Re: Data migration

What I have had success doing is:

1.  Run a query against the file that you want to populate and pull one 
record into an output file in a separate library (eg. UPLOAD) with all the 
fields.
2.  Download the file and the format into your PC using your emulation 
software (Client Access, Net Soft, Power Term, etc.) as a .csv file.
3.  Open the .csv file in Excel and see the record that you queried.  It will 
probably not have the header data.  Insert a row or two and use this template 
to setup your incoming data in that format.  Save the file as a different 
name to use in the future.
4.  If the header doesn't come down, then reference the file format in query 
to determine what the fields are and manually create a header for reference 
purposes.  I have found that it is easy to copy and paste the data from the 
"select fields" screen in a query that has the field name and description.
5.  Copy and paste the data from the other system into the Excel template 
worksheet paying extreme attention to field type (numeric will not handle 
alpha) 
and field size (Obviously a 6, A field cannot hold 7,A data).  You will need 
to delete the first 2 rows and save this as the same file name that you 
downloaded.
6.  Create an upload in your emulation software to move the .csv file into 
the AS/400 library that you are using.
7.  Execute the upload.  You may need to remove the .csv extension from the 
Excel file if that was the name that you used to download the file.
8.  Then the file should be pulled up on the AS/400 with Query or SQL to 
validate the data.  You probably also want to develop some queries to make sure 
that required fields (eg. item class in an item master) are not equal to blank.

Good luck.  Contact me offline if you need further explanation.

Regards,
John Kasper
J.D. Kasper & Associates, Inc.
(847) 529-1099 Cell Phone
KASP6281@xxxxxxx