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schemalotus-dominodatabase-migrationlotus

Migrating from Lotus database to MySql and MSSqlServer


I'm migrating an application and data from old lotus database / notes to 1) MySql and 2) MS Sql Server and .NET C#. I found an interop with the dominos.dll library, which has been flaky at best. Seeing this and being concerned about the port, they have asked me to support the old Lotus DB, and the new db's in tandem for 3 months (something I wasn't ready to do).

  1. Is there a wizard or 3rd party tool to extract the schema and migrate into MySql or MSSql Server
  2. Besides the domino.dll is there another option, to integrate programmatically
  3. How can I safely support both in tandem for a short period of time - is there a sync or replay mechanisim

Solution

  • I've had to migrate Lotus Notes databases to SQL server based db's in the past. I've used two different methods:

    1st: Notes agent to create CSV files - then import into SQL database

    2nd: Use Lotus Enterprise Integrator (LEI) to translate data and populate SQL database.

    1st method can be a pain but very flexible, 2nd method is easier if you have LEI but not as flexible. As you say, you could use the Notes driver and push data directly into SQL but you're effectively using the 1st method.

    You may wish to extract the UNID and $REF fields from the source documents so that you can preserve the hierarchy of documents (parent/child).

    If the underlying Notes Database contains objects (not text) in RTF fields then you will not capture this data using the above methods.

    Have a look on youtube - there are some videos about migrating from Notes to Sharepoint - may give you some pointers. Best of luck, Phil