Database Design

MOST’s OnTarget ADABAS to RDBMS migration is automatic and handles the multitude of differences between ADABAS and DB2 / Oracle— rapidly delivering a default, normalized relational DB2 model that is accurate and efficient.

OnTarget automatically analyzes the ADABAS files subject for migration, designs a relational data model, building a normalized RDBMS data model which can be easily fine-tuned by the client’s application manager and designers. OnTarget's knowledgebase algorithms, in combination with the many parameters and preferences that tightly control the migration task, guarantee an accurate, efficient and high performance DB2 data model.

Some of the ADABAS to RDBMS issues which are automatically accommodated include:

• Non-relational ADABAS files that contain Multiple Value Fields (MU) and Periodic Groups (PE) need to be normalized in their migration to the relational database.
• The “null” value in ADABAS is actually zero or blank, depending on the field format; in RDBMS the “null” value is different from either zero or blank.
• Conversion of naming conventions from dashes to underscore.
• Handling of other ADABAS characteristics that do not exist in RDBMS, such as: ISN - Special Field Formats - ADABAS Keys (SUPER, SUB Descriptors, etc.), Multipurpose Fields, and more.

 Data Migration

Based on the final and customer approved RDBMS Design, OnTarget automatically produces the DDLs for the creation of the DB2 tables and generates the programs that migrate the ADABAS data to RDBMS tables.

The Data Migration process applies customer naming conventions for RDBMS table and column names, and, can include customer-defined integrity checks, fine-tuning for data validation (e.g., numeric checks, date and time format, etc.), that ensure a totally accurate migration of data.