Updated on Wednesday, October 21, 1998 at 08:19 GMT

MS4 FAQs

If you have a specific question which is not covered below, please feel free to ask us directly. We will reply without delay. Question What is MS4? Answer MS4 is a set of tools, which uses an encapsulation technique to make AS/400 RPG and CL based applications millennium compliant. MS4 will analyse data display and printer files for all fields that contain year values. Data is then encapsulated by deducting 28 from the year portion of applicable fields. MS4 will then automatically modify RPG and CL programs, so that all dates displayed, printed or entered are converted to and from real time. The result of this process is totally transparent to users. Question What Happens If We Implement MS4 And Decide To Upgrade Our Systems Later On? Answer No problem! MS4 provides options to automatically reverse everything. Due to the layered implementation of MS4, this can be achieved by removing the MS4 libraries from your library lists. Programs supplied by MS4 are then used to automatically undo any changes made to the dates within the database. In this way the normal migration routes can be effectively used to implement an alternative system such as SAP, BPCS, JDE, JBA, MAPICS or any other trading system. Question Will I have problems with EDI and other interfaces to external systems after I use MS4? Answer No! MS4 automatically creates programs to convert the Business Applications dates so they can be used by external systems. Question Must we re-design all our business applications screens and reports to make them Year 2000 Compliant? Answer Absolutely not! In using MS4 to ensure that your Business Applications software is Year 2000 compliant, there is no need for MS4 or YOU to make any changes to screens or reports. Question Will our users require training after MS4 has been implemented? Answer No! There are no changes to application screens or reports, your users will see no difference in your major applications – only the correct validation and sequencing of pre and post millennium dates. Question What are the minimum system requirements to run MS4? Answer Your existing AS/400 with a least 60mb of available disk space. Question Will MS4 cause any performance issues? Answer As MS4 does not involve any additional I/O operations or complicated date windowing and formating routines there is no impact on systems or applications performance. Question Encapsulation - How does it work? Answer MS4 uses program encapsulation technology to achieve Year 2000 compliance. This basically means a fixed number of years is taken from all dates on the database and code inserted to all programs to add this value to the date wherever it is displayed or printed. The recommended decrement is 28 years, since this preserves both day of the week and leap year phasing. Question What are the advantages of encapsulation in comparison with other methods of conversion? Answer Encapsulation has many advantages over other methods of conversion: It is extremely quick to implement. Our experiences with users of MS4 indicate that most sites can begin testing the date shifted system within 5 days. The procedure is non-invasive, i.e. No changes are made to the layouts of files or the internal logic of programs. Code is inserted into those programs that display or print dates allowing the application to both accept and process 20th and 21st century dates, while maintaining the integrity of the original applications systems. The process is completely reversible. The product comes with a set of utilities, which reverse the changes to the date values. The product works on all software standard package code, modified standard and user written. Because no changes are made to program logic, MS4 will date shift any AS/400 software irrespective of origin. Indeed the product has no built-in preconceptions about the target application software. Each installation is analysed and shifted at the customer's site and on the customer's software copy. Question Is there any date integrity checking with MS4? Answer MS4 will automatically review and validate all dates on your applications database ensuring their integrity before any conversions proceed. Question Does MS4 reformat dates within the database? Answer MS4 does not reformat any part of the database. The only change to the database is an arithmetic one made to the date fields i.e. all dates identified on the database are reduced by a fixed number of years. Question Is there an auto-modifier component with MS4? Answer MS4 automatically checks all Business Application programs, both RPG and CL. To identify those screens or reports which display or print dates. Question With MS4, how soon can testing commence? Answer Due to MS4 being essentially an automatic product, testing can usually commence within 5 days of installation of the product. Question Can I return analysis and conversion jobs? Answer Yes, everything done as part of the MS4 implementation is both reversible and re-runable. In fact, once the initial analysis is complete the MS4 system can be reproduced in as little as 24 – 48 hours. Question I would like to convert my system incrementally, can MS4 do that? Answer MS4 uses generic selections (/ ) throughout the conversion process, and as long as the system increments can be identified in this way, you can convert your system in the way most suited to your requirements. Question How does MS4 know how to convert a six digit date to an eight digit date? Answer MS4 does not convert dates from one format to another. It subtracts a fixed number of years from the date values. The year segment of any date is identified in the MS4 date repository and confirmed during the date verification process. All dates within an MS4 database are held as 19yy. Question Realistically, how long will it take to fix my system? Answer Realistically, it depends on the size of your application, the quality of your software inventory, the available disk space on your system and the speed of the AS/400. But given an AS/400 with a CPW of 15 and a clean software inventory, the very large majority of installed MS4 sites have been completed in less than 5 days. Question With MS4, do you need to redefine all date fields, when a query operation is defined? Answer With MS4 no fields need to be re-defined, a simple arithmetic formula is added to the result field definitions which add back the date offset value and maintain the details on the query report. Question Why has this not been done before? Answer MS4 has been available for the last two years. Unfortunately, industry in general has not accepted the urgency of the problem and has not acted promptly enough to correct it. In addition, the encapsulation technology used can only work every 400 years and as such has not been available before. Question Is there any reprogramming required for alphanumeric date fields? Answer There is no re-programming required for Alphanumeric Date fields of 8 and 10 character lengths as MS4 automatically recognises and handles these fields. Where other fields lengths are used they can be added to the date repository and MS4 will then insert the necessary code changes during the conversion process. Question How about Query 400 and other Direct Database Access Tools? Answer Query definitions will need to be changed if dates are used for record selection or displayed/printed. The changes required are very simple, around 5 minutes per query, and most customers ask their users to do them. Question How Is Millennium Compliance generally defined? Answer The General Services Administration (GSA) defines Year 2000 Compliance as follows: "The software must perform fault-free in the processing of date and date-related data (including, but not limited to, calculating, comparing, and sequencing) by all hardware and software products delivered under this contract/procurement, individually and in combination, upon installation. Fault-free performance includes the manipulation of this data with date prior to, through, and beyond January 1, 2000, and shall be transparent to the user. Hardware and software products, individually and in combination, shall have a successful transition into the year 2000 with the correct system date, without human intervention, including leap year calculations. Hardware and software products, individually and in combination, shall also provide correct results when moving forward or backward in time across the year 2000." Question How can I find out more about MS4? Answer Contact MS4 sales by phone at +353 1 403 5400 or by email sales@ms400.com. We will work with you directly or we can refer you to one of our certified implementation partners.

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