Every time I try to link a company with a contact I get error messages. One says "ACT! has an encountered an error. Please shutdown the application." After that I can no longer click on companies, and I basically have to do delete all my companies for me to be able to click on Companies again. After messing around for a few seconds I get:
"“Cannot assign type Act.Framework.Contact.Contact from
Act.Framework.Companies.Company
Parameter name: item”
It's like my database doesn't allow linking of contacts to companies. I've tried creating copies and empty copies of my database, and they all have the same problem. However, when I create a new database, the problem does not seem to be there. There is too much information in this database to start from scratch again, so I don't know what to do.
Not knowing how customized your database is, creating a new database and then importing the data from the original may resolve your issue. You would have to create a new database and then define your custom fields in it before doing the import.
Another idea: If you have any backup files, you can restore them (Restore As to a different database name) to see if you have one that was made before the problem began. If yes, you could then import your current database into the restored database.
My database is very customized, upwards of 100 customized fields etc. probably. I'd rather continue to use a "Companies-less" database then re-do all of that. And unfortunately, most of this customization was done in the last month or so, after I last backed it up.
I originally had all my companies imported under Contacts, and Companies was always empty. It was when I wanted to test out the linking between Contacts and Companies that I discovered this problem, so I have never had more than 1 or 2 Companies at a time.
Try applying SP1 Hot Fix 1 for ACT! 2010 and see if this helps. It's not listed as a specific issue that is addressed, but it may indirectly resolve. Instructions to download the update are in the following Knowledgebase article:
If you haven't already done so, you can also maintenance on your database by going to Tools/Database Maintenance/Check and Repair. Also, if you don't have the demo database, create a new database, put a few contacts in there, create companies from them, and see if you can link. This will help determine if this issue is database-related.
Greig Hollister
Note: Effective 6/1/13, Sage no longers provides support for the Act! software. This is now provided by Swiftpage.
The fix didn't work. I had already tried Check and Repair and creating a new database before I posted, both of them with no luck. However, I spent about an hour this morning creating a new database and doing a bit of customization just to gauge how long it might take me to start over with a new database. Low and behold, after doing some customization linking contacts to companies, opportunities to companies, etc. I once again got the same error(s) when trying to click on companies. This leads me to believe it is an issue with my ACT! install as a whole.
Very basic stuff, didn't even create any custom fields or anything.
- Edited Contact layout a little bit.
- Created 3 Contacts (1 Contact for one Company, 2 Contacts for another Company)
- Created Companies from these Contacts
- Deleted all the default groups, created my own group and edited it's dynamic group membership (made ID/Status = Personal)
- Went to my company with 1 Contact and checked Personal for ID/Status, therefore adding it to my created Group
- Edited Opportunity layout
- Created an opportunity, manually linked it to a Company
Maybe a few other things, I forget. And it's not like it's one thing that just triggers it, because I messed around with the database for a good amount of time after each of these things were done, and it wasn't until later that the error came up, so it's not like an immediate thing.
Another thing that should be noted (maybe?), occasionally I can get back to the List View of Companies. I'm never able to get to the Detail View, however. Even when I'm on List View though, it's very "buggy," and eventually I get the error(s)
