Re: 2 digit YY on screens & 4 in DB

[John Carr <74711.77@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Date:   9/15/97  5:34 PM

RE:     Re: 2 digit YY on screens & 4 in DB

Fred Mitchell said;
<Snip>
>We still intend to hold all dates as the full 8 digits on the files but
>only dates such as date of birth/retirement will request the user to
>enter all 8 digits. Other dates will be input/displayed as six digit
>dates and we will use windowing to determine the century before writing
>the data back to the file.
<snip>
>Fred Mitchell                                           fred@mitchf.demon.co.uk
>Newcastle upon Tyne, England                      http://www.mitchf.demon.co.uk

What would the program's understanding of the following be?
(or "What did the User Intend"?)

01/02/03
02/03/01
03/02/01

In which one did I think I was entering D/M/Y 
Which one was M/D/Y
Which one was Y/M/D

Which one would pass a TESTD opcode?   Right they all would. 
If factor 1 was *YMD they would pass.  If it was *MDY they also would.
If it were *DMY they still would.   

What is the convention of the shop.  How is it communicated with the user?
Do you have Literals after the input field saying 'Y/M/D Format' so the 
users know,  is it consistent throughout your application base?

Do you in one program ask for M/D/Y and in the other ask for it in Y/M/D?
We can't help a user mis-keying 02/01 and really meaning January 2nd.
We can however, make it clear what format we're expecting in our program.

But first and foremost in this discussion of 4 or 2 position dates is the
understanding/communication of the end user of what format is being asked.

John Carr
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