I experienced a strange problem yesterday. This application didn't break until Jan 2000. We couldn't understand why because it was deemed "compliant." For programmers this is what a working storgage layout looked like for an alphanumeric field.

01 Layout-Definition.

03 Extract-data.

05 Extract-YYYY PIC X(04).
05 Extract-MM PIC X(02).
05 Extract-EMP PIC X(06).

03 Extract-data-R redefines Extract-data.

05 Extract-data01 PIC X(01) occurs 12.

The code did something like:
If (0 = Extract-data01 (2) and Extract-data01 (3) and
Extract-data01 (4)) then don't do a particular routine.

The programmer that originally set this up was probably thinking he was looking at the positions 2-4 of the employee number. This means something, so we don't want to execute something when they are all zeroes. This never caused a problem before because the year was always something other than 000, therefore a particular routine was always running to check a condition. However, after 1999, they were always zeroes (positions 2 through 4 of 2000) and the routine never ran. The result was an incorrect report.

This is the second time something strange has happened so far this month despite years of working on this problem. Y2k may have been a non-event for 99% of the people out there, but it never was a non-event for me. This actual event proves that the y2k bug can rear it's head in many unexpected ways.

-- Larry (cobol.programmer@usa.net), January 25, 2000

Answers

Larry,

Thanks for your post. I for one appreciate the chance you may be taking by relating this publicly.

Still seems like prepping was the right thing to do. While I have no idea as to how many other such "gotchas" are out there, I do not share the belief that "it's over".

I'm beginning to think that Y2Kook is right. No use fighting about the issue any more. Just give me my tin-foil hat and leave me alone!

Jimmy

-- Jimmy Splinters (inthe@dark.com), January 25, 2000.

Something's got me wanting to sing _Mac_The_Knife_ (alt)

"...When the Bug bytes..."

-- ..- (dit@dot.dash), January 25, 2000.