Tape conversions

[wjs2]

Hi everybody,

It is me again with my strange question of the week. (There should be an award for this category. I could win most weeks.)

The group I work with takes data from whatever you've got - Tapes, Cartridges, CD's, Dat, Whatever. ASCII, EBCDIC, Whatever. We take the data, convert it to FOX Pro tables, then do our thing. We never know what this stuff is going to look like. Fixed length records, fixed length blocks/variable length records in variable length blocks. (Hey! Get Mikey. He'll eat anything.) Anyway, the question. Does anyone know of translation/conversions software that will handle this? We are using some older programs, some is still DOS based. We would like to upgrade this portion of the job but haven't found a good place to start looking. Any ideas/suggestions?

Thanks
WJS

 

[Scott24x7]

WJS,
If you're "looking" to keep this in Fox, I've written some EBCDIC to ASCII conversions, and, I like you, have worked in environments where we accepted data from anything magnetic. (You'd be amazed what they can do with toast these days...)
If you're interested, I can send you that. I can also provide some pointers on how to write your own processes to deal with most of the things you mention above. I have created dynamic "Data Import" processes before, that allow you to "Fill in the blank" type items, and the save that as a "Template", which you load the next time you get data from that particular source. It's not a trivial exercise, and will take you about 4 to 8 weeks to perfect, depending on the complexity of data you are receiving, and your level of expertice to build. (Sorry, I can't build it for you in this case, 'cause this is the kind of data stuff I L-O-V-E!)

If you'd like further info on this topic, let me know, and if you have specific questions, I can dive right into them.

Best Regards,
Scott

Please let me know if this has helped

 

[wjs2]

Dear Mr. Maniac,

It is always good to hear from someone crazier than me. Toast huh? Bet you can get a lot of data in those little bitty holes.

I am guessing that the 4 to 8 weeks is not for each new customer but like a learning curve to get the 'template' to work for you. If that is the case, yes I would be interested. I think I have done some work like that in the sense that, once I have a table loaded and figure out what data is actually in the fields, it is a simple matter to get the table formatted the way it is needed by our systems. Had not tried to get it front to back in FOX the way yours sounds.

I look forward to hearing from you on this.

WJS

PS Are you the Austrailian? They are taking over our film industry you know.

 

[FoxEgg]

I can confirm that the maniac is crazier than you and yes he is an Australian (what we here call a 'new' Australian...) and yes we will taking over the film industry.... eg Fox Studios in Sydney...

 

[wjs2]

FoxEgg

Hi. Well, most Australians I have known, all one of em, were crazier than me. Rugby is the damnedest thing I ever seen in my life. Just goes to show you, give a guy a funny looking ball and, no matter where he's from, he'll kill you to keep it. But, I would have to say the Australians, new or old, are the best at it. Us Americans, we got that sissy Football thing. Helmets and pads everywhere. What kind of heathen game is that?

As for movie making, we got em now. Mel Gibson, Russel Crow, Nicole Kidman. We got em. They are taking over.

WJS

 

[EzLogic]

Guys, don't forget Soccer plz....

Now don't tell me it is boaring...

I know this is not the forum to talk about sports, but, I had to mention soccer

Forgive me Tek-Tipsters!!

Good Day AK

 

[wjs2]

TeknoSDS,

Well, I wouldn't call it boaring. I played it once. Some guy, not five feet from me, kicked the ball 762.3 MPH. I know it was faster than the speed of sound cause I never heard it coming. Hit me right in the face. When I recovered, 16 years later, I decided not to play professional soccer.

WJS

PS Tek-Tipsters: We are just waiting for Maniac to come on back. Think He's playing with a funny shaped ball somewhere. Hope he can still type when he gets back.

 

[EzLogic]

Good one wjs!

Feel bad for you (When it happened)! AK

 

[wjs2]

TeknoSDS,

Actually, no need to feel bad. Luckily, it hit me on the side of the face. (That was an amazing sound. Did you know that snot is a good conductor of sound?) I'm only deaf in one ear. ;-) In all fairness to soccer, it was then that I decided not to play any professional sport where I would be expected to use my body as a projectile or the target of a projectile. Human or otherwise.

 

[Scott24x7]

WJS2,
[Sorry to everyone else... ]

I'm currently "in transit", and not all of my stuff has caught up with me. It will proabalby be a week or two. The EBCDIC conversion I have are on one of the servers that has not yet been restored. If you e-mail me at scottvpayton@hotmail.com I can then e-mail you the code, and some other things that might help. (It's too long, and in some cases, not possible to post here on Tek-Tips.) In the mean time, I can also work to point you in the right direction for your Data templating. And, yes, it's a one time development (or maybe with some minor modifications along the way), but the philosophy is sold, and will save you HEAPS of time in the long run.

Cheers,
-Scott

("Scott" -- the "Other" Aussie...)
Best Regards,
Scott

Please let me know if this has helped