You must be right, Denys ... some beers I tasted in Germany a few years ago
tasted at least that old.     :-|p

Lee  Gunter         [log in to unmask]




From: [log in to unmask] on 06/04/98 11:54 AM

Please respond to [log in to unmask]


To:   [log in to unmask]
cc:    (bcc: Lee Gunter/BCBSO/TBG)
Subject:  Re: New Date Intrinsic Possible bug or limit




X-no-Archive:yes
I slightly remember some European breweries dating back to before that
time.
Kind regards,
Denys. . .
Denys Beauchemin
HICOMP America, Inc.
(800) 323-8863  (281) 288-7438         Fax: (281) 355-6879
denys at hicomp.com                             www.hicomp.com

-----Original Message-----
From:   toback2 [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
Sent:   Thursday, 04 June, 1998 1:06 PM
To:     [log in to unmask]
Subject:        Re: New Date Intrinsic Possible bug or limit
John Archer writes:
>I have been working w/ the new date intrinsics and establishing
>lower boundaries in the utility that I'm updating. I have found that:
>    - Cobol date functions start w/ 01/01/1601
>    - DATEVALIDATE using type=4 and a date of 01/01/1601 is ok
>    - DATEVALIDATE using type=3 and a date > 12/31/1600 and < 01/25/1601
>      is not ok.
>
>Is this a limit or a bug?
Um... just what kind of application is it that needs calendar
calculations from before 1600? Pay and rations records for the British
civil service? :-)
I don't know the answer for this particular case, but because of the
change (in most of the then-Catholic countries) from the Julian to the
Gregorian calendar in 1582, date routines will break down for any date
before October 15, 1582 unless they're specially trained to deal with the
missing 10 days. (For example, there is no such date as October 10,
1582.) Omitting the year 1600 also simplifies calculations slightly.
-- Bruce
PS. Can anyone think of a commercial (not governmental or religious)
enterprise that has been a going concern since before 1582?
- B

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