How can I export data to a legacy DOS application if there is no export option?
We got the task of my client to export data from an old DOS system using the RAIMA database , so it can be imported into the new system we write for them. It looks like the data is stored in a flat file format, although when we open the files, most of the text is gibberish.
We see Raima Database Manager at the top of the files we opened ... We tried to use this term in Googling and it looks like it's an old database format. Needless to say, the vendor who wrote the software no longer supports it. Is there any other way to export this data?
Is there a way to automatically clear data from the screen?
Note
It's a simple billing system, all information is on one screen in the app.
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for Raima Data Manager Version 3.21A This article states that the application was most likely written in C and it used the Raima Data Definition Language to structure files - look in the files for something like this, check .dbd and .tbl - you might have to view them with something like VI, which has hex mode. It is likely that the data structures will be embedded in one of the files.
Edit:
here are some links that might lead to more information
http://www.raima.com/database_technology/rdm.php3 http://www.raima.com/database/download.php3
http://database.ittoolbox.com/topics/t.asp?t=411&p=415&h1=411&h2=412&h3=415
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/databases/free-databases/
http://www.ittia.com/products/ittia_odbc.html
http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.07/07.02/db_VistaIII/index.html
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this will help you know which version of Raima Database Manager was used; db_Vista strong> or RDM or Velocis or RDM Embedded ? The approximate era when the DOS application was written will help narrow down the possible version.
RDM Embedded was released as open source from Centura around 2000 and later renamed db.linux. You can find some information in the source code that sheds light on how they structured the files.
Anyway, db_Vista was born in 1982, so it is most likely a B / Tree file / indexing system.
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Will a DOS application run in a command window in Windows XP? If so, you can cut and paste the data into a text editor or spreadsheet.
Another idea comes to me. You can use Java Robot or even simple Win API code to send keystrokes to a command prompt window for recording via records. This is half of your battle. It looks like there is a Select All option in the command window, combine this with the Copy command and you should be installed.
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As a second option (or perhaps the last case), if Raima cannot help you, you can use an automation tool to clear the information from the screen and analyze it. Given this DOS application, if it can be run in a Windows window, I would use a tool like Eggplant , TestComplete , or HighTest . These tools are primarily intended for automating testing through a GUI or interface, but are pretty good for this type of work. I think Hightest used to have a DOS version for the day.
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Another option could be to use any reporting mechanism that a dos application has to print all application data in a text file (by redirecting prn :) and then parse it from plain text format - that would be a lot (although a regex can quickly parse the unnecessary crap) but I did it.
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You will probably also spend twenty minutes missing out on the possibility that the database format is not something common for this era - db3, Paradox, Filemaker, etc., but with file renaming. Try to open in Excel or similar by specifying the format (add additional filters in Excel first if you need them). Borland Database Desktop is also well suited for this kind of research.
This is a long shot, but it paid off for me a few times when some "obscure" file format ended up as an immobilized version of something much more general (db3 in particular). Outside the DOS era, I found that Access truncated files appear from time to time.
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Raima (at least the versions I am using) comes with a tool called datdump that writes data files to a human readable format. There is also a tool called dbexp that can generate CSV files from Raima's database.
I bet the lovely people in Rhyme can help you. I know they are still around. I can see that their website even publishes their datafile file format in their support area. This may change from version to version of Raima, but should give you a good idea on how to start writing your own extraction code.
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