Database Migration

ProtoLink was approached by a company that had an existing application that used Microsoft Access for its database needs.  The existing software encapsulated the access to the database through a complex set of functions packaged in a DLL.  The company wanted to upgrade the database capabilities of its application without changing the code that called into the DLL.  In addition, the software would have to be able to transfer the existing data from the Access database to the new database.

ProtoLink addressed the company's needs by developing a version of the database access DLL that incorporates a parallel set of functions that use OLE DB to interact with the database.  By using OLE DB as the underlying technology, the company was no longer tied to a specific database; rather, they could use any database that could be accessed through an OLE DB provider.

The transfer of data from the existing Access database to the new database involved a complex sequence of ordered steps to ensure that dependent records and tables with identify fields were populated in the correct order to adhere to the referential integrity constraints imposed by the database schema.

In addition to supporting the transfer of data from Access to the new database, the software also incorporates the ability to automatically update the database schema when an appropriate script file has been generated and placed in a predetermined location.