Transferability and translation of data

Abstract

Data translation is defined as the process whereby data stored in a form that can be processed on one computer (the source file) can be translated into a form (target file) which can be used by the same or different processing systems on a possibly different computer. The research approach is to develop a generalized methodology of data translation and within this framework to design and implement a specific prototype translator. The current methodology for translating data and files from one system to another typically consists of writing file translation programs. This method, which involves writing a new program for each file to be translated, is often referred to as manual file translation. Because of the machine level detail required, these translation programs are typically written in assembly language. As a result, the programming time is large.