 |
Claims  |
|
|
I claim:
1. A method for converting data from an input data environment using a
first data format to an output data environment using a second data
format, wherein the input data environment includes one or more tables,
each of the one or more tables in the input data environment having
records including one or more fields, wherein the output data environment
includes one or more tables, each of the one or more tables in the output
data environment having records including one or more fields, the method
comprising the steps of:
receiving a definition of the first data format;
receiving a definition of the second data format;
creating a logical association between the input data environment and the
output data environment;
creating one or more logical associations between the one or more tables in
the input data environment and the one or more tables in the output data
environment;
creating one or more associations between the one or more fields in the one
or more tables in the input data environment and the one or more fields in
the one or more tables in the output data environment;
performing a data conversion between the input data environment and the
output data environment, wherein said performing comprises:
accessing the data from the input data environment;
converting the data from the input data environment using the first data
format to data having a pre-defined generic format; and
executing the associations between the one or more fields in the one or
more tables in the input data environment and the one or more fields in
the one or more tables in the output data environment, wherein said step
of executing converts said data having said pre-defined generic format to
output data having said second data format.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of executing comprises:
for each table in the output data environment, for each of said logical
associations between the one or more tables in the input data environment
and a respective table in the output data environment, performing a data
conversion for each of the associations between the one or more fields in
the one or more tables in the input data environment and the one or more
fields in the respective table in the output data environment.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of executing comprises:
performing a data conversion for each of the associations between the one
or more fields in one or more of the one or more tables in the input data
environment and the one or more fields in a respective table in the output
data environment;
wherein said step of performing is performed for each of said logical
associations between said one or more of the one or more tables in the
input data environment and said respective table in the output data
environment;
wherein said step of performing is performed for each of said tables in
said output data environment.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more tables in the output data
environment have an order including a first table and a last table;
wherein said step of performing is performed for each of said tables in
said output data environment according to said order of the one or more
tables in the output data environment beginning with said first table in
the output data environment and ending with said last table in the output
data environment.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more tables in the input data
environment include an order including a first table and a last table;
wherein said step of performing is performed for each of said logical
associations between said one or more of the one or more tables in the
input data environment and said respective table in the output data
environment according to said order of the one or more tables in the input
data environment beginning with said first table in the input data
environment and ending with said last table in the input data environment.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein said data from the input data environment
comprises a data portion and a type portion, wherein said step of
converting the data from the input data environment using the first data
format to said data having said pre-defined generic format comprises:
storing said data portion of said data from the input data environment in a
first memory field; and
storing said type portion of said data from the first input data
environment in a second memory field.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising;
creating an instance of a generic data object prior to said steps of
storing said data portion and storing said type portion.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein said pre-defined generic format comprises
a pre-defined generic data type, and wherein said step of converting the
data from the input data environment using the first data format to data
having a pre-defined generic format comprises converting the data from the
input data environment using the first data format to data having said
pre-defined generic data type.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of creating said one or more
associations between the one or more fields in the one or more tables in
the input data environment and the one or more fields in the one or more
tables in the output data environment comprises:
creating one or more mathematical associations between the one or more
fields in the one or more tables in the input data environment and the one
or more fields in the one or more tables in the output data environment;
wherein said step of executing comprises executing said one or more
mathematical associations between the one or more fields in the one or
more tables in the input data environment and the one or more fields in
the one or more tables in the output data environment.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of creating said one or more
associations between the one or more fields in the one or more tables in
the input data environment and the one or more fields in the one or more
tables in the output data environment comprises:
creating one or more logical associations between the one or more fields in
the one or more tables in the input data environment and the one or more
fields in the one or more tables in the output data environment;
wherein said step of executing comprises executing said one or more logical
associations between the one or more fields in the one or more tables in
the input data environment and the one or more fields in the one or more
tables in the output data environment.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of creating said one or more
associations between the one or more fields in the one or more tables in
the input data environment and the one or more fields in the one or more
tables in the output data environment comprises:
creating one or more conditional associations between the one or more
fields in the one or more tables in the input data environment and the one
or more fields in the one or more tables in the output data environment;
wherein said step of executing comprises executing said one or more
conditional associations between the one or more fields in the one or more
tables in the input data environment and the one or more fields in the one
or more tables in the output data environment.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the data in the input data environment
using said first data format comprises data having one or more different
data types; and
wherein the data in the output data environment using said second data
format comprises data having one or more different data types.
13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
storing said output data having said second data format in said output data
environment after said step of executing.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the input data environment comprises a
first storage media storing the input data according to the first data
format, and wherein the output data environment comprises a second storage
media adapted to receive and store the output data according to the second
data format;
wherein said step of accessing the input data comprises accessing the input
data from the first storage media; and
wherein said step of storing said converted output data having said second
data format comprises writing said converted output data having said
second data format to said second storage media.
15. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of receiving a definition of
the first data format comprises:
receiving a user-specified definition of the first data format, including a
definition of the one or more tables in the input environment and the one
or more fields for each of said one or more tables.
16. The method of claim 1, wherein the input data environment includes a
data dictionary defining said first data format;
wherein said step of receiving said definition of the first data format
comprises:
receiving said data dictionary of the first data format; and
converting said data dictionary of the first data format into said
definition of the first data format.
17. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more tables in the input data
environment each comprise one or more records of like data type, wherein
the one or more tables in the output data environment each comprise one or
more records of like data type.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein said input data environment comprises a
database and said output data environment comprises a database.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein said input data environment comprises a
hierarchical database and said output data environment comprises a
relational database.
20. The method of claim 1, wherein said step of creating an association
between the one or more fields in the one or more tables in the input data
environment and the one or more fields in the one or more tables in the
output data environment comprises:
creating one or more MapTo commands between the one or more fields in the
one or more tables in the input data environment and the one or more
fields in the one or more tables in the output data environment.
21. A system for converting data from a first data format to a second data
format, the system comprising:
a first storage medium for storing input data using a first data format,
wherein the input data using the first data format includes one or more
tables, each of the one or more tables in the input data having records
including one or more fields;
a second medium for storing output data using a second data format, wherein
the output data using the second data format includes one or more tables,
each of the one or more tables in the output data having records including
one or more fields;
an input data environment object which receives a definition of the first
data format, wherein said definition of the first data format includes one
or more tables each having one or more fields;
an output data environment object which receives a definition of the second
data format, wherein said definition of the second data format includes
one or more tables each having one or more fields;
a workplace object for storing one or more associations between the one or
more fields in the one or more tables in the input data environment and
the one or more fields in the one or more tables in the output data
environment;
a generic data object for storing data using a pre-defined generic format,
means for converting the data from the first input data environment using
the first data format to data having said pre-defined generic format; and
means for executing the associations between the one or more fields in the
one or more tables in the input data environment and the one or more
fields in the one or more tables in the output data environment, wherein
said means for executing converts said data having said pre-defined
generic format to output data having said second data format.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein said data from the first input data
environment comprises a data portion and a type portion;
wherein said generic data object comprises a first memory field storing a
data portion and a second memory field storing a type portion.
23. A method for converting data from an input data file using a first data
format to an output data file using a second data format, wherein the
input data file includes one or more tables, each of the one or more
tables in the input data environment having records including one or more
fields, wherein the output data file includes one or more tables, each of
the one or more tables in the output data file having records including
one or more fields, the method comprising the steps of:
receiving a definition of the first data format;
receiving a definition of the second data format;
creating a logical association link between the input data file and the
output data file;
creating one or more logical association links between the one or more
tables in the input data file and the one or more tables in the output
data file;
creating one or more association links between the one or more fields in
the one or more tables in the input data file and the one or more fields
in the one or more tables in the output data file;
performing a data conversion between the input data file and the output
data file, wherein said performing comprises:
accessing the data from the input data file;
converting the data from the input data file using the first data format to
data having a pre-defined generic format; and
executing the association links between the one or more fields in the one
or more tables in the input data file and the one or more fields in the
one or more tables in the output data file, wherein said step of executing
converts said data having said pre-defined generic format to output data
having said second data format.
24. A method for converting data from an input data file using a first data
format to an output data file using a second data format, wherein the
input data file includes one or more tables, each of the one or more
tables in the input data file having records including one or more fields,
wherein the output data file includes one or more tables, each of the one
or more tables in the output data file having records including one or
more fields, the method comprising the steps of:
creating an input environment link to the input data file;
receiving a definition of the first data format;
creating an output environment link to the output data file;
receiving a definition of the second data format;
creating a logical association between the input environment link and the
output environment link;
creating one or more logical associations between the one or more tables in
the input data file and the one or more tables in the output data file;
creating one or more associations between the one or more fields in the one
or more tables in the input data file and the one or more fields in the
one or more tables in the output data file;
performing a data conversion between the input data file and the output
data file, wherein said performing comprises:
accessing the data from the input data file;
converting the data from the input data file using the first data format to
data having a pre-defined genetic format; and
executing the associations between the one or more fields in the one or
more tables in the input data file and the one or more fields in the one
or more tables in the output data file, wherein said step of executing
converts said data having said pre-defined generic format to output data
having said second data format.
25. A method for converting data from an input data environment using a
first data format to an output data environment using a second data
format, wherein the input data environment includes one or more tables,
each of the one or more tables in the input data environment having
records including one or more fields, wherein the output data environment
includes one or more tables, each of the one or more tables in the output
data environment having records including one or more fields, the method
comprising the steps of:
receiving a definition of the first data format;
receiving a definition of the second data format;
creating a logical association between the input data environment and the
output data environment;
creating one or more user-defined links between the one or more tables in
the input data environment and the one or more tables in the output data
environment,
wherein said user-defined links are configured to link any one or more
tables in the input data environment to any one or more tables in said
output data environment;
creating one or more associations between the one or more fields in the one
or more tables in the input data environment and the one or more fields in
the one or more tables in the output data environment;
performing a data conversion between the input data environment and the
output data environment, wherein said performing comprises:
accessing the data from the input data environment;
converting the data from the input data environment using the first data
format to data having a pre-defined generic format; and
executing the associations between the one or more fields in the one or
more tables in the input data environment and the one or more fields in
the one or more tables in the output data environment, wherein said step
of executing converts said data having said pre-defined generic format to
output data having said second data format. |
|
 |
|
 |
Claims |
|
|
|
Description |
|
|
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to methods for converting data between
different formats, and more particularly to a data conversion
language/engine which can be adapted to convert data from any of a number
of first formats to any number of second formats.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
The information systems (IS) departments of many corporations and business
organizations have undergone radical change in recent years, including
downsizing, rightsizing, or restructuring/reengineering. One component of
this change has been the need for companies to perpetually upgrade their
hardware, software, and data storage systems. Many corporations currently
store data in legacy mainframe systems in the same manner as when the
system was purchased, decades ago. However, as the data storage paradigm
moves from mainframe storage systems to more cost-effective platforms,
such as PC-based client-server systems, businesses with decades worth of
archived business-dependent information stored in mainframe systems have
faced difficulties in moving to PC-based client-server systems. In
general, moving data between systems having different data storage
formats, for example, from mainframe systems to PC-based client-server
systems, is a very difficult, time-consuming task, which can take months
or even years to complete and all too often fails before any of the
promised cost savings are realized.
Therefore, the process of data conversion, i.e., the process by which a
large amount of information is moved from one informational system
platform to another, has been very difficult. Today, corporations and
other organizations process a large amount of transactions on any given
day, including transactions related to financial reports, sales and
accounting, human resources and personnel, or manufacturing and
production. In general, information storage and information flow within an
organization or business is very important to the success and well being
of the business. As a result of the downsizing and corporate reengineering
trends mentioned above, and due to the importance of information to a
business or organization. Information systems and software processes are a
prime target for corporate reengineering. This has traditionally involved
converting data from large, mainframe-based systems to more cost-effective
PC-based client server systems.
One difficulty in converting data between systems is that different data
storage hierarchies are used in different systems. For example, mainframe
systems use a hierarchical data storage method, whereas client-server
systems use a relational database storage method. In addition, there are a
large number of different data formats used in various systems.
One data conversion method that has been used historically can be referred
to as the straightforward brute force method of data conversion. For this
task, a core team of programmers is assembled for the sole purpose of
creating one or more custom built programs from the ground up that will
translate information from the platform currently in use to the format
required by the destination platform. This process is time-consuming,
cost-prohibitive and, more often than not, results in failure. This
process also requires the use of highly-skilled programmers. Further, due
to the custom nature of the software, the software is extremely difficult
to change as problems arise.
A second method of data conversion that has appeared more recently is an
attempt to automate the processes utilized in the above "brute force"
method. This method involves writing a "code-generating" program.
According to this method, organizations use the skills of a programming
team to develop a small engine capable of generating custom-built programs
which perform the information transfer. In other words, a team of
programmers creates a code-generating engine, and this code-generating
engine can then be used to facilitate the development of custom-built
programs to perform the information transfer. This method includes many of
the drawbacks discussed above, and generally only automates the above
"brute force" process. In essence, this method only removes a handful of
the time and cost constraints which make the data conversion process a
difficult task.
Applicant is aware of a company called Evolutionary Technologies, Inc.
located in Austin, Tex. which sells a product referred to as the Extract
Migration package which performs data conversions. Applicant believes that
this company is using one of the prior art methods described above. Some
of the drawbacks of the Extract product is that this product is not easily
adaptable to new environments without detailed programming knowledge of
those environments. Also, all environments must be pre-defined and written
before use of the Extract Migration package. Applicant is also aware of a
company called Prism Software which uses similar methods to that described
above.
Therefore, an improved system and method for data conversion is desired to
assist organizations in converting data between different
hardware/software/application platforms.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention comprises a data conversion system and method which
provides a simpler and more cost-effective method for converting data
between different software and hardware platforms. The data conversion
system and method of the present invention comprises a data conversion
language/engine (DCLE) which is a powerful, hardware-independent,
multi-user engine which requires no custom programming code. The DCLE of
the present invention converts data from any number of different types or
formats from any of various platforms to a single common data standard
having a pre-defined generic data type, and the data is then converted
from this generic type to a new desired format or type and stored on an
existing or new destination platform. Thus, the system and method of the
present invention allows for multiple data base conversions to be created
easily and efficiently.
The present invention comprises an object-oriented software system
including a plurality of data objects which represent the data being
converted as well as perform the data conversion between different
platforms. The present invention includes an environment data object which
refers to a collection of tables, generally from a single application or
data store, that have been grouped together into a single file. The tables
within an environment are data objects referred to as units. In general, a
table comprises a plurality of records in various formats. The present
invention further comprises a data mapping object for the fields of the
records themselves. A record comprises a plurality of fields, and the
present invention uses field definition data objects referred to as parts
which define the inner workings of a record, i.e., the type, the size, and
the format, etc. of each field in a record.
The data conversion system and method preferably executes on a general
purpose computer. The computer is preferably connected to the source
storage medium storing the input data and a destination storage medium
where the output data is to be stored. It is noted that the source and
destination storage mediums can be the same medium. A user can either
directly use the computer executing the data conversion system and method,
or the user can remotely connect to the DCLE application.
The data conversion process begins by first placing the data to be
converted into a form usable by the conversion engine. This step can have
many different variations. The present invention makes the following
assumptions regarding input data. First, since environments can only be
bridged in a one to one or a one to many relationship, all input data
destined for a single output environment is grouped in a single file.
Secondly, all like records are grouped together into separate tables and
have table delineations.
The first step in the data conversion is creating and defining input and/or
output environments for the data within the DCLE engine. The user first
defines a complete key map or data map of the data to import exactly as
the DCLE engine must read the data from the data store file. This process
begins by declaring all imported tables. The user then details these
tables or units by declaring the data fields or parts that define each of
the individual table's records. Once this process is completed, a
completely defined input data file has been created. The user also defines
a complete data map of the output data environment, i.e., defines the
tables and parts of the data format of the output environment. It is noted
that the only difference between the creation of input environments and
output environments is the conceptual notion that the input environment is
defined by the format of the data to be converted, whereas the data
formatting fields of the output environment are created by the user based
on his desires.
Depending upon the complexity of changes to the data hierarchy itself,
i.e., the arrangement and relationship of the units and parts between the
different formats to be converted, one or more intermediate output
environments may be created. Intermediate output environments are used for
a variety of reasons including, first, to simplify the migration process
itself by separating the process into smaller, more workable parts;
second, to move a single store of imported data to multiple data base
output files or even multiple different data base platforms; and third, to
parse records into different output files for loading into separate
databases or even separate database platforms. Intermediate output
environments behave identically to normal output environments, and the
process used to declare or create an intermediate output environment is
identical to the process used to create input or output environments
described above.
In order to logically connect the input data environment and the output
data environment, an object referred to as a data bridge is created to
logically connect or associate the environments in a one-to-one or
one-to-many relationship. Bridges can be created between an input
environment and one or more output environments or between an input
environment and one or more intermediate environments. Bridges can also be
created between an intermediate and one or more output environments.
Bridges can only have a one-to-one or one-to-many mapping relationship.
A user then enters logical associations between tables in the input and
output data environments, and the data conversion system and method
creates a logical association between tables in the respective input
environment and tables in the respective output environment. These logical
associations are referred to as a stream data objects. Unlike bridges,
streams can form any relationship between input and output tables or units
including one-to-one, one-to-many, many-to-one, and many-to-many.
In response to user input, the data conversion system and method creates an
association between fields or parts in the tables (units) in the input
environment and the fields in the output environment. This essentially
involves creating user specified mappings between fields in the input data
environment and fields in the output data environment. The user enters a
plurality of commands referred to as MapTo commands, and these commands
specify the mappings between fields or parts of tables. The MapTo command
used in the present invention preferably follows similar guidelines to the
syntax of an industry accepted standard transact SQL "select" statement.
MapTo commands or associations are used to create different types of
associations between fields or parts of individual units in respective
environments. In addition to creating mappings between fields or parts,
the MapTo command can also be used to create mathematical, logical, or
conditional associations or statements.
Mathematical associations are created to perform mathematical manipulations
or mathematical operations on fields or multiple fields. Logical
associations are used to place logical true or false values into an output
field based on a logical comparison that is performed. Conditional logic
is used to evaluate one or more logical comparisons and then perform
certain operations based on the result. One example of the use of a
conditional association or statement is to input certain values into an
output table only if certain logical assumptions are true.
Therefore, from high to low level, bridge data objects are used to connect
input data environments and output data environments. Streams comprise a
subset of bridges and are used to connect individual tables or units in
their respective input and output data environments. The data mappings or
MapTo commands are a subset of each stream and represent the mapping
themselves between fields or parts.
When the above steps have been completed, the data conversion system and
method has received essentially all the information required to begin a
data conversion. The data conversion system and method then receives an
execute command from a user to perform an indicated data conversion. In
response to the execute command, the data conversion system and method
accesses data from the first input environment, i.e., accesses data from
the storage medium storing the data to be converted, and converts the data
from the first input data environment to data having a pre-defined generic
data type. Converting the data first to a pre-defined generic data type
greatly simplifies the conversion process, since conversion code is only
required to and from the generic data type and is not required between
every possible data format. Thus, the development of conversion code is
much simpler and more efficient.
The Generic data object comprises a block of memory which stores data of
any type using one or more pre-defined format fields. In the preferred
embodiment, the Generic data object comprises a Store field and a Type
field for each piece of data, and a new instance of the Gdata object is
created for each piece of data. The Store field is a buffer or segment of
memory which stores the information portion of the data, and the Type
field stores the type of the data. For example, if the data being
converted is a Social Security number, the Store field stores the actual
eight numbers comprising the Social Security Number, and the Type field
stores the data type, in this case an integer data type. In the preferred
embodiment, the Type field stores a numerical value which indexes into a
list of types. Thus, a single instance of a Gdata object comprises a
single data store and a single type field corresponding to that store.
Once data has been converted to the generic data object, the associations
or MapTo commands are executed to convert the data from the pre-defined
generic data type to the output data using the second data format.
Execution of the MapTo commands comprises, for each table in the output
data environment and for each stream to a respective table in the output
data environment, performing a data conversion for each of the MapTo
commands pointing to the respective output table for all of the streams to
the respective output table. Once the MapTo commands have been executed,
the data is converted to the new desired format. The converted output data
is stored in a destination medium. It is noted that this destination
medium may be the same medium on which the input data was stored or may be
a new medium.
Therefore, the present invention comprises an improved system and method
for converting data between different formats or types. The present
invention converts data to a pre-defined generic data object or generic
data type and then converts data from this generic type to the new format.
This simplifies the conversion process.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A better understanding of the present invention can be obtained when the
following detailed description of the preferred embodiment is considered
in conjunction with the following drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 illustrates the data conversion system and method executing on a
computer system to convert data from a first storage medium to a second
storage medium;
FIG. 2A illustrates data conversions between different input and output
data formats using prior art methods;
FIG. 2B illustrates data conversions between different input and output
data formats using the data conversion system and method of the present
invention;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart diagram illustrating operation of the data conversion
system and method of the present invention;
FIG. 4 illustrates the steps involved in creating a data environment as
shown in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 illustrates structure of the generic data object;
FIG. 6 illustrates the conversion of data from a first input data
environment to data having a pre-defined generic data type and then to
output data;
FIG. 7 illustrates execution of associations or MapTo commands to produce
converted output data;
FIG. 8 illustrates generally the objects in the data conversion system and
method; and
FIG. 9 illustrates mapping from an input environment to an output
environment and also illustrates objects comprised in the Workplace object
of FIG. 8.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
Referring now to FIG. 1, the data conversion system and method of the
present invention is preferably executed on a general purpose computer
system. The present invention is used to convert data stored on a first
storage medium 24 in a first data format to a second storage medium 26 in
a second data format, possibly located on the same physical computer
system. The data conversion system and method is also referred to herein
as the "data conversion language engine" or DCLE. As used herein, the term
"data format" means any of various configurations or arrangements of data,
including data types, among others.
It is noted that the present invention not only performs conversions
between different data types, but rather the present invention can also be
used to perform conversions of the file formats, the headers and the
footers of the file itself, as well as other conversions, as desired. Thus
the present invention performs a plurality of different conversions other
than, or in addition to, converting the data between data types. For
example, the present invention can be used to convert a record having 5
fields to a record having 4 fields, or a record having 1 field, or a
record having 7 fields. The present invention can be used to convert a
record having 5 fields to a record having 5 fields but changing the data
types of one or more of the records, or changing the delimiters, i.e.,
placing commas in between the fields, or adjusting the formatting, such as
text formatting, placing "enters" in the data so that the data appears
differently, etc.
As shown in FIG. 1, the computer system 22 executing the data conversion
system and method of the present invention first receives input data from
a user regarding the formats of the input and output data. The present
invention then accesses the data in the first data format on the first
storage medium 24 and provides the converted data to the second storage
medium 26, wherein the converted output data has the second data format.
FIG. 1 is an illustrative example only and shows conversion from a
mainframe computer system 24 to a PC-based system 26. However, it is noted
that the data conversion system and method of the present invention may be
used when converting data from many of various storage mediums having any
of various data formats to any of various output storage mediums also
having any of various data formats. It is also noted that the first and
second storage mediums may be the same medium, i.e., the data conversion
system and method executing on the computer 22 can read data from the
storage medium 24, convert the data to a new format, and then output the
converted data back to the same medium, i.e., the medium 24, as shown by
the dotted line between the computer 22 and the computer 24.
In one embodiment of the invention, a user enters various information into
the computer 22 and then executes the data conversion system and method to
perform the data conversion. In an alternate embodiment, one or more users
may be at various remote locations from the computer 22 and can access the
computer 22 via Internet or TCP/IP connections to access the data
conversion system and method executing on the computer system 22. Also, it
is noted that the computer systems 22 and 26 may be the same computer
system.
It is also noted that the present invention may be used to convert data
between any of various types of formats. For example, the data conversion
system and method of the present invention can be used to convert data
from a database in a first data format to a database having a second data
format. Alternatively, the present invention may be used to convert video
data having a first compressed format to video data having a second
compressed format. Various other types of data format conversions can be
performed using the present invention.
The data conversion system and method is a multi-user, object-oriented
migration engine which converts or moves massive amounts of information
between dissimilar platforms. The DCLE system of the present invention
offers true multi-platform design capabilities, allowing conversion of
legacy mainframe data to any modern relational database management system
(RDBMS), or from any RDBMS to any mainframe platforms such as HP9000
running INFORMIX, or custom applications can be connected to the platform
of choice. The present invention may also be used to convert data to a
non-platform basis for data warehouse usage. Batch a | | |
