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- Archived data files may be in a different format (older version) that the current files. When a user switches into an archive, they may also be switching into a different version of Classic USxS. The SSDT does not provide Redesign export routines for these older version of the software (nor is it practical to do so). Therefore, in order to import archived data, the ITC would have to convert all archives into the latest version of the software.
- More importantly, because historical records are not present in the current files, it is very likely that duplicate transaction numbers (check numbers, purchase order number, etc) and duplicate identifiers (vendor numbers, employee numbers, etc) exist in both the current files and multiple. There is insufficient information in the Classic systems to determine reliably if a record with an identical identifier is actually the same transaction or a duplicate record.
Due to these difficulties, it would be impossible to merge historical archives into an operational database. Doing so would likely result in a corrupt Redesign data set which could never balance or be internally consistent.