< previous page	page_14	next page >
Page 14 1.8 Y2K or "Buddy, Can You Spare $600,000,000,000?" The impending Year 2000 (Y2K) problem affects everyone, programmer or not. I have added this special section to help you understand the problem and help you find resources for solving it. 1.8.1 Characterizing Y2K In this first section, the discussion centers on describing what Y2K is. Later sections examine techniques for handling the problem. 1.8.1.1 Definition of Y2K The Y2K problem is very simple to describe and very easy to correct in a given single instance. It is simply the best-known example of a class of problems known as "rollover bugs," which occur when a field of fixed length is used to contain values that, it is erroneously assumed, will not exceed the largest value that can be contained in the field. As it generally occurs, the Y2K problem may be said to occur whenever a date in the Western calendar is represented by a format that preserves only the last two digits Table 1.4 Function identification codes. Filename Function Meaning DAYBTWxx.C days between two dates in calendar DAYSINxx.C days since given date in calendar DAYUNTxx.C days until given date in calender JD02xxDT.C convert JD0 to date in calender xxDAINMO.C days in given month in calendar xxDTNAFT.C date N days after given date in calendar xxDTNBEF.C date N days before given date in calendar xxDTTODA.C date today in calendar xxDT2JD0.C convert date in calendar to JD0 xxLEAPYR.C leap year identifier in calendar xxMNTHNM.C name of given month in calendar xxMNTHAB.C abbreviation of month name in calendar VALDATxx.C validation of date in given calendar
< previous page	page_14	next page >