Data can appear in many formats (tables, csv, spreadsheet, data formats) and be stored in a variety of methods (RDBMS, MS Excel, flat file). Quite often the data needs to be loaded or transformed between these different formats or storage methods. Cybersite Consulting offers services that will convert your data from just about any format to any other format.
The main areas of work in data change is using the acronym E.T.L. This stands for Extraction, Transformation and Loading. Each of these processes are done using simple flow-based conversion software tools that will work on any platform support a Java virtual machine.
What do each of these stages mean?
Extraction: This is the process of getting the data out of the initial storage mechanism. The work here is simple if the data is in a database that can be accessed with standard JDBC style drivers. If it is a more legacy-based system, then the process could be more involved. Extraction can be done based on JDBC, ODBC, flat files, CSV, Excel spreadsheet, XML, xBase and most modern RDBMS.
Transformation: This stage is the main part of the data conversion process where any changes to the data is made that is needed. These changes could be as simple as recreating the data storage container. More often there is more complicated changes required including changing the field types (numeric to currency), length, precision, indexes etc. This is all done through this stage and managed within the software tools.
Loading: The final stage of taking the transformed data and putting it into the final storage mechanism. This can include not only the storage container, but also re-indexing, changing storage engines (MySQL), recreating tables etc.
Cybersite Consulting is experienced in working with data and data conversion and can help reduce the complexity of any data conversion that you may require. Some of the most common areas that help can be provided include:
* Upgrade from an older to newer version of database.
* Extract data from a database and put into a spreadsheet.
* Convert from one database type to another.
* Load XML data from the web into a database and vice versa.
* Convert a data archive into a modern digital storage mechanism.
* plus many more.
Contact us is you need any data ETL work done.
