Data archival during application decommissioning is a cost-effective and simple solution for retaining legacy data in an accessible format for continuation of the critical business activities. A key challenge in data archiving off-mainframe lies in the ability to set and convert mainframe files. In the past, companies could spend hundreds or thousands of hours setting up and converting mainframe files from EBCDIC to ASCII for storage off the mainframe.
The migration syntax for up to 5,000 files can be generated almost instantly using our eavFileConverter software. On the mainframe, that data is formatted as EBCDIC and the data remains EBCDIC in its off-mainframe state. With the copybook association, any type of data (e.g. packed, binary, etc.) is correctly presented and converted whenever viewing of the record or file is required. Supported file types include:
Data files: Data files are binary files with sequential or VSAM data structure. If data files are associated with copybook definitions, eavFileConverter can parse binary data for viewing, validation, and conversion. Data file names can be with or without file extensions.
Copybook files: Copybooks are written in COBOL and contain definitions of one or more records. eavFileConverter parses copybook files into sets of field objects, validating and converting the data files. Copybook file names can be with or without file extensions.
Associations files: Associations files are XML files that associate data files with copybook files by linking full names. Association files can be created by eavFileConverter or written manually. Each association file can contain references to multiple data files, and each data file can be associated with multiple copybooks. Associations files also contain validation and conversion properties so that each association can be treated individually by eavFileConverter.
Loader files: Loader files are XML files that serve loading converted data files to a SQL Server database. Loader files can be created by eavFileConverter or written manually. Each loader file can contain references to multiple data files and each data file can be associated with a different server / database / table.