TurnOver & Set/TURN managing Y2k -- BPCS-L

Hi, all--

This is some slightly edited correspondence on new AS/SET ADK versions 
and their compatibility with SoftLanding's TurnOver CMS and Set/TURN 
interface for AS/SET ADK definitions. Dean had asked me if he could 
forward it, took out the company specific bits and did so myself.

HTH, 

Jerome

-- quoting from email between concerned parties...

1) SSA has not yet distributed (ADK) 6.0.4 in England, so KDP haven't yet 
been able to test with it.

2) TurnOver 4.2 is Y2k compliant, but we're (Jerome's client) still 
running 4.1 because of Set/TURN compatibility issues. This is not yet an 
issue, (we) can run TurnOver without Y2k capabilities for quite some time 
before it will become an issue.

3) KDP is expecting to see 6.0.4 around the Christmas break, and should 
have a millennium compliant Set/TURN available by middle to end of 
January. This will allow us to upgrade TurnOver to 4.2, which is already 
Y2k compliant.

I've communicated with another SoftLanding client (Dean) whose shop is 
running AS/SET 6.0.2 (not 6.0.4, but including some other changes like 25 
extension lines and BPCS 6.0.x percent sign functions, the reason they 
upgrade). They are using the same versions as GBC (TO 4.1, ST 2.6), but 
the person who set it up has left and they are unsure whether any 
additional patches were created to make this happen. I asked (SoftLanding 
tech support) to look into this for us. (Answer--There were no special 
fixes for 6.0.2).

(Support at) SoftLanding doesn't recommend changing the system date for 
testing until after 4.2 and a compatible Set/TURN version are up and 
running. We talked about possibly locking down TO, changing the date, 
testing, restoring the date, and then resuming TO processing. (They) 
agreed that this would probably work if we needed to do date shift 
testing before a Y2k Set/TURN is delivered, as long as we don't run TO 
while the date is "wrong" and tests are happening. This also effectively 
shuts down our ability to do valid support testing during the time the 
date is changed.

Looking at the changes detailed in the AS/SET 6.0.4 net change document, 
I don't believe that they will affect the program interfaces used by 
Set/TURN. If we need to start running AS/SET 6.0.4 before we get a Y2k 
capable Set/TURN, we can back up the current AS/SET database, install the 
new release, and test how it works on our own. If it looks good, we'll go 
forward with it, if not, we'll fall back to the backup and wait.

This leaves a couple of questions on our end:

1) When converting AS/SET code using NexGen's tool, are the date issues 
related to use of the %NOD (Number of Days) function handled without the 
changes in ADK v6.0.4? The 6.0.4 release changes ADK to respect a 
configurable pivot year when determining a date. Believe this update is 
also needed before ADK's date functions know about Feb. 29, 2000.

Answer--Nexgen's ADK tool has a flag that tells it whether to insert code 
to fix ADK's (prior) ignorance of 2/29/2000. Once 6.0.4 is up, flip the 
flag and regenerate, that inserted code stops being generated and 6.0.4's 
fixed functions take over. That's the idea anyway, will be some testing 
to be sure it all works fine, for sure.

2) When is our date shifted testing scheduled to begin? If testing to 
this level doesn't start until after 2/1/98, perhaps we should just wait 
on this. Otherwise, there are issues that must be explored and strategies 
for dealing with this need that must be formulated and executed. 

Answer--Still waiting on this answer.

Anyway, hope this helps or is of interest to someone out there. If you 
have similar interests or questions, let's hear about them. The JAVA-400L 
is starting to percolate (groan), surely others have BPCS and AS/SET tech 
questions to supplement the application stuff that's been dribbling in... 
<G>

TTFN


Jerome Hughes                     jromeh@aol.com
InterPro Consulting Services      www.interproinc.com
Rosemont, IL USA                  these are my own opinions only

OMNI User Communications Dir.     www.omniuser.org

"Remember, I started this company in my parent's garage." Steve Jobs


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