I have checked, there is no filter set.
Thank you for your advice! Would you recommend a drag and drop? Then how large should each segment be?
I am obviously a little bit concerned about such problems with import, since I intend to use increasingly Entourage for my email archives. Or would you rather suggest to use EagleFiler for that purpose?
No suggestion for solving that problem? It is not a small issue: if I attempt to import 4,5000 messages, and only some 200 show in the import interface despite repeated attempts, it definitely puts into question the use of DTPO for archiving my email.
Any suggestion would be appreciated. Would drag and drop from Entourage be a solution? But then, how large should each batch be: 100, 500, 1,000 messages?
I will be out of town during two days this week, but a reply or solution would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Because of your problem I started Entourage 2008 and started importing emails from two folders (from POP-accounts): One folder is a subfolder of the inbox, which contains 12.504 messages. The second folder I chosed is a subfolder to a self-created folder on the root level (of folders) which contains 9.305 messages.
In both cases the import window listed all messages and the subsequent import went fine and complete. (DtPO 2.0.6)
If I had your problem, I would rebuild the Entourage database and try again. Here is the how-to:
As you can see from my import tests DtPO has no problems to see, list and import thousands of mails from a folder in Entourage. Therefore I assume, that rebuilding the database should fix your issue.
If not, chances are high, that Entourage will not be able to export all folders complete.
If you drag a folder from Entourage to e.g. the desktop it will create a mailbox in .mbox format. This you can drop onto DtPO’s icon and the mail import window will appear.
If the database is ok, this export will be complete, but I have seen cases from service I did for friends in which the database utility reported that the rebuild was successful, but some folders could never be exported completely. Should you experience this I recommend to export in chunks of 500 emails.
Please note, that you should move each 500 into a dedicated folder and drag the folder out of Entourage (and not the mails themselves) and please note, that if the folder you want to export contains subfolders, these will not be included in the export. Each subfolder has to be exported individually.
One last tip: The mbox-file appears already on the desktop before the export is finished, so be sure to check via the Finder’s info window, that it’s size is not increasing anymore, before you drag it onto DtPO.
Well, I must say that I am rather impressed: it has imported promptly and without any problem the messages: 4849 messages were archived, only one was skipped.
So it seems to be a quite good solution. I have gladly paid the voluntary $11 shareware gift to the developer!
By default, if DT Pro Office has already archived a message, it won’t copy it again next time mail archiving is done. That could, of course, be a problem if you had captured messages into different locations in your database, but want to have an archive that is complete.
If in Preferences > Email - Messages you check the option, “Previously imported will become replicants”, the previously captured messages will be included in a new archive collection.