[QODBC Desktop] QODBC: Accessing Vendor Additional Contact Fields (Work Phone, Mobile, Website)

Problem Description:

Users need to access additional contact information for vendors - specifically Work Phone, Mobile, and Website fields - via QODBC. These fields are not directly visible in the Vendor table by default until the appropriate hotfix is applied.

Affected products: QODBC Desktop
Expected outcome: Additional contact fields on the Vendor table are accessible through AdditionalContactRef columns, and can also be exported in QXL after applying the DLL-swap workaround for beta version access.

Symptoms:

• WorkPhone1, MobilePhone1, and Website1 columns do not appear in the Vendor table schema.
• The Vendor Address Info Work Phone, Mobile, Website, and Other 1 fields are not found in either Vendor or VendorContacts tables.
• QXL does not export newly added vendor contact fields even after installing a beta hotfix.

Cause:

QuickBooks Desktop stores additional contact information for vendors in an AdditionalContactRef repeating structure, similar to how customer contact fields are stored. Prior to the hotfix (B01745 / B01752), QODBC did not expose these fields in the Vendor table. The QODBC team added them starting with those beta builds.

For QXL access, newly added fields from a beta QODBC build require a DLL swap because QXL loads qxlfqqb32.dll (the standard runtime) rather than fqqb32.dll (the beta runtime). Swapping the DLLs makes QXL load the beta version instead.

Environment:

Resolution:

Step 1: Install the Required Hotfix

1. Download hotfix B01752-beta-2024-10-30 (or later):
   Download B01752-beta-2024-10-30
2. Close all applications and QODBC connections (QuickBooks, MS Access, MS Excel, QRemoteServer, and any other programs using QODBC).
3. Double-click the installer and click "Extract".
4. Click "Yes" when prompted to overwrite.
5. Delete the existing optimizer file (located in %appdata%\QODBC Driver for QuickBooks) and rebuild it using:

Sp_optimizefullsync All

Use the QODBC Support Wizard to run this command. See How to use QODBC Support Wizard for details.

Step 2: Use AdditionalContactRef Fields on the Vendor Table

The hotfix adds AdditionalContactRef1 and AdditionalContactRef2 columns to the Vendor table. Each contact entry has two parts:

• AdditionalContactRefContactName - the label (e.g., "Work Phone", "Mobile", "Website")
• AdditionalContactRefContactValue - the actual value (phone number, URL, etc.)

Read vendor additional contact data:

SELECT Name, AdditionalContactRef1ContactName, AdditionalContactRef1ContactValue, AdditionalContactRef2ContactName, AdditionalContactRef2ContactValue FROM Vendor

Update a vendor's Work Phone:

UPDATE Vendor SET AdditionalContactRef1ContactName = 'Work Phone', AdditionalContactRef1ContactValue = '555-0100' WHERE Name = 'Vendor Name'

Update Work Phone and Website in one statement:

UPDATE Vendor SET AdditionalContactRef1ContactName = 'Mobile', AdditionalContactRef1ContactValue = '555-0101', AdditionalContactRef2ContactName = 'Website', AdditionalContactRef2ContactValue = 'https://example.com' WHERE Name = 'Vendor Name'

Step 3: Access These Fields in QXL (DLL Swap)

QXL by default loads the standard runtime (qxlfqqb32.dll) which does not include the newly added beta fields. To access them in QXL:

1. Navigate to C:\Windows\SysWOW64\.
2. Rename qxlfqqb32.dll to qxlfqqb32-backup.dll.
3. Copy fqqb32.dll (the beta runtime) to qxlfqqb32.dll in the same directory.
4. Restart QXL - it will now load the beta runtime and expose the additional vendor contact fields.

To restore: Delete qxlfqqb32.dll, rename qxlfqqb32-backup.dll back to qxlfqqb32.dll.

Additional Notes:

• Beta version usage: The QODBC team confirmed that using the beta version (B01752) in production is acceptable, with a stable build expected within 30–45 days.
• sp_optimizefullsync returns no records: This is the expected result - it indicates successful sync. The optimizer file is created in %appdata%\QODBC Driver for QuickBooks, not returned as a result set.
• Multiple contact entries: Use AdditionalContactRef1, AdditionalContactRef2, etc. for additional contact entries on the same vendor record.

Related Articles:

QODBC Customer Contact Field (Mobile, Fax) Update via QODBC QODBC Optimizer - How to Enable, Rebuild, and Troubleshoot Performance Understanding QODBC Data Access Limitations

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