ATTENTION: ALL VIRILE, HANDSOME, INTELLIGENT COMPUTER SOFTWARE GEEKS.

WIN Sandy's $$$$. Unless the 9/9/99 software command is corrected, systems may halt. What are possible scenerios if such a command is programmed into software?

All scripts will be scrutinized for creativity, composition, and cleverness. Final contestant has opportunity to WIN Sandy's $$$.
-- Sandra McDonald (clinton@infowest.com), January 27, 1998

Answers

What is the earliest date you have in your system? If it's, say, 1960, then you could change everything that writes or checks for 9/9/99 to use 9/9/59 instead. As long as you make sure to get them all, I wouldn't think that would introduce any bugs. A simple search and replace might even do it, though if it were me I'd want to approve each change just in case. Also, you do want to make sure the code doesn't use any tricky comparison operators--ie., this solution will work fine if, when the code checks the date field, it always says: "If x = 9/9/99" or "If x <> 9/9/99"

but you'd be in trouble if it says

"If x < 9/9/99"

But you could change this second form to the first form without much trouble, too.

-- Dennis Peterson (dennisp@bigfoot.com), January 30, 1998.

WARNING:

Sandy's offer reads like a Publishing House clearing prize. My take: Sandy is writing a book and dredging for free info on-line, using others time and energy, instead of resourcing it for herself. The real question are you programmer's gonna give her what (she) wants for free. And don't forget the FINAL contestant has an OPPORTUNITY to win the really big bucks. As soon as she sells the book.

-- Here I. Am (me@here.com), January 30, 1998.

I've never heard of a software command of "9/9/99" in any of the Operating Systems I've worked on such as Win/95, MS/DOS, PC/DOS, OS/390, MVS/ESA, MVS/XA, MVS, OS/VS1, OS/VS2, VM, OS/MFT, OS/MVT, DOS/VSE, System/360 DOS, Sys/360 BOS, etc.

However, I will be pleased to work on this "problem" at a billing rate of $200 per hour (minimum 2 hours) payable in advance, for 2 hours, after the check has cleared the bank, with the answers posted privately (not publicly). All work will be copyrighted and non-transferrable.

Dave Morton

-- David E. Morton (marspyrs@aol.com), April 04, 1998.

Since there are 12 months in a year the 9/9/99 date would (at the closest) be stored as 09/09/99 or (090999). Hence the 9999 issue isn't a worry...

-- VIRILE, HANDSOME, INTELLIGENT COMPUTER SOFTWARE GEEK (Just_visiting@here.com), July 28, 1999.