Technical Opportunities to Help with the Year 2000 Problem
Abstract
The Year 2000 Problem (Y2K problem) concerns how to avoid the possible breakdown of computer systems due to the use (in both code and data) of only two digits to represent the year in dates. The purpose of this project was to plan a project aimed at reducing the impact of the Y2K problem on the Department of Defense. Some of the technical issues that considered included: (1) How to conduct experiments that involve setting dates ahead to determine impact. (2) How to locate places in a piece of code where dates are used. (3) How to perform impact analysis (either statically or dynamically) to determine what other parts of the code are affected by date manipulations. (4) Database reformatting and conversion. (5) Testing. (6) Dealing with multi-lingual systems. (7) Dealing with binary code systems (where the system is written in assembly code, the source code has been lost, or the source code was never delivered). (8) Sand boxing or other techniques for isolating the effects of bad/old date formats. Also investigated are problems, opportunities, special risks, possibilities for high payoff etc. that were specific to the DoD context.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jan 01, 1997
- Accession Number
- ADA332289
Entities
People
- Thomas W. Reps
Organizations
- University of Wisconsin Madison Department of Computer Science