Re: Tool to migrate DDFs from version 6 to version 9?

On Feb 21, 4:02 pm, "Bill" <n...@xxxxxx> wrote:
I need to convert some DDFs from version 6 to something that PSQL
version 9 can read. Does anyone know of a utility (preferable free)
that will do this? Thanks

--
.Bill.

Be careful, though, if your v6.15 DDFs are currently being used by an
application, opening them with v9 will automatically convert them
unless you change the "Create File Version" under "Compatibility" in
the engine properties to "6.x". If v9 converts them, the legacy app
will fail.

My guess is that, assuming you've protected yourself by modifying the
Create File Version, PCC still might choke on the old DDFs because of
some legacy structure problem. Pre-PSQL tools (Xtrieve, the old
Smithware tool, etc.) allowed the creation of DDFs that described data
structures like COBOL OCCURS and REDEFINES that are "illegal" in the
SQL and ODBC world. Pervasive's new DDF Builder might be able to deal
with those, and it's free, so it's worth a shot.

You don't really want something that automatically converts 6.x-era
DDFs to 9.x-era DDFs because there are just so many issues to
consider. You need more control over what happens. What you really
need is a tool that will at least be able to open the DDFs without
complaint and let you clean them up. Having said that, v9 does have
support built in for COBOL structures, so if that's where you're
coming from, it would be worthwhile downloading the SDK and exploring
those options.

Wayne
Analytica Business Systems
http://www.analyticabiz.com




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