G-man: Let me try to answer a couple of your questions...
Moving data can be a goal. Whether you or I can foresee the need is irrelevant. I've moved quite a few accounts from D3 to UV and UD and I suspect Dave has an equally justifiable need (not that he should need to justify anything). There used to be a "common" backup to an older format that all platforms did. I can remember upgrading several different platforms to D3 and upgrading several D3 platforms to U2. They all had that familiar "account-save (a" type of thing. Many of the vendors had (have) utilities to bring in accounts from other systems. Flat-file BS is grotesque! Then there's UniData. :-) Bill -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Tony G Sent: Saturday, September 13, 2008 5:07 PM To: u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org Subject: RE: [U2] access to mvBase VTF files > From: David Tod Sigafoos > My higher goal is to move data from mvBase to > uniVerse. Account save / account restore > > What I want is information on if this can be done simply. > > I can, as ray suggested, read the tape OR i can simply > stream in the file and try to restore on my own. [flame jacket in hand] Moving data isn't a goal, it's a tactical effort to satisfy some more strategic business function. I'm still curious as to why you need to move data using platform-specific media. I find that the real answer to problems we see presented here is frequently that the wrong question is being asked. And while I know there can be some resentment when I question why someone is asking for a specific solution, that line of inquiry frequently leads to saving a lot of time and money in accomplishing the real strategic goal. Seriously, I deal with this all the time. The only valid case I can think of for your inquiry is that you have an old VTF and the source system no longer exists - maybe a crash-n-burn where the user wants to move to U2 rather than to pay for a new mvBASE license. Fair enough. If that's the case then my suggestion is to move the data into a live mvBASE system "somewhere" (which you can get for free from any mvBASE dealer) and then to extract it out using more conventional means. The tape mechanisms in all of these platforms was never intended to be cross-platform. They're intended to backup and restore data to a specific platform. And while we expect to be able to move data from one shop to another, across operating systems, and across DBMS releases, many of us have found there are occasional issues here. Extract data from these proprietary formats is a sure way to win geek points, but it's a pointless business effort considering there are better ways to accomplish the goals. So I would back up a moment (pun intended I guess) and ask why you're not writing flat files that can be transported and then read from the file system? If the systems are local then you can simply write to a file in BASIC that's simultaneously accessed by Universe. I do that for development all the time with a bunch of DBMS's. If the mvBASE system is still up and you want to do this on a regular basis, I'm guessing the environments are remote and you want to duplicate one or more accounts from one platform and just read it somewhere else. All the File-Save process does is to select the SYSTEM file, loop through all MD files, loop through all DICT files, and the copy all the DATA file items in a proprietary tape buffer format. I know you could swing that in a few minutes, using the same type of recursive loop to create directories and write items as files. ( I actually have code like that around here somewhere from an effort where I needed to extract an entire R83 system over a network via AccuTerm. ) Anyway, I hope you accomplish your goals. Best, T Tony Gravagno Nebula Research and Development TG@ remove.pleaseNebula-RnD.com ------- u2-users mailing list u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/ ------- u2-users mailing list u2-users@listserver.u2ug.org To unsubscribe please visit http://listserver.u2ug.org/
