need q&A translation

[famtek]

have old q&a datamanagement system that I need to move into the 21st Century. Are there any free translation tools that could help me bring data into access or excel? thanks.

 

[lespaul]

if you know what kind of database stores the information you may be able to find an ODBC driver and just use that...


Leslie

Anything worth doing is a lot more difficult than it's worth - Unknown Induhvidual

Essential reading for database developers:
The Fundamentals of Relational Database Design
Understanding SQL Joins

 

[johnherman]

Another option might be to unload the data into flat files, either fixed length or delimited, then use a database load utility to load the data into the new database.

-------------------------
The trouble with doing something right the first time is that nobody appreciates how difficult it was - Steven Wright

 

[famtek]

My problem is that the data sits not in a database but individual records. Don't know how to view the records and then export into a flat file. I need some software that will recognize these files, then convert to a txt or csv file. help.

 

[lespaul]

what kind of files?

 

[famtek]

Each record appears to be in a separate folder whcih includes a pair of files: *.DTF and *.IDX - my guess is that the DTF is a form or structure file and te IDX is the data - but that's only a guess. I found Symantec purchased Q&A many years ago and must have abandoned it. I would luv to be able to convert each file in a data record, merge them, and then repurpose them. Q&A does not appear to store data as a single database, but as a collection of folders, each containing data.

 

[lespaul]

IDX is usually an index file and quick google of dtf shows that it's the database file for the Q&A software.

In another forum it is indicated that you can export the Q&A files as a dbf and Access can import the data.

I couldn't get the page to load, but cicorp.com apparently has converter that :

We can export the data from any Q&A database in to popular programs such as ... Basic conversion converts all Q&A database fields as the same data type. ...

And I guess that this company has taken over on-going support of the Q&A products:

http://www.pcta-usa.com/qa.htm

HTH

Leslie

 

[LNBruno]

Have you tried opening the dtf files in notepad to see what the structrure is, or are they encrypted?

< M!ke >
Your right to an opinion does not obligate me to take you seriously.
- Winston Churchill

 

[ArkM]

See also Sesame Database Manager:

http://www.lantica.com/