Re: Informix Question

From: Jonathan Leffler <jleffler@informix.com> > >On Mon, 8 Feb 1999, Ahmed El-Sonbaty wrote: >> I have ICL machine VME with IDMSX (Network Database) so i need to >> upgrade this database to Informix, so >> - what would i do, >> - how to convert the database, >> - is there any way to use the current application (COBOL) that is >> dealing with the current database and use it for the new Informix >> database. >> This is urgent to me, I need to take a decision. > >Interesting. I don't think there's an Informix port for VME - nor even for >the VNX subsystem, if that still exists - so you're obviously going to be >changing hardware. I once did a C-ISAM port for VNX (that was an >interesting experience), but the version was something like 3.00.05A, and >is about 10 years old and totally unsupported. Your new machine will >probably be some sort of Unix box; it will use ASCII or one of its heirs >and successors (ISO 8859-1 or the like) for the native character set. > >Your database is non-relational; therefore, you will have to redesign the >database and applications to use relational database methods -- which means >recode the application using SQL. That ain't going to be easy. > >How you convert the database will depend on how relational-like the current >IDMSX database design is. The normal technique is to insist that the data >is exported from the old database in an ASCII format with one record per >(logical) output line, with the fields separated by a delimiter. Since ICL >VME uses a variant on EBCDIC, you may end up having to export in EBCDIC and >then use a translator to convert from EBCDIC to ASCII on the target >machine. > >The existing COBOL applications will be very difficult to use. They will >be coded to use the IDMSX statements and data structures; there are no >simple equivalents in the relational world. > >Most of the above comments apply equally to any of the relational >databases. In particular, the COBOL won't be directly reusable. One word: rewrite. :-) ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com