RE: System Date - can it be 'intercepted' ?

The developers are not using job date, they are using system date. That's what RPG returns for example with the %date bif. The decision was made to not worry about standardizing the dates and they don't want to change any code - so usually system date is what they work with (for no particular reason). I can't control that decision, but it's my job to test anyway and I can't change the code to do so.

Jim




If you forget you have to struggle for improvement you go backward.
Hickson, Geoffrey

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Mark Murphy/STAR BASE Consulting Inc.
Sent: Friday, 11 February 2011 9:13
To: midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: System Date - can it be 'intercepted' ?

Change the job date.

Mark Murphy
STAR BASE Consulting, Inc.
mmurphy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

-----midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx wrote: -----
To: "Midrange Systems Technical Discussion" <midrange-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
From: "Jim Wiant"
Sent by: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: 02/10/2011 03:04PM
Subject: System Date - can it be 'intercepted' ?

Due to architectural decisions I can't control, developers continue to
use %date as the usual way to get the date into a program. But from a
testing standpoint this makes things very difficult. Many things are
date-dependant but need to be tested before that date occurs. And I am
trying to emphasize automated testing so the advice recently given to me
of 'run it in debug and change the date' isn't good enough. That's bad
testing form anyway...
 
I did some digging and I can't find a way to override or control the
system date other than changing the date, which again is not my first
choice because it will affect all testing not just the one I want and
the impact on the journals scare me anyway.
 
I need to be able to programmatically control the system date a program
gets whether it be CL, COBOL or RPG without actually changing the system
date itself.
 
Thanks
 
James P. Wiant
Test System Administrator
Foodstuffs, Auckland, Ltd.
60 Roma Road
Mt Roskill
Auckland, New Zealand 1041
09-621-0774
jim.wiant@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
Quicker by taking more time.
Proverb
 

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