TOPIC The official word on Claris products and the Year 2000. This information was provided by Claris Corporation on 16 March 1998, and incorporated into Apple Computer's Tech Info Library. Note: AppleWorks is the new name for ClarisWorks.
DISCUSSION Summary This document discusses how Claris products will handle dates in the year 2000 and beyond. Claris products allow the convenience of using four-digit explicit (dd/mm/yyyy) or two-digit assumed (dd/mm/yy) dates in data entry and in calculations and other functions. This document explains exactly how each product handles dates and what impact, if any, the turn of the millennium will have. Unless otherwise noted, Claris software products rely on the data format supplied by the operating system. Claris products that use the date algorithms of the Mac OS and Windows operating systems will take advantage of future changes to these operating systems. This also means that U.S. and non-U.S. customers may use the date format standard accepted within their respective countries. Current Claris products accept and recognize dates well into the 21st century, as described further in this document. Claris products will correctly handle the leap year in 2000. If the operating system is set to display explicit, four-digit years (mm/dd/yyyy), and all dates in a document are entered with four-digit years, then the dates will not be ambiguous and operations involving dates should perform as expected. However, interpretation of two-digit years depends not only on the date being entered, but also on the year in which the date is or was entered. The rules for newly-entered dates also apply when a date field is modified. Once entered or modified, a date and its interpretation will not change. Please carefully read the details in this document which describe how each specific product interprets two-digit years. We strongly recommend that customers take a complete look at their information systems to ensure they transition smoothly into the next century. For example, not all mainframe programs may function properly at the year 2000. If a computer with Claris software is used to access such information, year 2000 issues may arise. Some PCs also have a issue that resets the system date to 1980 when the computer reaches the year 2000. This issue is created by flaws in the computer hardware and in low-level BIOS software provided by other vendors. In addition, software developers and customers that create solutions based on Claris software to collect, store and manipulate dates may have issues if they have not properly accounted for the year 2000. Customers must also take responsibility for the accuracy of the data that has been entered under either the two-digit or four-digit method. It is important for customers to be aware of such issues and take appropriate measures to address these and other related iss ues. Claris will provide information about year 2000 readiness, but contractual warranties specific to year 2000 are not appropriate given the true nature of year 2000 issues. Warranties for Claris' products are set forth in the end user license agreements that accompany the product and customers should read those warranties to understand their rights. Samples of the Claris end user license agreements are available by contacting Claris or by visiting the Claris web site (http:// www.claris.com/). Any information Claris disseminates about year 2000 does not constitute an extension of any warranty for Claris products. Claris is providing this information to assist our customers in evaluating and correcting potential issues for using dates into the next century. This document is subject to change without notice. Product Detail FileMaker Pro Summary FileMaker Pro handles dates through the year 3000 and handles the leap year in the year 2000. FileMaker Pro 2.1 and older versions allow the entry and manipulation of both four and two-digit years and always assume that two-digit years refer strictly to the 20th century (the 1900's). No version of FileMaker Pro has ever assumed that a two-digit year refers to merely the current century when the software is being used. FileMaker Pro 2.1 and older versions, however, allow a user to enter a two-digit year without making it clear which century is being assumed. Thus it is possible that a user might enter something like "10/31/02" while thinking of the year 2002 when in fact FileMaker Pro 2.1 and older versions would assume 1902. FileMaker Pro 3.0 and newer versions address this concern by expanding two-digit year date entries into four-digits based on the current year and the particular entry, as described below. This way the user is made immediately aware of how the date is being interpreted. In addition, FileMaker Pro 3.0 and newer versions support legacy data by continuing to interpret existing two-digit year date entries as "19xx". Details For existing data: All versions of FileMaker interpret any two-digit year already present in an existing database as "19xx" (the 20th century, not merely the current century). This ensures that existing dates are interpreted consistently. For newly entered or modified data: FileMaker Pro 3.0 and newer versions interpret newly entered or modified two-digit years in date fields according to the following rules and expand two-digit years to four-digits if the result is other than "19xx": If the current year is among the LAST ten years of the century (as in 1990-1999 or 2090-2099), then any two-digit year in the range 00-09 will be treated as a year in the FOLLOWING century. (For example, if it's 1998, then 03 will be expanded to 2003 but 83 will be considered 1983.) If the current year is among the FIRST ten years of the century (as in 2000-2009), then any two-digit year in the range 90-99 will be treated as a year in the PREVIOUS century. (For example, if it's 2002, then 97 will be treated as 1997 but 83 will be considered 2083.) The behavior is determined by what the current year is, for example: In the year 1996: In the year 2001: In the year 2011: 1/1/01 -> 1/1/2001 1/1/01 -> 1/1/2001 1/1/01 -> 1/1/2001 1/1/10 -> 1/1/1910 1/1/10 -> 1/1/2010 1/1/10 -> 1/1/2010 1/1/99 -> 1/1/1999 1/1/99 -> 1/1/1999 1/1/99 -> 1/1/2099 This two-digit year expansion only occurs for dates entered into date fields via Browse mode in FileMaker Pro 3.0 and newer versions; it does not occur by entering dates via other methods. Specifically, this behavior is not adopted if the data is imported via Import Records, entered via the web companion, modified via scripting or Apple Events, via drag-and-drop to a non-active field or for dates entered in the calculation dialog, etc. Any two-digit dates entered into FileMaker this way will be treated as "19xx", not whatever the current century is but actually "19". To avoid possible confusion, a complete four-digit year should be used. FileMaker Pro 3.0 Server Databases and scripts running under FileMaker Pro 3.0 Server will behave as they would under the peer-to-peer (regular) version of FileMaker Pro 3.0. ClarisWorks 4.0 (and newer versions) Dates through the year 9999 can be entered into spreadsheet cells and database date fields, and used in calculations. All previously created documents will maintain the dates that were entered as they were entered. When creating new documents using the Mac OS version of ClarisWorks: Prior to the year 2000, the Mac OS version of ClarisWorks will recognize two-digit years as follows: a. years 11-99 will be recognized as being 1911-1999, respectively b. years 00-10 will be recognized as being in the 21st century (2000-2010) c. for dates in the 21st century after 2010, it will be necessary to use four-digit dates throughout a file (as described further below). Beginning in the year 2000, two-digit years (mm/dd/yy) can be used as follows: a. years 91-99 will be recognized as being 1991-1999, respectively b. years 00-90 will be recognized as being in the 21st century c. for dates in the 20th century prior to 1991, it will be necessary to use four-digit dates throughout a file (as described further below). Beginning in the year 2011, all two-digit years will be recognized as being in the 21st century. For dates in the 20th century, it will be necessary to use four-digit dates (as described further below). To have the Mac OS version of ClarisWorks recognize dates other than those described above, it is necessary to use the "Date & Time" Control Panel to set the date format to "Show Century" and to enter ALL dates in the file using a four-digit year (mm/dd/yyyy). Please note, if you make any changes to the Date & Time Control Panel you must relaunch ClarisWorks for those changes to take effect. When creating new documents using the Windows version of ClarisWorks: ClarisWorks 4.0 for Windows and ClarisWorks 5.0 for Windows recognize two-digit dates from 00 through 10 as occurring in the 21st century (i.e., 20xx), and two-digit dates from 11 through 99 as occurring in the 20th century (i.e., 19xx). For example, entering 2/1/07 in a spreadsheet or database will store February 1, 2007, and entering 2/1/12 will store February 1, 1912. To have ClarisWorks properly recognize other dates in the 20th or 21st century, it is necessary to change the Regional Settings (Windows 95 or NT) Control Panel to a date style that includes all four digits of the year such as "M/d/yyyy" and to enter all dates in the file using the a four-digit year (2/1/2007). Please note, if you make any changes to the Regional Settings Control Panel you must relaunch ClarisWorks for those changes to take effect. Claris Organizer 2.0 Claris Organizer accepts and recognizes dates between 1904 and 2040 when entered as four-digit years; any other dates entered will revert to a random year when the data field is exited. For dates entered with two-digit years before the year 2000, years between 00 and 10 are interpreted as years in the 2000's, while years between 11 and 99 are in the 1900's. The dates immediately display as four-digit years when the field is exited, and will not change at the turn of the century. For dates entered with two-digit years after the year 1999, years between 00 and 40 are understood to be years in the 2000's, while years between 91 and 99 are in the 1900's. Other dates revert to random years when the field is exited. ClarisImpact 2.0 ClarisImpact 2.0 accepts and manipulates dates up to 2040. Claris Em@iler 2.0 Claris OfficeM@il 1.0 The maximum date that can be processed by these products is 2032. Claris Em@iler interprets 00-03 as dates in the 1900's. Claris Home Page 2.0 ClarisDraw 1.0 There are no date functions in these applications. MacProject Pro 1.5 MacProject Pro accepts dates between January 1, 1973 and December 31, 2039. Thus, if you are displaying the short version of the dates, entered dates in the range 1/1/00 - 12/31/39 would be considered 2000 dates and entered dates in the range 1/1/73 - 12/31/99 would be considered 1900 dates. MacWrite Pro 1.5 The 'Insert Date' feature of MacWrite Pro takes dates from the Mac OS Date and Time Control Panel, in which the maximum possible date is 2019. If "Show Century" is deselected in that Control Panel, years are assumed as follows: if the year of the current date in the Control Panel is between 00 and 19, the date is understood to be in the 2000's, while if the current year is between 20 and 99, it is assumed to be in the 1900's. (c) 1997 Claris Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Claris, ClarisDraw, ClarisImpact, ClarisWorks, FileMaker, MacProject and MacWrite are registered trademarks of Claris Corporation. Claris Em@iler, Claris OfficeM@il and Claris Home Page are trademarks of Claris Corporation. Apple, Mac and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. |
| Document Information | |
| Product Area: | Apple Software |
| Category: | Claris Software |
| Sub Category: | Claris Draw; Claris Emailer; Claris Impact; Claris Organizer; ClarisWorks; Other Applications |
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