Re: RE: Year 2000 Issue

[Jeff Sawyer <JeffSawyer@compuserve.com>]

I'm posting this to the group as it's becoming quite a popular question. If
you're not interested in computer based monitors, hit the "delete" key.


Tod Blanchard Wrote:

>> Uh-oh, this instrument parameter says to enter a "two digit" year, i.e.,
"97" for 1997.

>> What happens to your data when it gets to the year 2000?

>> All kinds of problems might occur.  Better start calling those
instrument people and find out if they have a "fix" for that particular
bug..  


In response:

Eberline Instruments is starting a testing program for all of our
instruments that use an internal clock with date time and actually know
what the date is. This testing also applies to the various calibration
software packages and some database software. The testing is to answer two
questions:

1. What happens at midnight Dec. 31, 1999 when the clock ticks over to
2000? Does the instrument "hang" or will it continue to function correctly?
What date will it report on the print outs?

2. What happens at midnight Feb. 28, 2000 when the clock is supposed to
turn over to March 1, 2000? Does it report Feb 29 or March 1 and is the day
of the week correct? 

As the results of these tests are known, we'll be posting the results on
our Web Page along with the required solutions/work arounds. If all it
takes is resetting the date for the system to function properly, we
probably won't be issuing new software versions for all instruments. 

Aside: Most people with databases will be able to recognize that their data
probably wasn't collected in 1900 but in many cases there will have to be a
bit of mathemagics performed to show data collected in January 2000 on a
graph after the data collected in Dec of 1999. Adding 100 years to the date
field should do the trick.

Just an observation: I tried typing in December 23, 1999 and then Dec 24,
1999 into a Corel Quattro Pro Version 7 for Win95 spreadsheet. When I did
the "speedfill", to increase the length of the data, the program
automatically went from 31-Dec-99 to 1-Jan-2000. Looks like Corel got it
right...

If there are any questions, please feel free to send me an e-mail or give
me a call. I don't have any answers yet but I do know which instruments
we'll be testing first.

Jeff Sawyer
Product Manager,
Eberline Instruments
505-471-3232 ext. 237
Fax: 505-473-9221
E-Mail: jeffsawyer@compuserve.com