Re: Help! Converting files from a Cobol app

From: Vilco (t_at_h.c)
Date: 10/26/04 

Date: Tue, 26 Oct 2004 21:40:48 GMT

Lueko Willms wrote:
> about Re: Help! Converting files from a Cobol app

>> If you have copybooks, I posted a program that will use them to
>> convert the files to comma-delimited.

> I posted another one.
> As to the original question -- I am just curious if the person or
> organization which produced that application is no longer around, does
> offer or not an upgrade of that application to current Windows
> technologies, can provide data conversion services ... or are you
> dissatisfied with that application that you do no longer want to rely
> on its original author?

First of all, thanks to all :)
Then, to answer to Lueko's question, this cobol ERP software is still in use at the customer's site: he wants a new software because
the original producer does no more produce updates for that software, which will be absolete in less then six months due to incoming
changes in the taxation laws.
To come back to the matter, from what R.Wagner posted I understand that if I have these Cobol clipbooks or source files I can use
some free utilities to extract the files? OK, tomorrow at work I will check for these files. I remember having seen many .cob files
around.
I also have seen that the data files (no extension) contain compressed numeric values. The data are enough easy to understand since
the numeric fields are very few, many fields are text and so are easy to recognize (name, surname, address...) so I can clearly see
the "persons" file starting with the numeric ID (compressed, rectangular character or special characters like Danish "D", germaun
umlauts etc in text viewer) and going on with surname, name, etc. The character fields, like the surname and name of the persons,
are not full-plain text: every some six-to-ten characters there is one inconsistent character, like a german umlaut in the half of
an otherwise plain italian surname (like "ferraļi" instead of "ferrari").
I have seen many other file formats akin to this one, like those used in an acucobol application I converted data from in the past,
but even with compressed numeric fields the text fields always showed up correctly, with no corruption like the one I see in these
files.
Any clues?
Thanks again, will show up tomorrow morning
>From GMT+1 time-zone 

-- 
  Vilco
Think Pink, Drink Rose'

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