QuestionsWhat Is the Y2K Bug? Many computer systems use software that tracks dates with only the last two numbers of the year, such as 97 instead of 1997. When 00 comes up for the year 2000, many computers will view it as 1900 instead, potentially leading to failures in business, transportation, utilities, and other services.
Data
ID Systems Distributed Products:
Data ID Systems supplies auto identification hardware and software solutions to value added resellers, resellers, distributors and end-users. As a distributor of many of our products and not a manufacturer of them, we cannot certify that all of the products that we supply are Year 2000 ready or certified. Data ID Systems will certify our own software products as Year 2000 ready. For inquiries or further information regarding the Year 2000 compliance of any Data ID Systems product, please contact the Data ID Systems Year 2000 Coordinator at: 408-354-7733. If you need Year 2000 manufacturer product certification information please click here to see manufacturer's Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure Statements.
Y2K News
Statements contained herein are
Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure Statements under the Year 2000
Information and Readiness Disclosure Act.
Q: What is the background on the Year 2000 issue?
A: For many years, computer programmers typically used only two digits to represent the year in a six-digit date field. This was done for many reasons, including, to save disk space. Consequently, many computers may not accurately process dates beyond December 31, 1999. This six-digit date field issue creates a problem beginning with the date January 1, 2000, which would be written as 01/01/00. Unfortunately, many computers will interpret this as January 1, 1900. As a result, some business applications, especially those that perform date-intensive calculations could function incorrectly unless hardware and software are adapted to accept dates for 2000 and beyond.
Q: Why do I need to be concerned about Year 2000 status of my hardware products?
A: Some computers keep date and time using a digital clock in the hardware. This clock is often referred to as the Real Time Clock. The clock battery maintains the date even when the machine is powered off. Operating systems rely on this hardware clock to set their own date and time services each time a system is started. The hardware clock automatically updates the last two digits (1998) of the date with each passing year. Consistent with PC industry standards, however, the task of updating the first two digits (1998) -- called the century digits -- is left to the system BIOS (Basic Input/Output System). The BIOS handles the communications between the hardware and your application software, and in hardware products that are not Y2K compliant, it is typically the BIOS that typically fails to update the century digits.
For most PC models introduced before 1996, the BIOS did not include the ability to update the century digits of the hardware clock for the millennium change. In these units, the hardware clock's century digits may be incorrect after the Year 2000 occurs, typically showing 1900 instead of 2000 as the year. When these PC models are later restarted, the operating system may set its own date incorrectly. As a result, application software programs may make mistakes when performing date-dependent tasks.
Q: What is Data ID's position on Year 2000 Software Compliance?
A: Applications, especially those that perform date-intensive calculations, could function incorrectly on or after January 1, 2000. Data ID Systems recommends that customers test all of their applications thoroughly.
Q: What about bar code scanners?
A: A bar code scanner should be thought of as a computer input device, much like a mouse or keyboard. Its output is generally not 'date stamped' or 'date tracked'. Therefore, in general terms, bar code scanners are not affected by the Year 2000 phenomenon. In the case of "memory scanner" products, please be advised that these scanners can be programmed to append a scanned bar code with date information. If so programmed, the scanner will identify the current year as a 2-digit number (e.g. the year 1998 is stored as 98 and the year 2000 as 00). In the event that you are utilizing the date stamping function of these particular scanners it is advised that you verify that your host computer application properly handles this date-related information in an appropriate fashion.
Q: What kind of actions might be required to achieve compliance?
A: If a product cannot meet one or more of the Y2K Compliance Criteria, but it is possible to achieve compliance through some action(s) -- depending on the product -- action(s) could be:
Q: What is the definition of Leap Year Compliance?
A: Generally, a year that is evenly divisible by 4 is a leap year. If the year is evenly divisible by 100 (known as a century year), it is not a leap year. However, if the century year is evenly divisible by 400, then it is a leap year. Leap Year Compliance means that the date will rollover from February 28th to February 29th and time will continue to increment properly for the years meeting the definition of Leap Year mentioned previously. If your computer views it as year 1900 it will not recognize it as a leap year, if it views it as year 2000 it will correctly recognize it as a leap year. Data ID considers this requirement part of Year 2000 Compliance. If a product is identified as Year 2000 Compliant, it will be Leap Year Compliant as well.
CAUTION - Applications, especially those that perform date-intensive calculations, could function incorrectly on or after January 1, 2000. Data ID recommends that customers test all of their applications thoroughly.
Statements contained herein are Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure Statements under the Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act.
