Microsoft Year 2000 Readiness Disclosure & Resource Center

Product Summary

Product: Access 97 Version: 8.0 Category: Compliant* Operating System: 32-Bit Win Language: Greek Release Date: 01 Nov 1996 Operational Range: 01 Jan 200 - 31 Dec 9999 Prerequisites: Office 97 Service Release 2 and Microsoft Jet 3.5 Update Product Dependencies: Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT 3.51 with SP 5 or greater, or Windows NT 4 (no specific SP is required, though SP 2 is recommended) Clock Dependencies: System Clock Last Updated: 29 Sep 1999

Product Details

Product Maintenance: While Microsoft continues to recommend that customers install the most current Service Pack/Release for non-Year 2000 reasons, we understand that, for many reasons, this may not be possible. In order to aid our customersÆ Year 2000 efforts, Microsoft intends to maintain Office 97 Service Release 2 as compliant through January 1, 2001. Newer Service Packs are also to be maintained as compliant, and may include additional non-Year 2000 updates. This is intended to minimize the Year 2000 as a reason to upgrade. Prerequisites:   An acceptable deviation involving using Microsoft Access 97 to specify a two-digit date as a criteria in the QBE grid or in an object's property sheet has been discovered that may result in inconsistent dates depending on the system settings of the computer on which you run the query. For more information, and to download this update go to http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q172/7/33.asp Download the Office 97 Service Release (SR) 2 Patch from http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/Articles/sr2fact.htm The changes in Office 97 that were made in SR 2, including Y2K updates, are listed in http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q151/0/20.asp. All Y2K issues reported as fixed in SR2 exist in SR1 and in the base Office 97 product. The issues addressed by this update exist in all Office 97 releases, including SR 1 and the base release.     How the product handles dates: Storage. Microsoft Access stores the Date/Time data type as a double-precision, floating-point number (up to 15 decimal places). The integer portion of the double-precision number represents the date; the decimal portion represents the time. See Knowledge Base article Q130514 for extended information. Microsoft Access relies on the Jet database to store data. It uses shared VBA components to perform calculations on Date/Time data. Formatting. Dates can be input in pre-defined and custom input formats, via an Input Mask. Input Masks enforce date entry in a particular format. Input Mask pre-defined formats include a Short Date format, which defaults to the Short Date format in the Regional Settings of the Control Panel when the mask is created. A custom Input Mask can be created to limit date entry to only 4-digit years. Microsoft Access does not require an Input Mask to enter dates. If an Input Mask is not used, the default behavior, dates can be entered in 2- or 4-digit year formats. Dates can be displayed in pre-defined and custom formats, using the Format property and Format function. By default, dates are displayed in General Date format, which is a combination of Short Date and Short Time, as specified in the Regional Settings applet of the Control Panel. The General Date format will display dates inside of the 1930-2029 date window with two-digit years, dates outside this window will be displayed with four-digit years. Custom formats can be created to display years as 4-digits. Parsing on date entry. Dates are parsed using OLE Automation. For more information, see the "OLE Automation Technology" Year 2000 compliance information document. Two-digit shortcut handling: Microsoft Access 97 interprets dates entered with a 2-digit shortcut to mean the 21st century in the following way. 1/1/00 through 12/31/29 are interpreted as 1/1/2000 through 12/31/2029 1/1/30 through 12/31/99 are interpreted as 1/1/1930 through 12/31/1999 Common date usage errors: Using the Short Date Input Mask will limit the ability of users to enter dates outside of the 2-digit year shortcut range (see the above section on 2-digit shortcuts). Use Date/Time fields in tables to store date data. Avoid using Text fields to store date data. Use a 4-digit year format to display dates. Avoid the use of the Short Date format (mm/dd/yy). Use the Long Date format (mm/dd/yyyy), the Short Date format in conjunction with the Regional Settings in the Control Panel, or a custom format to display all digits of the year (mm/dd/yyyy). Text export, including the use of the VBA TransferText, method should always be set for export of four digit years. Testing guidelines and recommendations: In general, avoid testing in a production environment because one cannot predict side effects with other products. The following areas should be looked at to verify dates are being properly used. The table below can be useful in testing Microsoft Access 97 within your organization. TransferText, Import/Export Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, Macros, Modules Import and Export of text files is available using the menus, the Transfer Text Macro Action, and in VBA code using the TransferText method.  Date data in 2-digit and 4-digit year format can be imported and exported using an Import/Export Specification. By default, dates are exported in a 2-digit year date format. The 4-digit year format can be selected when creating an Import/Export Specification. Indexes Tables Date and time values can be indexed, and can require unique values. Format Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, Modules Provides formatting of Date/Time data in Tables, Queries, Form, Reports, and VBA Code. Exists as a property for Table, Query, Form and Report fields. Also implemented as an intrinsic function, Format(). Formats based on Regional Settings in Control Panel: Long Date, Short Date, Long Time Access Intrinsic Formats: General Date, Medium Date, Medium Time, Short Time Custom Formats: Any combination of month, day, year, and time Input Mask Tables, Queries, Forms, Reports, Modules Limits user data entry to specific values. Values for Input Mask are derived from combinations of token characters such as (0, 9, and X), similar to custom Format properties. However, the validation and formatting of date data is done after the user has entered the data into the input masked field. Wizard defined input masks include: Short Date, Medium Date, Short Time, Medium Time, Long Time Validation Rule Tables, Queries, Forms A Validation Rule is an expression that Access uses to verify data entered by the user. The Validation Rule expression can use Date/Time data from fields and perform comparisons on calculated date values. Aggregate Queries Queries Users can group and sort queries on Date/Time fields. Aggregate queries also allow Date/Time fields to have totals calculated for the group date. The calculations allowed are: Sum, Avg, Min, Max, Count, StDev, Var, First, Last Domain Functions Queries, Forms, Reports, Modules The Domain functions perform lookups and calculations on data and return the results. These functions are DAvg, DCount, DLookup, DFirst, DLast, DMin, DMax, DStDev, DStDevP, DSum, DVar, and DVarP. Insert Date & Time Forms, Reports Inserts a calculated field that uses the Format function on the value of Date(). Charting Forms, Reports Forms and Reports can display charts that display Date/Time data based on a record source provided by Access. Calendar Control Forms, Reports, Modules Value property allows user to get and set dates on calendar. Year is displayed as four digits. Report Grouping Reports Reports can group and sort Date/Time data based on Each Value, Year, Qtr, Month, Week, Day, Hour, Minute. Day(), Month(), Year(), WeekDay() Queries, Forms, Reports, Modules Parses Date/Time data. Date(), Now() Queries, Forms, Reports, Modules Returns Date, and Date and Time DateAdd(), DateDiff() Queries, Forms, Reports, Modules Performs calculations on Date/Time data. LastUpdated, DateCreated properties All database objects Date/Time stamp of last update and object creation, provided by DAO. CDate() Queries, Forms, Reports, Modules Valid ranges are -657434 (1/1/100) to 2958465 (12/31/9999). Time is stored in the decimal portion of the number.           To find more information on date related issues for this product:       How To Articles Q162718 HOWTO: Prepare Visual Basic Applications for the Year 2000 Q162745 ACC: How to Convert Between Julian Days and Dates Q109703 ACC: How to Find the Number of Days in a Month Q168793 HOWTO: Change the Short Date Format from Visual Basic Q149127 ACC: How to Determine If a Date Falls on a Weekend or Holiday Q149095 ACC: How to Format Dates Regardless of Regional Settings Q141536 ACC: How to Convert Short Time Format to Different Formats Q132101 ACC: How to Get the Fiscal Year/Month of a Particular Date Q95907 ACC: How to Display Only the Last Two Digits of Any Year Q92816 ACC: Converting Julian Dates with Visual or Access Basic Code Q88657 ACC: Functions for Calculating and Displaying Date/Time Values Q103138 ACC: Function to Get Date of Monday Prior to Current Day Q100136 ACC: Two Functions to Calculate Age in Months and Years               Informational Articles Q130514 ACC: Storing, Calculating, and Comparing Date/Time Data Q98802 ACC: Date/Time Data Type Provides Current Year Automatically Q169599 ACC: Calendar Control Adds One Day When Time Is After 12:00 PM Q155669 ACC: Years 00-29 Default to Year 2000 When Typed as M/D/YY Q142009 ACC: How Windows Regional Settings Affect Microsoft Access       Other Date Issues Q114832 ADT/ODE: Calendar Control Cannot Format Individual Dates Q96897 ACC: Operation Stops When Editing Attached SQL Tables Q160575 ACC: Can't Paste Append Using Input Mask Based on Short Date Q159323 ACC: Importing Text File with Dates in DDMMMYY Format (95/97) Q142184 ACC: Conversion Errors Importing Dates with Different Formats Q130580 Incorrect Date Value Added to Properties Custom Tab Q106290 ACC: Using Format() and Month() Returns Incorrect Month Q103174 ACC: Exporting Date Fields to Text Includes Time Format Q173097 ACC: Query w/Time Criteria Returns No Records from MS SQL Server Access 97 uses a number of Microsoft Office 97 shared files for the implementation of dialogs and toolbars, task automation, online help, installation, graphics, file find and file I/O. For additional information that is appropriate for Access 97 please refer either to the document for the particular Office version that this application came with, or, in the case of a standalone product, to any version 97 Microsoft Office document.

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ANY MICROSOFT YEAR 2000 STATEMENTS MADE TO YOU IN THE COURSE OF PROVIDING YEAR 2000 RELATED UPDATES, YEAR 2000 DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS, OR REMEDIATION SERVICES (IF ANY) ARE SUBJECT TO THE YEAR 2000 INFORMATION AND READINESS DISCLOSURE ACT (112 STAT. 2386). IN CASE OF A DISPUTE, THIS ACT MAY REDUCE YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS REGARDING THE USE OF ANY SUCH STATEMENTS, UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFIED BY YOUR CONTRACT OR TARIFF.

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