Re: Bug with 09/09/99

["Johnson, Joe" <JoeJo@SNELLINGCORP.COM>]

Phil,

I found this on a Y2000 Software Newsgroup:


"Sept. 9 is test for Y2K plans"
By The Associated Press

"Government agencies, banks, electric utilities and other companies around
the United States will be watching closely for Y2K-like computer trouble
next week when the date 9-9-99 arrives.
The fear is that some computers may translate Sept. 9, 1999, as a ''9999''
stop-program command.
Few Y2K planners expect major disruptions such as widespread electrical
outages next Thursday. But no one is ruling out the possibility of
glitches.
Y2K planners and some industries are taking advantage of the situation to
test their readiness and backup systems for New Year's Day, when the real
Year 2000 bug may hit.
''It's good to run through any complicated exercise like that so people
aren't seeing this kind of deployment for the first time in December,''
said Gerry Cauley, Year 2000 program manager for the North American
Electric Reliability Council.
Up to now, most of the attention has been on Jan. 1, when computer programs
recognizing only the last two digits of a year might read ''00'' as 1900.
But several other problems could occur before then, Sept. 9 among them.
The electric industry will conduct a major drill, beginning Wednesday
night, to make sure its thousands of workers understand procedures for Dec.
31.
Some banks will spend Thursday testing techniques to spot and report Y2K
trouble, while President Clinton's Y2K advisory council will collect status
reports. An international Y2K group will monitor other nations.
Just in case problems do occur, the Coast Guard will add supervisors to
keep navigation reliable, and the Transportation Department is assembling a
team normally mobilized only during natural disasters.
Airlines decided against setting up a command center, concluding that
failure is unlikely, and will simply keep watch, said Thomas Browne,
executive director for the Aviation Millennium Project in Washington.
The September date was picked partly out of confidence that nothing will go
wrong. A smaller drill took place on April 9 - a date that was problematic
because it was the 99th day of the 99th year. That day passed with no
reported troubles in electric and other industries.
One reason for the confidence this time is that 9999 is not a widely used
end-of-file or end-of-program marker. Also, dates are more likely to appear
in computers as 090999. And a 9999 problem is relatively easy to spot and
fix within the millions of lines of programming code.
Problems are likely to be limited to billing and other business information
programs that run on older mainframe computers, sparing home users and
systems that operate power grids and other infrastructure.
Using two digits for the year, on the other hand, is a more common
technique. So the new year could disrupt financial transactions, airline
schedules and power grids. Another potential problem is Feb. 29, 2000; some
computers might not recognize that it is a leap year.
Still, studies have prompted confidence among Y2K planners.
''For the most part, the fears are unfounded,'' said Bruce McConnell,
director of the International Y2K Cooperation Center, a clearinghouse
established by the United Nations and the World Bank. ''I'm not saying
there won't be problems, but the kind of problems will really be a blip.''

http://www.usatoday.com/news/ndswed13.htm

Hope that is helpful.

Joe Johnson
Snelling and Snelling Corporation
972-776-1332


-----Original Message-----
From:   Phil Roell [mailto:phil.roell@NATINST.COM]
Sent:   Friday, September 03, 1999 1:12 PM
To:     Multiple recipients of list SQR-USERS
Subject:        Bug with 09/09/99

I have heard some reports about possible bugs with September 9, 1999.  No
one
has been able to tell me what the possible "Bugs" are.

Has anyone heard of any problems that may occurr on the 9th?

Any Info would be appreciatied so I can determine a test plan if necessary
.

Thanks,

Phil