In a message dated 3/11/98 10:01:40 PM, [log in to unmask] wrote:

<<
Why didn't I "fix" TeachMe so that it will run beyond 2027?  Very simple.
It wasn't what the majority of customers wanted.  Customers wanted a
solution that allowed both old and new lesson modules to operate under
TeachMe without recompiling older lesson modules or running conversion
utilities to reformat existing lesson modules.  The result is that when
customers receive TeachMe today, they receive a version that "expires"
December 31st, 2027, when the CALENDAR intrinsic's 16 bit date field
overflows.  Maybe if in another 13 years TeachMe is still around, I'll
replace the use of CALENDAR intrinsic format with something new.

Okay, so who has started work on the 2027 problem?
>>

   I ran into the same problem working with (ANSI) expiration dates on
   labeled tapes on the 3000.  The 3000 at the time had no way to both
   produce or read ANSI expiration dates past the 12/31/99 limit.  This
   was 4.0 (MPE), sometime in 1993.  The problem I had was large firms
   had accounting principles that required they keep data for seven (at
   least) years, and most of these firms kept data (if not the reel-to-reel
   79xx's to read them) that long.

   I bugged HP long enough to become an alpha-tester to both check out
   and implement the "new" CALENDAR Intrinsic (which John K mentions
   above), which was imbedded - that is, the format used within - the
   FFILEINFO (item 27,28 - not sure) Intrinsic to return the expiration
   date returned from a call with a tape loaded.

   Was that sentence long enough? :)

   Getting back to the original question, as far as the 2027 biz is concerned,
   not too many engineers @ CSY are willing to work on that particular code
   as it approaches ancient by modern computing terms;  however, I was
   assured that by the time needed, a new CALENDER Intrinsic or 32-bit
   version thereof will be supplied for internal and external (e.g., for
   vendors) use.  Since I've been at this stuff for 20y, maybe I'll see it! :)

   I should mention 5.0 and 5.5 are able to write ANSI labeled tapes, and read
   them with dates past the year 2000 ( but as John alludes to, only up to
   12/31/27).

   cv