Topic: Converting from Snitz

[PaulP]

I am struggling with a conversion from SnitzForums to SMF.  Walking my way thru, one error at a time but have been stopped by a date conversion issue.

I am using SMF 2.0.2, the latest conversion files that can be downloaded and I have corrected the caps issue in the conversion sql file.

The data starts as an MS Access database, which I convert to SQL using Bullzip. I then pull data from that for the conversion.

Snitz saves all dates as a text field, formatted as "yyyymmddhhmmss"  As I understand it, SMF uses a Unix timestamp which is seconds since 1970, an integer.

As I work thru the errors, the first one I hit is M_DOB, the birthdate of forum members. We don't collect this data so it is strictly a field settings issue. In my SQL database, I set that to "DATE" and it appears the converter likes that, it runs to the next error.

The next error to pop is that an integer is expected for "msg_date"  I went back to my original data and did a bunch of conversions to change the dates to the Unix timestamp and then tried again.  It appears the conversion then runs a little further till it hits another error

With the dates converted (in Access, then SQL) the converter runs further, till it hits this error: Wrong value type sent to the database. Integer expected. (modified_time)

I find that data name in the snitz_to_smf.sql file but am a loss as to why this hiccup. I find two instances of that field name

• UNIX_TIMESTAMP(REPLACE(ft.T_LAST_EDIT, '\0', '')) AS modified_time FROM
• UNIX_TIMESTAMP(REPLACE(fr.R_LAST_EDIT, '\0', '')) AS modified_time FROM

In both cases, the data coming in is an integer although some of the fields are empty
 
I think the issue is "null" for the field. If I change this setting to "nothing" it then goes on to part 2 of the conversion process. At that point, I get this error:

Converting posts ( part 2 - this may take some time)...

Notice: Undefined variable: result in -domain & path-/convert.php on line 2494

Notice: Undefined variable: result in -domain & path-/convert.php on line 2495

Warning: Supplied argument is not a valid resource handle in -domain & path-/convert.php on line 2736

Notice: Undefined index: db_fetch_assoc in -domain & path-/convert.php on line 2740

Fatal error: Function name must be a string in -domain & path-/convert.php on line 2740



Can anyone help me past this next stumbling block. Is what I've done already correct?

Paul

[17acklen]

Paul,

Did you ever solve this issue?

I'm getting the same error message after the "pause to avoid overloading server" screen.

[PaulP]

I was never able to get past this point, nor could I find any help with it.

I ended up converting the Snitz forum to PHPBB. There is a converter to take it to Vers 2.0, then you can upgrade to 3.0

Once I got there, decided not to invest any more time into the conversion. Trained the other admins/moderators on how to use the PHPbb forum and quit. The conversion process from PHPbb 3.0 to SMF 2.0 isn't a smooth road either. 

Managing 5 forums, four are on SMF and then one step-child on PHPbb. And there is just enough difference in them it is confusing switching back and forth

Good Luck

Paul

[webewitch]

17acklen,  did you manage carry out the conversion? I've spent way too long on this already! 

Now stuck at the error
Converting members... Successful.
Preparing Conversion (part 1)...Wrong value type sent to the database. Integer expected. (msg_date)

PaulP - any suggestions?

[PaulP]

Webewitch
Sorry
I could never get it to work. I finally gave up and went to PHP. There are enough differences between Windows/ASP and Linux/PHP the converter user needs to be a full time programmer and know all four languages.

 

[17acklen]

webewitch & PaulP,

I don't remember exactly what I did to solve it because I deleted the conversion files after I finished.  But I think I remember enough to get you started. 

First, the forum I converted used an MS Access database that stored R_DATE as a string.  I had to import the Access db into mysql and then I converted R_DATE to a date type field - it should be in the form of YYYY-MM-DD.  In the snitz_to_smf.sql file in the "Preparing Conversion part 1" section, I changed R_DATE to UNIX_TIMESTAMP(R_DATE) to get it to an integer.  I also think that I may have gone down to the "converting posts" sections of the .sql file and removed a "FROM_UNIXTIME()"... but I'm not sure.  I think you will need to do the same thing with T_DATE in the "Preparing Conversion part 2" section.

Hope that helps you out.

[webewitch]

17acklen, many thanks for your reply. I have moved on a little further, it now moves on to the 'Converting...Preparing Conversion (part 1)...' part but seems to be just hanging here.
Does this part take a while, ie. should I wait or is it quite fast? Thanks again for your time on this

[17acklen]

My conversion only took 10 minutes or so (once I got it to run without errors) but I was only dealing with 50,000 posts.  If you are into the millions, I suppose it could take a while.  I remember reading about conversions that took several hours during my online searches.  Mine never hung up without an error message though.