Developing a data conversion strategy
To develop a data conversion strategy:
- Use the codepageutil analyze_tables utility to analyze your data. Identify any occurrence in the data of characters that the HCL Compass data code page you intend to use for your new database set that is not supported. This tool generates you a list of the occurrences and locations of all such characters. This information can help you estimate the amount of work required to convert the data to one of the new data code pages.
- Use the codepageutil test_codepage utility against your database management system to verify that the vendor database character set supports the desired data code page.
- If analyze tables reports that all characters in
the database are in the preferred HCL Compass data
code page, and if test_codepage verifies that the vendor
database character set supports this data code page, set the data code page
immediately. If the code page utility finds characters that are not in the preferred code page, you have three options:
- Select another data code page that includes all characters currently in your database set.
- Convert the unsupported characters to characters that are supported in the preferred data code page.
- As a last resort, set the HCL Compass data code page value with the NOCHECKING option set, and risk that some characters will be corrupted.
If you choose the last option and want to remove the unsupported characters
from the database, you must develop a strategy to perform that task. This
strategy must address these issues:
- What to do with each unsupported character; to which character or characters is it converted.
- How to deal with corrupted characters.
- What existing information, if any, to preserve.
- How to change the unsupported characters: one at a time or in a batch process.