IBM Provides Year 2000 Software Tools for Short-Term “Fixes”
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SAN JOSE, Calif. (November 04, 1998) – With only 422 days to go until the millennium, IBM today introduced three new development tools to help companies prepare and test their enterprise systems for the Year 2000.
Two of the new tools — known as the Runtime Analyzer and the Millennium Runtime Windowing Tool — offer organizations that are running out of time a ”quick fix” for their Year 2000 date challenges. The third new tool, called the Unit Test Assistant, helps organizations that have already updated their applications for the Year 2000 test those applications to make sure they’ll still run correctly in the next century.
The three new tools are all designed to operate on IBM’s S/390 Parallel Enterprise Servers or other large servers running MVS or OS/390, the S/390 platform’s latest operating system.
In addition to the tools being announced today, IBM offers the industry’s broadest range of Year 2000 development tools, offering both temporary and permanent date corrections and testing on systems ranging from personal computers to mid-range workstations to the largest servers. Those tools include the C and C++ Maintenance and Test Toolsuite for RS/6000 workstations, Bypass/2000 for the mid-range AS/400 and Millennium Language Extensions S/390. Organizations currently using these tools to prepare and test their applications for the Year 2000 are reporting time savings of up to 90 percent over competitive tools.
Two New “Runtime” Date-Fix Tools
The two new Year 2000 date-fixing tools adjust the dates as the applications run. This approach significantly reduces the time it takes to fix applications because application developers don’t have to make permanent changes to the code. These tools will be particularly appealing to organizations that have not started their Year 2000 conversions or are running behind schedule.
The two new tools include:
Runtime Analyzer. This analysis tool searches out and identifies the potential date fields in critical business applications as the application is running. Developers can then go into the application manually and adjust the “found” dates. Runtime Analyzer is now generally available.
Millennium Runtime Windowing Tool. Using the popular Year 2000 ”windowing” technology, this tool identifies potential dates and automatically fixes those dates in the application while it is running. It will be generally available in December 1998.
“As we get closer to the new millennium, companies that don’t have time to devote to implementing a permanent solution are finding IBM’s runtime Year 2000 tools to be an attractive, affordable and time-saving solution,” said Yvonne Perkins, IBM’s director of application development for the Year 2000.
New Testing Tool
Those organizations that have corrected their applications for the Year 2000 now need to test those applications to ensure they still run correctly. To help in that effort, IBM introduced a new testing tool:
Unit Test Assistant. With this “date warping” tool, companies can find out whether their applications can accept dates beyond the year 2000 and still run correctly. The tool automatically “warps” the dates in an application and shifts them forward into the 21st century, without changing the data files. This new tool will be generally available in December 1998.
“We offer the tools that organizations need for independent verification and validation of their applications,” Perkins said, “and we’re happy to help guide them safely through the next year.”
Customer Success
Companies using the IBM’s Year 2000 application development tools have reported their ability to find and correct date problems sooner and perform testing. The result: significant savings in remediation costs, and fewer ”bugs” introduced into applications as they’re corrected. Specific examples include:
Mutual of Omaha cut back testing time by as much as 90 percent using the Automated Testing Collection, IBM’s portfolio of the industry’s best testing tools.
Using the Millennium Date Compression Tool, innovative technology allowing automatic date fixes, Allstate Insurance transitioned a major application to become Year 2000-ready with only two people in just three months
Source: IBM