Re: Converting data to Informix from PICK!

On 25 Jun 1996, P F SIEGEL wrote: > My company is moving from a Pick database to Informix. I need to transfer > / convert only our data, not the application software (we have bought > new). This is typical maufactuing data, orders, invoices, accounts, > customers, inventory and the like. Has anyone done this? Can it be done Peter, I think most of us have done this. There is some tedium involved, but you shouldn't have to re-input the data. Part of the problem involves the data transfer. In the Unix world with tapes, a popular utility for reading 9-track tapes or other kinds is dd, which can jump through a lot of hoops for you, e.g. EBCDIC to Ascii. But you can use almost any media for the transfer, including transfer protocols such as kermit or ftp. OK, so now you need a map of the database your coming from and of the one you're going to. What are the relationships? You will probably be forced to query the existing db to gather the data for the new target tables. Bear in mind also that before you get started gathering, you should make sure the existing old db is as clean as possible. You could of course unload the data into a large Ascii delimited flat file using the native export function or report writer, transfer the file to your Iformix box, load the file into one massive table using the Informix dbload (cool utility), and then start building your tables using inserts. There are no end of solutions, and this group will offer many once your questions are more specific. Hope this helps. Yours, Nick ********************************* Nick Nobbe, Library of Congress NLS/BPH mail: nnob@loc.gov *********************************