Challenge
The ACUCOBOL file (Vision index) format is proprietary and not human readable. It may be used on mainframes or open systems and require collation (sorting) or other processing and, ultimately, conversion to or from other file formats.
Solutions
IRI's membership in Acucorp, Inc.'s Complementary Technology Program (CTP) helped enable CoSort to sort, transform, report, and convert Vision files*. IRI now delivers embedded ACUCOBOL Vision sequential and index file conversion functionality through its partnership with Micro Focus in two packages:
ACUCOBOL Vision File Conversion Only
IRI NextForm (COBOL edition) converts Vision files to other formats (like CSV, LDIF, MF-COBOL ISAM or Variable Length, text, etc.) or from those other formats into Vision. See this example, and this article regarding metadata requirements.
NextForm also supports data type conversion at the field level, and the remapping of record layouts. The NextForm DBMS edition add-on supports ODBC so you can source and target database tables directly in the same job.
Vision File Data Masking
If you need to mask, encrypt, or otherwise protect sensitive or personally identifiable information (PII) within the fields of your Vision or converted files, use IRI FieldShield. FieldShield uses the same layout metadata as CoSort and NextForm for field-level data masking, encryption, and so on.
ACUCOBOL Vision File Processing & Conversion
With the SortCL program in IRI CoSort you can:
- Transform (e.g., sort, join) data in Vision files
- Convert or create a Vision file to/from another file format
- Run transforms and conversions together (to speed DB loads)
- Protect data in Vision files at the field level
- Create detail and summary reports
Each of these formatting and manipulation functions can occur with or without processing other file formats simultaneously. CoSort makes all of these actions, one or more at a time, available to data architects who need to work with CSV, XML, LDIF, ISAM, Vision, text, and other large flat files.
For example, to convert from Vision to CSV in either NextForm or CoSort (SortCL), your job script input file declaration would be /PROCESS=Vision, and on output it could be /PROCESS=CSV (for Excel, etc.), ODBC (for RDB tables). At the same time, you can specify different field layouts and data types on output.
Vision Test Data
Use IRI RowGen if you need test data in Vision file formats. RowGen uses the same layout metadata as CoSort and NextForm so you can easily move between test data generation and real data transformation.
Did you know?
IRI CoSort packages also provide a drop-in replacement for COBOL sort verbs, including a plug 'n play facility for the ACUCOBOL-GT sort?
* To facilitate metadata definition and field-level transforms, refer to .idx or .xfd layout files on your .vis and/or .vix data sources.
