Stored-data description and data translation: A model and language

摘要

The transfer of data from one computer environment to another is a problem which arises in a variety of contexts—application migration to a new computer system, data transfer in computer networks and database restructuring are three examples where encoded data must be transformed before it can be used in the new environment. This report examines the data translation problem in a general framework and presents a model and example language for describing and translating among a wide class of logical and physical structures. Data is described at access path, encoding and device-oriented levels such that descriptions at different levels may be changed modularly. The high-level architecture of a data translator which could make use of the model and language is also defined in the report.