SET-DATE-WINDOW to adjust the pivot point for a 2-digit year

I originally posted this in August of 2022. I'm reposting because 1) it's getting closer to 2030, and 2) I've had a few support cases asking about this issue.

Everyone out there know about D3's SET-DATE-WINDOW utility? It's something you can add to your cold start procedure to change the 2-digit year pivot point from 30 to something else. Example if you ICONV a date like 8/1/31, you'll get an internal date in the year 1931, not 2031 as you might expect. I have this in my USER-COLDSTART:

SET-DATE-WINDOW 60

This tells my D3 system to assume that any two-digit years from 00 to 59 are 2000 to 2059, where 60 to 99 are 1960 to 1999. This is a LOT handier than handling it in your application.

I'm posting this because there's a lot of useful stuff in D3 that I was unaware of until I became a Rocket employee and was actually forced to read the manual. Maybe some of you are in the same boat.

https://docs.rocketsoftware.com/bundle/d3_rg_1034/page/d3/d3_all/source/reference_manual/introduction/D3_Reference_Manual_overview.html

https://docs.rocketsoftware.com/bundle?cluster=true&labelkey=d3_dbms&labelkey=d3_dbms_10.4&labelkey=d3_dbms_10.3.4&rpp=10&sort.field=last_uploaded&sort.value=desc

Okay, so what happens in 40 years when we want the pivot point to be between 19XX and 20XX? In a later version of D3 10.4, there will be a (C option added to SET-DATE-WINDOW. Syntax is either SET-DATE-WINDOW 20 (C if you want the pivot point to be between 20XX and 21XX, and SET-DATE-WINDOW 19 (C    to reset it to the current 19XX/20XX pivot. Note that 19 and 20 are the only two valid arguments when using the (C option. In a hundred years or so, some D3 Engineer can add 21 to pivot between 21XX and 22XX, but I'm going to guess that will affect none of us current D3 folks!

------------------------------
Brian S. Cram
Principal Technical Support Engineer
Rocket Software
------------------------------

I originally posted this in August of 2022. I'm reposting because 1) it's getting closer to 2030, and 2) I've had a few support cases asking about this issue.

Everyone out there know about D3's SET-DATE-WINDOW utility? It's something you can add to your cold start procedure to change the 2-digit year pivot point from 30 to something else. Example if you ICONV a date like 8/1/31, you'll get an internal date in the year 1931, not 2031 as you might expect. I have this in my USER-COLDSTART:

SET-DATE-WINDOW 60

This tells my D3 system to assume that any two-digit years from 00 to 59 are 2000 to 2059, where 60 to 99 are 1960 to 1999. This is a LOT handier than handling it in your application.

I'm posting this because there's a lot of useful stuff in D3 that I was unaware of until I became a Rocket employee and was actually forced to read the manual. Maybe some of you are in the same boat.

https://docs.rocketsoftware.com/bundle/d3_rg_1034/page/d3/d3_all/source/reference_manual/introduction/D3_Reference_Manual_overview.html

https://docs.rocketsoftware.com/bundle?cluster=true&labelkey=d3_dbms&labelkey=d3_dbms_10.4&labelkey=d3_dbms_10.3.4&rpp=10&sort.field=last_uploaded&sort.value=desc

Okay, so what happens in 40 years when we want the pivot point to be between 19XX and 20XX? In a later version of D3 10.4, there will be a (C option added to SET-DATE-WINDOW. Syntax is either SET-DATE-WINDOW 20 (C if you want the pivot point to be between 20XX and 21XX, and SET-DATE-WINDOW 19 (C    to reset it to the current 19XX/20XX pivot. Note that 19 and 20 are the only two valid arguments when using the (C option. In a hundred years or so, some D3 Engineer can add 21 to pivot between 21XX and 22XX, but I'm going to guess that will affect none of us current D3 folks!

------------------------------
Brian S. Cram
Principal Technical Support Engineer
Rocket Software
------------------------------

Brian,

   Is there an equivalent command for Universe 11.3.5 on AIX 7.3 as SET.DATE.WINDOW does not exist on UV 11.3.5 (see bottom of paragraph). I ran into this when entering simple four digit MMYY expiration dates for credit cards. When entering dates 0130 and beyond, UV assumes such dates are way back in the rear view mirror. See below.

>ED MAPM.BP DATE.CHECK
8 lines long.

----: P
0001:       PROMPT "" ; @STDFIL="" ; TODAY=DATE()
0002:       CRT "ENTER EXPIRATION DATE AS MMYY : ": ; INPUT EXP
0003:       OEXP=EXP[1,2]:"/01/":EXP[3,2]
0004:       IEXP=ICONV(OEXP,"D")
0005:       IF IEXP LT TODAY THEN
0006:          CRT OCONV(IEXP,"D4/"):" IS LESS THAN SYSTEM DATE OF ":OCONV(TOD AY,"D4/")
0007:          ABORT
0008:       END
Bottom at line 8.
----: EX
>RUN MAPM.BP DATE.CHECK (E
ENTER EXPIRATION DATE AS MMYY : 0130
01/01/1930 IS LESS THAN SYSTEM DATE OF 03/19/2025
Program "DATE.CHECK": Line 7, Abort.
>

SORT VOC LIKE "...DATE..." 09:20:05am  19 Mar 2025  PAGE    1
NAME..........    TYPE    DESC..........................

CURRENT_DATE      K       Keyword  - for SQL-92
DATE              K       Keyword & Verb - SQL CAST
                          operator
DATE.FORMAT       V       Verb - Set default DATE
                          display format to
                          international format
DATE.VERB         V       Verb - Display the system DATE
HS.UPDATE.FILE    V       Verb - Update the UniVerse
INFO                      ODBC file information cache in
                          this account
UPDATE            V       Verb - SQL UPDATE statement
UPDATE.ACCOUNT    V       Verb - Update VOC entries to
                          current NEWACC revision level
UPDATE.CER        V       Verb - Update self signed
                          certificate
UPDATE.INDEX      V       Verb - Update a disabled
                          secondary index file

9 records listed.
>

Just got this information from Bruce Holt:

CENTURY.PIVOT XX where XX is the two-digit year. There's also a global "tunable" parameter called CENTURYPIVOT.

You can also use a 4-digit year that I believe will adjust the range to something other than 1900-2000. CENTURY.PIVOT 2030 will set the range from 2030-2129.

------------------------------
Brian S. Cram
Principal Technical Support Engineer
Rocket Software
------------------------------

Brian,

   Is there an equivalent command for Universe 11.3.5 on AIX 7.3 as SET.DATE.WINDOW does not exist on UV 11.3.5 (see bottom of paragraph). I ran into this when entering simple four digit MMYY expiration dates for credit cards. When entering dates 0130 and beyond, UV assumes such dates are way back in the rear view mirror. See below.

>ED MAPM.BP DATE.CHECK
8 lines long.

----: P
0001:       PROMPT "" ; @STDFIL="" ; TODAY=DATE()
0002:       CRT "ENTER EXPIRATION DATE AS MMYY : ": ; INPUT EXP
0003:       OEXP=EXP[1,2]:"/01/":EXP[3,2]
0004:       IEXP=ICONV(OEXP,"D")
0005:       IF IEXP LT TODAY THEN
0006:          CRT OCONV(IEXP,"D4/"):" IS LESS THAN SYSTEM DATE OF ":OCONV(TOD AY,"D4/")
0007:          ABORT
0008:       END
Bottom at line 8.
----: EX
>RUN MAPM.BP DATE.CHECK (E
ENTER EXPIRATION DATE AS MMYY : 0130
01/01/1930 IS LESS THAN SYSTEM DATE OF 03/19/2025
Program "DATE.CHECK": Line 7, Abort.
>

SORT VOC LIKE "...DATE..." 09:20:05am  19 Mar 2025  PAGE    1
NAME..........    TYPE    DESC..........................

CURRENT_DATE      K       Keyword  - for SQL-92
DATE              K       Keyword & Verb - SQL CAST
                          operator
DATE.FORMAT       V       Verb - Set default DATE
                          display format to
                          international format
DATE.VERB         V       Verb - Display the system DATE
HS.UPDATE.FILE    V       Verb - Update the UniVerse
INFO                      ODBC file information cache in
                          this account
UPDATE            V       Verb - SQL UPDATE statement
UPDATE.ACCOUNT    V       Verb - Update VOC entries to
                          current NEWACC revision level
UPDATE.CER        V       Verb - Update self signed
                          certificate
UPDATE.INDEX      V       Verb - Update a disabled
                          secondary index file

9 records listed.
>

Anthony,

Here's the manual's description for using CENTURY.PIVOT:

Use CENTURY.PIVOT to override the system-wide century pivot year defined in the uvconfig file.

Syntax
CENTURY.PIVOT [year | nn]

where

year is a four-digit year. The first two digits specify the century and the last two specify the pivot year
nn is a two-digit code indicating a sliding pivot year. nn can be 00 through 99.

Static century pivot year
If you specify the century pivot year with four digits, the first two digits specify the century, and the last
two digits specify the pivot year.

For example, if you specify year as 1940, two-digit years specified in the range of 40 through 99 stand
for 1940 though 1999, and two-digit years specified in the range of 00 through 29 stand for 2000
through 2039. These ranges remain fixed until you explicitly change them.

Sliding century pivot year
If you enter the century pivot year as a two-digit code (nn), the century pivot year changes relative to
the current year. The formula for determining the century pivot year is as follows:

current.year - (100 - nn)

For example, if the current year is 2000 and nn is 05, the century pivot year is 1905. This means that
two-digit years specified in the range of 05 through 99 stand for 1905 through 1999, and two-digit
years specified in the range of 00 through 04 stand for 2000 through 2004.

If the current year is 2005 and nn is 05, the century pivot year is 1910. Two-digit years specified in the
range of 10 through 99 stand for 1910 through 1999, and two-digit years specified in the range of 00
through 09 stand for 2000 through 2009.

If the current year is 2001 and nn is 30, the century pivot year is 1931. Two-digit years specified in the
range of 31 through 99 stand for 1931 through 1999, and two-digit years specified in the range of 00
through 30 stand for 2000 through 2030.

I hope this helps!

Anthony,

Yes, CENTURYPIVOT will take a two-digit value, like 25, for a sliding Century Pivot. Your examples match my understanding.

Of course, after this change to uvconfig, a uvregen and restart of UniVerse is necessary to activate the changes.

I originally posted this in August of 2022. I'm reposting because 1) it's getting closer to 2030, and 2) I've had a few support cases asking about this issue.

Everyone out there know about D3's SET-DATE-WINDOW utility? It's something you can add to your cold start procedure to change the 2-digit year pivot point from 30 to something else. Example if you ICONV a date like 8/1/31, you'll get an internal date in the year 1931, not 2031 as you might expect. I have this in my USER-COLDSTART:

SET-DATE-WINDOW 60

This tells my D3 system to assume that any two-digit years from 00 to 59 are 2000 to 2059, where 60 to 99 are 1960 to 1999. This is a LOT handier than handling it in your application.

I'm posting this because there's a lot of useful stuff in D3 that I was unaware of until I became a Rocket employee and was actually forced to read the manual. Maybe some of you are in the same boat.

https://docs.rocketsoftware.com/bundle/d3_rg_1034/page/d3/d3_all/source/reference_manual/introduction/D3_Reference_Manual_overview.html

https://docs.rocketsoftware.com/bundle?cluster=true&labelkey=d3_dbms&labelkey=d3_dbms_10.4&labelkey=d3_dbms_10.3.4&rpp=10&sort.field=last_uploaded&sort.value=desc

Okay, so what happens in 40 years when we want the pivot point to be between 19XX and 20XX? In a later version of D3 10.4, there will be a (C option added to SET-DATE-WINDOW. Syntax is either SET-DATE-WINDOW 20 (C if you want the pivot point to be between 20XX and 21XX, and SET-DATE-WINDOW 19 (C    to reset it to the current 19XX/20XX pivot. Note that 19 and 20 are the only two valid arguments when using the (C option. In a hundred years or so, some D3 Engineer can add 21 to pivot between 21XX and 22XX, but I'm going to guess that will affect none of us current D3 folks!

------------------------------
Brian S. Cram
Principal Technical Support Engineer
Rocket Software
------------------------------

OK speak for yourself, I might still be here plugging away on my keyboard waiting for the new pivot. Putting aside for the moment, I have checked my user-coldstart for set-date-window and it isn't there. I checked my manual, actually it is a very old paper based, hard copy and it isn't there either. I manually changed a date in my data to 19/03/35 and checked the stored value. It was -11975 which is correct. So this leads me to think that there must be an automatic setting already in place and the set-date-window overrides this. Does that sound about right?

Yes, Alex, the default setting is 30 and has always been 30. Made sense back in the day, as our internal date range is based on the number of days since 12/31/67, making the pivot point roughly 50 years in both directions. And before you ask, no, I don't know for sure when SET-DATE-WINDOW was added to D3.

Yes, Alex, the default setting is 30 and has always been 30. Made sense back in the day, as our internal date range is based on the number of days since 12/31/67, making the pivot point roughly 50 years in both directions. And before you ask, no, I don't know for sure when SET-DATE-WINDOW was added to D3.