You may want to convert data to assure data privacy or to systematically transform data to meet your application testing requirements. You can import converted data into a spreadsheet program, insert it into a testing database, or restore it to a reporting database.
Use the Convert Process to transform data in an Extract File. Specifications for the Convert Process can be stored as a Convert Request.
When you convert data in an Extract File, you can save the converted data to the same file or as a different Extract File. Depending upon circumstances, it may be useful to retain the original file to maintain a consistent starting point. For example, you can create a set of Extract Files that contain the same data, aged to different dates, by saving the output of each conversion as a separate Extract File. Conversely, you can overwrite the original Extract File in order to mask sensitive data. .
Additionally, you can convert an Extract (or an Archive) File into a Comma Separated Values (*.csv) file, which you can then import into a spreadsheet program or a database. The Convert Request Editor allows you to select the columns from each joined table that are to be included in the file.