Exporting data to CSV file

[david7777777777]

I ama network administrator in a Windows NT/2000 environment. I do not know UNIX (just a few commands) or AIX. We have an application called Insurnet that runs on AIX. A company named Ebix (formerly Delphi) has attempted to migrate the data from this old Insurnet system into a Windows-based Pervasive SQL database. All of the data did not convert and they have been horrible regarding support.

Is there a way I can just dump all of the data from this AIX system into some sort of file format that I can use in a Windows enivronment, like a CSV or any text format file? Thanks.

 

[AIXSPadmin]

Ahh, conversions, have been there and have done that. There are questions that need to be answered; how is the data for insurnet stored on AIX? Is it binary data? How many tables and rows are in the AIX apps database? How is it going to be structured on the Windows database?

Most databases have their own language. My conversion involved RPG-coded programs and data being moved to Universe databases using Universe basic as the programming language. It is not a quick process, and there are times that data simply cannot be converted and some re-entry has to occur. Our conversion took 2 years to complete.

 

[david7777777777]

Well, I'm just happy to hear from anyone about this. I'm just looking to get the data out of the AIX system and into a text file. I can work with it from there. Can you tell me how to get the data into a text file? How can I tell if it's in binary format on the AIX system?

 

[david7777777777]

How do I find the information you're asking for?

 

[AIXSPadmin]

Where is the data kept, in what files on the AIX side. And if you use the command: `file filename.txt` it will come back and tell you what format the data is in. If it is in text format then it would be easy to use awk to save it to a delimited file. First you have to find the data, where it is saved, as I said and find what format it is saved in using the file command. Again, the syntax is:

file yourfile.txt

 

[david7777777777]

I don't know any names of any files on this system. Is there a way to snoop around a list the contents of some directories? Thanks.

 

[AIXSPadmin]

There has to be documentation for the insurnet application and it will list which files are used for what purpose. If you don't have documentation, then if you can, call the vendor of the application. If that is not possible, then call the company doing the conversion now; they are on the payroll doing some of the conversion and they can give you the info you need (e.g., filenames, paths, etc.).

 

[david7777777777]

Let me introduce you to the worst company on Earth: Ebix, formerly known as Delphi. Both the old AIX/Insurnet application AND the new Ebix.one Windows-based application are their products. Documentation is non-existent. Support is hangin by a thread and I can hear that thread breaking. I'm currently having to learn their systems so I can support them. The company, Ebix, laid off everyone who had any level of knowledge regarding the support of these applications. This is the worst company I have ever dealt with. Contract violations are another issue for later on. Right now I need to solve real operational problems. So don't assume anything is normal with this scenario, and I thank you very much for any help and pointers you can provide.

I am currently talking to the girl, Amy, who did our conversion from the AIX system into the Pervasive SQL database that is used by this Ebix application. She does not know SQL very well at all. She actually asked me if I knew how to to an update to a field. I am now learning how to do this on this website as we speak so I can try to get our problems solved with this Ebix application.

I realize you cannot possibly know the layout of the data structure of our AIX-based database. But again, any clues you can throw my way will help. Thanks a million.

 

[AIXSPadmin]

Read this link:

http://www.pervasive.com/documentation/techpapers/pdf/CobolMigration_tech_0402.pdf

My guess is that you have ISAM for the underlying access for the Inusrnet application and the document will explain how you cannot just dump the data to a delimited file. This will give you an inside look at what Amy is trying to do, and if she hasn't done a lot of it before then it will be difficult.

 

[david7777777777]

This document explains everything, thank you very much. No wonder we've had such problems. I didn't realize the significant and fundamental differences between ISAM and SQL regarding data storage, definition, and access.

Are there a couple of commands I can use to see if the data is in text format on the AIX system, or maybe find the files that contain the data? Thanks.

 

[AIXSPadmin]

`file` is the command used to find the format of a file; the correct usage is: file filename.txt

This will return whether it is binary, commands text, etc.

It has been 5 years since I worked with any databases using ISAM, but if I remember correctly, you could look for files ending in .idx and .ctl; I cannot remember if they data is readable, but I would not expect it to be.

 

[AIXSPadmin]

Also, the data would be in .dat files, and I believe the data is in hex format.