Data structures stored on a source database are migrated to a destination database in which the data are structured in a different format than that of the source database. Dictionaries are stored that are based on representations of the data structures stored on the source database that are formatted in other than the structural format used on the source database for the data structures. One of the data structures and a corresponding one of the dictionaries are transferred from the source database to a destination database. The transferred data structure is loaded onto the destination database in accordance with the transferred dictionary.