hcismatconvert

The current SMAT files are not compatible with earlier versions of the GUI. The hcirootcopy command-line tool does not automatically convert old SMAT index files to the new format, as the GUI continues to support the old format.

It does, though, give you a message that hcismatconvert is available for converting. Because hcirootcopy uses hcisiteinit to create the new sites, the SMAT history default settings are written into the new siteInfo file.

hcismatconvert is a conversion tool where you can convert SMAT files between formats: old to new, or new to old.

Converting to the new format, it adds/subtracts white space as necessary to meet fixed-length standards:

  • New fields in the index are given null or predetermined default values. These match the metadata that the message would have received upon resend in the old implementation of SMAT.
  • Variable-length metadata is given zero length, so no changes are necessary to the message file.
Note: The default is a forward conversion that overwrites the input file. If the input file name has the .smatdb extension, then this is a SMAT database export.
hcismatconvert [-b] [-f] input file name [-o output file name] 
[-s siteInfo path]
  • -b is a backwards conversion, from new to old. This cannot be used for SMAT database import/export.
  • -f forces a database update. This is only for a database import.
    • If the output file exists, then the database import fails.
    • If -f is specified, then the data is imported to the existing database of that name.
  • input file name is the input file named file name.
  • -o output file name outputs to the file named output file name instead of overwriting input.
  • -s siteInfo path is the siteInfo path for the SMAT database import/export. This cannot be used for a file database export.