File Layout and Data Formatting

The input data specifications file for each Table or Maintenance Object that are subject to conversion are stored as an attachment linked to the corresponding conversion tasks. The Conversion Artifact Generator creates conversion task for each table and/or maintenance object.

Specifications are generated based on the metadata and the conversion configurations defined on Conversion Task Type and Conversion Master Configuration. Configurations control delimiters and enclosing characters and define CLOB data processing rules.

The data extract file is expected to contain one record per each target table row. The data field order in the record has to be exactly the same as it is listed in the specification file.

The specifications contain:

  • Data delimiters and expected secondary data file names

  • Field-by-field data formatting rules for

    data types and size, Date, DateTime and Time formatting

  • Special notes on CLOB fields

The fields in the record are expected to be separated by a delimiter character (or string).

For the not-nullable columns with no data, a single space enclosed in the enclosing character (or string) has to be supplied, for example “ “

The CLOB data in the main record has to be enclosed in the CLOB Delimiter string, for example <clobend>some clob data<clobend>

The CLOB records in the secondary data file has to be separated by CLOB Delimiter string followed by the new line sign, defined as the CLOB Line Separator. IMPORTANT! the last entry in the CLOB data file has to end with the new line, too

  • If the data extract is created on Linux, use Line Feed to separate CLOB records and make sure that there is no space after CLOB Delimiter string

  • If the data extract is created on Windows, use Line Feed followed by Carriage Return.

Enclosing character (or string) can also be used to encapsulate data that includes a field delimiter, for example “Hello, World”