Y2K - The Millenium Bugs

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Y2K, the global problem
this coming millenium...

"...Y2K is nothing special!"

What is Y2K or Year 2000 problem?

The Y2K is also known as Millennium bugs. There is nothing special about the Y2K. But the effect can be disastrous or lethal to many computer systems that run on old software to perform date-related calculations.

"...Y2K is not a problem if you are using
Ada to write your software..."

How does it affect your systems?

Some of the computer software has the range of 1900..1999 as value for year. This value is often represented in 2-digit format. For example: 25/12/97. On January 1, 2000, the date will be represented as 01/01/00, which can be interpreted as January 1, 1900. If you use these value to calculate number of years elapsed, you will obtain a negative value. Because 1900-1999 yields -99. The correct result shall be 1 as 2000-1999.

Can we rectify this problem?

Yes! Have your software revised or reengineered to represent year in 4-digit format, enough precision to represent timestamps such as 01/01/2000. There are software development tools and languages to overcome this shortage by representing the date as 32-bit value.

"...Y2K does not exist if you are using TeleUSE..."

EXAMPLE

Here is an Ada program using standard functions and types that show how time and dates are normally used. The following procedure computes the number of seconds between one minute after and one minute before midnight on January 1, 2000:

with Ada.Calendar; use Ada.Calendar; with Ada.Text_IO; use Ada.Text_IO;

procedure Year_2000_Test is Before, After : Time; Difference : Duration; begin Before := Time_Of(Year = 1999, Month = 12, Day = 31, Seconds = (23 * 60 + 59) * 60.0); After := Time_Of(Year = 2000, Month = 1, Day = 1, Seconds = 60.0); Difference := After - Before; -- 120.0 seconds Put_line(Integer'Image(Integer(Difference))); -- Displays "120"

end Year_2000_Test;

Rather commonly, people are obfuscated by some irresponsible vendors with false knowledge that Y2K problems are predicament. Some people are told to:

Replace old hardware and/or software.
Rewrite software including reengineering entire system.
Purchase additional so-called Y2K remedies.

Causing the cost of rectification goes sky high.

Here are some procedures/recommendations to identify and solve the problems:

1. Conduct some experiment.

Set your system clock to 31/12/1999 23:59 and let the system clock ticks beyond 01/01/2000.
Examine the effect.
Record your findings.
Plan the transition.

CAUTION!!!

Remember to backup system before running the experiment or use test unit with same OS and software installed. Otherwise, there will be risk of corrupting your system and data.

2. Identify software functions which use or perform date-related calculations. There may not be necessary to rewrite the entire software. Instead, have those affecting portions rewritten. Save cost!

3. Carefully and extensively evaluate so-called Y2K remedies before committing.

Although there is availability of development tools and programming languages that can help solving the problem, such as Ada, good planning and skills determine the level of success in transition to the next millenium.

DISCLAIMER
Although, Lexical Integration and her sister company have used these simple methods to identify possible effect of Y2K in hardware and software, Lexical Integration and her sister company hold no responsibilites on the recommendations herein.
The intention is to remind/help people with or without IT knowledge. The recommendations may need some computing skills and may not work in all cases. Larger and more complex system needs more complex methods and require more skillful expertise.